Is WDEL Intending To Mislead?
DE pilot: Doubling up not the answer in air traffic control towers
I think we’ve all heard about the recent incidents where air traffic controllers have been sleeping and planes have had to land without direction. An FAA official was forced to resign over the issue. Investigation into one of the incidents found that there was only one controller on duty and he had worked a double shift. I am certain there will be new regulations coming, probably relating to how many shifts can be worked and perhaps making sure a back-up controller is present, so I was interested a headline with a contradictory point.
Delta pilot Mike Protack says he doesn’t see doubling up personnel as the answer to air traffic controllers nodding off on the job.
He adds planes land frequently at airports without any air-traffic controllers on duty.
It looks like WDEL left out some information here. Mike Protack is a pilot, that’s true, but no mention that he was also a Republican candidate for Senate, governor and county council? No mention that he is currently running for chair of the Delaware Republican party? Does Mike Protack’s answer to the question have anything to do with his political ideology? We know there is a contentious relationship of the Republican party with air traffic controllers in the past.
I don’t doubt that Mike Protack has knowledge of flying and landing at airports without traffic controllers, but it seems an odd point to make. Larger airports need air traffic controllers because there is a lot of planes landing and taking off. We were lucky these recent incidents didn’t end in tragedy but they very well could have, so it seems odd that his answer is we don’t even need air traffic controllers.
Tags: Mike Protack, WDEL
I knew there was a reason I don’t fly Delta.
“They reckon ill who leave me out,
when me they fly,
I am the wings.”
And when LANDING let’s not leave the ATC out.
As a Delta pilot, Protack probably does have knowledge of landing at airports with control towers, but offering opinion on how the towers should be staffed is akin to a bus driver offering opinion on how the local police precinct should staff traffic cops.
Seeing as how the author of the story has moderated political debates for WDEL, you would think he ‘just might’ have known about Protack’s political affiliations, and realized that they might, if nothing else, be worth a mention.
I’m glad Protack was restricted to talking about subjects he knows. I can’t think of one other than flying an airliner.
Protack was pretty good while a county council candidate. Couldn’t do much damage there with the wingnuttery he espouses on all things that have nothing to do with honoring boy scouts and land use oversight.
On NCC Council, Mike would have finally found an office where he would have offered a solid contribution, considering that Janet Kilpatrick on NCC is strongly following her husband in pro-union voting (Lofink, with Spence and Oberle, were all turn-coat GOP while in the House when it came to voting with Laobr).
Just sayin’.
btw, I was told that Miro led Kilpatrick around to his constitutents which gave her the edge. I guess we can hold him somewhat accountable when she continues to vote with the punks and snarls.
I also disagree with the premise of the post. News, especially radio news, is short and to the point. Unless this was a lengthy interview, it would be extraneous to start to mention all of Protack’s past and current ambitions in the GOP. He is the go to spokesman in northern NCC on WDEL for all things related to flying, airports and I guess, safety. Arenn’t there two sets of watchers already anyway?
I think when you say there should not be more than one traffic controller on the job each shift, you have an ideological agenda. Many Republicans don’t believe in redundancies, even when they make people safe.
Another traffic controller fell asleep last night in Miami. My neighbor who is stewardess (overseas flights only) says, they need many more traffic controllers. Not only is it a high stress job but in large airports the planes are backed up because there arent enough air traffic controllers to get everyone in safely. Sounds more sound to me than Protack! He must be talking about some airport where there are only a few flights a day…not like JFK, Ohare, Miami, and other airports where there are hundreds landing in a day. Unionize the airtraffic controllers…and lets see what happens, and pay these guys well.
Small airports can live ATController-less. Larger airports have alot more ground traffic, especially at night when all kinds of maintenance happens. The danger at larger airports is more about getting tied up in the ground traffic who won’t have any warning about a plane landing.
For DC, though, I am hugely amused by these wingnuts who just dismiss the potential safety hazard of an unmanned control tower in *Washington DC*. Anyone remember after 9/11 part of the safety protocol going in and out of DC was this fiercely showy business about passengers being in their seats and on lockdown for an hour (+/-) before landing or after takeoffs. Because DC airpsace was critical and it needed these extraordinary safety measures. They don’t do that BS anymore, but these controllers are there for safety reasons and it is stupid for Protack to just throw away everyone else’s safety just because he is a stone cold idiot.
My brother (a small plane pilot) tells me that there is a small, but amusing effort to change Reagan’s code from DCA to DIY.
Screw the RICH PIGS in their private jets.
Let them land in ALL the ATC-less private airports they want.
When it comes to the traveling public, of which I am one, I want an ALERT ATC on the job, with back-up for unforeseen emergencies that arise in our continuing expanding and crowded sky’s.
Mike Protoplasm KNOWS this.
WDEL has mislead on so many issues its hard to keep count. If not for Al M, who could listen to that drivel. And especially the right wing thug machine liar Rick Jenson who only provides one side of the story always the right winger side. We really have no real media in Delaware. We cant trust the Stooge Journal, WILM is all baggers and Beck..other than Al, man thats all we got.
You people are total fools. Protack is 100% correct
The lazy controllers should be fired. You don’t change an entire system for few idiots.
Any of you lib fools type rated. Have an ATP. Maybe commercial rating?
