I'm curious. I'm prior Navy OS. Do you know many OS that became ATC? Were most AIC qualified? I had a shipmate that was hired when Reagan fired everyone. He had just gotten out. He was OS2 and AIC. Was he just lucky? Or were OS a pool to recruit from? Thanks
@ BTW, if you had a shipmate hired by Reagan, I’m guessing you’re over 31. You would not be eligible once you reach this age for the FAA. However if you have a CTO (Control Tower Operator certification) you could certainly get hired by private contract towers such as RVA or Midwest.
My sister is an ATC in an international airport. I'm always amazed to see how she and her colleagues efficiently perform under the enorm stress and strain of air traffic increasing by the year, despite the pandemic when we all thought flying might be of the past. They are heroes! 🎉
Nobody thought flying would be a thing of the past. Especially air traffic controllers. If anyone knew the importance of returning to normal it’s them. I’m sure she and her colleagues are efficient and amazing. But yeah. Nobody thought flying would decline or go away.
@@cdg1111 I used to work Tower at Tamiami Airport in the 90s. At that time it was considered one of the busiest airports in the country. Lots of training operations. Lots of inexperienced student solos. It was a total ballet. As I got older they sent me to Miami Center so I can slow down a little. Please tell your sister I send my regards
just one story from my country, indonesia, we also have our hero atc here. his name was anthonius gunawan agung. he worked as atc at mutiara sis-al jufri airport (plw/waff) at palu city, sulawesi island. during palu earthquake & tsunami disaster on 29th of september 2018 (magnitude 7.4), he guided batik air a320 (id-6231) to take off and stayed at his post until the plane was safely airborne. however due to the tower was already damaged, he jumped from 4 stories tower for his own safety. but unfortunately he died from his injury. you can google his name and his story, although most of the article is in bahasa indonesia.
The man, the myth, the legend, the voice, the comedian, the TH-cam sensation Kennedy Steve! Guessing this was filled not too long before he retired from JFK Airwaves.
Great video, Kennedy Steve is a character, but above all a great controller. He retired awhile back. Truly a legend. Was based out of the west coast but had numerous opportunities to talk with him. Enjoy retirement, you deserve it. Great video as well. Without the professionalism in the towers, TRACON and other facilities. Air traffic would bring to a halt.
@ChrisCokeRobinson Hello chris, to give you a simple answer, is that Miami Center owns all the airspace 6,000 ft and above. If you're below 6K, you're talking to Nassau radio. Does that answer your question?
✅"...some thank the cabin crew, perhaps the pilots too; virtually nobody thinks of those who work day and night to guide them safely"✅ Fascinating documentary; an excellent overview of the daily lives - and responsibilities and stresses - of air traffic controllers. Interesting that it is predominantly a role for younger (~20-40yo) people due to its demanding nature. Certainly, this doco has reiterated the high degree of respect & admiration they deserve. Congrats and thanks to all who put it together.
Decent documentary for those totally uninitiated in the complexity of the job. I would have liked to hear more of the cool and calm controllers radio transmissions helping pilots get out of serious situations that devolve when a tiny miscalculation or full mistake turns into a complete mental panic and the controller brings it back under control. Those are the amazing moments in an air traffic controllers life.
A couple of years back, had the opportunity to fly out of Saint Hubert (CYHU) in a 172N, and hearing some pilots parlons en Français you have to give respect to Nav Canada; navigating in French and English (Merci).
I hate the French language. Studied it for 4 years at school and couldn't speak a damned word. During French dictation my paper looked like a spider had crawled across it. My teacher commented that I had contributed more new words to the French dictionary than any other person in history. I was so bad at French I didn't even bother with the final exam. There's no way I would have passed, plus I had better things to do on the day....like watching paint dry.
@@johnanthony6092 The same thing happened to me but with german. I always had the worst grades of my class. What an awful language. That being said, if french wasn't my native language, I would feel the same way than you. English is one of the easiest language to learn.
That is Kennedy Steve! Pilots know who he is…. very intelligent, excellent at his job with just the right amount of humor. Hope you’re enjoying your retirement Steve. 🖐️
As a longtime aviation enthusiast, I have deep respect for the work of the Air Traffic Controllers, especially long after 9/11 - and much of the content of this documentary is highly accurate
Much of the content was filmed on board aircraft, inside ATC centres, along with interviewing pilots and controllers. You'd expect it to be highly accurate. 🙄
First step for the Single European Sky is to ensure that French and Spanish controllers talk in English to ALL aircraft. Other pilots need to hear and understand these interactions, pilot/ATC, in order to be situationally aware.
I have over 800 crossing and retired 22 years ago. I have always been amazed at how smoothly the system works. As I was going out we were ushering data linked clearances on oceanic routs. Not having to use the High Frequency radio made the job so much more relaxing. For years everyone was saying the North Atlantic was over crowed then the Gulf war in the early 90's put four times as much traffic in the same space and everything went smooth as glass.
That guy Thomas is really passionate about his job! I admire that guy! Great documentary! I like the presentation and how you tell the story by following a flight but from the perspective of air traffic, very clever! And also Kennedy Steve!! He already retired, don't know when you did this documentary. Nevertheless, great job! I always admired air traffic controllers and aviation in general.
