Union Criticizes FAA Drug Investigation of John Wayne Controllers

Two air traffic controllers at the John Wayne Airport Tower were interrogated about drug use and then allowed to return to work, the Federal Aviation Administation said Monday.

In announcing the incident--the first public disclosure that an investigation into drug use among John Wayne tower workers had taken place--the FAA was criticized by the union representing tower workers.

Kelly Candaele, spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn., said that the investigation had been prompted by an anonymous phone tip to the FAA and that the two controllers were not informed of any rights they might have during the surprise questioning.

In a tersely worded statement issued Monday by FAA spokesman Russell Park, the agency said “during the FAA investigation it was concluded that insufficient evidence existed to substantiate that those employees were involved in illegal drug use, therefore the controllers were returned to operational status on March 11.”

Union’s Account

The FAA did not release the controllers’ names but Candaele identified them as Deborah Hart and Doug Kingsbury. Although neither could be reached for comment, the union offered an account of what took place.

When Hart and Kingsbury arrived for their regular shift March 7, Candaele said, they were ushered into separate rooms and interrogated for 45 minutes each by two FAA investigators. Candaele said the two controllers were asked such questions as:

- “When is the last time you used illegal drugs?

- “What illegal drugs are you using now?

- “How would you feel if a plane crashed and it was your fault because you were using drugs?”

Although suspected of drug use, the two controllers were told to complete their work shift in the John Wayne tower, Candaele said. “They worked alone in the tower for several hours,” he said. The following day, and after a sleepless night, Candaele added, the two controllers were placed on administrative leave and were later treated by psychologists for “stress” allegedly caused by the inquiry.

On March 11, Candaele said, John Wayne FAA tower manager Jay Maag notified Hart and Kingsbury that the investigation was being dropped and that they should return to work at the John Wayne tower.

Candaele charged Monday that the FAA mishandled the inquiry.

Information Leaked

“Why was an anonymous phone call used as the basis for an intense, dramatic interrogation . . . immediately before their work shift?” Candaele asked. “Why did the FAA send these controllers to work alone in the tower and then, the next day, put the controllers on administrative leave?”

The FAA declined to offer specific responses to the points raised by the union. But FAA sources said the agency decided to disclose the existence of the drug investigation because the air traffic controllers association had already leaked information about it to the news media.

The disclosure caught Maag, the FAA’s John Wayne tower manager, by surprise.

“They issued a statement? I wish they would tell us. . . ,” Maag said. “We tried to keep it quiet because it was a no harm, no foul kind of situation. Now it’s going to get all stirred up again, and the controllers will complain about stress again because of the news media.”

Maag said the drug investigation would cause a morale problem. “I thought it was back under control,” he said Monday. “Now it’s going to be stirred up again.”

Last August, the FAA pulled 34 Palmdale-based controllers off their jobs in a similar narcotics investigation. Twenty-one were eventually cleared, but 13 were told to enroll in rehabilitation programs.