

How Air-Traffic Controllers Sound When They Have to Close the Airport - maxcan
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/03/how-air-traffic-controllers-sound-when-they-have-to-close-the-airport/386971/?single_page=true

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leriksen
I used to be an ATC (in Australia, 7 years), and there is definitely stress
there, but its like being in an insane asylum - you don't recognise that you,
and everyone else, is mad. There is also significant peer pressure to excel at
your job. Not just be good, but to competently handle everything that comes.
The regulations state that the purpose of ATC is to provide for the "safe,
orderly and expeditious operation of aircraft movements." They apply that
religiously, and in that exact order. Mistakes in even the simplest
procedure,or even phrasing of comms, are not tolerated. Mistakes are seen as
evidence of failure to cope with the stress, and result in operators being
swapped out ASAP.

I remember it took about 2-3 months, after I resigned, before I felt free of
the stress. I consider knowing how to recognise stress growing within me to be
the most valuable thing I took from that part of my career.

As an aside, it is possible there is a similiar mindset, or skillset amongst
controllers. I remember very clearly the selection process was very focused on
2 things

\- maths and logic

\- multitasking

The hardest test in the selection process was a combined map course plotting
task, where you had to accurately plot out a course of about 15-20 waypoints,
but every 60 seconds the examiner would read out a logic problem "if Jane
wears blue on Tuesdays and green on weekends, what would she wear on the day
before Monday ?" \- stuff like that. You had to focus on plotting, correctly,
as many map points as possible, AND correctly answer the puzzles being read
out. That was the most directly relevant skill to the actual job of being an
ATC, awareness of the task in front of you, and the ability to understand and
act on the 'buzz' going on around you. They select for people who can perform
accurately for multiple inputs, with time and cognition pressure. JM2CW

~~~
vishnugupta
Thank for providing these insights! I used to play a neat little terminal game
named "atc" in Linux (it's a part of "bsdgames") which I thought simulated air
traffic controller's job to a decent level of accuracy. It was fun to start
off with but I just couldn't cope up for more than 30 minutes. There were just
way too many variables to hold in my working memory. E.g., an incoming plan
that could potentially miss landing; a plane which is low on fuel, collisions
and what not!

Given the amount of stress levels I'd imagine ATC operators are rotated
frequently; say once every hour or so?

~~~
signa11
> I used to play a neat little terminal game named "atc" in Linux

there is a pretty cool "train control" game on ipad as well, where you guide
trains across a bunch of crisscrossing train-lines. you control the lights at
these intersections etc., overall game-play has a let's-solve-this-puzzle kind
of feel, using minimal number of stoppages for all the trains etc. pretty nice
overall...

~~~
ZoFreX
I don't suppose you remember the name of that game? It sounds fun...

~~~
signa11
here is the game i was talking about: [https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/train-
control/id888290929?mt...](https://itunes.apple.com/in/app/train-
control/id888290929?mt=8)

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sfeng
There is a fundamental nature to aviation which I experience as a pilot, but
is also very true for controllers. Planes can't just stop. If you decide
you're in a bad situation, or overloaded, or just can't cope, there is no
reset button. You have to get the planes onto the ground, one by one, over the
minutes or hours it takes. This need breeds a sort of trance-like calm in
successful controllers, even in the most stressful conditions.

~~~
sharkweek
Every time my stress has gotten really bad over any number of things
(certainly none as critical as a plane's safe landing of course), at a certain
point it does seem like a mental defense to just semi-accept that BEING
stressed isn't going to help and things turn into a very calming feeling of
"ok break this down as reasonably as possible and start fixing the problem"

~~~
brandon272
If I am by myself I find it fairly simple to "turn off" my stress and focus on
the task at hand, employing the same rationale that you mention: being
stressed isn't helping anything so let's focus our energies on fixing this
problem.

One of the biggest obstacles I find in a working environment, however, is
other people's stress. If someone is relying on me to fix a problem and they
are very clearly stressed out about it, I find that their stress can impact me
greatly. There is also the aspect that if I am able to be calm and focused
during the stressful situation, while they are clearly stressed, it can be
perceived as me lacking concern or having a blasé attitude toward the problem
at hand, in comparison.

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9i9i9i9i
Similar recording of the BA crash at Heathrow. I am always impressed how
professional they do things:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCK62U6Fob0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCK62U6Fob0)

Another one of an engine failure at Manchester - the response of the ATC
within 1 second of the mayday call is plain amazing:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhZwsYtNDE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KhZwsYtNDE)

~~~
gort
Slightly better audio of the Heathrow incident at:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcGA3vRwzuE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcGA3vRwzuE)

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adam
I had an opportunity to visit the Chicago regional center a few years ago to
meet some of the controllers and learn how their systems work. Everything
about the space is meant to keep these guys calm and focused on their job. It
literally feels like being in a bit of a cocoon. Dark lighting, very large
screens at each workstation, some physical controllers to quickly modify their
on screen views. Their training also focuses quite a bit on constant recall of
what they're looking at (in the event their systems suddenly die, they need to
always know what planes are in their sequence and where generally they are)
and of course stress management.

I'm glad The Atlantic has highlighted ATC in this instance. They are
definitely an under-appreciated workforce.