Kennedy Steve at home: Child One, go to Bedroom via Kitchen and Hallway, hold short of Bathroom. Child Two, clearance to Mall is cancelled, contact Mom for further instructions.
About time someone is telling the world how important a ATC ( air traffic controller is. The responsibilities are the same as any of the Pilots flying on our airways. Pay never is....one can't live without the other.. Good job !
I could make another flight on these lovely aircraft so it was great to see your video. The historical context at the start added to the value of the video.
This was excellent!!, people have no idea what is involved each day at an airport!!i hope people watch this, when they think they are hard done by, by being delayed at the airport.
As a pilot who flew international flights for the USAF and an airline, I always appreciated the human touch from US controllers. My favorite was when returning to the US, from Europe or South America. After checking in with the controller, they would often give us our clearance and then add "Welcome Home!"
Good on you getting Kennedy Steve in this. He's the GOAT. I recognized his voice immediately without even seeing his face. It's his fault that I even learned the aviation language. I wanted to know what he was saying so I could understand the jokes. Sure enough, the more I learned, the funnier they got. :D Thanks to him and my need to understand, I know what they're saying. :) There are a lot of Steve's jokes that I love. His "Face the front, sir" is in the top 5, along with "Ground?" "...Plane?" My favorite has to be when he told an airbus to wait for a single engine Cessna to go by before it could taxi, and issued a calm warning to the airbus, "caution: propwash." :D Once I learned the reason why this was funny, I about died laughing. I'll listen in to my local international airport on LiveATC. I've come to recognize the voices, but I don't know anyone in that tower personally. I wish I did. There's one guy who's voice and personality are pleasant to listen to. I'm always happy when I catch him by chance when tuning in. A pilot I know told me that my dream of flying wasn't dead due to my age and other factors of life. I could still fly. So, for the first time in my life, getting my pilots license became an achievable reality. I've been in ground school for a couple of months, and I am learning so much. But there is a TON of information to learn, so this is going to take a long time. In studying, I've also learned bits of what ATCs endure, and It Is ROUGH on multiple levels. My God, how they deal with all of that, I have no idea. I'd crack on day 1. I already respected them due to the nature of their job, but that respect level went WAY up. That is a job I could NEVER do even in my wildest dreams. It truly takes a specific type of person to become an Air Traffic Controller. I'd much, much rather be a pilot.
Kudos to you for following your dream of being a pilot ! You'll be so glad you pushed through the difficult training when you will get your pilots license 🌟✈
If you can, I and I think many others would strongly encourage you to push for an instrument rating as soon as you can afterwards. The level of airmanship and understanding you have drastically increases and leaves you with a much greater margin of safety. I think the volume of required knowledge even for PPL makes people complacent, it’s a huge achievement and it can be very easy to fall under the dunning Kruger effect. Aviation is lifelong thirst for education, there’s always something new to learn. The 100 hour wonders can be some of the scariest, they know enough to be dangerous and reckless if they don’t mind their fundamentals of ADM and resource management, the very first few lessons they teach that come up every flight for those dedicated enough to debrief to them and learn from them. Practically, once you look back after being IFR rated, you see the small tip of the iceberg that PPL really was. I think it’s exciting, not discouraging. It’s just more of the pie you have to eat one chunk at a time. Not to mention of course the finances of it all, which can be difficult. Although there are further ratings and certifications and paths to pursue in aviation if desired, in my mind an IFR rated pilot is a “complete” pilot knowledge wise. I don’t think anyone should consider themselves “experienced” earlier than 1000 hours, arbitrary yes, and again not to be discouraging but to remain humble and risk aware. The quality of those hours vary, too. 1,000 hours in a VFR pattern is something in and of itself but doesn’t speak much to one’s confidence for cruise or strange airfields. 1,000 hours simulated IMC is a completely different beast from actual IMC. Either way, keep enjoying it and keep learning, the journey only has to go as far as you want it to be but make every moment of it a learning opportunity
Great video! I’m a PPL in the US so super biased towards thinking about just FAA controllers - it was cool seeing a more global take on it. I appreciated it.
Thanks for the documentary. I'd have loved to see the techniques, the strategy and the real detail behind the decision of ATC. We got to know some interesting controllers and saw a bit of their hard- & software but it actually only scraped on the surface of ATC. Would love to go even a step deeper, if possible.
My good late friend Bill J. Cooper from DFW center told me once when he entered training classes for ATC. The instructor started the first day by saying Welcome to Air Traffic Control training where you will learn this fact or go home now. Doctors and surgeons. Police officers and even judges. God himself. Make mistakes. But you cannot make mistakes. Living with the death of hundreds of innocent lives in one shift is more than any human should ever shoulder. So we do not make mistakes. Ever.
