CHARLESTON
(AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating two alleged
incidents involving an air traffic controller at Yeager Airport and has
removed him from his duties.
The FAA is proposing that he be fired
for failing to respond while on duty, the Charleston Daily Mail
reported Saturday. The controller who is the
focus of the investigation has not been identified.
In one alleged
incident, the controller was unresponsive for 20 minutes while a
HealthNet helicopter was trying to land at a local hospital. Officials
said the pilot had to use alternate methods to get the patient to
medical care.
That incident reportedly occurred in January.
The
other alleged incident occurred March 2 when two air traffic employees
said they saw the controller sleeping while he was supposed to be
working in the tower.
The first reported incident involved a
HealthNet helicopter coming into the Charleston area from central West
Virginia with a critical patient headed for Charleston Area Medical
Center's General Hospital, said David Cross, HealthNet's director of
business development.
The pilot radioed the control tower at
Yeager as he approached to notify air traffic controllers and sought
permission to continue. The pilot received no response.
Cross said the pilot and flight crew made multiple attempts to contact the tower at Yeager but had no luck.
"They were obviously confused as to why nobody was answering," Cross said.
The
pilot continued in a straight line to the hospital's landing pad, where
they came down safely and delivered the critical patient, who by that
time was stabilized.
"At no time was the aircraft or crew or
patient in any danger," said Clinton Burley, HealthNet's president and
chief executive officer.
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