Time to Hang it Up?

Is it time to hang up the phones once and for all? We carry them around like an electronic security blanket. They are carried everywhere and, for the most part, can be helpful to stay in touch with our friends and loved ones— to say nothing about our jobs. But when is enough enough? Train operators are now forbidden from using their phones while on duty following the crash of a commuter train in the Golden State that killed 25 people. Now, it seems, the air traffic controller involved in last week’s collision between a plane and helicopter was—you guessed it—talking on a cell. The story from Metro Source…

Two air traffic controllers on duty during last Saturday’s mid-air collision over the Hudson River in New York have been suspended by the FAA. The agency says the controller in charge of the plane that hit a helicopter was on the phone when the collision occurred. The FAA is also suspending his boss, who was not in the building at the time of the collision. But the FAA stresses in its investigation that there’s quote, “no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident.”