Media Covering Kid Air Traffic Controllers Too Much

Normally, when it comes to air travel security issues, I would be all for the media literally saturating the air waves. When I say that, I mean the “issues” that involve something that travelers really need to know or do in order to make it to their destinations with few problems – i.e., the reports in the past about limitations on what people could carry in their luggage.

Then there are the security issues that the public really doesn’t need to know, and usually they don’t. We don’t need to know whether or not air security personnel are on the look out for particular people – or types of people. We don’t need to know about every homeland security alert, and we usually don’t. Finally, we don’t need to know about security concerns in air traffic control when there wasn’t an incident as a result of it.

What is the common thread in all those issues that we don’t need to know about? It’s fairly simple. They are all situations that we don’t want our enemies to know.

Call me paranoid if you like, but when I saw the reports about the kids in the control towers parroting their dad’s transmissions to pilots, I kept thinking “Oh great! Now every wacko with even a slight idea in their heads about messing with JFK is thinking about it more seriously!” And that thought was quickly followed with another – “And now everyone from every other country in the world can justify their contentions that we’re stupid!”

Yes, it was a mistake. Yes, action should be taken, and apparently is. That should be the end of it. There is no earthly reason why this story should still be in circulation on the news networks – and no, I don’t consider the “new” development that the idiot air traffic controller in question did it more than once with two of his kids worthy of reporting. The “story” never should have been out there in the first place, and is a classic example of the media’s failure to properly determine whether or not something “should” be reported.

So, for future reference, please don’t report stories that tempt terrorists to attack because they think there might be new gaping holes in our security, and make our country look like a bunch of mouth-breathing idiots to the entire world.  There’s plenty of stories out there that make us look like idiots, but don’t also tempt terrorists. Stick with them!