Over the last few weeks there were many close-calls in the sky.
It started with a Boeing airplane losing a portion of its ceiling in midair. Then, our attention was directed to the pilots who had to land their good planes on their own while the exhausted air traffic controllers dozed off in the towers. And recently, millions of us saw an oversized aircraft side swiped a smaller commuter jet on the runway.
Luckily none of these mishaps had caused any fatalities. But these worrisome incidents, particularly the weary air traffic controllers, can bring fatal consequences. They are also wake-up calls, no pun intended, to the sleepy sky cops who had to work many shifts straight. I have since learned there were six or seven similar incidents reported so far this year. One of the offenders was on his fourth consecutive shift. Clearly this scheduling practice defies common sense. No average healthy individuals have enough stamina to work productively say a couple of eight-hour shifts continuously. In addition, we all know sleep deprivation can cause devastating harms to us both physically and mentally.
To the sleepers on the job, they, whatever their jobs are, have my personal sympathy for having to work long hours in one sitting. This practice of extending working hours can certainly undermine public safety. It also borders on slavery. So the governments are making new laws that do not allow air traffic controllers work consecutive shifts. Except I think, the law makers should also look into the scheduling practices of other service-based industries. I do not think air traffic controller is the only profession that requires working unreasonably long and uninterrupted shifts. - Ayee
It started with a Boeing airplane losing a portion of its ceiling in midair. Then, our attention was directed to the pilots who had to land their good planes on their own while the exhausted air traffic controllers dozed off in the towers. And recently, millions of us saw an oversized aircraft side swiped a smaller commuter jet on the runway.
Luckily none of these mishaps had caused any fatalities. But these worrisome incidents, particularly the weary air traffic controllers, can bring fatal consequences. They are also wake-up calls, no pun intended, to the sleepy sky cops who had to work many shifts straight. I have since learned there were six or seven similar incidents reported so far this year. One of the offenders was on his fourth consecutive shift. Clearly this scheduling practice defies common sense. No average healthy individuals have enough stamina to work productively say a couple of eight-hour shifts continuously. In addition, we all know sleep deprivation can cause devastating harms to us both physically and mentally.
To the sleepers on the job, they, whatever their jobs are, have my personal sympathy for having to work long hours in one sitting. This practice of extending working hours can certainly undermine public safety. It also borders on slavery. So the governments are making new laws that do not allow air traffic controllers work consecutive shifts. Except I think, the law makers should also look into the scheduling practices of other service-based industries. I do not think air traffic controller is the only profession that requires working unreasonably long and uninterrupted shifts. - Ayee
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