Invading critter shuts air tower
Islip's controllers, finding work areas fouled, guide airport's jets from the ground using emergency plan
A marauding animal - most likely a raccoon - left feces on crucial equipment in the control tower of Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip early yesterday, forcing air traffic controllers to guide planes from the ground in an emergency procedure that hasn't been used in decades.
The airport remained open and there were no delays. But controllers spent 2 1/2 hours landing planes and clearing them for takeoff with only a partial view of the runway, using battery-powered backup communication devices.
At 6 a.m., a controller who was opening the tower for the morning discovered animal feces on the handset, keyboard and monitor of his position, said Jim Wecht, the union representative for controllers at the tower, which closes at midnight.
"The coffee pot was overturned; there was garbage all over the place," he said.
Shortly after 7 a.m., Wecht made the decision to close the tower until it could be properly cleaned. The controllers headed to the firehouse and followed emergency procedures for guiding aircraft.
"We could only see 20 percent of the field," Wecht said, "but it was better than closing the airport." One controller remained in the tower until the others could get situated in the firehouse.
By 9:34 a.m., maintenance crews from the airport and the Federal Aviation Administration had cleaned up the tower and the staff returned.
Animal control crews from the Town of Islip came in yesterday afternoon and set three traps, hoping to catch the animal overnight. The tower is owned by the town and leased by the FAA.
FAA spokesman Jim Peters said it appears the animal got in through a shaft that carries cables from the ground to the tower cab just above the sixth floor.
Controllers said they noticed problems in the building, which is separate from the airport terminal, on Sunday, when debris was found in the fourth-floor break room where a window had been left open because of problems with the heating system.
"We thought it was a bird," said one controller who works in the tower. On Monday, it appeared an animal had gotten into a box of condiments including ketchup packages in the break room. But it was yesterday morning's find of feces that forced the controllers to decide to abandon the tower. Wecht said the procedure hadn't been used in more than 30 years.
Wecht said the union has complained about the condition of the tower, which was built in 1962, for years.
"We had buckets on the floor during the recent rains," he said.
Meanwhile, he was hopeful the perpetrator of the vandalism would be in a trap by this morning. "We leave at midnight," he said. "They'll catch him when no one's around."
Maybe it was a terrorist raccoon!
WANTED
DEAD or ALIVE
Quick................
Call Homeland Security!!!
WANTED
DEAD or ALIVE
Quick................
Call Homeland Security!!!
