Recording: Air traffic controller banters about dead cat as plane flies toward disaster in NY

September 16th, 2009 Feds: Pilot in crash had wrong radio frequencyWASHINGTON — The pilot of a plane involved in a mid-air collision over the Hudson River read back the wrong radio frequency to an air traffic controller but wasn't corrected by the controller, a federal safety official said Wednesday. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman told a congressional committee Wednesday that shortly after the single-engine Piper took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, a Teterboro controller handed off the plane to nearby Newark Liberty International.

August 27th, 2009 NTSB: Controller didn't warn plane in midair crashWASHINGTON — Federal safety officials say an air traffic controller should have warned the pilot of a small plane that collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River that there were other aircraft in his path. The accident earlier this month near New York City killed nine people.

August 20th, 2009 Jokes about barbecuing a cat preceded midair crashWASHINGTON — Two minutes after he cleared a private plane for takeoff and a fateful flight over the Hudson River, an air traffic controller at New Jersey's Teterboro Airport was on the phone with a woman in the airport operations office, joking about barbecuing a dead cat. "We got plenty of gas in the grill?" the controller asked.

August 20th, 2009 Transcript: Controller joked about barbecuing catWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller was joking on the phone about barbecuing a dead cat minutes before a small plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, transcripts obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press show. Nine people — three members of a Pennsylvania family in the plane and five Italian tourists and a pilot in the helicopter — died in the Aug.

August 20th, 2009 Excerpts from air traffic conversationsExcerpts from draft government transcripts of conversations between the control tower of the Teterboro, N.J., airport and the pilot of a Piper plane that collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River on Aug. 8, killing nine people.

August 18th, 2009 New twist in Hudson River collision investigationWASHINGTON — A helicopter hit by a small plane over the Hudson River wasn't initially visible to an air traffic controller handling the plane, federal safety officials say in a revised account of the deadly collision. The statement by the National Transportation Safety Board, issued after public pressure from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, provides some vindication to the controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

August 17th, 2009 Controllers: NTSB report on Hudson collision wrongWASHINGTON — Union leaders said Monday that federal safety officials made a mistake in a report that implied an air traffic controller could have prevented a mid-air collision over the Hudson River and demanded a retraction. National Air Traffic Controllers Association officials said the National Transportation Safety Board was wrong when it said that a controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey who was handling a small plane involved in the Aug.

August 15th, 2009 Controller bantering about dead cat before crashWASHINGTON — The air traffic controller handling the small plane involved in a deadly crash with a helicopter over the Hudson River was chatting on the telephone about a dead cat at the airport and initially failed to warn the pilot of other aircraft in his path, officials say. The controller tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot before the accident, officials said Friday, but the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

August 15th, 2009 Controller bantering on phone before crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller bantering on the phone about a dead cat at the airport initially failed to warn a small plane of other aircraft in its path and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot, officials said Friday. Moments later, the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

August 14th, 2009 Controller was on phone during Hudson River crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller who was making a personal phone call when a small plane and a helicopter collided over New York's Hudson River has been removed from duty along with his supervisor, who was out of the building at the time. Federal officials said the pair's actions probably had no impact on last week's crash.

August 14th, 2009 Controller was on phone during crashWASHINGTON — A personal phone call during last week's collision over New York's Hudson River has led to two air traffic controllers being removed from duty, although officials said the conversation probably had no impact on the tragedy. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday that a controller at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and his supervisor have been placed on administrative leave because the controller was involved in "apparently inappropriate conversations" at the time of the crash between a small plane and a tour helicopter that killed nine people.

August 14th, 2009 Controller failed to warn pilot in midair crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller making a personal phone call initially failed to warn a small plane of other aircraft in its path and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot, federal safety officials said Friday. Moments later, the plane collided with an tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

August 14th, 2009 FAA: 2 employees investigated in mid-air collisionWASHINGTON — Authorities have suspended an air traffic controller who was talking on the phone during last week's deadly mid-air collision over New York's Hudson River, along with a supervisor who was out of the building at the time. The Federal Aviation Administration said that while there was no reason to believe thus far that the employees' actions contributed to the accident, which killed nine people, such "conduct is unacceptable." Air-traffic controllers are expected to be alert at all times while on duty and are given regular breaks, sometimes hourly, for that reason.

August 14th, 2009 Controller didn't warn pilot before Hudson crashWASHINGTON — An air traffic controller making a personal phone call initially failed to warn a small plane of other aircraft in its path and then tried unsuccessfully to contact the pilot, federal safety officials said Friday. Moments later, the plane collided with a tour helicopter over the Hudson River, killing nine people.

May 6th, 2009 Novice air controller blamed for close call in Ky.MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A "significant error" by an air traffic controller in Memphis put two airliners too close together over Kentucky last week, leading both to take evasive maneuvers and one pilot to file a near mid-air collision report, the Federal Aviation Administration said.