By Dina Abd Elghany
On the night of 1 July 2002, at 23:35:32 CEST, a tragic mid-air collision occurred over the city of Überlingen in southern Germany between two aircraft: Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 (a Tupolev Tu-154M operated by a regional Russian airline based in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia) and a DHL International Aviation flight (Flight 611), a Boeing 757 cargo plane operated under Lufthansa Cargo.
The air traffic controller on duty at that moment was Peter Nielsen, working for Skyguide, the Swiss air traffic control center responsible for that sector (RC). At the time, multiple failures and exceptional circumstances had occurred simultaneously: the primary radar system was under maintenance, forcing the controller to compensate by working with a backup system. At 23:29 (CEST), the DHL aircraft reached FL360 (Flight Level 36,000 ft) after being cleared to climb. Then, around 23:30, the Bashkirian flight contacted controller Peter and reported that it was also at Fl360.
This was the beginning of the catastrophe – a heart-stopping moment for the controller as adrenaline surged and the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alarms blared. The TCAS warned the Bashkirian aircraft to “Pull up” (climb), but Peter issued ATC clearance instructing it to descend to FL350. Simultaneously, the TCAS on the DHL aircraft issued the opposite instruction – “Descend to FL350” – to avoid collision.
At precisely 23:35:32, the two planes collided at an altitude of approximately 34,890 ft, disappearing from Peter’s radar screen. Darkness fell, and both heart and mind seemed to stop. The sky – a realm of peace and calm – was turned into a stage for destiny by the single mistake of one air traffic controller. And so we arrive at the existential question: “To be or not to be.” This is the fundamental question every air traffic controller faces – the line between preserving life and losing it.
An air traffic controller is a human being who never sees the passengers but feels the weight of their presence. He does not see their tears or hear their prayers, yet he controls their fates through radar screens and radio frequencies – through decisions made in a fraction of a second.
Psychological pressure is not an abstract concept for them – it is a daily reality that intensifies with every task and every control center where responsibility exceeds human limits. Long working hours, night shifts, sleep disturbances, biological clock disruption due to frequent shift changes, and technological stress from occasional radar or surveillance malfunctions – all of these contribute. TCAS systems can issue conflicting commands, and technical crises can arise without warning. The controller rarely has the luxury of stopping: pilots’ voices are on the other end, aircraft are at close altitudes, and every second of delay could mean tragedy.
The Überlingen accident casts a dark shadow over this truth: 52 children were on board the Russian plane – little ambassadors of future dreams, students on a school trip. They left their homes seeking daylight, but the sky swallowed them due to an accumulation of human, organizational, psychological, and technical errors.
So, when is a controller “to be”? To be – means staying calm amid anger, being mentally present despite exhaustion, balancing between instructions and warning systems, between regulations and human instinct, between professional performance and the limits of physical and mental endurance.
And when is he “not to be”? When pressures accumulate, the person is internally drained, errors become possible, and the endings turn tragic. To highlight the psychological and moral state of air traffic control heroes worldwide, regional and international organizations in general, and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in particular, have shown interest in the importance of setting control measures, limitations and precautionary measures for the risks of fatigue for air traffic control officers. International and regional workshops and conferences have been held under the slogan (FRMS) Fatigue Risk Management System to reduce operational and coordination pressures at operational radar and procedural sites.
The real question is: Who is the invisible enemy of the air traffic controller? It is psychological pressure. It is unseen, yet it infiltrates his soul, mind, and heart at the moment of decision, becoming inseparable from the question of “to be or not to be.” This is not Hamlet’s famous line from Shakespeare’s play – it is the daily reality of every air traffic controller. In the end, air traffic control remains a field that goes beyond technology – it reaches deep into humanity itself.
Dealing With ATC Fatigue and Psychological Pressures
Fatigue remains one of the most paramount physiological factors affecting air traffic controllers, influencing alertness, reaction time, and decision making. Therefore, it’s a shared huge responsibility between individuals (ATC) and the air navigation service provider (ANSP). From our side (ATC), there are many applicable means we may use and implement to improve work environment which will ease and relieve controllers and reduce the side effects of fatigue.
- Applying health sleep habits and managing sleeping patterns especially at night shifts.
- Stress management professionals supporting through available consultants, facilitators providing effective descriptions to how to manage stress and release pressure of work.
- Efficient safety team works proactively to monitor any signs of controller’s fatigue, sleep problems especially in night shifts and shifts rotation, bad nutrition, work load stress and exhaustion.
The Recovery Strategies
At the organisational level, the (ANSP) plays essential role in designing a fatigue resilience mechanism. This includes;
- Providing adequate comfortable rest places to improve health sleep hours.
- Ensuring the spread of safety culture that no one will be blamed for reporting their concerns regarding the work environment or the fatigue.
- Validate accountable persons to use all means and ways of authorisation to enhance work environment and constant channels of communication with controllers.
Dear colleagues and friends – fellow warriors of this profession – I urge you to uphold integrity, to hold fast to determination and willpower. O hidden warrior, step into the operations room with determination, conviction, and courage. You are the first and last witness to the skies – the very skies that Allah raised and set in balance.
Your balance is – to be or not to be.
Ms. Dina Abd Elghany is a Senior Air Traffic Controller, National Air Navigation Services Company (NANSC).