View Full Version : you're nicked !
man friday
13th Oct 2006, 14:36
just worked an evening shift where my tower controller was arrested, yes ARRESTED whilst on console for alledged non payment of a minor motoring fine months earlier
its certainly a first for me, has it ever happened elsewhere, and what would be the correct wording for the notam informing all that we'd closed and wont be open for 6 months( assuming its a first offence!!)
No F*ckin' way! :ugh:
Have the RGP got nothing better to do these days? :rolleyes:
LXGB
man friday
13th Oct 2006, 17:31
apparently it was warrant week, dont know if its annually like bob a job week, or quarterly, but the books open now to see who they come for the next time, bearing in mind the old serco company cell used to be occupied a lot !!!
letMfly
13th Oct 2006, 18:18
During an ATSA strike at my Unit many years ago the General Manager, having updated the movement log was pacing up and down behind the tower controller, making him feel a bit nervous.
The ATCO asked him several times if he wouldn't mind leaving the tower, but the GM just ignored him and kept lurking.
In desperation (or was it devilment :E ) the tower controller called the airport police and reported the GM for compromising flight safety!
Shortly afterwards the airport Plods arrived with blue lights flashing as the GM scurried down the stairs to explain himself.
Class! :ok: :ok: :ok:
rab-k
13th Oct 2006, 18:59
Aye, and shortly afterwards the ATCO concerned was also asked if he wouldn't mind leaving the tower. (But not by plod!) Nice one 'J' - still makes us laugh, that and the time you pretended to be the WM - but that's another story! :D
man friday - check your PMs
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
13th Oct 2006, 21:14
Two little tales.. An ex-colleague of mine worked in Africa. He was on duty one day when the local "law" arrived, took the tower controller by the neck and shot him on the spot. I presume it was something more serious than double-parking.
Where I worked a revolution took place one night. The ATCOs on watch were not aware of any problems until the local army arrived in the tower and told the staff to get out. The Supervisor told them to leave at once as his ATCOs were staying put. Quick gabble on a walkie-talkie and a tank trundled across the airfield and stuck it's gun up against the tower window. They all left!
Scott Voigt
14th Oct 2006, 03:07
LXGB;
Gee, serving of arrest warrants is what folks do... It is the fault of the individual who decided that it wasn't important to appear in front of a magistrate to take care of the problem in the first place...
tobzalp
14th Oct 2006, 09:47
Probably going to ruin the mood of the thread, but there was a piece of **** in Oz who was doing nasty things to a couple of kids. He went to work the night shift and the kids went to the cops who then turned up and took him away from the building. Piece of ****.
LXGB;
Gee, serving of arrest warrants is what folks do... It is the fault of the individual who decided that it wasn't important to appear in front of a magistrate to take care of the problem in the first place...
Agree with you 100% Scott.
But, perhaps they could have waited til he finished his shift. He was hardly (I'm assuming) presenting a danger to life or property at the time :)
LXGB
Scott Voigt
14th Oct 2006, 15:51
<shrug> Why wait till the end of shift, when they probably have other things to do to. It takes time to make the arrest, book in the person and do the paper work. You then go on to the next person on your list. Everyone has a job to do...
Scott
man friday
14th Oct 2006, 16:15
scott, everyone has a job to do, true, not least our fugitive that had the last flight to see out! luck had it that we had a spare atco in the tower, but we normally operate with just 2 atcos on shift, so dixon of dock green's escapade could have resulted in an a320 having to night stop!!!
Lon More
14th Oct 2006, 16:28
Inconvenient for all concerned but if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
eastern wiseguy
14th Oct 2006, 20:00
Agree with you 100% Scott.
But, perhaps they could have waited til he finished his shift. He was hardly (I'm assuming) presenting a danger to life or property at the time :)
LXGB#
Yeah that's right...no stress on you for the rest of the shift then.:ugh: ....care to hazard a guess what the report would have read like in the event of an incident?
#
Yeah that's right...no stress on you for the rest of the shift then.:ugh: ....care to hazard a guess what the report would have read like in the event of an incident?
Hi EW,
I didn't mean that the police should sit at the back of the tower dangling the cuffs till the clock reached the end of the watch :)
My point was, why go to the trouble of gaining entry to the tower and dragging him off console for a traffic ticket?
