The crash of Comair Flight 5191 was indeed a tragedy. I have never lost a loved one in an airline accident, so I cannot directly relate to what the families are going through. Having said that, however, I am somewhat irritated at what the press and our government have done since the accident.
First let me address the press. They have purposely worded headlines in such a way as to almost blame the crash entirely on the air traffic controller on duty at the time. I would sure hate to be in his shoes anyway, as I can only imagine he does feel some guilt with what happened. The press, however, has used headlines like ‘turned his back to do paperwork’ to make it sound as though he shirked responsibility and let 49 people die. I do not personally see where it was his responsibility to verify the aircraft was taking off the on the correct runway. Some people might disagree with that, but the controller did what he was required to do – direct and clear the aircraft to take off while providing appropriate separation from other traffic. He was dealing with a professional flight crew, not a student pilot, or even a run-of-the-mill private pilot. He fully expected the crew to taxi to the proper runway for departure. It would have been great if the controller had verified the departure was on the correct runway, but I cannot blame him at for the accident. Ultimately, the crew behind the controls failed. They are 100% responsible. I see the press as trying to somehow spread the blame to those who are alive because they might be able to create a ‘story’ out of it.
The FAA, on the otherhand, recently issued a directive that requires any controller on a break to not take a nap during that time. Apparently, at many control towers, a controller on a break could choose to get some shut-eye if they wanted to. This new directive overrides any local agreements that the controllers had that allow naps during breaks. The entire justification is that a controller could be called back onto to duty at any time and they might be slightly groggy if they were napping. Not sure about you, but I don’t see how this would have prevented the 5191 crash, or how it is going to substantially help make our system safer. I would imagine that if a controller took a short nap, and fell into some REM sleep during that time, he was totally exhausted to begin with. He should not be napping, but sleeping at home if that was the case. My only conclusion to this is that the FAA wants to have the appearance of “doing something” that makes the public feel better.