The FAA head agrees with protack and he is a former national union head.
Yeah, JET JERK-OFF, I’ll put MY skill level up against yours any fucking day.
I ran tower, conventional and hydraulic cranes for THIRTY years.
You couldn’t sit in my seat for EIGHT FUCKING hours with 200+ feet of boom hanging iron with two guys lives in your hands EVERY cycle tomorrow. [about 1 1/2 minutes] You’d KILL one of the flyers in minutes.
But with an INSTRUCTOR PILOT on board I COULD take-off ANY FUCKING PLANE YOU EVER FLEW.
Landing might be a problem.
But planes are just another FUCKING MACHINE to me!
Give me time and training and I’ll TAKE YOUR JOB,JERK!!!
You ain’t that SPECIAL !!!!
As a matter of fact, Protack is nothing more than Ralph Kramden with a longer route and a nicer fitting uniform.
You must be his Norton.
Way to over-react, skippertee. Jet jockey didn’t challenge your skills, yet you somehow found a personal attack (“lib fools” is not personal–he’s attacking liberals in general) in what seems to be a reasonable post.
Your logic is somewhat flawed too:
“But planes are just another FUCKING MACHINE to me!
Give me time and training and I’ll TAKE YOUR JOB,JERK!!!
You ain’t that SPECIAL !!!!
You’re not that special either. Virtually anyone w/ decent hand-eye coordination can fly a plane or run a crane, especially if you’re talking about modern equipment. Modern commercial jetliners will virtually fly and land by themselves under “normal” conditions–the real skill is in the takeoff and landing under ADVERSE conditions. Modern heavy equipment can be programmed to perform repetitive tasks w/ precious little input from the “operator”. Don’t take my word for it–pick up a tri-axle load (you CAN drive a truck, right?) of rock salt in Claymont next winter & take a peek at their equipment. Preprogrammed. Does the same thing, all day, with precious little input from the operator. Kinda like a modern commercial jetliner.
I’m not an “operator”, but I can and have run forklifts, skidsteers, backhoe/front-end loaders, dozers/track loaders, trackhoes, and an ancient (1950s vintage, pony motor & all) CAT crane (roughly 80′ boom w/o boom extensions.)
I can also overhaul each piece of equipment listed above. None of that makes me better than you, nor does your skill @ operating cranes make you better than Jet jockey.
I’m quite sure you could perform Jet jockey’s job given time & training. Why are you so sure he couldn’t run a crane (pick one) with competence given the SAME time & training?
BTW, Protack is a jackass in my opinion, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Protack, Jet jockey & a pilot friend of mine all agree that this has been blown WAY out of proportion. Controllers sleeping on the job is a problem, but not nearly the problem that the media has made it out to be.
Listen, the various different types of CRANES I had to be able to get on in the morning, on a new job, and familiarize myself with in as little as 15 minutes before it was time to GIT IT or GET A CHECK is what separates us.
And I’m talking hanging steel with connectors.They MUST be satisfied in your ability to work safely and swiftly.Even a 1st year journeyman connector could have me run off. That NEVER happened.
I ran dirt equipment too, though not dozers.Just about everything else.
Ran side-booms,bending and boring machines on BIG-INCH natural gas pipelines throughout the east.
I’m no “One Trick Pony”.
Pilots are.
Fuck ’em.
anon40
BTW-see post at 8:59 + at 9:08 the following:”Any of you lib fools type rated. Have an ATP. Maybe commercial rating?”
I say that’s a challenge!
Now, what say you?
Wow…that’s a blanket statement.
I personally know two pilots…
One flies corporate & charter jets. He’s been unemployed 9as a pilot) for the last 2 years. He’s also a B level Auto Technician & a small engine / small equipment repairman. Hardly a one-trick-pony.
The other is a commercial pilot & may well be “Jet jockey” himself. The guy I know is a master fabricator as well as a commercial pilot & he’s been building his own experimental airplane for the last 10 years or so. He lives off Shipley Rd, very close the the WSTW/WDEL studios.
I know of one other commercial jet pilot. He lives in Illinois & he has many talents. You can learn about him here. A multi-trick pony at the very least & I’d put good money on him being able to run virtually any machine you could put him in w/ minimal training.
As an Operator, you must know that some people have the “feel” for virtually any machine & some just don’t. I have a “competent” feel for most heavy equipment–I can get the job done, though it’s not my chosen field & I would never excel at operating. I can get the job done safely, but I can’t do it quickly enough to earn a decent living at it.
BTW, all 3 pilots I mentioned are politically conservative to one degree or another. They’re also good dude who you would have no problem hoisting a beverage with on a Friday night.
Skippertee–
I say it’s the rantings of an small-minded jackass.
I have a high school & trade school education. I don’t feel threatened when others who are more educated than me tout their credentials. One of two things will eventually happen:
1. I’ll learn something from them.
2. They will expose themselves as educated morons.
Education does not equal intelligence, though most educated people are intelligent. GWB being a prominent exception.
I work a blue collar job & I excel in it. That being the case, the rants of educated, arrogant jerks are easy to spot & don’t bother me.
Your points are well taken.
Except for our temperaments, we’re a lot alike.
I have been addressing my fault of going from calm to white-hot in an instant.
Republican airplanes are guided by the Invisible Hand.