Air traffic controller suspended for letting teenage son interact with planes
An air traffic controller in Bogota, Colombia, was suspended for allowing his teenage son to take the reins for an hour and interact with aircraft.
The incident took place on July 21, 2025, at El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Bogota, where the air traffic controller allowed his 18-year old son to communicate with aircraft for 50 minutes.
According to local reports, the controller wanted his son to have “work experience” to gauge whether he wanted to proceed with an air traffic controller course.
One of the aircraft that the teenager gave clearance to was Avianca (AV) flight AV-217, an A330-300 bound for Buenos Aires, operated by Wamos Air, sparking national concern and regulatory investigation.
The teenager allegedly posted a video of his work experience online, which went viral and caught the attention of Colombia’s Aeronautica Civil, which investigated the incident and found that safety protocols had been breached.
“This incident constitutes a violation of rules that safeguard air safety and compromises the integrity of passengers, crew, and aircraft,” the regulator said in a statement posted to its official Facebook account.
“The individual behaviors observed do not represent the body of air traffic controllers as a whole, which is largely composed of professionals committed to strict compliance with aeronautical regulations,” the regulator added.
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An air traffic controller in Bogota, Colombia, was suspended for allowing his teenage son to take the reins…
The post Air traffic controller suspended for letting teenage son interact with planes appeared first on AeroTime.
