‘I really believed that I wouldn’t survive this flight’

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) held its annual Communicating for Safety conference in Las Vegas in September. Controllers from across the country met for three days of safety education, including new training techniques and equipment, keynotes, motivational speakers, breakout sessions, and award presentations.

NATCA represents about 15,000 air traffic controllers, who have been under pressure on numerous fronts since the high-profile midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in January between a U.S. Army helicopter and a commercial airliner. Some of the issues controllers are dealing with are fatigue, aging, physical infrastructure, outdated technologies, and severe staffing shortages.

“What’s the most pressing issue? All of them,” NATCA President Nick Daniels told the controllers. “You shouldn’t have better tech in your house than in your ATC facility.”

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford also addressed the convention, pointing out to participants that the recent $12.5 billion allocation in the new budget recently passed by Congress will be an initial down payment toward alleviating some of the most pressing problems.

He noted that the midair collision that took 67 lives on January 29 “transformed all of us [and] shook us out of the complacency that we had.”

“Every week, 700 little things are breaking in the national airspace system,” he said. “There is tremendous redundancy, but when you are leaning into the third and fourth layer of redundancy, that’s a red flag.”

At the end of the three-day conference, NATCA celebrated its own. The Archie League Medal of Safety Awards, named for the first air traffic controller, recognize standout “saves” from each NATCA region. The awards were given for the twenty-first time this year and were chosen from 64 nominations to the selection committee.

Daniels said the air traffic controllers being honored exemplify the “professionalism, collaboration and dedication of controllers across the country,” and noted that each “save” prevented a potential catastrophe and loss of life.

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