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Controller was asleep. the pilot s call signal you will hear is cheyenne lifeguard. 2:00 a.m. in the skies over reno. lifeguard reporter: the pilot of this medevac plane with a seriously ill patient onboard urgently needed to land. reno tower reporter: no answer from the tower, but radar controllers in northern california were listening. we re going to call him on the phone lines. all right. we ll circle. reporter: despite phone calls to the reno tower, still no answer. finally the medevac pilot told california controllers he couldn t wait any longer. we ve got a pretty sick patient. we have to land. lifeguard two tango reporter: the faa says the controller two year obs the job admits he d fallen asleep. this is outrageous, tom. we will not tolerate this kind ....
And that it was used out of frustration in the heat of the game, and he claims his words do not reflect his feelings toward the gay community. he personally apologized to at least one gay rights leader and will be meeting with other gay rights advocates. every air traffic controller tower now in the country has at least two controllers on the job during the overnight hours. the change was announced after yet another incident where a controller nodded off while a plane was trying to land. but experts who study sleep patterns see a broader problem. controllers being bounced from days to nights and back. this kind of outrageous, ridiculous behavior will not be tolerated. and there s obvious fatigue implications when you rotate from shift to shift throughout a week or a daily period. controllers had been working on the fatigue issue for more than a year and right now a dozen recommendations before the faa. north korea is now admitting it is holding a southern california man, some ....
all right. we ll circle some more. despite phone calls to the reno tower, still no answer. finally the medevac pilot told california controllers he couldn t wait any longer. we got a pretty sick patient. we may just have to land. okay. roger. landing is at your own risk. last reported wind was calm. the faa says the controller two years on the job admits he fell asleep. this is outrageous, tom. we will not tolerate this kind of activity in control towers in america. the problem for the faa? this is hardly the first case of controllers sleeping on the job. on march 23rd, two commercial flights had to land on their own at washington s reagan national airport. the controller i was suspended for sleeping. february 19th the faa says a knoxville controller willfully slept while seven planes landed without his help. now we learned of another two ....
get ahold of the tower here. reporter: minutes pass, still no answer. we may just have to land whether we have clearance or not. reporter: the aircraft landed with no guidance from the tower. it turns out, the lone air traffic control on duty was sleeping. it s the latest in a series of similar incidents. in march, a controller at d.c. s reagan national airport nodded off on his fourth overnight shift in a row. in february a controller in tennessee didn t just fall asleep, he d made a bed out of pillows on the floor. this is just outrageous behavior that will not be tolerated by the secretary of transportation. reporter: wednesday the faa announced, effective immediately, they will place an additional air traffic controller on the midnight shift at 27 control towers around the country currently staffed with only one controller. interestingly enough, the day after the d.c. reagan incident, it turns out the reno airport added a second controller to their overnight shift, but ....
We ll get the latest on the father s arrest. and later in this half hour, the company that promises to fight the irs on your behalf, now we ll show you why tax masters is under investigation in several states. a very interesting behind-the-scenes look at this company. it certainly is and who hasn t seen those commercials especially this time of year? every other second it seems like. tax day monday. yep. but first major new steps to ensure airline passengers safety. as of right now, every air traffic control facility in the company. now the immediate change was ordered after yet another incident of a controller asleep at the switch. lisa stark has the details. reporter: around 2:00 a.m. in the skies above reno, a pilot carrying a seriously ill patient is trying to land at the airport there. trying to call the tower. no one is answering. can t seem to get ahold of the tower here. um, i think i m going to try and give another call. reporter: the pilot then calls the la ....