A database of air safety issues maintained by NASA includes numerous accounts of mistakes by weary controllers, including one from a staffer in Southern California who instructed a plane to fly too low and attributed the error to being "extremely tired" after "continuous" overtime. The crash over Washington attracted so much attention in part because of the rarity of such accidents in the U.S.: It was the first fatal American commercial air disaster since 2009 and the worst since 2001. It's not a new question: The Clinton administration proposed privatization in 1995, only to back away in the face of opposition from corporate jet owners and private pilots, who pay almost nothing to use the current system.
Author: theweekonlineeditors@futurenet.com (The Week US) , The Week US
Published at: 2025-06-02 21:34:04
Still want to read the full version? Full article
