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A HISTORY
The beginning of air traffic control involved a man with a flag, located in a visible area, directing airplanes to land or take off.
The first tower commissioned by the Federal Government was Washington-Hoover Airport. This-facility was used to control airplanes arriving and departing on two different runways, separated by a paved highway.This arrangement caused some confusion and delays, so they constructed a paved runway bisecting the highway, and installed a stoplight on the road, with a switch in the tower to control the use of the runway/highway. This arrangement proved unusable because motorists were inclined to run the red light when an aircraft was approaching, causing some interesting “near-misses.”
Although the Federal Government assumed control and responsibility for air traffic in 1936, by 1941 there were still only 150 certified airport traffic controllers providing service to airplanes coming in and going out of a small number of airports. The evolution from men with flags to today’s environment of sophisticated equipment and procedures is one of the most dramatic of any profession. Today, air traffic control facilities at Washington Air Traffic Control Center, Washington, Baltimore, and Dulles Towers combine to serve air traffic needs of more than 13,000 aircraft each 24 hours.
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