Control tower supervisor suspended at National
The control tower supervisor who failed to respond to two planes trying to land at Reagan National Airport Wednesday has been suspended while the incident is investigated, the nation’s top aviation safety official said.
FAA administrator Randy Babbitt, himself a former airline pilot, said he was “personally outraged that this controller did not meet his responsibility to land these two airplanes.”
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The tower normally is staffed by one air-traffic controller from midnight to 6 a.m. The Associated Press, citing an aviation official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said the supervisor who was on duty simply fell asleep.