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Children love to play with airplanes, but US flight authorities were in uproar Wednesday after a youngster directed real airliners from the control tower at New York's JFK airport.
"Jet Blue 171 contact departure," says a squeaky voice in a February 17 recording aired by WFXT-TV television in Boston.
The pilot of the airliner responds and tells the child: "Awesome job."
"That's what you get guys when the kids are out of school," laughs an adult at the control tower, presumably supervising the child.
"Adios amigos," the child tells an Aeromexico pilot. "Adios amigo," chuckles the pilot.
It was not immediately clear why the child was in the control tower or what role any employees had in bringing him there.
The Federal Aviation Authority issued a brusque statement saying that the staff at the bustling JFK airport had already been disciplined.
"Pending the outcome of our investigation, the employees involved in this incident are not controlling air traffic," the FAA said.
"This behavior is not acceptable and does not demonstrate the kind of professionalism expected from all FAA employees."
