Nonresponsive Air Traffic Controller May Have Been Asleep on the Job

Reagan National Airport, just four miles from the White House, is supposedly under high security at all times. But around midnight yesterday two passenger jets requested permission to land and got no word from the tower. It turns out there was only one, lone controller and he reportedly was asleep. The Federal Aviation Administration usually makes public statements after controller mistakes, but today, it was Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Andy Pasztor covers aviation for the Wall Street Journal.