Controller at Reagan National Fell Asleep On Duty | Aviation International News

Controller at Reagan National Fell Asleep On Duty

The air traffic controller at the center of the controversy surrounding a pair of flights that had to land at

By Gregory Polek • Senior Editor

March 24, 2011

The air traffic controller at the center of the controversy surrounding a pair of flights that had to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport early Wednesday morning without ATC clearance from DCA told NTSB investigators that he had fallen asleep, the Safety Board reported this evening. The 20-year-veteran controller, who the FAA suspended today, had been working his fourth consecutive overnight shift (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.)

According to today’s NTSB report, on March 23, between approximately 12:04 a.m. and 12:28 a.m. EDT, an air traffic control service interruption occurred when two air carrier aircraft and controllers at the Federal Aviation Administration's Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (Tracon) could not establish contact with the supervisory controller working alone in the DCA control tower.

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