MELBOURNE, Fla. — Just outside Washington D.C. Wednesday night, 67 people were killed when a passenger jet crashed into a military helicopter while attempting to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport.

Since then, a Federal Aviation Administration report obtained by the Associated Press showed that one air traffic controller was doing the work of two at the time of the crash.

What You Need To Know

  • On Wednesday night, 67 people were killed when an American Airlines passenger jet crashed into a military helicopter while trying to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport

  • According to an FAA report, one air traffic controller was doing work normally assigned to two people at the time of the crash
     
  • An expert at Florida Tech’s College of Aeronautics in Melbourne said there is a persistent shortage of air traffic controllers in the U.S.

  • Florida Tech assistant professor Margaret Wallace says it takes specialized training to prepare air traffic controllers for the possibility of a crash like the one in D.C. 

Margaret Wallace, who teaches air traffic control and airport management courses at the Florida Institute of Technology, said working as an air traffic controller is a high-pressure job.

She said controllers have to coordinate the movement of aircraft and airspace, communicate with pilots about the volume of traffic, and make decisions and judgment calls for take-offs and landings.

 “They do have to have the foresight, they do have to have problem-solving, they have to have situational awareness,” said Wallace, who is an assistant professor in the College of Aeronautics.

She said memory skills have to sharp so controllers can look at aircraft and anticipate what they’ll do.

“And have a plan of action and then follow through with it,” she said. “And know that anything can change in a minute.”

Wallace said there has been a persistent shortage of U.S. air traffic controllers, which has caused the industry to be severely understaffed.

She said air traffic controllers will spend anywhere from two to five years in training before they can become a professional controller.

Right now, Wallace said a lot of the turnover is being caused by the mandatory retirement age for air traffic controllers.

“They have to retire by their 57th birthday, so we only get them for about 25 to 30 years anyway,” she said.

Wallace said she remembers the chaos of responding to emergency situations while working as an air traffic controller in the Air Force.

“Everything is happening at one time,” she said. “You can’t pause the problem. You can’t stop. You just got to keep going until it’s done.”

She said air traffic controllers undergo specialized training for responding to a crash like the one in Washington D.C. But Wallace said that training can only go so far.

“We do, to the extent that you can, until it happens,” she said. “You have no idea how you’re going to react to it. I put my heart out to the family and friends of those that were lost, and the controller and everybody that was involved, because I can’t imagine what they’re going through right now.”