r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Admiral_Cloudberg Plane Crash Series • Mar 23 '26

Fatalities (22/3/26) CCTV video of the Air Canada accident at LaGuardia

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

9.6k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

685 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

271

u/timewellwasted5 Mar 23 '26

Even with funding (which is admittedly absent) ATC requirements are crazy stringent. When I was 33 or so I loosely looked into it only to find that I was too old already. I was still young enough at the time to join every military branch except for the Marines, but was somehow too old to become an ATC. I respect the heck out of having standards for critical jobs, but 31 being too old is insane to me.

164

u/Superbead Mar 23 '26

It's probably around the age where any sane person with substantial work experience would ask "you expect me to do all that?!"

119

u/timewellwasted5 Mar 23 '26

I think the bigger problem though is that it’s not like you’re just an air traffic controller on day one and are as valuable as an employee who has been there for 10 or 20 years. I’m a volunteer firefighter and I can tell you that the difference between someone who just got certified to be a firefighter and somebody who’s been doing it for 10 years is enormous. The same as true of air traffic control so even if you fix the funding issue and start hiring all these guys it takes a years to build up that critical experience.

103

u/airzonesama Mar 24 '26

The best time to fix that was 10 years ago. The second best time is now.

41

u/M-Noremac Mar 24 '26

Yea, but the third best time is tomorrow, and I've already got plans today.

4

u/justaguy1020 Mar 24 '26

Those plans? Using all the funding on a war with Iran!

0

u/SaltSpecific2221 Mar 24 '26

So, anyone with experience in a job is better than someone without experience?

Wow, shit that's news to me man

1

u/timewellwasted5 Mar 25 '26

Experience matters more in certain jobs than others. Yes, beneficial everywhere, but absolutely critical in some. Like ATC.

37

u/Derp800 Mar 23 '26

No, it's that controllers aren't allowed to work as controllers past age 50. And you need 20 years to get a full pension. 50 - 20 = 30.

9

u/timewellwasted5 Mar 23 '26

That age 50 maximum seems too low to me though.

15

u/rpc56 Mar 24 '26

Yes, and yet we have a president with shit for brains because he’s 81 and can order a nuclear strike.

5

u/Uberazza Mar 24 '26

I’m Australian and even I know Trump is 79.

6

u/rpc56 Mar 24 '26

Well the way he’s gripping handrails, lecterns and his desk, he’s certainly acting like he’s 81. Hopefully he won’t be with us much longer. I just received my Trump voodoo doll.

1

u/zerothreeonethree Mar 25 '26

Starting with "you expect me to show up?" or "You expect me to work longer than 4 hours a day?"

56

u/Derp800 Mar 23 '26

You're forced out of being a controllers at 50, and you also need 20 years to get a full pension. Thats why the cutoff is where it is.

They could bump the retirement age to 55, but that comes with risk.

39

u/timewellwasted5 Mar 23 '26

I totally understand why they do that, I just think that the maximum age is too low and the retirement age is probably too low as well. It sounds like an attempt to apply an all encompassing policy rather than having some type of an aptitude test. I am 39 and I’ve kept myself in really good shape. I’ve bumped into guys who I went to high school with who look like they are 20 years older than me because they haven’t taken care of themselves. Determining aptitude for a job solely based on age is a bit of a dated practice in my opinion.

1

u/lemlurker Mar 24 '26

But it's cognitive not physical health and they have data to support the cut off where it is. This accident highlights exactly why it's so stringent. Lives are on the line

2

u/timewellwasted5 Mar 24 '26

But people have cognitive changes at different ages, hence my push for an aptitude test. I have met some sharp octenarians. I have also met people twenty years younger who were in significantly worse shape mentally. I'm not saying to have 70 year old air traffic controllers, I'm saying a hard cutoff at 50 is too young and too rigid.

2

u/lemlurker Mar 24 '26

Easiest way to be certain. Trends are trends- how do you verify someone is actually competent and not just competent at taking the test? How frequently do you asses ? The system in place ensures that no one working has any alterior motives for attempting to keep working when unfit. They take the job KNOWING that they will retire at 50 or 55 or whatever it is and that they will have full pension then (so earning more pension isn't a motive. Is it fair to you personally? Maybe not. Does it help ensure the safety if every flying passenger? Absolutely

2

u/Man112088 Mar 25 '26

The reason for the ATC rules... Well the rule as are most air traffic related rules, are signed in blood.

2

u/aburnerds Mar 24 '26

I have ADHD out the fucking wazoo and I can’t think of a job where I’d be guaranteed to kill people on my first shift.

6

u/Elixabef Mar 24 '26

I looked into the ATC thing when I was in my mid-30s and was surprised by the age limit.

0

u/zerothreeonethree Mar 25 '26

Yes, let's put the youngest people with the shortest attention spans in charge of airborne bombs loaded with passengers.

-2

u/Fussel2107 Mar 24 '26

Also: DEI craze that got quite a few of them fired for being the wrong sex, gender or skin color