4. Read the text. Write down all the new words and learn 5 of them by heart. Be ready to answer the teacher’s questions. Text 1

Two Teterboro Airport air traffic controllers who were handling the plane involved in the recent midair collision over the Hudson River have been suspended from duty, New York media are reporting today.

The plane and a helicopter carrying sightseeing tourists collided, resulting in the death of nine people, including 33-year-old New Zealander Jeremy Clarke, who was piloting the helicopter.

NBC New York and the NY Daily Mail are reporting that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has suspended two local air traffic controllers. What eFAA is reported as saying that "we learned that the controller handling the Piper flight was involved in apparently inappropriate conversations on the telephone at the time of the accident. We also learned that the supervisor was not present in the building as required." The Daily News has reported that the controller was talking to his fiancée as the disaster took place.

The FAA have allegedly said that they while have "no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident, this kind of conduct is unacceptable."

The two have been placed on disciplinary leave and disciplinary proceedings have begun, officials are reported as saying.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association have allegedly released a statement saying, "we support that any such allegation is fully investigated before there is a rush to judgment about the behavior of (the) controller."

Text 2

A Japanese air traffic controller has published on his personal blog classified Air Force One flight plans of US President Barack Obama’s visit to Tokyo last year. Japan’s air traffic authorities has found out about the incident through an anonymous phone call on Monday warning the “inappropriate posting of information”. President Barack Obama has visited Japan in November to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Yokohama.

The air traffic controller, a man about 50 years old, posted photos of flight plans and radar. The information about Air Force One included its takeoff and landing, scheduled routes, transit times, and flight altitude. This kind of details is kept secret for security reasons. He said he “wanted his friends to see” what he had obtained. The transport ministry was investigating and considering disciplinary action for the air traffic controller.

A senior government official, quoted by Yomiuri, said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda“will have to apologize to President Obama”, at their summit in New York. Noda will present the findings to Obama when he will travel to Washington later this month. Noda said he wanted to strengthen ties between the countries and has expressed strong support for the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

However, it is not clear if the data leaked before or after Obama flew from Seoul to Tokyo. This incident apparently is another confirmation to the worldwide travel alert issued by the United States ahead of the 10th commemoration of the 9/11attacks. Government officials were not immediately available for comment on this unusual air traffic controller behavior.

Text 3

The investigators have uncovered behavior that has landed an FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) employee in hot water and may have put a flight headed to Phoenix at risk. On December 3rd, 2010 U.S. Airways Flight 192 was making its arrival into Phoenix from Orlando.

According to FAA audio, as Flight 192 approached Phoenix, the air traffic controller at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport called out to the pilot. However, when the controller didn't get a response, he tried to contact the pilot once again. But, this time, the air traffic controller referred to Flight 192 as Flight 129. According to FAA officials, the controller was calling the wrong “data tag” because another employee in air traffic control had purposely transposed Flight 192’s number to appear as “129.”

That action disrupted communication for nearly a minute. Jim Tilmon, an aviation expert and former pilot told that the actions of that one FAA employee put passengers and other flights in danger. He said the employee should be criminally prosecuted for playing games with people’s lives. “These airplanes are not bumper cars,” Tilmon said. “It’s like playing Russian roulette.” US Airways Flight 192 landed safely. Tilmon said the pilot did an excellent job being alert, and paying attention when he realized the traffic controller was calling the wrong number.

In a statement released the FAA said: “Following a thorough investigation, the FAA determined that on December 3, 2010 an air traffic controller at Phoenix Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) purposely changed an aircraft’s data tag to show an inaccurate call sign. The altered data tag caused a second controller to have difficulty communicating with the aircraft because he referred to the wrong call sign when attempting to radio the crew. The second controller and the flight crew resolved the error and the aircraft landed safely at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Ensuring the safety of air travelers is the mission of the FAA and this kind of unprofessional behavior will not be tolerated. The FAA is proposing to fire the controller who purposely changed the aircraft’s data tag.