Audio: A Tough Day Inside the Kennedy Airport Control Tower

So, how's your day going?  Feeling a little stressed, perhaps? Like you've got too much going on? And so little time? With a to-do list that contains far too many to-dos?

Well if that's the case, then just sit back, take a deep breath, listen to the following audio file, and pat yourself on the back at your good fortune. Because if you think your life is hectic, chances are you've got nothing on the guy you'll hear on this MP3.

The gentleman you are about to hear works in the control tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. He's a ground controller, which means his job is to choreograph the movement of airplanes between their departure gates and the airport runways, to ensure that the big jets don't bump into each other.

As you can tell from his accent, the ground controller is a native New Yorker.  Yet as we all know, JFK is a major international gateway, so many of the pilots he directs speak only varying degrees of English. Plus, JFK is also one of the nation's most congested airports, so the sheer volume of aviation traffic moving on the ground occasionally causes JFK's ramps and taxiways to become as gridlocked as the Van Wyck Expressway that carries automobile traffic into the airport.

This is what it sounds like when that happens.

Or, as they might say in the tower:

"Reader001 scroll to Link Alpha right-click and hold for download."

Give it a listen, and enjoy your day at work!

LINKS:
A Busy Day at JFK (MP3 audio download by Telstar Logistics.)

Live JFK Air Traffic Control (Streaming audio feeds from JFK control, from JFKTower.com)

JFK Radar Monitor (Web-based version of live JFK radar, buy Passur.com)

SFO Control Tower (Live m3u streaming audio from San Francisco International Airport, by LiveATC.net)

SFO Live Radar Track (Live radar data from San Francisco International Airport)

(PHOTOS: Top, Congestion at JFK International Airport, September 27, 2007.  Photo by ATIS547.)

Comments

[New Yorker]

Minor, minor correction: it's actually Van Wyck, not Van Wyk.

[Telstar Logistics]

Fixed! Thank you.

[Joe Smith]

2006 stats for JFK Airport:
---------------------------
Airplane movements 378,410
Passengers 42,629,407
Tons of cargo 1,705,911
Tons of airmail 99,869

from http://www.panynj.gov/CommutingTravel/airports/html/ken_facts.html

[Vidiot]

That would be the famous "Arnie" on ground at JFK.

You might enjoy this video of a good night at MEM, too.

[Andy Frazer]

OMG... this was hilarious. I have to listen to it one more time.

[Charles Denalt]

The "gentleman" on ground control no longer works at Kennedy. He was offered either a transfer to another airport or be terminated; he chose the former. I'll let you decide how representative this is of the professional air traffic services that are otherwise offered at Kennedy Airport.

[JD]

Wow! this the worst display of ATC technique I've ever seen. I'm surprised nothing bad happened that day....no situational awareness or positive control; his phraseology, call signs and aircraft recognition were also terrible. If he sucks in GC, he probably doesn't even get close to the mic in LC. Who trained and ultimately certified that poor bastard? The problem with FAA ATC is not manning constraints...it is INCOMPETENCE!!!!!!!!!!!