Attention Traffic Control - Is Anyone There?

Early Wednesday Morning at Reagan National Airport, two pilots from two different airplanes called out to air traffic control in an attempt to land their planes.

The sound on the other end, complete silence.

Several attempts were made to get a response from the control tower not only by the pilots but also through the "shout line", a pipeline that blasts messages via loudspeaker into the control tower from controllers in the surrounding area.

There has been no explanation thus far of the lack of response. There has not even been a confirmation if there was actually anyone in the control tower at the time of the silence.

Luckily, the two pilots landing their planes with 165 passengers total, took the initiative to communicate directly with one another their progress in the air in order to land the planes safely.

There are investigations taking place by an army of agencies to solve the mystery of the Reagan tower. The Federal Aviation Administration and The National Transportation Safety Board are hard at work putting the clues together.

The first clue being, there is only one air traffic controller on duty during the midnight to 6 a.m. shift.

Considering there is just as much activity taking place at night, if not more as during the day, why would there only be one air traffic controller responsible for the graveyard shift activity?

It is just like a local Target or Walmart, at night the activity level is what gets the store ready for the next day of business. Shipments are coming in, prices and displays are being changed, stocking is taking place and clean-up is in progress.

There is not much a difference between a store and an airport. Planes are being moved around to various areas for repairs or to change gate locations, all the activity needed to start the new daytime shift as smoothly as possible while planes are still flying in and out.

So with the level of activity at night it seems odd that only one person would be responsible for being the eyes and ears for the man made birds flying in the air space and moving on the ground.

Results, an increased chance for mistakes and miscommunication.

About a year ago, an air traffic controller forgot to take his pass key that opens the tower door with him when he exited the tower for a moment and ended up getting locked out, leaving no one to respond to air traffic, according to The Washington Post.

If there had been more than one person handling the tower this incident would have never happened.

It is plausible that whatever happened early Wednesday morning could have also been avoided if more than one person was employed to handle to the air traffic at Reagan National Airport.

Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary , has ordered a second air traffic controller to be on duty at Reagan National Airport. In the meantime, LaHood has also initiated an investigation with the FAA into the level of staffing at airports throughout the country.

There are many things that have happened over the years that no one really hears about as far as lack of communication with traffic control, near misses in collisions at airports during landing and take offs.

To be fair, all the near misses and lack of communication would cause chaos if announced publicly for the airline industry. After 9/11 there is enough fear and doubt for many flyers every time they take the initiative to book a flight.

It is just like any other industry, the public is not made aware every single time something goes wrong with every company or field of transportation.

There just has to be faith on the part of consumers that things will run smoothly, that the outcome of whatever service is being used is being maintained and will end in positive results.

The most that can be hoped for is that the investigations into what happened Wednesday morning will put minds at ease, and there will be further progress made in the airline and traffic control industry to meet a high level of safety.

In the meantime, here is a fact that may ease some minds about flying.
The odds of being killed on a single airline flight based on the top 25 airlines is one in 9.2 million based on a study conducted from 1985-2009. http://www.planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm

AT&T surpasses Verizon

AT&T, an company that is already monumental in their vast array of products. Home phones, business lines, multiple Internet options, the newer Uverse addition to cable and TV and of course wireless service.

AT&T's roots stretch back to 1875 when they were the monopoly of the telecommunications industry in the 19th century.

In modern times, AT&T is now pushing forward to become the top provider for cell phone users.

n an effort to become #1 wireless company, as in the company with the most customers, AT&T is making a $39 billion purchase and buying out a well known company called T-Mobile.

This transaction will put AT&T's customer base higher than the infamous "do you hear me now" Verizon wireless.

Celebration may not be a long lived event for AT&T once they gain the top spot.

AT&T customers have been primarily loyal because of plans such as the roll over minutes, and the infamous IPhone.

The problem is, that the special pricing and products in reality are not comparable in value to other companies such as sprint, Verizon and even the increasingly popular pre-paid companies such as boost and virgin.

AT&T tacks on fees for data plans and special packages for different phones, when the same services can be received at another company for even a few dollars cheaper.

In the midst of rise in unemployment, unless the customer doesn't have to make the extra effort to stretch their dollars, plans will ultimately out way the fancy gadgets.

Consumers can now get blackberries at a flat rate each month, no hidden fees and contracts.

Verizon is making their mark with the IPhone, no longer leaving AT&T with the highly sought after technology.

Just because AT&T decides to acquire a company large in loyalty does not mean that the customers will decide to take their business else where.

Unless AT&T decides to take some drastic measures to make their pricing comparable to the competitors in their field, the celebration may be a short party.

Japan rocked by Natural Disaster

As everyone has probably heard by now, Japan's ground rolled for about 5 minutes last night at a magnitude of 8.9. The people of Japan were not just dealing with the aftershocks but Tsunamis wiping out large portions of Japan

Hearts are going out with thoughts and prayers all over the world as the dramatic destruction was captured on film and has been streaming on news channels and the Internet since last night. 

The earthquake also caused Tsunami warnings throughout surrounding areas of Japan including Russia, Guam and Hawaii. California  and the entire west coast has also been placed on possible alert. 

CNN is running continuous coverage of the disaster and updates along with MS NBC and multiple other networks dedicated to the news. 

The wave of natural disasters that have devastated people throughout the world since 2004 seem to topple one on top of another. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 that created the worst Tsunami in history taking the lives of nearly 150,000. Hurricane Katrina and the long time displacement of many Americans and massive destruction. The earthquakes in Haiti, Chili and New Zealand all with massive destruction. 

Now Japan. 

Are Americans ready for a natural disaster. Looking at footage of other countries or even other states go through tragedy and loss due natural disasters is almost like watching something unfold that seems unreal. How realistic are the people in California taking these rolling systems of destruction. 

Is this state with all the economic problems ready to deal with the same level of disaster if it is to occur here next?

It's not something anyone wants to deal with or thinks about on a daily basis- but reality is, California is at risk just as all the places that have been infected by loss were. 

There are a ton of preparation websites that help to educate people on what to do and what to have on hand for an emergency. There is never a bad time to get prepared. It is always a good idea to be prepared just in case. 

As for Japan, they have a struggle ahead of them and efforts are already in effect to help assist in the clean up of damage and with the people in need. 

If there are loved ones that you cannot locate in Japan, it has been said on Facebook that many people are able to get in contact via social networks easier than through phone lines. There is also a search engine that has been set up on google to help track people in Japan to make sure loved ones are safe. 

If you have friends or family in Japan, Google has a person finder up.http://japan.person-finder.appspot.com/?lang=en

Hopefully the destruction will subside soon, as for now all we can do as Americans is send our thoughts and prayers.