DALLAS, April 19 (UPI) -- U.S. aviation officials were set to tour two regional air traffic control centers amid reports more controllers have been suspended for violating policy.
Federal Aviation Administration head Randy Babbitt and National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Paul Rinaldi, representing the nation's 15,000 controllers, were to visit two regional air traffic centers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Tuesday.
Aviation regulators said an air traffic controller in Oberlin, Ohio, 35 miles southwest of Cleveland, was suspended after getting caught watching a thriller movie instead of watching airplanes. The controller was watching the 2007 thriller film "Cleaner," starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris and Eva Mendes, on DVD early Sunday morning while on duty at a radar center handling high-altitude air traffic, the FAA said Monday.
The unnamed controller -- who violated agency policy by bringing a DVD player to his radar position -- inadvertently activated his microphone, and ended up transmitting the movie's soundtrack for more than 3 minutes to all the planes in that sector assigned to a specific radio frequency, the FAA said.
The agency suspended the controller and an unidentified "front-line manager" from center operational duties pending an investigation.
The event came amid a rash of reports of U.S. controller missteps in the recent weeks, including at least eight instances in which controllers or supervisors nodded off while they were supposed to be monitoring or responding to aircraft radio messages.
The pilots of at least three planes -- including an air ambulance carrying a patient -- were forced to land without airport-tower controller help.
At least seven other controllers have been suspended for violating FAA rules, all but one for sleeping on the job.
Tuesday's visit to Dallas by Babbitt and Rinaldi, following a similar visit to Atlanta Monday, will make clear the agency has "zero tolerance" for controllers nodding off on the job, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
The meetings will include briefings on new FAA staffing rules, which include a minimum of 9 hours off between shifts -- up from 8 -- and limits on shift-swapping practices that result in less rest.
"Research shows us that giving people the chance for even an additional 1 hour of rest during critical periods in a schedule can improve work performance and reduce the potential for fatigue," Babbitt said in a statement. "Taking advantage of the time you have to rest is also a professional responsibility."
Babbitt and Rinaldi will follow Dallas with visits to Kansas City, Mo., Chicago, New York and Washington, the FAA said.
So far, the agency has beefed up overnight staffing at 26 airport towers, revised controller work schedules to increase the amount of time they must have off between shifts and promised a "top-to-bottom review" of the entire U.S. traffic-control system.
