Three Palmdale Air Controllers Used Drugs, FAA Says

The Federal Aviation Administration said today that three air traffic controllers have been found to be off-duty drug users and have been told that they must either undergo drug rehabilitation programs at their own cost or be fired from the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Center in Palmdale.

Don Early, manager of the Palmdale center, said that urine tests by a North Carolina laboratory found cocaine, amphetamines and marijuana in the urine of the three controllers. He refused to specify which drugs were found in each urine sample.

Fifteen other controllers “have been cleared and returned” to duty, Early said.

The cases of 16 other controllers at the Palmdale center remain under investigation, Early said.