Napping air traffic controllers could cause sleepless nights for one politician: President Obama.
The president, who is already dealing with high gas prices, voter disillusionment with the economy, a budget crisis that could see the U.S. default on its debt and turmoil in the Middle East, can add the troubled air-traffic control system to his list of problems.
Several incidents in the past few weeks have cast a pall over U.S. air safety, including an incident involving first lady Michelle Obama’s plane, though none has resulted in any accidents.
Still, reports of air traffic controllers either sleeping on the job or not being responsive to airplanes attempting to land could pose a significant political risk to the president, as a plane crash resulting from a mistake by a controller could easily be blamed on the White House.
