Air Safety investigators reveal disturbing incident at traffic control

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has revealed a disturbing incident that occurred on a late night shift at Brisbane’s Air Traffic Control Centre.

A disturbing incident occurred on a late night shift at Brisbane’s Air Traffic Control Centre, according to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

According to the investigation, which aimed to highlight necessary reforms to combat fatigue within the sector, a staffer who was managing the Cairns Terminal Control Unit (TCU) from Airservices Australia’s Brisbane office, was discovered dozing off at the end of their shift about 5.15am.

The person was discovered stretched over two chairs with a blanket draped over their body by the oncoming air traffic controller who was taking over and working the day shift.

The ATSB has investigated a number of incidents and accidents where fatigue was identified as having a causal effect.

The incident, which occurred in early December 2022, was at the end of the staffer’s lengthy run of 10 night shifts in the previous 12 days.

Speaking to media, ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said the lack of “extended rest” coupled with a string of other factors contributed to the incident.

“These included the time of day, the very low workload in their sector, a roster pattern with multiple consecutive night shifts, and the controller increasing their risk of falling asleep by lying across 2 chairs, not moving, and not undertaking activities to maintain mental alertness,” Mr Mitchell said.

The employee was on an overnight shift in air traffic control. Picture: Alamy

The Commissioner added that the worker had put communication headphones on and increased volume to the highest level, to ensure any alerts would have woken them up.

“There were no negative consequences from this occurrence, but it does highlight areas for improvement in work scheduling and fatigue risk management,” Mr Mitchell said.

And while there was no traffic in the Cairns airspace at the time of the incident, Mr Mitchell said being abruptly woken by a possible alert while being asleep would have compromised the controller’s ability to do their job effectively and safely.

Fatigue could have dire consequences. Picture: Alamy

Mr Mitchell added that fatigue is a safety factor in many rail, marine and aviation incidents and accidents, and is one “the most relevant ongoing concerns for safe transport, despite increased awareness across the transport sector”.

“We urge transport operators to investigate fatigue events to identify and remedy deficiencies in work scheduling, fatigue risk management processes and risk controls,” he said.

Following the incident, Airservices has increased its overall number of air traffic controllers, including in the North Queensland group. They have subsequently developed additional guidance and training on the fatigue risk assessment process, including information on how low traffic situations should be treated as high risk.