FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt revealed the McGhee Tyson incident Wednesday during a congressional hearing.
Afterward, the FAA said the controller, whom it did not identify, was caught sleeping while on duty in the radar room of McGhee Tyson's control tower Feb. 19, leaving another controller to handle radar and traffic control duties and assist seven aircraft in a five-hour period. All the aircraft landed safely.
McGhee Tyson is considered an "up-down facility," meaning the airport control tower and the radar room at the Terminal Radar Approach Control are on separate floors. Each is staffed by one controller during midnight shifts.
Because the radar controller was "intentionally" unresponsive, the air traffic controller had to work the seven aircraft alone, according to the FAA.
After the FAA announced disciplinary action being taken against the Knoxville controller, and a similar incident last month at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., the National Air Traffic Controllers Association on Wednesday again urged the FAA to reconsider staffing levels for control towers. NATCA President Paul Rinaldi is calling for an end to air traffic control shifts operated by one person.
Doug Church, NATCA spokesman, wants the FAA review to include a closer look at up-down airports like McGhee Tyson. He said that even with more than one controller on duty, the physical separation could mean more staffing still is needed.
McGhee Tyson and other medium-sized airports usually assign one person to each function during late-night shifts, and they generally work in separate parts of the tower, Church said.
"The midnight shift remains one of our most important concerns," he said. "Overall, the traffic is not as busy as during the day, but you have to make sure you have enough people to operate safely and make sure fatigue issues are addressed."
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