Air France Pilot to French Air Traffic Controllers: "Vous ne foutez rien! … Connards! Vous êtes des enfoirés, vous travaillez comme des cons!"

While the French are busy praising Barack Obama and his efforts to make government in America as intrusive as it is in France, and as present as France's much-ballyhooed service public, Fabrice Amedeo has a report in Le Figaro (merci à Duncan Hill) saying the France's air traffic controllers (i.e., the French government's air traffic controllers) are basically irresponsible.

Plusieurs incidents liés à un sous-effectif en tour de contrôle ont ainsi été rapportés par les pilotes d'Air France. L'un d'entre eux, contacté par Le Figaro, raconte être passé près de la catastrophe au-dessus de Paris. «C'était un Airbus A 300 de la Kenyan Airlines dont le système anticollision ne marchait pas, rapporte le pilote. C'est le nôtre qui a assuré la manœuvre : nous avons plongé à 4 000 pieds par minute.» À cette vitesse de descente, l'avion est à une minute de l'impact au sol. «Du cockpit, j'ai entendu l'Airbus me passer juste au-dessus, explique le pilote. Une fois posé, le contrôle me donne l'autorisation de traverser la piste. J'aperçois alors en visu un avion au décollage et je m'arrête net. En quelques minutes, j'ai vécu deux risques d'accidents majeurs.»

Why might this be? Well, it has to do with people who do not want to work more or taking off to have and enjoy their free time, not least female controllers who somehow seem to be absent during vacation time and when school starts again.

And why don't the people responsible do anything? "Nous restons très en retrait sur ce dossier car nous craignons des représailles telles qu'une grève" says one airport director — anonymously.

We also learn that in Paris, several catastrophes have been avoided only in the nick of time, and that one pilot — upon learning that only two runways were open at aéroport Charles de Gaulle (one of th biggest airports in Europe) — sputtered, "You're useless!" in reply to a controller saying, "I don't give a damn." The pilot continues: "You're a**holes, you work like jerks" (which makes the air traffic controllers laugh and give lectures in politeness)…

In addition, a pilots' union representative, Bruno Sinatti, says he is not satisfied with the steps that Air France took for its fleet's safety after the crash of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris four months ago…