Hello Frequent Flyers,

I recently saw the fantastic film "Pushing Tin" and I wanted to ask the air traffic controllers among you (I'm sure there are many) how accurate a representation of real air traffic control the movie is. I thought the John Cusack character, Nick "The Zone" Falzone, was particularly well conceived, and of course the action really begins when Russel Bell (played by Billy Bob Thornton) arrives. His early performance at the controls is of course ridiculously inept, particularly when (despite warnings from Falzone) he has two planes headed directly towards each other with a third plane passing between. Unbelievable! Do any of you who work in real-life "TRACONS" ever experience this kind of madness? I also really like the analogy of "pushing tin" with "airplane guidance" and I wondered whether this is an expression that you guys use (informally, of course) to describe your work at the controls. As in, "I was really pushing some tin last night, brother," or "I don't know whether I push the tin, or the tin pushes me."

Regards,

Pat.