Senator wants more air traffic controllers at Newark airport, too

New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) said Thursday that Newark Liberty International Airport should have two air traffic controllers at all times, as is now required at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport following an incident there Wednesday where two planes were forced to land without assistance from the control tower.
 
"Air traffic controllers are essential for the safe operation of our aviation system, and the last thing airline passengers should have to worry about is whether there is anyone working in the air traffic control tower below,” Lautenberg wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
 
The Reagan National air traffic controller, allegedly asleep when the two planes were landing, has been suspended by the Federal Aviation Administration. The planes — a United Airlines flight from Chicago and an American Airlines plane from Dallas — were each able to land safely.

Afterward, LaHood ordered that two air traffic controllers be on duty at all times at Reagan National.
 
The FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board and a House transportation committee are investigating the incident.
 
“In light of the recent incident at Reagan National Airport, I ask that you work immediately to increase the number of certified professional controllers at Newark Airport and better match its staffing levels with its air traffic volume,” Lautenberg wrote to LaHood.
 
"I have been fighting to properly staff air traffic controllers for more than 20 years," Lautenberg said. "It is unconscionable that we continue to under staff controllers that are critical to the safety of the flying public."