"Blatant violations in air-traffic control towers; FAA investigation confirms reports by whistle-blowers" by Alan Levin | Bloomberg News, May 13, 2012
WASHINGTON - When midnight rolled around and flight traffic thinned out, air-traffic controllers guiding planes in the busiest US corridor whipped out laptops to watch movies, play games, or gamble online.
No porn-surfing?
Controllers on break inflated air mattresses and napped on the floor. Some left before their shifts were over. They cursed at managers, refused to train new controllers, and flouted rules requiring them to pass on weather advisories to pilots.
I'd be fired in a nano-second if I did those things at my $lave assignment.
“It was blatant and in your face,’’ Evan Seeley, a former manager in the Ronkonkoma, N.Y., tower who came forward last year, said in a phone interview last week.
Sort of like the propaganda and lies that appear in my morning paper every day.
Those and other allegations made by Seeley were corroborated by investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to reports released by the US Office of Special Counsel, an agency formed to help and protect whistle-blowers inside federal agencies.
Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner sent a letter last week to the White House and Congress detailing findings in Seeley’s case and six other verified whistle-blower complaints, saying the FAA and Department of Transportation were slow to address them or had not acted.
In New York, investigators found a facility in which FAA managers were unwilling or afraid to discipline controllers’ union members, the reports said.
Bad guy unions again.
Supervisors who tried to enforce the rules had their cars vandalized or were threatened. The result was widespread violations of rules that undermined safety, reviews by the special counsel and FAA found.
Seeley, who had worked in Fort Worth before coming to New York in February 2010, said he was shocked by what he saw.
“The advice from the seasoned front-line managers was: you keep your head in the sand,’’ he said.
The FAA has a higher rate of employees seeking whistle- blower protection than any other US agency, according to the special counsel office’s preliminary review.
“There did not seem to be the level or urgency that we thought many of these claims really deserved by the agency,’’ Lerner told reporters.
The New York case was an exception to Lerner’s concerns in one regard: As the FAA was rocked last year by disclosures that controllers were sleeping on the job across the United States, agency teams descended on the facility on Long Island. Within months, they had corroborated most of Seeley’s allegations.
On Sept. 6, the FAA replaced the facility’s top managers and brought in experienced supervisors from other locations to serve as mentors for the remaining staff.
“It is clear, given the number of Mr. Seeley’s allegations that were substantiated in this investigation, that significant corrective actions are required,’’ the FAA’s internal investigation found.
While Lerner said she was satisfied with the outcome, she noted in her letter that the response occurred after Seeley took his concerns to the media.
The FAA did not respond to questions for this story about specific complaints.
Maybe they were asleep.
--more--"
Related: FAA says controllers violating safety rules
Deadly private-plane crashes on the increase
Not doing their job, huh?
"A pilot had to be physically restrained after running through the cabin yelling about Jesus and Al Qaeda during a New York-to-Las Vegas flight in March. The lawsuit also claims he was “yelling about September 11th, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, and terrorists.’’
Thanks, MSM. Thanks for all the propaganda and garbage.
--more--"
So the guy fly Gulfstreams (wow, been fast and furious down there for years) and he suddenly wigged out?
More (a lot more): JetBlue pilot restrained by passengers
But they all sat by meekly in four planes on 9/11 when all the alleged hijackers on those alleged planes had where box cutters, yup. Even letting them take guns on board now, I hear.
Man, that conspiracy yarn is not wearing well with time at all.
Related: Lawyer says man who tried to open jet door on flight suffers from illness
Uh-huh.
Also see: Mossad's Manchurian Airline Passenger
And down the mouthpiece media memory hole it goes.
Do they serve drinks on this flight?
"Judge tosses ex-FAA head’s DUI case" Associated Press, May 11, 2012
FAIRFAX, Va. - A judge tossed out drunken driving charges against the former head of the Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday after seeing video of the traffic stop and ruling the officer had no legitimate reason to stop the driver.
Randy Babbitt, 65, resigned his post in December after his arrest became public.
Related: FAA Chief Grounded
At a trial Thursday, General District Judge Ian O’Flaherty dismissed the case after seeing video that showed Babbitt making what appeared to be a normal left turn into a parking lot, even though the officer had said that Babbitt had been driving on the wrong side of the road.
He didn't know who he was busting, did he?
O’Flaherty called the traffic stop a “hunch’’ and dismissed the case before prosecutors could even present evidence of Babbitt’s alleged intoxication.
I doubt they would have the same "hunch" to dismiss in our case, readers. Thank the Lord I don't drink (I guess).
Babbitt’s lawyer, Peter Greenspun, disputed the fact that Babbitt was intoxicated in the trial’s opening statement. He said the first breath test administered gave a result of .07, under the .08 legal limit.
Barely.
It was only subsequent breath tests that showed an intoxication level above .08, and Greenspun said police are not allowed to give multiple tests until they get a result they like.
We are going to keep doing this until we get the result we want, now BLOW!!!!!!!
After the case was dismissed, Babbitt told reporters he was glad to have the matter behind him and spoke graciously about the officer who arrested him.
“He certainly was acting in good faith,’’ Babbitt said of the officer.
By making a false accusation? Why don't you just lick his boots?
In an e-mailed statement, Babbitt said, “I am thrilled the charges against me have been dismissed at trial and I have been found not guilty.’’
Babbitt said he does not regret resigning and that he plans to work in aviation consulting.
For Chertoff Scanners and associates, or....?
Yup, and through the revolving door he goes (if he can walk a straight line, that is)!
Babbitt was arrested in the city of Fairfax after attending a Dec. 3 dinner party with friends. Several witnesses at the dinner party were prepared to testify that Babbitt drank two or three glasses of wine at the party over a period of nearly four hours and that none saw any noticeable impairment.
Look, I BEEN THROUGH the PROGRAM and ONE IMPAIRS YOU, period! It AFFECTS JUDGMENT and REACTION TIME -- at least, that is what I was told so long ago now.
Maybe things have changed since then. Be sure to let the kids know.
--more--"
And what could be more fun than molesting a 4-year-old, 'eh?
Related: Airport Perverts
F***ing sick.
Which reminds me, I gotta catch an early morning flight.
See: Americans Feeling the Touch of Fascism When Flying
I was wondering what that was grabbing at my crotch.
And what do you mean my bag is missing?
TSA, FAA, it's all fun times in the land of tyranny!
As a quick aside I went to post this and despite the draft form being spaced as I wanted it, the preview had it all bunched together and I had to reedit it again. Oh, I know, I know, it's the html code, blah, blah, blah, blah. Once is an error, twice.... sigh.
I must be doing REAL IMPORTANT WORK HERE for my HANDFUL of PITTANCE of VIEWS to provoke such dirty tricks!!
Updates: Air traffic controllers’ self-reporting faulted
FAA says 3 jets near Washington, D.C., were never on collision course