There has been (in the US anyways) some pretty disturbing close calls. 95% have been ground or tower controllers. Either pilots are not listening or controllers workload has increased. Near misses at intersecting runways, go arounds because spacing was too tight. Wrong taxi instrutions, and the list goes on. Some say it's just a matter of time before something *does* happen. Not all the blame goes to ATC. Airlines have become complacent. How does a main tire just fall of the aircraft on take off? Happened twice so far. I know ATC works hard and I applaud them for thier work. And...there hasn't been anybody more pleasurable to listen to _Kennedy Steve_
@@avflyguy You have some solid points there, and I cannot give you an answer on them. I have some theories but that wont get you a cup of coffee anywhere. I think, that we are in a rush to fill positions to meet a growing demand and it just feels like the swiss cheese hole situation. So many things that eventually line up and allow mistakes to occur and those mistakes do not have the altitude to recover.
@@avflyguyit seems like it’s always been an issue with the states clearing one runway for multiple uses, someone on final approach, someone cleared to land #2 or 3 behind them, someone cleared for departure no delay immediately preceding those guys on final…in the rest of the world when you’re cleared to use the runway the full runway is yours for as long as you need. The states have gotten used to the revenue this volume of traffic arriving and departing takes in, and the system has worked…so far. But many familiar with the aviation community have known for a long time that the shortage in controllers doesn’t look very sustainable. It helps now that we have TCAS and ACARS and even ground radar monitoring, but the human element is by far the weakest link. What no one wants is another Tenerife causing change to be enacted, the American public does not deserve to wait that long and play that lottery for whoever’s life is at stake at the wrong place and the wrong time
Retired controller from Boston Center. My airspace abutted Moncton Center and at 23:17 I heard my voice switch AFR 011 to Moncton Center. How random that this video came across my TH-cam feed😊
🤔Question for ATC team-members, esp those who deal with critical points in air journeys (eg departures): what happens if an ATC suddenly faints, or becomes incapacitated (eg heart/panic attack)? How easy it it for someone to step in and take over their role?
I always wanted to be an ATC. The academy is in Oklahoma City. Cutoff age then was 37. I applied for that as well as an Instrument Landing System engineer. The FAA NEVER replied. Their loss.
Nice documentary, though that new innovative touch control and eye tracking flight control system looks dangerously dodgy, what if the touch control surface malfunctions? What if the controller has sweaty finger tips or tips liquid over it? What if the controller's eyes are distracted by dust, an eye twitch or even a fly in the eye or sudden blurred vision?
It amazes me how on the tragic day of 911; planes hitting towers & the pentagon; these professionals were able to bring every aircraft out of the skies expeditiously. Bravo!
@@matthiashartge5520 I did look it up, Steve retired in 2017. What a guy. If you're not familiar with Boston John, check him out. Outstanding character. He's not fantastic looking, but the women go crazy over him-practically the "pantie throwing" type thing.
This is wild to think that most people have no idea who ATC is. They control everything. Its just crazy that they are the ones controlling everything i do but no one knows who they are. Much respect for the people that protect me on a daily basis!
From which side? Dispatch/airline side, they look at the winds and find the most fuel efficient/quickest way to get there. From ATC side, we give a route that meets agreements with other facilities, and is separated from other aircraft. We use a system that probes the flight for conflicts and we can manipulate the route until it is conflict free and still makes sense for where they are going. Though for the most part we will look at altitude options first over reroutes, because their dispatch will have done much more work on making sure they are hitting the wind they want, missing weather and other factors.
"They speak a bizarre language only they can understand." Um, no. Actually, it's called English, and the phraseology used is some of the most standardized and easy to understand in the world.
Ive always heard its one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and long time traffic controllers often have heart related illnesses at relatively young age.. is this true?
I'm curious what happens when the military has to scramble emergency fighter jets thru the skies. They seem to fly wherever they need to without impacting all the civilian aircraft in the skies. How is this possible? Blows my mind!!!
37:55 (Slight paraphrasing): "Well, because the concord was so eye-catching with such a long nose, I said it could take off. Screw the rules, just go for it, you long nose wonderful thing." 💥🚒 Just joking; he did an amazing job to keep working after such a horrific tragedy beyond his control. The translators just made him sound like a dick.
Interesting to shed some light on the most unknown part of aviation. One minor criticism from me: to say the Concorde (Air France 4590) disaster was caused by debris on the runway is misleading. Yes, that was part of the "Swiss cheese", but the captain must take a large part of the responsibility because the plane was too heavy due to overloading anyway.
@@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549 Are you sure about that? How else would we know that it was overweight by fuel and luggage, and out of balance by the last minute luggage loaded into the aft hold? Of course the pilot knew. Ops calculated a longer taxi time and the flight crew did not take the time to burn off the extra fuel. The decision to take off under the combined circumstance left them beyond the margins for any possible correction for the bogie spacer yanking the plane off centerline plus loss of engine on takeoff. The titanium ring from the Continental DC-10 was only one hole in the Swiss cheese.... the neglect of Air France added *all* the rest; from their unwillingness to keep up with BA's evolving maintenance regime (specifically putting shields over the exploding tires), forgetting to reinstall said bogie spacer, to the panic of the Flight Engineer shutting down the working engine on the flaming climb out -- the penultimate step of doom before the final rollover to terrain. A sh*tshow of poor decision making throughout the organization.
