with this story?
The youngster, apparently under adult supervision, makes five transmissions on a tape obtained by Channel 26 in Boston and confirmed as genuine by the FAA.
The father was right there, the other controllers where right there if there was an issue. They told him what to say. It’s the type of thing a parent does with a kid. The pilots recognized it and understood. I understand that standards have to be kept up but lets all calm down a bit here.
This is one of the little joys of life. Instead of a kid being inspired by the spectacular work that these men and women do every day his memory will be of getting his father in trouble. Way to go to inspire the next generation folks. Yeah he shouldn’t have done it but there is a lot less here than meets the eye.
I will be very disappointed if the controller & supervisor in question got anything more than a warning.
In the words of Sgt. Hulka…
Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog 
Hey, something I can actually agree with you on! ;-) TV seems to be having a field day with this story, but I can say if I was on a plane that was landing I really wouldn’t be freaked out by this. I remember when I was a kid flying on a commercial jet being brought up into the cockpit to meet the captain while the plane was in the air. This was probably in the late 1960s, can’t imagine something like that happening these days!
People really have to lighten up.
Totally agree with datechguy on this one.
Disagree with DaTechGuy I do.
I’m sure there’s more to the story, I’m sure the kid was probably wearing an extra headset and both he and his father were giving instructions and in no way were planes ever in trouble.
However, people need to use common sense. There’s millions of people out of work, including thousands of air traffic controllers, now is not the time to do anything that isn’t 100% focused at all times on your job. Companies are looking to cut costs and you don’t want to give them any reason to fire you.
Heck I”ve been out of work since June ’08, I’m college educated, I managed a 1M pizza chain in a major metropolitan area, and can’t find work still.
Is the kid giving instructions cute? Of course it is. Did it make the kid’s day? Probably. Should the Supervisor and ATC be punished in some way? Of course they should.
I’m sure there are rules that state only licensed ATC can speak with pilots.
Also, didn’t the father make arrangements for his kid to be supervised while he was at work? Why was the kid there in the 1st place. I understand it was school vacation week, so they probably don’t have day care since he’d normally be in school, but no family to watch the kid while dad went to work. I mean they knew of this time off at least as early as September of last year.
Whats next a firefighter bringing their kid to work and he helps with the hose? A police officers kid reading Miranda rights? A senators kid casting the deciding vote on legislation? Malia & Sasha negotiating a treaty with a Foreign Country? Where does it end?
Yes I am aware that those are all ridiculous situations, but wouldn’t they all be cute?
I agree, sometimes people need to take a chill pill or maybe a laxative is in order.