LAX Tower Workers Snub FAA Chief

Controllers on duty during the Feb. 1 air disaster at Los Angeles International Airport refused to meet with Federal Aviation Administration Administrator James B. Busey when he flew in from Washington to offer his support and build morale, federal officials confirmed Saturday.

Busey, however, did meet with other air traffic controllers during his two-day stay, according to FAA Washington spokesman Bob Buckhorn.

“The purpose of the (Feb. 4) trip . . . was to show his concern in the wake of the accident,” Buckhorn said.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. said in a statement Saturday that the refusal of controllers to meet with Busey reflected “years of dashed hopes over the inability of the FAA and the Department of Transportation to effect substantive change at (LAX).”

Busey’s efforts to build morale also may have been somewhat diminished because his plane landed at Long Beach Airport instead of LAX. Bamberger said he was told by FAA officials that the plane needed repairs that had to be done at Long Beach and that the failure of the FAA chief to fly into LAX was not due to lack of confidence in Los Angeles controllers.