Reagan was a moron for many reasons. THIS one angered me so much when I heard he'd said, "Get back to work, or you're all fired" instead of seeing the real reasons as to *why* they went on strike in the first place that I want to eat tree bark. I know they weren't technically allowed to go on strike, but when the working conditions are so horrible that you say, "screw it" to that rule despite knowing the repercussions, then you *know* things are bad. You have to be incredibly intelligent to be an ATC. These are not stupid people. The fact that they went on strike in the first place tells me that they'd weighed the pros and cons, considered the outcomes of different scenarios - as they do for their job - and STILL chose to go on strike. That alone is a big 'ol a red flag that things are BAD. Those problems needed to be remedied immediately, instead of beating up those crying out for help if they didn't shut up and get back to work. I know steps have been taken since then - which is great - but from my limited knowledge, a lot more still needs to be done to protect the physical and mental health of ATCs. The last thing I ever want is for the people in charge of thousands of lives a day to be burned out, exhausted, stressed, overworked, underpaid, understaffed, not disclosing medical conditions and thus not taking medications they need to deal with all of that due to the threat of losing their medical - thus their job - if they did, and drinking to compensate. Much like how I'd rather the pilot flying my plane be on their antidepressants, anti anxiety, or ADHD meds that they need in order to control their focus, I'd rather the ATCs be on their meds instead of medicating with their weight in coffee, and shots of Jack Daniels.
Kennedy Steve is the man. His composure is remarkable, and his humor renowned. He was made for that work.
Steve and Delta Tug 2. Classic. He was the best.
@@geoffreyfield6686 "Delta Tug 2........Delta Tug 2.......Earth calling Delta Tug 2!"
@@johnanthony6092 👍
Steve at 4:00, 4:39, 12:10, 12:50-15:02, 16:14, 18:05, 21:33, 49:38.
Thank you for doing us controllers justice with this documentary. Always good to hear from the legendary Kennedy Steve.
Retired controller here. 32 years. Very accurate video!
Tin pusher.
Retired 36 year controller and 100% agree with your comment.
Thank You
I'm curious. I'm prior Navy OS. Do you know many OS that became ATC? Were most AIC qualified?
I had a shipmate that was hired when Reagan fired everyone. He had just gotten out. He was OS2 and AIC. Was he just lucky? Or were OS a pool to recruit from?
Thanks
@ BTW, if you had a shipmate hired by Reagan, I’m guessing you’re over 31. You would not be eligible once you reach this age for the FAA. However if you have a CTO (Control Tower Operator certification) you could certainly get hired by private contract towers such as RVA or Midwest.
The man, the legend, Kennedy Steve!
I knew it! The Icon of ATC!
he does ground control i believe. 😊
@@harrydoherty8299did. He retired in 2018.
@@harrydoherty8299still was an ATC. HE controlled air ground traffic.
He did all but is known for ground.
I wasn't sure about what I'd get clicking on this video, then I heard Kennedy Steve, and I'm here for everything!
I've been an ATC for 12 years. This is a decent documentary. Well done.
My sister is an ATC in an international airport. I'm always amazed to see how she and her colleagues efficiently perform under the enorm stress and strain of air traffic increasing by the year, despite the pandemic when we all thought flying might be of the past. They are heroes! 🎉
@@cdg1111
Truth spoken....thank you!
Nobody thought flying would be a thing of the past. Especially air traffic controllers. If anyone knew the importance of returning to normal it’s them. I’m sure she and her colleagues are efficient and amazing. But yeah. Nobody thought flying would decline or go away.
Mate I'm a taxi cab operator. I often fuck that up . ATC has to be a special.kind of person. 👏🙌👏❤
@@cdg1111 I used to work Tower at Tamiami Airport in the 90s. At that time it was considered one of the busiest airports in the country. Lots of training operations. Lots of inexperienced student solos. It was a total ballet. As I got older they sent me to Miami Center so I can slow down a little. Please tell your sister I send my regards
@@ComettableMabel yes...we are..!! Tks
just one story from my country, indonesia, we also have our hero atc here. his name was anthonius gunawan agung. he worked as atc at mutiara sis-al jufri airport (plw/waff) at palu city, sulawesi island. during palu earthquake & tsunami disaster on 29th of september 2018 (magnitude 7.4), he guided batik air a320 (id-6231) to take off and stayed at his post until the plane was safely airborne. however due to the tower was already damaged, he jumped from 4 stories tower for his own safety. but unfortunately he died from his injury. you can google his name and his story, although most of the article is in bahasa indonesia.
The man, the myth, the legend, the voice, the comedian, the TH-cam sensation Kennedy Steve! Guessing this was filled not too long before he retired from JFK Airwaves.
I miss the guy... he was really producing some good laughs while being an excellent controller.
A real legend that has no equal.
I am very new to the aeronautical content, but I know Kennedy Steve's voice anywhere now! Hope his retirement is just the best
OMG KENNEDY STEVE
Do you want to go to LAX at 10,000 feet? 😂😂😂😂😂
Was just about to say this 😂🔥🔥
I thought Kennedy Steve was just H89SA's generic name for him 😂, imagine my surprise when I noticed his name ACTUALLY IS Steve!
