Child Overheard Directing Air Traffic Control at New York’s JFK Airport

An Air Traffic controller and supervisor have been suspended by the FAA following an incident where a child was recorded transmitting instructions to pilots on February 17^th.

Officials from the FAA explain that an Air Traffic Controller brought their child in to work, and was given permission to transmit at least 5 separate instructions to pilots awaiting take off.  While during audio transcripts of the incident, one pilot seemed to be okay with the child giving the instructions.  The mentioned pilot was overheard saying “awesome job.”

While many people may have thought the incident was harmless, officials with the FAA do not agree.       The FAA mentioned in a statement that the incident was a complete lapse in judgement, and such actions could have caused disastrous consequences.  Furthermore, two violations occurred in which unauthorized entrance into the tower and unauthorized access to the radio frequencies occurred.

The incident at New York’s JFK airport is gaining worldwide attention, and the FAA hopes to send a message to its employees that such actions are not going to be taken lightly.

Considering the Control Towers across the country, specifically JFK, are highly secured areas, the investigation will look into how a long list of violations could have occurred.  Reports have also included that a second child may have been involved the morning after the incident, a school age child belonging to the Controller in question.  For the employees of the FAA, they are expecting some swift changes to security protocol in the near future.

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