Air Traffic Control
(2000) Discovery Channel Production. (51 minutes)
On any given day, at least 60,000 commercial flights crisscross the U.S. on the safest system of aerial highways in the world. In this program, the network of constant navigational communication that forms those highways is explored: air traffic control. The video goes inside airport flight towers and the country’s busiest regional center, New York’s TRACON, or terminal radar approach control. Air traffic controllers, pilots, FAA officials, the editors of Aviation Week, and the CEO of Continental Airlines are interviewed; all agree that despite its outstanding record, the system is stretched to its limits and is quickly approaching gridlock.