I was just coming here to make the same comment!!! He’s a LEGEND!
Kennedy Steve!!! He was constantly at war with those airport tugs!
Better than most presentations on ATC I've seen. Retired ATC here.
Thank you for your service...😊.
NY Center radar ATC. 28+ yrs + 4 in USAF before that
Thank you to all ATC folks...you guys rock! God bless each and everyone of you ❤
Great video, Kennedy Steve is a character, but above all a great controller. He retired awhile back. Truly a legend. Was based out of the west coast but had numerous opportunities to talk with him. Enjoy retirement, you deserve it. Great video as well. Without the professionalism in the towers, TRACON and other facilities. Air traffic would bring to a halt.
Kennedy Steve!!! so nice to see you again, sir
I miss working at Miami Center so badly, and I dream about it all the time. It was a delight and a nightmare at the same time
When do planes use Nassau Center instead of Miami Center?
@ChrisCokeRobinson Hello chris, to give you a simple answer, is that Miami Center owns all the airspace 6,000 ft and above. If you're below 6K, you're talking to Nassau radio. Does that answer your question?
✅"...some thank the cabin crew, perhaps the pilots too; virtually nobody thinks of those who work day and night to guide them safely"✅
Fascinating documentary; an excellent overview of the daily lives - and responsibilities and stresses - of air traffic controllers. Interesting that it is predominantly a role for younger (~20-40yo) people due to its demanding nature. Certainly, this doco has reiterated the high degree of respect & admiration they deserve. Congrats and thanks to all who put it together.
Decent documentary for those totally uninitiated in the complexity of the job. I would have liked to hear more of the cool and calm controllers radio transmissions helping pilots get out of serious situations that devolve when a tiny miscalculation or full mistake turns into a complete mental panic and the controller brings it back under control. Those are the amazing moments in an air traffic controllers life.
Kennedy Steve. Total legend. Loves the tug guys.
"They speak a bizarre language". Followed by a controller talking in French.
Comedy editing
A couple of years back, had the opportunity to fly out of Saint Hubert (CYHU) in a 172N, and hearing some pilots parlons en Français you have to give respect to Nav Canada; navigating in French and English (Merci).
I hate the French language. Studied it for 4 years at school and couldn't speak a damned word. During French dictation my paper looked like a spider had crawled across it. My teacher commented that I had contributed more new words to the French dictionary than any other person in history. I was so bad at French I didn't even bother with the final exam. There's no way I would have passed, plus I had better things to do on the day....like watching paint dry.
@@johnanthony6092 The same thing happened to me but with german. I always had the worst grades of my class. What an awful language. That being said, if french wasn't my native language, I would feel the same way than you. English is one of the easiest language to learn.
@@johnanthony6092😂😂
That is Kennedy Steve! Pilots know who he is…. very intelligent, excellent at his job with just the right amount of humor. Hope you’re enjoying your retirement Steve. 🖐️
As a longtime aviation enthusiast, I have deep respect for the work of the Air Traffic Controllers, especially long after 9/11 - and much of the content of this documentary is highly accurate
Much of the content was filmed on board aircraft, inside ATC centres, along with interviewing pilots and controllers. You'd expect it to be highly accurate. 🙄
I'm a retired Air Traffic Controller and I'm very happy to be free from the air traffic.
Good luck guys..
Tin pusher.
Not a job I could do or want to do. Kudos to the ones that do it.
First step for the Single European Sky is to ensure that French and Spanish controllers talk in English to ALL aircraft. Other pilots need to hear and understand these interactions, pilot/ATC, in order to be situationally aware.
The French and the Spanish are the worst offenders of all and have been for decades.
Well done documentary.....ATC workers are behind the scenes unsung HEROS..
I have over 800 crossing and retired 22 years ago. I have always been amazed at how smoothly the system works. As I was going out we were ushering data linked clearances on oceanic routs. Not having to use the High Frequency radio made the job so much more relaxing. For years everyone was saying the North Atlantic was over crowed then the Gulf war in the early 90's put four times as much traffic in the same space and everything went smooth as glass.
Tin pusher.
Beautiful peek into the mastery and precision of these unseen superstars from Air Traffic Control! Thank you to ALL!
Such a fascinating doco.. Even with all that information is so complicated. Kudos to air traffic control.
That guy Thomas is really passionate about his job! I admire that guy!
Great documentary! I like the presentation and how you tell the story by following a flight but from the perspective of air traffic, very clever! And also Kennedy Steve!! He already retired, don't know when you did this documentary. Nevertheless, great job! I always admired air traffic controllers and aviation in general.
This is great! I’ve become obsessed with aviation lately and this doc is awesome. :)
Kennedy Steve at home: Child One, go to Bedroom via Kitchen and Hallway, hold short of Bathroom. Child Two, clearance to Mall is cancelled, contact Mom for further instructions.
So informative, thank you! All your documentaries are so well done.
Thank you so much for your kind comment ! ☺
Nice to see a cameo of revered controller, “Kennedy Steve”. He was greatly loved by pilots
Thank you for this fascinating look into a profession I have always wondered about.
Great documentary!!! Thank you for producing this.....
