Last week, the big aviation gaffe was the revelation that a JFK controller allowed his children to speak over the radio. Much was written about it and most pilots would agree, the act of a child speaking over the radio was not unsafe. My first reaction was that this was much ado about nothing. But then I realized, having a controller’s child in the tower cab could have created a distraction that might have led to an incident, or as controllers call it “a deal.”

right to focus on professionalism, and I’ll talk in a moment about just what that is. In my opinion, the controllers and supervisor involved in the JFK incident should not be fired. Perhaps a reprimand is appropriate, but let’s get them back to work and focus on more serious breaches of professionalism.

While the FAA controller story got worldwide attention, here are two stories this week that have flown under the radar, but which were far more serious. If someone needs to get fired for a breach in professionalism, the people involved in these stories are much better candidates.

Cops Shoot Out Airliner Window

In the more serious of the two incidents, an Air Austral Boeing 777-300 parked on Reunion Island, just off the coast of Madagascar, was being used by the local police force for a training exercise. They were simulating a rescue of hostages after a hijacking of the aircraft. According to AvHerald.com, “The police forces attempting to free the hostages brought stairs to the right hand front door, got up the stairs and opened the door for a surprise attack. But one of the policemen had live bullets instead of blank cartridges in his gun when he stormed the aircraft, and thus shot through the window of the left hand front entrance with the bullet going through all panes of the window. Nobody was injured.

“The airplane however had to remain on the ground to have that window replaced and therefore could not perform its scheduled flight UU-975 to Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) scheduled to depart in the evening. Air Austral instead dispatched a Boeing 777-200 registration F-OMAY, which however could not accommodate all booked passengers, so that a number had to be rebooked onto other flights.”

Recently, I witnessed the SWAT team in a major city practice breaching an airliner. The photo accompanying this post is one I took with my phone while watching. What impressed me most was not the breach, but the inspection of SWAT team members just prior to the exercise. A supervisor checked each officer’s gear for proper fit and attachment and weapons were checked for ammunition. They exhibited exacting attention to detail, unlike the police force on Reunion Island.

ATC Tower Left Unstaffed – Plane Diverted

In another inexcusable lapse of professionalism, a Ryanair 737-800 with 150 passengers aboard was diverted from its scheduled landing at Leipzig/Altenburg (Germany) because contact could not be made with the tower. The plane landed instead at Berlin’s Schoenefeld airport, where passengers were bussed to their destination.

Again, according to AvHearld.com, “The ‘Tower Company’ responsible for providing air traffic control services at Altenburg Airport said, that there had been a misunderstanding with an unclear duty roster, so that the tower controller scheduled to be on duty did not turn up for work. Another controller became available only 2.5 hours later. An internal inquiry has been launched.”

Apparently in Germany, when a tower is closed it becomes Class G airspace. All airline flights are conducted under IFR, and in Germany, airliners are apparently not permitted to fly IFR in Class G airspace.

At quick check of Ryanair’s schedule shows that Flight 8926 is scheduled to arrive just after noon each day. I cannot imagine any FAA employee ever leaving a tower unstaffed if the next person didn’t show up. Apparently the standard for professionalism is a little different at Atlenburg.

Professionalism

So what is professionalism? David Maister in his book TRUE PROFESSIONALISM says “Real professionalism has little, if anything, to do with which business you are in, what role within that business you perform, or how many degrees you have. Rather it implies a pride in work, a commitment to quality, a dedication to the interests of the client, and a sincere desire to help.” Elsewhere he says it’s “believing passionately in what you do, never compromising your standards and values, and caring about your clients, your people, and your own career."

Finally, “Real professionalism is about attitudes, and perhaps even about character”….yet… “most firms hiring processes are about educational qualifications and technical skills.”

I can only think of one FAA controller I ever encountered who was consistently unprofessional. Fortunately, the FAA realized that too. It took years, but eventually he was moved out of his job and no longer works for the FAA.

The JFK incident was a lapse in what I’m sure is otherwise very professional work at JFK. Let’s get those controllers back to work and focus on more serious lapses in professionalism. Speaking of which, as I finish this article, I see that a small plane violated Washington D.C. airspace and was forced to land at Frederick, MD last night. Two days ago, the same thing happened and an aircraft was forced to land at Roanoke. What do you think of these pilots and their professionalism?