It must take a special breed to be an air traffic controller. Air 201 Kilo, we have an engine on fire. Oh my god, there's an engine on fire.
In the past year, there have been a handful of incidents where planes nearly collided. Near-collision involving two passenger jets. Known as one of the most stressful jobs, air traffic controllers work to keep our skies safe in one of the world's most high stakes environments. This week on Challenge Accepted, I am here in Oklahoma at the FAA Academy to get a small glimpse into what it takes to be an air traffic controller.
As someone who is a frequent flyer myself, I admittedly have never really thought too much about what actually happens inside the tower at an airport. So this week, I am here to see what it takes to be one of the incredibly brave men and women who keep us safe in the sky. Let's go. This is so cool.
This is so exciting to be here. Today, Michelle is going to get to experience something that not many people across the nation get to experience. She is going to visit a live air traffic control tower as operations are occurring. I am so excited to be here. but I never really knew what happens inside this tower.
I hear a lot of people saying what sounds like very important things, but what is going on in here? These two positions are ground control to control the taxiways, and then we've got a load control. that works everybody from the runways out, five miles out for this airspace, and up to 5,000 feet.
So the ground controller controls all the planes where they're taxiing around. Correct, yes. And then local control takes them from the runway up to five miles. miles radius of the airport?
Correct, and at the 5,000 feet. Is someone taking over now? There it is.
Local controller would have just coordinated that. They're the ones that say, cleared for takeoff, cleared to land. He says, cleared for takeoff?
Yes.. That's really cool. As an air traffic controller, it's very important that we are on our A game 100% of the time.
The decisions that we make on a daily basis can have very real consequences on a lot of people's lives. Local air traffic in. controller helps save the life of a pilot when his plane suffered a malfunction. Now to a dramatic emergency landing. Watch as this FedEx plane touches down without its front landing gear.
I would say hats off to the air traffic controller on duty. What's remarkable is you hear that controller still juggling other aircraft. Thankfully, everybody on board survived.
To avoid potential disaster, it's up to the air traffic controller to assign each plane the correct traffic pattern. And controllers have been learning how to do this at the FAA Academy. here in Oklahoma City since the 60s. Two years of the most intensive training you can imagine, including periods of special training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. In the 60s, these skills were learned through running dozens of simulations with miniatures.
And surprisingly, those very simulations are still used today. Okay, Michelle, so welcome to our tabletop lab. This is basically a mini version of what you would experience in a real tower. Yes.
Next to you, we have... We have Mowry, she is going to be your ground controller. And then out on the floor we have our team that are going to be the pilots for you. Our tabletop labs may seem low tech, it's like playing with toy planes, but it is a very important learning step for our students who have never worked in the aviation industry. So during this, as I'm directing the pilots, if I make a mistake, will that play out in front of us?
It'll play out and we'll see what happens with your decisions. Okay, alpha, bravo, Charlie. Yes, Alpha Bravo Charlie. We'll get you there.
Don't worry. Okay, we're good. Let's start.
Academy Tower, Cessna 172 Papa Tango, over McDonald's Bridge, inbound information, Alpha. So we have a Cessna 172 Papa Tango, which is a VFR aircraft. Academy Tower, Cessna 172 Papa Tango, we are on information, Alpha. Oh, this is another plane coming. As the local controller for this simulation, I have three primary responsibilities.
The first is coordinating the landing of all inbound planes to make sure that they don't collide. We're gonna give them a pattern entry. Pattern entry?
Yes. So we're telling them how to get on the runway? Yes, we're going to tell them how to get to the runway.
In aviation, there are five common traffic patterns used to organize the flow of aircraft around an airport. Upwind leg, crosswind leg, downwind leg, base leg, and final approach. And it's a controller's job to choose the right pattern for the situation.
They're gonna go like this and then they're gonna turn around. I'm sorry, Duane, but there's a KLM plane about the way. There is.
We need to tell them what to do. What you're going to do is you're going to talk to the aircraft first, the aircraft identification, and you identify yourself, and then you make your transmission. So what I would say right now— Oh, my God, they're still moving.
They are still moving. They're walking towards us. Okay.
Cessna 172 Papatingo, Academy. ...Tower, enter. Left base.
Left base. Runway 28L. Runway 28L. Session 172, Papa Tango, roger.
We'll enter the left base, runway 28L. KLM 791, Academy Tower. Runway 28 right, clear to land.
Clear to land, or wait to turn right. I like those. Those are easy.
Bring it on! Who's next? Ross, runway 16 at Bravo. My second responsibility is...
working with the ground controller to manage all the ground traffic like planes that are taxiing or trying to cross a runway. Oh my god so you're trying to have a plane cross a stream and there's a plane landing and we have to manage both of those simultaneously. Yes.