Sounds a bit OTT to me.
Anyways, I wasn't there and I don't know the full story, so I'll leave any further input or judgements to the people who were.
Best Regards,
LXGB :ok:
av8boy
15th Oct 2006, 00:35
Of course, all of this reminds me of an event which was just long enough ago to have become quite fuzzy: the attetmpted arrest of air traffic controllers for doing their jobs...
Circa 1979--1981, Santa Monica, California. The city is trying to shut down the airport because the land is more valuable for mixed commercial use than it is as a runway. However, they are prohibited from doing so by the agreement they entered into with the federal government when the property was turned over to them after WWII.
The city decides to make the airport an unpleasant place for aviation. As part of this plan, they ban helicopters and jets and set the max noise level at 85dB (SENEL). Long story short (this went through years of litigation and there are many twists and turns), the FAA (which not only deals with the policy underlying this stuff, but also runs the tower at KSMO) disagrees with the city and tells the ATC staff that they MAY land and depart jets. Shortly thereafter, a controller clears a jet to land and the city sends the local police over to the tower to arrest the controller. ATC staff won't open the door, and proceed to call the FAA regional office. Federal law enforcement officials arrive and get between the local police and the tower. Much hilarity ensues. Nobody is arrested.
Like I said, this is foggy, and is second hand: when I arrived at KSMO as a controller in 1982 it was still widely spoken of. So, although it's not apocryphal, the details may not be right on.
Dave
ATSA_Grunt
15th Oct 2006, 12:34
I wasn't there at the time this happened, but the story goes something like this...
Some years ago at EGLL the Tower rec'd a call from the met observer on the North side of the airfield to say they had spotted a "Chipmunk"on the northside. A subsequent call to Heathrow Airport Ltd resulted in the animal unit being dispatched to deal with said rodent.
20 minutes later or so the phone rang in the tower to say there was in fact a "chipmunk" on the northside, it did however have wings and an engine!! Cue some embarrassment from ATC as to why no one had spotted a single engine plane that had been taken for a joyride from a small local airfield and had landed unseen in the middle of the night!!!
Farmer 1
15th Oct 2006, 13:18
My point was, why go to the trouble of gaining entry to the tower and dragging him off console for a traffic ticket?
That wasn't why he was dragged off, LXGB. He was dragged off for non-payment of a fine. Much more serious. OTT? Maybe, maybe not, but if you ignore a court's ruling, then you need to be prepared for the worst. My guess is this is going to cost him an awful lot more than a minor motoring fine.
Local Boy
17th Oct 2006, 08:04
Just so that you all get the hint. The arrest was unwarranted as the fine had been paid 7 months before this incident (Luckily he had the receipt) but someone in the court FORGOT to put paid on the computer, There,s clerks for you. Can youy imagine if anyone of us FORGETS that we have an aircraft on the runway when we clear another to land/Takeoff
Air.Farce.1
17th Oct 2006, 16:53
During an ATSA strike at my Unit many years ago the General Manager, having updated the movement log was pacing up and down behind the tower controller, making him feel a bit nervous.
The ATCO asked him several times if he wouldn't mind leaving the tower, but the GM just ignored him and kept lurking.
In desperation (or was it devilment :E ) the tower controller called the airport police and reported the GM for compromising flight safety!
Shortly afterwards the airport Plods arrived with blue lights flashing as the GM scurried down the stairs to explain himself.
Class! :ok: :ok: :ok:
No chance of this happening at "Scottish" ! :}
The GM is never in the ops room... too busy ;) ;) ;)
Although there may be an ATSA strike when he tries to post them elsewhere !! :) :) :p :p
FREQSEPARATOR
20th Oct 2006, 12:09
They do some funny things in Gibraltar, i was there with the original team
that took over from the RAF and due to some mixup in my paper work iwas read my my rights. When he got to the bit about bail i got really worried as i had no money on me. But was told don't worry your bail is £50 and you do not pay
it now , you just have to report back here in 30 days and if you dont come back you owe us £50 and we come looking for you.
Some of the orignal lot are still there ,i m sure they will enlighten you with the full story, its funny when i think about it now ,but was'nt at the time:)
bottom rung
21st Oct 2006, 18:01
Hey freqseparator
Check your PMs:)