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**AblemTee** · 08-14-2009, 08:21 PM

Flight controllers suspended over NY midair collision

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

NEW YORK — An air traffic controller has been suspended, along with a supervisor, for chatting on the telephone during a fatal collision between a helicopter and a small airplane over New York last weekend, authorities said Friday.

"We learned that the controller handling the Piper flight was involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident," the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said in a statement.

The controller and the supervisor, who broke the rules by being absent from the building, have been placed on administrative leave, the statement said.

The FAA said it had "no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident."

However, "this kind of conduct is unacceptable."

Nine people, including five Italian tourists, died August 8 when a sight-seeing helicopter collided with a Piper single-engine private aircraft over the Hudson River.

It was the first fatal crash in the highly congested New York airspace since October 11, 2006, when two people died after flying a light plane into a skyscraper on Manhattan.

In January an Airbus jet operated by US Airways lost power shortly after take-off and crash landed in the Hudson without loss of life.

Copyright © 2009 AFP.

Video of collision

08-14-2009, 08:21 PM	#1
AblemTee Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 448 Senior Member	Flight controllers suspended over NY midair collision (AFP) – 2 hours ago NEW YORK — An air traffic controller has been suspended, along with a supervisor, for chatting on the telephone during a fatal collision between a helicopter and a small airplane over New York last weekend, authorities said Friday. "We learned that the controller handling the Piper flight was involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident," the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said in a statement. The controller and the supervisor, who broke the rules by being absent from the building, have been placed on administrative leave, the statement said. The FAA said it had "no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident." However, "this kind of conduct is unacceptable." Nine people, including five Italian tourists, died August 8 when a sight-seeing helicopter collided with a Piper single-engine private aircraft over the Hudson River. It was the first fatal crash in the highly congested New York airspace since October 11, 2006, when two people died after flying a light plane into a skyscraper on Manhattan. In January an Airbus jet operated by US Airways lost power shortly after take-off and crash landed in the Hudson without loss of life. Copyright © 2009 AFP. Video of collision
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