An air traffic controller is going through a bitter divorce. One dark and stormy

Question

An air traffic controller is going through a bitter divorce. One dark and stormy night the controller realizes that among the aircraft he’s controlling is a private jet owned by the man who stole the affection of his soon-to-be-former spouse, and that she is among the passengers in that aircraft. In a fit of anger and jealous rage, the controller deliberately gives the jet a series of vectors to the final approach course intended to confuse the crew’s situational awareness before putting them on a course at an assigned altitude that causes the aircraft to collide with an obstacle. There are no survivors. Will the U.S. be held liable for the controller’s actions? Why or Why not?

Explanation / Answer

Under Federal Tort Claim Act of 1944, US federal govt would be held liable for the wrongful or negligent act or omission of any of its employees. However, US govt cannot be liable for the performance of failure in case of a discretionary function. discretionary function is exercised, when there's a room for policy judgment by the employee. This is a case of failure of discretionary function by the employee and because the judgement here is not governed by the social, economic or political policies, but by individual discretion, so US may not held liable in this case for the controller's actions.

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