Air controller union: Two-person flight towers should be the rule

The national union that represents air traffic controllers said that all airports should be required to have at least two people in their flight towers on overnight shifts, not just Washington's Reagan National Airport.
 
“One-person shifts are unsafe. Period," National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Paul Rinaldi said in a statement this week.
 
"The most horrifying proof of this came on Aug. 27, 2006, when 49 people lost their lives aboard Comair Flight 191 in Lexington, Ky., when there was only one controller assigned to duty in the tower handling multiple controllers’ responsibilities alone. One person staffing was wrong then and it’s wrong now."

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ordered Reagan National to staff two controllers in its tower on all shifts, after two planes on Wednesday landed by themselves when the lone controller on duty allegedly fell asleep.
 
The controller, who has been suspended, told officials he had worked four consecutive overnight shifts, which led to his fatigue.
 
At least one lawmaker, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), has requested that LaHood extend his order to other airports.