OUT OF 'CONTROL' CRUMBLING TOWER, RADAR THAT FAILS IN RAIN IMPERIL LA GUARDIA FLIERS By PATRICK WHITE September 4, 2006 -- The millions of fliers who use La Guardia Airport are at the mercy of a structurally damaged control tower that uses antiquated equipment - including a crucial ground-radar system that fails during heavy rain, it was charged yesterday. The frightening claims surfaced yesterday as the FAA adopted a new contract for air-traffic controllers that reduces staffing and even bars workers from leaving their towers during breaks. "It's an atrocious work environment," said La Guardia air-traffic controller and union rep Daniel Horwitz. "When ceiling tiles are actually falling on controllers, it compromises everyone's safety." Among the worst allegations involving the La Guardia tower, which is more than 40 years old, are that: * Its ground-radar system - which prevents runway collisions - fails during downpours. * Some computers are protected from a leaky roof only by blue tarp strung haphazardly along the ceiling. * Structural cracks line the stairwell leading up to the tower cab. * The US Airways terminal blocks the tower's view of busy ramps. * Tangles of bare wire litter the floor around controllers' feet. * Some equipment is up to 30 years old. Horwitz said that if the decrepit tower were ever disabled, "the entire airport would basically come to a standstill." Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) joined Horwitz and two other air-traffic controllers in ripping the Federal Aviation Administration over the La Guardia tower and alleged chronic understaffing of other New York-area control towers. "They have clearly failed," Schumer said. "Our airport control towers remain dangerously understaffed." Schumer urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to approve funding for a new $60-million tower at La Guardia. As for staffing, the trio of controllers said La Guardia often has only one on duty during the midnight shift. In 1998, the FAA and the controllers' union authorized La Guardia tower to carry a crew of 36 controllers. But currently, the tower has only 26 controllers, and Newark, JFK and Islip airports are all similarly understaffed, Schumer said. The new contract will only "jeopardize the national air system" further, Horwitz said. But FAA officials disagreed. "The towers in the New York area are well-staffed," insisted FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown. "Current staffing does not compromise safety." Brown also called the poor working conditions at La Guardia tower "an anomaly. That is certainly not the situation at most of our towers."
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