Comment by calmbonsai
3 months ago
It's fiction, but for some sense of ATC stress, watch "Pushing Tin": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushing_Tin
3 months ago
It's fiction, but for some sense of ATC stress, watch "Pushing Tin": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushing_Tin
ATC here, I love that documentary :-)
(Opinions are my own and not necessarily that of the FAA.)
I have some wild stories, but unfortunately sharing them would dox me.
The most inaccurate thing though is a transfer CPC (fully-certified controller at their previous facility) plugging in and being able to work without months of training in that area.
Obviously you're aware of this, but even swapping areas within a center isn't a plug and play process. Most people have no idea the level of effort required to control, between flight following, separation, LOAs, diversions, weather, and answering "how are the rides today?" or "is higher any smoother?" every 4.7 seconds.