Child directed planes at JFK airport

[Chuckt]

I brought it up at a baptism party today. My dad seems to think the FAA lifted their license but this is unconfirmed and there isn't a news article on it.

It isn't like they went to the bathroom and left the kids in charge.

There were some older ones who think that the FAA shouldn't give someone a second chance because they're dealing with lives and if there was an emergency, the kids have the microphone.

When I went to grade school in the 70's, there were class mates of mine who asked the stewardess if they could visit the cabin and in those days you could if the pilot gave permission and it usually wasn't when they were ascending, descending, having turbulance or landing. Some of them actually got to sit in the cockpit and ask questions. Wouldn't that be considered a distraction in view of the current incident? If it was allowed back then and if it wasn't wrong back then, why now?

I know a pilot who is retired from his regular non-flying job and he said he doesn't enjoy flying because it is more regulated than it use to be. I remember seeing airplanes fly around my house a lot but after 9-11 that all stopped. I'm not a pilot but from what I understand (and maybe the rules change) you have to file a flight plan and you can't go sight seeing anymore.

[DeaconDan]

They were controlling air traffic. They were in control. They were in the tower. They knew what was going on. They told the children what to say and the children said it. How were they not controlling air traffic?

I think it is a serious issue but I think the FAA is making it out to be more than it is.

It is silly to say these children were controlling traffic. They were only repeating what they were told and they were repeating it under the full supervision of the air traffic controller. What danger do you imagine was created here? "Oh my G**! The kid said 'clear for takeoff'!!! He was suppose to say 'hold your position'. Oh G**, before I can say 'Stop! Stop!' the jet will have accelerated into another jet and... oh the humanity..."

[Chuckt]

They have rules and you can get prosecuted for not following the rules. You can spend $2,500 to $5,000 just getting a private pilot's license and another $2,500 might get you an instrument rating. They can take it away just like that.

Air traffic controllers can be mean. A lot of airports have at least two runways. If you look on a map, they look like "X". It is easy to confuse one "X" with another "X". I was in the air (I'm not a pilot) with a pilot who was talking to one tower to land and the pilot was trying to land at a different airport. The air traffic controller got mad because I heard him on the radio and I'm sure he wrote the pilot up. In those days, they granted amnesty by allowing you to report stuff to a safety board and they would do it to allow you to escape prosecution one time in exchange for improving safety. From what I last heard, they stopped that program. What you had were pilots reporting everything.

I have a few stories as I could have died in the air.

They kind of remind me of security guards that I had to deal with. Unless they absolutely know for sure, they aren't letting you in. In the same way, they don't know what effect having a child in the air-traffic control room will have so they go for zero tolerance because there are thousands of lives up in the air.