Several air traffic controllers say they were forced to direct planes despite being sickened by potentially deadly fumes, putting their lives and the lives of thousands of air travelers at risk. It's an Eyewitness News exclusive.
Eyewitness News reporter NJ Burkett has the story.
It happened exactly a week ago tonight, and the FAA does not dispute any of it. Air traffic controllers were forced to keep working while suffering the effects of potentially deadly carbon monoxide over the course of four hours. They handled as many as two hundred planes.
"It was like a fog," said controller Ray Maldonado.
Ray Maldonado was so confused he can barely remember what he did that night. John Conklin says it was a struggle.
"Sometimes it felt like I couldn't clearly put together something that I normally would have at any other time. You know what I mean?" Conklin said.
Both men were directing large commercial airliners into and out of Newark Airport from FAA's air traffic control center known as TRACON. They later learned that a test of the facility's backup generator sent exhaust fumes into the building's ventilation system, slowly filling the room with potentially-deadly carbon monoxide.
"I remember just being extremely fatigued ... very tired, very sleepy. It took a lot to stay awake that night," Maldonado said.
Soon, at least half-a-dozen controllers were physically ill. Yet they insist they were forced to remain on their positions, some for up to four more hours, continuing to direct aircraft in the skies over New York because their managers refused to replace them.
"Headaches, nausea, dizziness, disorientation, fatigue, inability to focus, not able to concentrate. We had these employees who were in no condition to do this job being directed to continue with this job," said TRACON Union President Dean Iacopelli.
Controllers say what is all the more disturbing is that Tracon's managers even refused to call the local fire department. The refusal was documented in the FAA's own internal incident report.
"They said, 'no, we're not calling the fire department,'" Conklin said.
"The employees there said, 'Well, we'll call the local fire department and have them come in to test the air. And the operations manager in charge informed them that, 'If you make the call, I will not let them in the gate and I will refuse them entry into the control room,'" Iacopelli said.
Several controllers later took themselves to the hospital where doctors turned up measurable levels of carbon monoxide in their blood.
Dr. Thomas Carracio runs the Long Island Regional Poison Control Center.
"What's troubling is it sounds like the workers were forced to stay in the area despite the fact they were having symptoms. Hundreds of people die every year with this," Carracio said. "It's something that shouldn't be taken lightly by anyone."
Now, the union president insists that the FAA refused to replace the controllers because there was no one to replace them with. In a series of reports, Eyewitness News has already documented how staffing cutbacks have been followed by an increase in controller errors.
"I can surmise that they weren't relieved because what the FAA felt was, 'Let's keep moving the airplanes and we'll worry about the safety of our employees and passengers later. Maybe nothing will happen.'" Iacopelli said.
"Something potentially dangerous could have happened and thankfully nothing did," Maldonado.
All of the controllers have recovered and are back at work. The FAA claims they flushed the ventilation system with fresh air later that night. But they admit they never took any readings to confirm the air was safe.
There are no carbon monoxide detectors anywhere in the facility. The union is now determined to fix that.
The FAA has said they're taking steps to make sure that this type of incident never happens again.
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