What we're looking at for the runway crossing is do you have an airplane that you're using on runway 1634 which is your crossing runway? Not right now. Okay.
Cross runway 16 at taxiway Bravo in case. That means they're no longer on your frequency? Oh good. I don't want to deal with them anymore.
Okay. Okay. So we landed a plane. Runway 16 cross complete.
M-K. Now let's go back to our Cessna. Cessna 2, Papa Tango, runway 28 left, clear to land. Okay.
Cessna 172, Papa Tango, 28 left. Let's go! Clear to land.
Cessna 2, Papa Tango, thank you, runway 28 left. Yes! Thank God! You got two onto the runway.
Yes! There's a lot for us to talk about now. The third and final responsibility is helping planes line up for departure and getting them up in the air. And all three of these responsibilities need to be managed, at the exact same time. Ah!
So, American... He's like a whore, but we threw three planes in his time. Okay.
American 211, Academy Tower, runway 28 right, cleared to land. American 211 is cleared to land, runway 28 right. Okay, so while we're at it, let's get our Baron cleared to land. Baron, 407, we have a Yankee. Academy Tower, runway 28 left.
Clear to land. 37, leave me 8. You're on way 28 left. Clear to land.
So where can they land it? Yay! Yes, yes. OK.
Cleared for departure. FedEx 167 heavy with you. FedEx?
OK. I knew it. I had a feeling.
So they're going to come in on the right. Correct. They should be cleared. FedEx 167 heavy is cleared to land on way 28 right now.
Oh, god. Now this person. Bonanza 36, Bravo, Echo, cross run up.
Don't do that. I'm on my way. I almost had them cross into the FedEx plane.
4 Academy Tower, Cherokee 7643 Kilo with you over Riverside. Cherokee 7643... Hapa? Kilo.
Kilo. Uh... Clear to land.
Be a serve. You're a controller. Okay. Twin Cessna 0 Sierra Uniform, left bay. Wait, how do I cancel that one?
He's there sooner. Oh my god. Oh my god, I have two people trying to land at the same time. Princess Nara...
Cancel. We just keep coming! We just keep coming! We just keep coming!
We keep spawning! We keep spawning! Guys, we're gonna stop the scenario.
Guys, we're gonna stop the scenario. Oh! If I was grading this as an evaluator for your final scenario, that would have been a pretty low score.
There were a lot of things that you said incorrectly, didn't follow through with everything you needed to do, and just some procedural things. You're definitely progressing, definitely not working. we want to be for that final challenge. Okay, cool.
Copy that. When we went to the Will Rogers Tower, it was amazing their ability to listen and multitask. Absolutely.
Which is something I clearly need to work on. but you were the most polite controller. That is true.
You were very nice. Really? You said a lot of please.
We don't usually get that. There's times when you felt like saying, please go away. You, you would just spawn another big commercial jet out of nowhere. You're going to have nightmares about this, aren't you? I just wanted you to hear that even though you are up there and so much is going on, this is normal for this stage of training.
Everybody can be absolutely busy as possibly can be, but if you. When one controller says something that doesn't sound quite right, the entire room will go silent and everybody will turn and look at that controller until they fix what they said. And then we go right back to working our traffic.
We look after one another. Wow. There is a really good team dynamic. It's kind of like being a big family. And I know it's kind of cliche, but it really feels like it.
And that team doesn't end there. Unlike the local and ground controllers who work in the towers, there are also area controllers who work in darkened radar rooms like this one. super high tech we're in a bunker here The aesthetic of this room is pretty much straight out of the Death Star.
It really is. You do get that feeling of all the equipment and machinery. Area controllers are often stationed between airports, typically communicating with the pilots at higher altitudes en route on their journey.
Are these lines basically the highways of the sky? Correct. So we can see visually very quickly if a pilot is on course or not. So while we're enjoying our snacks and ginger ales in the plane, the pilot is talking to this person in the plane.
this chair. Correct. There are some people who say that this is the most stressful job in the world. Is that something you agree with? There's definitely stress in this job, don't get me wrong, there definitely is, but what I found is that even though there was all that stress, once I got certified I felt a lot better.
The job can be stressful at times and the more aircraft you have at one time and the harder it gets, the more stress that can occur during those situations. Many controllers complain they're exhausted, working mandatory overtime and alternating between between day and overnight shifts. This legislation also includes support staffing and training for air traffic controllers for the first time in decades. We are definitely supportive of all the legislation that we've been seeing lately that is giving the agency what we need so that we can make sure our controllers are getting the rest and recuperation that they need. After months of painstaking work, the FAA reauthorization is passing the Senate today.
