Audio Tapes Reveal Flight Controller's Kid Directed Air Traffic At JFK

This is hardly anything to joke about. The safety of those on board the flights and those on the ground at JFK Airport in New York was compromised by the stupidity of a flight controller who allowed their kid to chatter away on the radio transmissions with various flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it has placed the controller and a supervisor on administrative leave as it investigates. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt called the episode a "lapse in judgment."

The agency says it has also suspended all unofficial visits to FAA air traffic facilities while it reviews its policies.

The few quick exchanges between the elementary-school-aged child and jets waiting to take off from JFK became public after they were recorded and posted on the Internet. On the recordings, the child appears to be repeating simple instructions given by his father.

One of the statements uttered was that the controller said this is what happens when kids are off from school - referring likely to the snow days that have taken place within the past couple of weeks in the NY metro area.

The NY Post has more.

Even though the kid apparently directed the planes at his father's direction, it compromised the safety of all those on board because the kid could have made a mistake allowing planes to get too close together, enter restricted space, etc.

The supervisor should have never allowed this to occur in the first place, and suspensions for all involved should be the minimum.