~~~
rl3
_> Their training also focuses quite a bit on constant recall of what they're
looking at (in the event their systems suddenly die, they need to always know
what planes are in their sequence and where generally they are) ..._

That seems brutal. Wonder why they don't do something like a continuous print
instead.

~~~
jkaljundi
Many ATC facilities do use backup printers for the good old flight progress
strips. Basically a continuous roll of strips coming from the printer that
usually goes directly into a garbage bin.

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jtchang
Being able to deal with a stressful situation calmly is a mark of solid
training and a work culture that emphasizes level headedness.

In addition to training though I wonder if those working in ATC all share
similar personality types.

~~~
noobermin
I think what is impressive is not just their ability to maintain their
composure but how readily they enter "emergency mode" from what was most
likely a boring, normal day. Their ability to context switch AND maintain a
level-head through it and afterwards is commendable.

~~~
ubernostrum
Well, there are multiple levels here.

One very important one is the ability, when the tower is told "runway 13 is
closed" with just very bare-bones information, to just accept that and start
doing what needs to be done to close it down. The human tendency is to want to
know more about what's happening, what needs to be done down on the ground,
the condition of the aircraft and the passengers and crew, etc., but the
trained-in response is to automatically trust that _someone else is taking
care of that, so stop thinking about it and do your job_.

So the controller goes immediately from talking to the car that reported the
crash, to issuing go-around orders, not knowing how bad the crash is, how long
it's going to take to clear up, just trusting that "OK, I handle the planes
that are still in the air, they'll handle the one on the ground".

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omegote
Those of you who have english as your first language, do you clearly
understand everything they say? Goddammit, I was barely able to understand the
number 1999 for the first flight mentioned in the article...

~~~
lisper
Even native English speakers have trouble understanding ATC comms. The sound
quality is poor and it's a very specialized vocabulary. But with practice it
becomes much eaier because there is a very limited repertoire of things that
the controller is likely to say, and once you know what those are it becomes a
lot easier to decipher.

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tootie
I just listened to the audio of US Airways 1549 today. Sullenberger reports
both engines out like he just told his wife they're out of milk. I guess the
training works.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549)

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obituary_latte
Very cool article and job well done by liveatc. Cool service that works well
especially in these types of situations. Inspiring to be able to hear these
professionals keep their cool under duress.

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dhimes
I flew into LaGuardia from Knoxville last Sunday. A plane ahead of us landed
safely but reported that the runway was slick. They closed the airport to take
care of it while we were in a holding pattern for 20 min or so (in
clouds/fog). Then we approached LaGuardia again only to be put into a holding
pattern again.

Although circling in zero vis was unsettling (I was a passenger on a
UsAir/American flight- I am not a pilot), the calls very well may have saved
my life.

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marban
TDIL: Air controllers would probably make great consultants for many startups.

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yread
there is a detailed report of the accident on the excellent
[http://avherald.com/h?article=482b659f&opt=0](http://avherald.com/h?article=482b659f&opt=0)

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grendelt
Pedantic alert: ATCs don't close the airport. They can take a runway out of
service, but they can't close the airport, that's the airport authority's job.

~~~
teraflop
Less pedantically, I thought it was interesting that the call to close the
airport came directly from "Car 100" aka the ground crew. No stopping to
report the incident to superiors or waiting for confirmation about what to do.
The guy on the scene just says "OK, airport's closed now" and ATC immediately
makes it happen.

That's pretty impressive in its own right, from an organizational point of
view.

~~~
belovedeagle
I thought the same exact thing. I wonder if maybe it's a trick of the audio
(someone else actually came on the line), or if that was actually what
happened. It was pretty surreal if so, just like you said.

~~~
jon-wood
It sounds similar to manufacturing's authorisation for anybody to stop the
line in the case of defects - its better to delay things for a short while and
make sure everything is ok than it is to compound the problem by letting
things continue. I imagine in the case of an airport with a plane stuck on the
active runway this is even more the case, since the problem can quickly
escalate into hundreds of people dying.

~~~
mikeash
My glider club just had our annual safety meeting, and one of the things we
repeat every year is that it doesn't matter how new or inexperienced you are,
if you see something that looks unsafe, call it out or put a stop to things if
you think it's necessary. Doesn't matter if it's your first day at the
airport, speak up.

I imagine the same thing would be true here. If you think the airport needs to
be closed, then close the airport. Doesn't matter if you just got hired five
minutes ago for the lowest position in the whole place, if you think the
airport is no longer safe then shut it down.

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thoughtpalette
I can't help but be reminded of Die Hard 2.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard_2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard_2)

~~~
gohrt
More like Pushing Tin, a movie about ATC
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120797/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120797/)