So critical because right now we need more air traffic controllers and we need them. to be rested on the job. We're one of those unsung people. Not many people know what we do.
There are lives at stake every day, and we continue to try to make that even safer every single day while taking care of our employees. For Michelle's final challenge, she is going to be working a 30 minute simulation scenario while she has an emergency inbound that she will have to deal with and make decisions on what her priority is going to be. So Michelle, welcome to your final challenge. This is so cool!
So is this a 3D rendering of the tabletop simulator we had yesterday? So it's the same airport? Correct. It's the same airport.
Everything is in the same place. You are going to have a voice recognition system. There will be automated pilots talking to you.
When you talk, the computer is going to talk back to you. So this simulator is going to be just as unforgiving as reality. Correct.
It will. Just like a day at the airport? Just like a day at the airport. Ready?
Let's do it. I see a plane. Academy Tower, United 433, heavy over Woody. United 433, Academy Tower, runway 28R, clear to land.
Academy Tower, United 433 heavy, clear to land, runway 28R. Academy Tower, Malibu 422, Tango Papa, over McDonald's Bridge. Malibu 422 Papa Tango Academy Tower enter left downwind Requesting to touch and goes followed by a full stop now before to to tango Papa Malibu to Papa Tango cleared runway 28 left touch and go cross runway 16 at hotel. Oh, oh cross runway 16 at hotel Academy Tower, Southwest 858 ready for departure runway 23R. Someone waiting to take off.
Southwest Airlines 858 cleared for takeoff. Southwest 858, takeoff. OK, good. They're coming in for their touch and go.
taking off got two people in line okay I think this is going well so far don't write anything down it's going so great Tower King Air 2-0 with Kilo we have an engine on fire there's an engine on fire Michelle. Say again, King Air? King Air, two zero whiskey kilo, we're three miles from you, inbound, we have an engine on fire. Tower, Cherokee, Delta Sierra, short final runway 28 left.
Cherokee 8, Delta Sierra, Academy Tower, runway 28 left, clear to land. King Air, two zero whiskey kilo, how many souls on board? King Air, two zero whiskey kilo, we have four souls on board. King Air, two zero whiskey kilo, fuel level? We have two hours of fuel.
King Air, 20 Whiskey Kilo. Tower, this is 531 Victor Kilo, ready for departure runway 16. There's so much happening. Uh, King...
King Air, 20 Whiskey Kilo, which landing runway? We're in line for... Runway 28 left, King Air 20 Whiskey Kilo. Oh my God.
Oh my God, then I need to move the other guy. King Air 20 Whiskey Kilo requesting landing clearance. Uh, uh, uh, uh, King Air 20 Whiskey Kilo, Clear to land.
Then I need to move the other guy. Redway, 2-8 left, clear to land. Keying air, 2-0 with Kilo.
Cherokee, 2-8-8, Delta Sierra. Not clear to land. Go around.
Academy Tower, UPS 10-57 over Woody. Now we have the UPS. Can everyone just stop so I can focus on the engine on fire?
Even during emergency, Emergency situations, we have to continue to work all the other airplanes that are in the airspace. It doesn't stop just because we have one emergency going on. Okay, so now that runway is not usable. Okay. Um, UPS 1057, runway 28R, clear to land.
Tower, Cherokee 8D Sierra, request touch and go. Okay, cleared for touch and go. Tower, Cirrus 504 Sierra Charlie ready for departure runway 16. Cirrus 504 Sierra Charlie cleared for takeoff runway 28 right. Cirrus 504 Sierra Charlie we're lined up for runway 16. But y'all are down there. They want to go off 16?
Oh they're down... I have these planes confused? Cirrus 504 Sierra Charlie runway 16 clear for takeoff.
Runway 16 cleared for takeoff. There is 504 CR Charlie. But they're doing a touch and go.
I have been back. Oh my god. I think these are too close.
Oh! Oh, that was very close. Well, I messed that up.
And we're stopped. Oh my god! So how do you feel? Extremely overwhelmed. We actually had a pretty big safety issue there at the very end.
I would say that that is really the biggest problem that I saw, but there were a lot that were just not saying the right things. Right, I mean this is, this is a lot of points deducted. The FAA was formed as the result of an aircraft accident.
Hundreds of people lost their lives. I really want to expand the knowledge of air traffic control. I want people to understand that.
why we do what we do and why it's important. That challenge would not have been passed. Okay, that makes sense.
That's why it's so important that we have the training program built the way we do. Once you go to a field facility and you've spent years training it, you would know exactly what to do because you have that experience. I am so grateful to everybody here and everyone who is a controller for the incredible service you all provide, managing all of these moving parts and prioritizing safety for all of us passengers. Thank you so much. If you think navigating a runway is hard, try navigating the broad web!
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