At least they were trained.....

It's been two weeks since it happened, but the story has only come to light in the last two days.

On February 16, Glenn Duffy, an air traffic controller at Kennedy Airport, decided to bring his 9 year old son to work. Just for kicks, Duffy decided to let the lad help direct traffic. The next day, he brought the child's twin sister to work, ostensibly to give her equal time. Unfortunately for Duffy, this stunt may ultimately cost him his job.

I had heard an excerpt of an audio tape of the boy talking to one of the pilots on a 12 noon newscast. It seemed so innocent. The kids were on vacation from school for the week, so Duffy figured, why not give them something to do that would give them something to talk about when they returned to class? The opinions gathered as of press time are split, but the most important opinions belong to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which decried the stunt as an unacceptable distraction. Duffy has been suspended and, according to the New York Daily News, could wind up losing his job as a result.

I'm going to venture a guess here, but it seems as though Duffy decided to satisfy his son's curiosity and let him talk to the pilot. His supervisor, who also has been suspended for allowing this to happen, didn't think it was a problem, and let it go. Luckily, there were no accidents on those two nights, and that may yet be Duffy's saving grace. Now, I'm trying to picture the kids returning to school and telling their classmates about their little adventure. They've probably earned respect, but was it at the risk of their father losing his job?