Associated Press files
A jet flies past the control tower at Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport. Two planes landed at the airport without aid because the lone controller had fallen asleep.
WASHINGTON — Air traffic controllers are at greater risk for fatigue, errors and accidents because they work schedules known as “rattlers” that make it likely they’ll get little or no sleep before overnight shifts, according to a government-sponsored report.
Three years after incidents in which controllers were found sleeping on the job, a National Research Council report released Friday expressed astonishment that the Federal Aviation Administration still permits controllers to work schedules that cram five shifts into four 24-hour periods.
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