SEATTLE AIR ROUTE TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER

TRAINING DEPARTMENT BRIEFING ROOM - 4:15 P.M. / 2315Z

   "What the...this is a bunch of...this is nothing but a bunch of garbage," Bart Richland said as he re-read the paper. "I didn't do half of these things and...and the two Cascade jets were no where that close!" Bart pushed the paper containing what had been written during his last training session in the "Glasr" (Glacier) Arrival sector across the table. "That training report is nothing but a bunch of crap!"

   With a smile coming to his face, Ted Allison put his feet up on the table and leaned back deeply into his chair. "Bart, that is exactly what happened. The only thing on that paper that's not debatable is the two Cascade jets. Some of the other things that were done, I can put those down to differences in technique, but not with the Cascade's. I don't think that you saw how close they were until I pointed them out to you."

   "I still had six miles!" Bart responded.

   "Yeah, you had six miles, but you also had a forty five knot overtake from behind. I let the situation run longer than I should have. If action wasn't taken right away, Cascade fifty-six nineteen would have completely overtook Cascade fifty-six forty by the time they would have reached Glacier, and separation would have been lost."

   "But separation wasn't lost! You can't say that I didn't see it. I was...in fact...in fact I was just going to take care of the two Cascade's, but you jumped in before I could say anything," Bart protested.

   At that moment, Ted could see the change in Bart's facial expression when he realized that he had just come up with his defense.

   "You're going to sit there and tell me that you were going to take care of the Cascade situation just when I pointed them out to you on the radarscope?" Ted said.

   "That's right," Bart replied as he sat straighter in his chair. "If you gig me on the training report for loss of separation on those two aircraft, I'll file a grievance. There isn't any proof that you even saw the situation because the only voice on frequency is mine. It's going to be only my voice on the tape that shows that I'm radioing instructions and taking care of the situation. If you state that you had to point the situation out to me, I'll ask for proof. It's your word against mine. It's that simple."

   The smug look on Bart's face brought a bit of anger to Ted. The anger quickly subsided and a smile came to his face.

   "Bart, we all know about your past history and your past filing of grievances for every time someone looks at you sideways. We're all aware of every time you screw up or some minor thing happens in the sector, there is always someone else to blame. Every time you make a mistake, every time you are corrected for bad phraseology, every time you go down the tubes, there is always and excuse. We all know what happened in Area D, that they had to practically beg someone to train you. And when they finally get someone to train you, the controller un-plugs you within ten minutes because you just about run two aircraft together. Not once, but twice! Twice in ten minutes!

   Ted stopped for a moment, then continued. "Did you take responsibility for your actions? No. Did you admit your clearances were incorrect? No. Instead, you get so upset at the training report that was written regarding your performance and what the controller said to you, that you go home and stew...knowing that you have to get back at the controller. You have to get back at the controller because...oh...my...goodness, the controller said a bad word to you. He said a bad word to a twenty nine year old man who obviously never heard a bad word before. You know you have to get back at him and all the others because nobody would give poor, poor little Bart a chance."