Federal and airport authorities said Friday they are investigating why an air traffic controller became incapacitated and went silent while working a night shift alone in the tower at busy McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. "No safety events occurred during this incident," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement about what officials said amounted to a 40-minute span during which the female controller slurred words and then apparently lost consciousness shortly before midnight Wednesday. "An air traffic controller at the Las Vegas tower became incapacitated while on duty," the agency said. It did not identify the controller or the cause of her incapacitation. Airport director Rosemary Vassiliadis issued a statement saying that initial findings echoed the FAA assessment. Five inbound aircraft remained airborne during the incident, and aircraft on the ground held positions or communicated between themselves to maintain safety while moving, the FAA said. Air traffic recordings available on the internet show commercial airline pilots having trouble understanding the controller during radio communications about approaches to land, clearances to take off and directions for taxiing. Some begin talking between themselves about something being amiss. Story has more details.<br/>
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Police have cleared a suspicious package found at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Florida, the Broward county Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet late on Sunday. A bomb squad was earlier investigating the report of a suspicious package at terminal four of the airport, police said. Roads leading into the airport had been closed due to the police activity, the airport earlier tweeted. The airport is near cruise line terminals at Port Everglades, making it a gateway for tourists bond for the Caribbean. It is also one of the operating bases for low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines.<br/>
The Senate's top Democrat says the Federal Aviation Administration isn't moving fast enough to roll out a plan to stop airlines from shrinking passengers' seats. Sen. Charles Schumer says federal officials should be doing more to comply with a law to establish minimum seat size standards for airplanes. The law, part of a reauthorization bill passed in September, requires the FAA to set the seat-size guidelines. It gives the FAA a year to tackle shrinking seats and give an opportunity for the public to weigh in. But the New York Democrat says the FAA must move faster. He says the agency hasn't established a plan to "rein in" shrinking seats. The FAA said it "is working to address the provision in the reauthorization bill."<br/>