A few days after an overworked air traffic controller at Washington National Airport fell asleep in the tower, it emerged that Reno-Tahoe International Airport was one of seven other airports where there was only one controller on night shift. After briefly putting a second person in the tower overnight at Reno, the FAA went back to one a few days later. Well, that setup almost proved costly this morning.
A medical flight landed safely early today at Reno Tahoe International Airport after the pilot failed to make contact with the air traffic control tower.
Krys Bart, CEO of the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority, said at a news conference today that the Piper Cheyenne plane twin engine turboprop carrying a sick person landed at about 2 a.m. The plane was out of communication with the tower for about 16 minutes, officials from the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The pilot ultimately landed after checking conditions on the ground. Once again, the FAA put saving money over protecting our skies--and this time it could have been tragic.
The FAA and the USDOT are in full damage control mode over this. Effective immediately, one-man shifts at 27 control towers have ended. It'll be pretty interesting to find out where those 27 airports were.