About time someone is telling the world how important a ATC ( air traffic controller is. The responsibilities are the same as any of the Pilots flying on our airways. Pay never is....one can't live without the other.. Good job !
ATCOs earn plenty. Similar pay scale to major airline pilots in most developed countries.
These people rarely get the credit they deserve.Brilliant people I take my hat off to them ❤
It's Kennedy Steve! Too awesome!
Good documentary, thanks! Great to see Kennedy Steve too! 🙂
This is a fantastic educational documentary. . . . CONGRATULATIONS!
4:42 Traffic controllers are those people who make sure you don't end up in a coffin.😂
Takes someone very special to do this job. I put them in the same league as Pilots and F1 drivers. Amazing skill: Respect.
I could make another flight on these lovely aircraft so it was great to see your video. The historical context at the start added to the value of the video.
Thank you to all at ATC.
This was excellent!!, people have no idea what is involved each day at an airport!!i hope people watch this, when they think they are hard done by, by being delayed at the airport.
As a pilot who flew international flights for the USAF and an airline, I always appreciated the human touch from US controllers. My favorite was when returning to the US, from Europe or South America. After checking in with the controller, they would often give us our clearance and then add "Welcome Home!"
That was very interesting, thank you
Thank you for watching ☺
My father was an ATC and yes was super composed in handling all situations. Kudos to the hidden heros of the sky.
OMG, that's Kennedy Steve!
Kennedy Steve! The legend! I listened to that guy all the time all over youtube
This was a well-done documentary.
Good on you getting Kennedy Steve in this. He's the GOAT.
I recognized his voice immediately without even seeing his face.
It's his fault that I even learned the aviation language. I wanted to know what he was saying so I could understand the jokes. Sure enough, the more I learned, the funnier they got. :D Thanks to him and my need to understand, I know what they're saying. :)
There are a lot of Steve's jokes that I love. His "Face the front, sir" is in the top 5, along with "Ground?" "...Plane?"
My favorite has to be when he told an airbus to wait for a single engine Cessna to go by before it could taxi, and issued a calm warning to the airbus, "caution: propwash." :D
Once I learned the reason why this was funny, I about died laughing.
I'll listen in to my local international airport on LiveATC. I've come to recognize the voices, but I don't know anyone in that tower personally. I wish I did. There's one guy who's voice and personality are pleasant to listen to. I'm always happy when I catch him by chance when tuning in.
A pilot I know told me that my dream of flying wasn't dead due to my age and other factors of life. I could still fly. So, for the first time in my life, getting my pilots license became an achievable reality. I've been in ground school for a couple of months, and I am learning so much. But there is a TON of information to learn, so this is going to take a long time.
In studying, I've also learned bits of what ATCs endure, and It Is ROUGH on multiple levels. My God, how they deal with all of that, I have no idea. I'd crack on day 1.
I already respected them due to the nature of their job, but that respect level went WAY up.
That is a job I could NEVER do even in my wildest dreams. It truly takes a specific type of person to become an Air Traffic Controller.
I'd much, much rather be a pilot.
Kudos to you for following your dream of being a pilot ! You'll be so glad you pushed through the difficult training when you will get your pilots license 🌟✈
If you can, I and I think many others would strongly encourage you to push for an instrument rating as soon as you can afterwards. The level of airmanship and understanding you have drastically increases and leaves you with a much greater margin of safety.
I think the volume of required knowledge even for PPL makes people complacent, it’s a huge achievement and it can be very easy to fall under the dunning Kruger effect. Aviation is lifelong thirst for education, there’s always something new to learn. The 100 hour wonders can be some of the scariest, they know enough to be dangerous and reckless if they don’t mind their fundamentals of ADM and resource management, the very first few lessons they teach that come up every flight for those dedicated enough to debrief to them and learn from them.
Practically, once you look back after being IFR rated, you see the small tip of the iceberg that PPL really was. I think it’s exciting, not discouraging. It’s just more of the pie you have to eat one chunk at a time. Not to mention of course the finances of it all, which can be difficult.
Although there are further ratings and certifications and paths to pursue in aviation if desired, in my mind an IFR rated pilot is a “complete” pilot knowledge wise. I don’t think anyone should consider themselves “experienced” earlier than 1000 hours, arbitrary yes, and again not to be discouraging but to remain humble and risk aware. The quality of those hours vary, too. 1,000 hours in a VFR pattern is something in and of itself but doesn’t speak much to one’s confidence for cruise or strange airfields. 1,000 hours simulated IMC is a completely different beast from actual IMC.
Either way, keep enjoying it and keep learning, the journey only has to go as far as you want it to be but make every moment of it a learning opportunity
Would love to see a version of this program over the Pacific Ocean. Very interesting.
Indeed all of them are behind the scene heros.
Great video! I’m a PPL in the US so super biased towards thinking about just FAA controllers - it was cool seeing a more global take on it. I appreciated it.
Super interesting. Good doc!
Superb Documentary on the ATC heroes working day and night to keep the "sky city" safe.
Thanks for the documentary. I'd have loved to see the techniques, the strategy and the real detail behind the decision of ATC. We got to know some interesting controllers and saw a bit of their hard- & software but it actually only scraped on the surface of ATC. Would love to go even a step deeper, if possible.
