AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER FOUND DRUNK, SHIRTLESS AND PASSED OUT

Philip Maschek, a 50-year-old Arkansas air traffic controller, was arrested after one of his coworkers found him unconscious on the floor of the control tower at the Springdale Municipal Airport with his shirt off last Thursday morning. Maschek was discovered at 7:45 a.m. after a pilot who was waiting for clearance to take off couldn’t get any response from the tower. Maschek had reportedly been on duty since 6 a.m. that morning. When officers arrived, Maschek denied that he was drunk and failed a field sobriety test and was so unsteady on his feet that he wasn’t allowed to climb down the ladder so he could leave the tower. He also reportedly argued with officers about the “public” part of “public intoxication.” The police report also noted that he was wearing “a black robe” and slippers.
* All very disturbing signs.
* Any one of these, by themselves, would be enough of a red flag, but taken together? They paint a picture that’s hard to miss.
* He denied he was drunk? What was the cover story going to be? Ambien?
* Maybe it’s time for Springdale Municipal Airport to spring for a two-person air traffic control system.
* What happens when the one guy in the tower has to go to the bathroom?
* “All planes, hold your position for the next … I don’t know, ten minutes maybe? Might be longer. I’ve been kind of backed up lately.”
* I love the idea that it wasn’t public intoxication because he wasn’t in public. He was in an air traffic control tower instead.
* Just wondering how the planes did from 6 a.m. to 7:45. Has anyone heard from them lately?
* This is the kind of behavior we only tolerate from airline pilots. Not ground personnel.