The Federal Aviation Administration last month reached a settlement with air traffic controller Peter Nesbitt, who charged that he was retaliated against for warning that a takeoff and landing procedure in Memphis, Tenn., had led to near midair collisions. Leslie Williamson, spokeswoman for the federal agency that investigates whistleblower complaints, told the Associated Press that Nesbitt will be allowed to return to air traffic control duties and transferred to Austin, Texas, at the same salary. The FAA will also pay his relocation and legal expenses.
Nesbitt's case was one of many instances recently where FAA employees voiced concerns about safety issues. A National Public Radio story from last June reported a huge increase in the number of safety complaints by FAA employees --- 32 in the first few months of 2008 alone, compared to a third of that during all of 2007. While the FAA received some praise for implementing new systems for reporting and responding to safety issues, it is also accused of looking the other way when supervisors retaliated against those who spoke out.
Nesbitt told NPR that he was bothered by the policy of using all four runways for landing when the Memphis International Airport got a big push of inbound traffic. As reporter Wade Goodwyn told the story:
Nesbitt thought this was an invitation to disaster.
"When I saw the operation, I asked some of my peers and supervisors, 'Hey, what's up with this procedure, this looks kinda scary,' " Nesbitt says.
Imagine three parallel runways next to one another like rows of corn. The fourth runway at Memphis International runs across the end. If all the landings go as planned, there is no problem because the plane landing on the fourth runway is already on the ground as the other planes pass overhead on approach. But if the plane landing on the crossing runway has a problem and needs to execute what is called a "go around," then its flight path could take it directly into the flight path of the other planes.
This occasionally happens at Memphis. Last year, in fact, a Northwest Airlines DC-9 aircraft almost collided in midair with a commuter plane while Nesbitt watched from the control tower.
Nesbitt said managers told the controllers that the airport had a special waiver from the FAA to land planes this way. When they asked to see the waiver, they were told it was kept in Atlanta and they didn't need to worry about it. Nesbitt felt otherwise and filed reports with the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Federal investigators found that Memphis International did not have a waiver to use that landing procedure and the FAA ordered it stopped immediately. But pressure from airport officials and FedEx, whose operations are based in Memphis, caused managers to continue the practice until Nesbitt again reported them to the FAA.
Retaliation was quick, Nesbitt told NPR. Managers in Memphis decertified him for alleged performance issues -- effectively ending the 17-year veteran's career as an air traffic controller.
"It's been excruciating," Nesbitt said. "It's been disturbing. I've tried to do the right thing and enhance safety, and I've paid the price."
Not alone
Nesbitt is not alone among FAA employees who say they were retaliated against when they became whistle-blowers. In May 2008, The Washington Post reported that another FAA employee, Mike Cole, filed whistleblower complaints with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel over a procedure used at an airport in Juneau, Alaska, that would clear pilots to take off and then close their facility for the night.
Washington Post writer Del Quentin Wilber wrote:
Cole worked in a flight service station that issues weather briefings and files flight plans for pilots, and he was concerned that planes might take off later than scheduled, and their pilots would not know whether other aircraft were heading to the airport. Such an error could result in a collision, he said.
"Juneau Air Traffic Control Tower is playing dodge ball" with the airlines, Cole said.
Several times, Cole said, he stopped pilots from taking off because he learned another plane was about to land. He reported the problems to his bosses but did not get anywhere with it, he said. In December, he filed a complaint with the FAA's safety hot line service.
His manager decertified him for mental health reasons, saying that his concerns were nothing but paranoia and delusion.
Going Forward
These stories provide even more evidence that strong whistleblower protections are needed in order to keep the American public safe. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up and do what is right in the face of retaliation that could end one's career. Very few of us have ever been in the position of choosing between protecting one's own personal welfare or the welfare of countless others. We would all like to believe that we would do the right thing, but even those who did make that choice admit it was extremely difficult.
Anne Whiteman, a controller who first blew the whistle about problems at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport 10 years ago told NPR: "I used to say I would do it again; [now I'm] not so sure... I'll never be the same ole Annie again. They've changed me in many ways. But I do have my pride. I do have a sense that I did the right thing, but I have a whole lot of sadness that I don't think I would have ever had."
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