Excellent documentary!
Thank you for these remarkable people
My good late friend Bill J. Cooper from DFW center told me once when he entered training classes for ATC. The instructor started the first day by saying Welcome to Air Traffic Control training where you will learn this fact or go home now. Doctors and surgeons. Police officers and even judges. God himself. Make mistakes. But you cannot make mistakes. Living with the death of hundreds of innocent lives in one shift is more than any human should ever shoulder. So we do not make mistakes. Ever.
There has been (in the US anyways) some pretty disturbing close calls. 95% have been ground or tower controllers. Either pilots are not listening or controllers workload has increased. Near misses at intersecting runways, go arounds because spacing was too tight. Wrong taxi instrutions, and the list goes on. Some say it's just a matter of time before something *does* happen. Not all the blame goes to ATC. Airlines have become complacent. How does a main tire just fall of the aircraft on take off? Happened twice so far. I know ATC works hard and I applaud them for thier work. And...there hasn't been anybody more pleasurable to listen to _Kennedy Steve_
@@avflyguy You have some solid points there, and I cannot give you an answer on them. I have some theories but that wont get you a cup of coffee anywhere. I think, that we are in a rush to fill positions to meet a growing demand and it just feels like the swiss cheese hole situation. So many things that eventually line up and allow mistakes to occur and those mistakes do not have the altitude to recover.
@@avflyguyit seems like it’s always been an issue with the states clearing one runway for multiple uses, someone on final approach, someone cleared to land #2 or 3 behind them, someone cleared for departure no delay immediately preceding those guys on final…in the rest of the world when you’re cleared to use the runway the full runway is yours for as long as you need. The states have gotten used to the revenue this volume of traffic arriving and departing takes in, and the system has worked…so far. But many familiar with the aviation community have known for a long time that the shortage in controllers doesn’t look very sustainable. It helps now that we have TCAS and ACARS and even ground radar monitoring, but the human element is by far the weakest link. What no one wants is another Tenerife causing change to be enacted, the American public does not deserve to wait that long and play that lottery for whoever’s life is at stake at the wrong place and the wrong time
Retired controller from Boston Center. My airspace abutted Moncton Center and at 23:17 I heard my voice switch AFR 011 to Moncton Center. How random that this video came across my TH-cam feed😊
Excellent documentary, very informative and precise.
Thank you ! ☺
This was filmed quite some time ago. Steve Abraham is retired and Jersey Boys (seen at 6:08) is no longer playing on Broadway.
I’m a student, and I’m already struggling and get stressed out every day
Wow is that KENNEDY STEVE what a legend, we love you sir!!!!!
Kennedy Steve retired in 2018 so this is dated. Steve is a legend
AMAZING ❤❤
Amazing job by the Controllers
There is no way ...oh my soo much responsibility carrying all that precious cargo.. no way ...
🤔Question for ATC team-members, esp those who deal with critical points in air journeys (eg departures): what happens if an ATC suddenly faints, or becomes incapacitated (eg heart/panic attack)? How easy it it for someone to step in and take over their role?
It’s happened a few times. ATC’s are very good at being able to jump onto position and make things work.
19:40 OMG, I'm in love with the cute French ATC girl 😍
I made a movie about them “Ground Control” starting Kiefer Sutherland, amazing people
I always wanted to be an ATC. The academy is in Oklahoma City. Cutoff age then was 37. I applied for that as well as an Instrument Landing System engineer. The FAA NEVER replied. Their loss.
Judging by the video, it looks like ATC is finally using electronic strips instead of physical ones.
Nice documentary, though that new innovative touch control and eye tracking flight control system looks dangerously dodgy, what if the touch control surface malfunctions? What if the controller has sweaty finger tips or tips liquid over it? What if the controller's eyes are distracted by dust, an eye twitch or even a fly in the eye or sudden blurred vision?
It amazes me how on the tragic day of 911; planes hitting towers & the pentagon; these professionals were able to bring every aircraft out of the skies expeditiously. Bravo!
Quite a bit overdramatized but overall not a bad video.
When was this actually made? Kennedy Steve retired quite a while ago.....
when the plane was taxiing to the gate next gate showed a Air France 747. Air France retired its last 747 in 2016. So the doco was made some time ago.
@@markofsatan9617 Most sources say he retired in 2017.
Must be several years ago, at least pre-pandemic. You also see many since retired aircraft types :)
@@matthiashartge5520 I did look it up, Steve retired in 2017. What a guy. If you're not familiar with Boston John, check him out. Outstanding character. He's not fantastic looking, but the women go crazy over him-practically the "pantie throwing" type thing.
By the way, Steve said he became an ATC because he wanted a job less stressful than being a stockbroker, which was his former career.
This is wild to think that most people have no idea who ATC is. They control everything. Its just crazy that they are the ones controlling everything i do but no one knows who they are. Much respect for the people that protect me on a daily basis!
Can I ask you. How is a random route oceanic clearence decided?
