Time for a Little Hero Worship. Here Comes Vinnie!

Those of you who read Part Two of my blog entry “A Twofer” know that there is no love lost between air traffic controllers and former Federal Aviation Administration chief Marion Blakey.  People have already died as a direct result of her stewardship of the Agency (Colgan Air Disaster Foretold by FAA Inspector) and hundreds more, perhaps thousands, will die before the damage she did can ever be fully corrected.  Fortunately, Administrator Blakey has long since departed the Agency she flew into the ground.  Unfortunately, the managers placed throughout the Agency during her tenure remain in place to do her bidding.

The latest example of a safety-minded FAA employee risking his career, his reputation, and his very future involves an Air Traffic Controller named Vincent “Vinnie” Sugent.  Vinnie follows in the footsteps of a long line of Agency whistleblowers—personal heroes of mine such as Peter Nesbitt, “Bobbie” Boutris, and “Gabe” Bruno, as well as many, many others.  And, as in the case of Peter Nesbitt, today’s story involves Air Traffic Controllers being ordered by management to direct air traffic both unsafely and in direct contradiction to established FAA requirements and directives.  Fortunately, nobody was killed . . . this time.

What Vinnie Sugent and other controllers at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport were being ordered to do was to direct aircraft toward each other during simultaneous use of crossing runways.  Put in simpler terms and using an automotive analogy, they were being told to drive airplanes through a busy downtown intersection with only green lights showing on the traffic signal.  “See that space between those two west-bound cars currently in the intersection?  Don’t stop.  Shoot the gap and drive your south-bound car right between ’em.”  Yeah, your right . . . that’s every bit as dangerous as it sounds.  It requires the controller to use almost superhuman timing, it presupposes none of the aircraft deviates unexpectedly in either course or speed for any reason, it assumes none of the pilots will do anything unexpected, and it directly contradicts applicable FAA directives.  And this order went out after Air Traffic Controller Peter Nesbitt warned of the exact same violations occurring at Memphis International Airport.

And once again, as in the cases of Peter Nesbitt, Gabe Bruno, and Bobbie Boutris, FAA management retaliated against the person reporting the violations rather than correcting the problem.  Indeed, when questioned by Congress about the legality of the Detroit Metro operation in question, FAA officials gave “disingenuous information” in their response.  “Disingenuous information” is a polite way of saying “somebody lied their butt off”.  It’s also a way for other government management officials to avoid prosecuting fellow government management officials for an obvious transgression of the law—in this example, providing false or misleading testimony to Congress.

But unlike Gabe Bruno, Vinnie came through relatively unscathed. His bravery and unflinching dedication to both aviation safety and the wellbeing of the people who trust him with their very lives (that would be you, fellow airline travelers) was recently rewarded.  The Office of Special Counsel just five days ago presented Vinnie with the Public Servant Award for 2010.  Some quotes from the award:

“OSC recognizes Mr. Sugent’s substantial contribution to public service through his disclosures of serious aviation safety hazards and public health risks at DTW.”

“Among other disclosures, Mr. Sugent’s allegations included that DTW managers directed the operation of an unsafe landing and departure configuration known as the Southwest Flow without ensuring appropriate spacing between aircraft, did not respond truthfully when asked by Congress about the safety of the configuration, and knowingly repeated the operation months later. He also drew attention to inconsistent guidance and signage affecting the travel of aircraft on taxiways at DTW, as well as problems in the segregation of jet and propeller aircraft.”

“DOT and FAA have taken corrective and administrative action in response to the investigative findings, including changing FAA and DTW guidance concerning runway operations . . . “ Note:  My readers will notice that “corrective and administrative action” did not include firing those responsible for ordering controllers to direct aircraft illegally or for then lying to Congress about it.

“The Public Servant Award is a non-monetary and merit-based award to publicly recognize the most significant contributions made by federal whistleblowers who have either filed disclosures with OSC or who have sought relief from OSC on the grounds that they have suffered retaliation.” Note:  In other words, Vinnie risked it all not for monetary gain, not for notoriety and fame, not for any tangible reward whatsoever.  Rather, Vinnie gambled his livelihood and his future to protect you, the flying public.  FAA management offered no such potential sacrifice.

I say “relatively unscathed” though because I know many of the people Marion Blakey left in charge. They have long memories and are not afraid to carry out vendettas well into the future.  Long after the dust has settled and Vinnie’s bravery is forgotten, the retaliations will come back into play.  Vinnie knows that, I’m sure.  He knew it when he stepped forward.  But Vinnie is a hero, and that’s what heroes do; they step forward.

Please remember Vinnie, Peter, Gabe, Bobbie, and the many, many other current and former dedicated safety professionals at the Federal Aviation Administration the next time some Congressman tells you that we’re in bad economic times, that government employees are unworthy of their salaries and benefits, and that those in government should have their pay frozen for five years regardless of what inflation may do during that timeframe.  Then ask yourself a few questions:

Where was this same Congressman when Vinnie and other controllers had had their pay frozen for years by Marion Blakey during the economic good times?  Why didn’t this Congressman act to reverse a pay freeze that caused a massive wave of retirements, leaving this nation with fewer experienced, fully qualified controllers than at any time since 1992?  Why didn’t he go after the FAA managers who provided false and misleading information to Congress?  Why didn’t he target those who knowingly endangered lives and property at this nation’s seventeenth busiest airport?  Why were those in management making these types decisions still allowed pay raises while the safety professionals actually doing any work of consequence had their pay frozen?

Until that grandstanding Congressman can answer those questions satisfactorily, he has no business proclaiming anybody but himself unworthy of a government salary and benefits because, by playing to the baser instincts of a recession-weary electorate, he certainly isn’t gambling anything nearly as dear to him as Vinnie, Gabe, Peter, or Bobbie did.

Tomorrow is a really big day for me. My book Decisions is being reviewed by one of the premiere independent eBook bloggers in the business, the legendary and well-respected Red Adept Reviews.  I don’t know what Decisions will score—I won’t find out until you do—but regardless I would like to take this time to publicly thank Lynn O’Dell for taking the time to review it.  If you’re a book lover, and especially if you’re a book lover with an eBook Reader, visit Lynn’s blog and subscribe to it.  You’ll be doing yourself an immense favor.