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Title : "The Day Britain Stopped" Date : Wednesday 14th May 2003 Critique and Response to BBC2 Production The Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers (GATCO), was approached by the programme makers during the planning stages of this production, and having discussed the format of the programme with a member of the production team, declined to become involved with the project owing to a number of serious concerns.Portrayal of the Air Traffic Controller Profession Controllers are constantly aware of their responsibilities to airline passenger safety which is highlighted by the stringent recruitment and selection processes, coupled with an intense training programme taking a number of years, before a controller becomes fully operational. GATCO considers that the image of the air traffic controller as seen in the programme is inaccurate, over-dramatic and simplistic. It fails to communicate to the viewer the vitally important role that a highly-trained controller plays in an increasingly automated air traffic control system, but rather, it portrays the controller as being a critically ‘weak link’. In depicting a mid-air collision between two airliners caused by controller error as a result of fatigue, GATCO notes that the programme makers have failed to take account of mandatory duty hours safeguards that exist in the United Kingdom. To avoid such controller fatigue,
established procedures would be implemented in the circumstances
depicted, restricting flight demand to a level where controller
workload remains manageable and within agreed safety parameters. ‘Fail safe’ equipment, providing safety nets in control towers and centres, and in the air, have been ignored. Questionable Motives GATCO also considers ‘The Day Britain Stopped’ to be in extremely poor taste, given the continuing distress of relatives and friends of those killed during the events of ‘9/11’, and subsequent aviation tragedies. This all adds to the continuing sensitivities of the travelling public towards air travel. The programme, as presented, is irresponsible due to several omissions and errors. It is regrettable that in such a format, important issues which could have been discussed in a professional and reasoned manner are ignored, thereby leaving the viewer with an inaccurate impression. GATCO therefore believes that the programme contributes nothing useful to any serious debate about aviation safety and is therefore counter-productive, being merely an unfortunate example of alarmist tabloid-style television ‘docu-drama’. Click here to return to Press Release Main Page |
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