From which side? Dispatch/airline side, they look at the winds and find the most fuel efficient/quickest way to get there. From ATC side, we give a route that meets agreements with other facilities, and is separated from other aircraft. We use a system that probes the flight for conflicts and we can manipulate the route until it is conflict free and still makes sense for where they are going. Though for the most part we will look at altitude options first over reroutes, because their dispatch will have done much more work on making sure they are hitting the wind they want, missing weather and other factors.
Air traffic controllers, are more important than aircraft pilots.
Your statement makes no sense.
"They speak a bizarre language only they can understand."
Um, no. Actually, it's called English, and the phraseology used is some of the most standardized and easy to understand in the world.
respect.
Ive always heard its one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and long time traffic controllers often have heart related illnesses at relatively young age.. is this true?
A job I could never do. My brain doesn't operate under these conditions.
Sony make the large special square screens as a unique item for ATCs as a long time ago they nearly stopped making them.
STEVE! MY MAN!
Respect to them.
The French have to stop speaking French on the radio! Their ego is going to cause an accident
I'm curious what happens when the military has to scramble emergency fighter jets thru the skies. They seem to fly wherever they need to without impacting all the civilian aircraft in the skies. How is this possible? Blows my mind!!!
37:55 (Slight paraphrasing): "Well, because the concord was so eye-catching with such a long nose, I said it could take off. Screw the rules, just go for it, you long nose wonderful thing." 💥🚒
Just joking; he did an amazing job to keep working after such a horrific tragedy beyond his control. The translators just made him sound like a dick.
Interesting to shed some light on the most unknown part of aviation.
One minor criticism from me: to say the Concorde (Air France 4590) disaster was caused by debris on the runway is misleading. Yes, that was part of the "Swiss cheese", but the captain must take a large part of the responsibility because the plane was too heavy due to overloading anyway.
The captain doesn’t load the plane. Also being too heavy didn’t cause a fire.
@@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549 The captain signs the weight and balance sheet anyway
@@sanantonio855 and the weight and balance sheet didn’t say it was over weight
@@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549 Are you sure about that? How else would we know that it was overweight by fuel and luggage, and out of balance by the last minute luggage loaded into the aft hold? Of course the pilot knew. Ops calculated a longer taxi time and the flight crew did not take the time to burn off the extra fuel. The decision to take off under the combined circumstance left them beyond the margins for any possible correction for the bogie spacer yanking the plane off centerline plus loss of engine on takeoff. The titanium ring from the Continental DC-10 was only one hole in the Swiss cheese.... the neglect of Air France added *all* the rest; from their unwillingness to keep up with BA's evolving maintenance regime (specifically putting shields over the exploding tires), forgetting to reinstall said bogie spacer, to the panic of the Flight Engineer shutting down the working engine on the flaming climb out -- the penultimate step of doom before the final rollover to terrain. A sh*tshow of poor decision making throughout the organization.
19:12 all about Kennedy Steve
Kennedy Steve! I hope he's enjoying his retirement, as this is a few years old.
One of the worst jobs to have in terms of health, they die early.
They also retire early. Few controllers go past 20 years.
I’m still alive at 73 years.
My uncle was an Air Traffic controller PATCO until Reagan fired those guys .
Their service is essential they cannot go on strike 😮
@@jorgecruzseda7551 well I guess when you've had enough....you do something about it
@@jorgecruzseda7551that's why they should not be treated like shit.....
Reagan was a moron for many reasons. THIS one angered me so much when I heard he'd said, "Get back to work, or you're all fired" instead of seeing the real reasons as to *why* they went on strike in the first place that I want to eat tree bark. I know they weren't technically allowed to go on strike, but when the working conditions are so horrible that you say, "screw it" to that rule despite knowing the repercussions, then you *know* things are bad.
You have to be incredibly intelligent to be an ATC. These are not stupid people. The fact that they went on strike in the first place tells me that they'd weighed the pros and cons, considered the outcomes of different scenarios - as they do for their job - and STILL chose to go on strike.
That alone is a big 'ol a red flag that things are BAD.
Those problems needed to be remedied immediately, instead of beating up those crying out for help if they didn't shut up and get back to work.
I know steps have been taken since then - which is great - but from my limited knowledge, a lot more still needs to be done to protect the physical and mental health of ATCs.
The last thing I ever want is for the people in charge of thousands of lives a day to be burned out, exhausted, stressed, overworked, underpaid, understaffed, not disclosing medical conditions and thus not taking medications they need to deal with all of that due to the threat of losing their medical - thus their job - if they did, and drinking to compensate.
Much like how I'd rather the pilot flying my plane be on their antidepressants, anti anxiety, or ADHD meds that they need in order to control their focus, I'd rather the ATCs be on their meds instead of medicating with their weight in coffee, and shots of Jack Daniels.
36:57 she's beautiful. I could listen to that accent all day.
I'd rather listen to chalk on a blackboard. God confused all the languages at Babel but it was Satan who introduced French to the world.
Broadway has created a play about a plane rerouted to Newfoundland on 9/11
Thomas gotta let go of that hypervigilance at home with his family...
I dunno, I like the idea of a wife repeating instructions back. Gives her no excuse when she does something wrong.
@johnanthony6092 🙄