caption website death_date death_place birth_place article_title birth_date known_for image employer education name
archie summer at lambert-st . louis international airport . his equipment league included rolled-up flags in the wheelbarrow , the dangling lunch is box , a folding chair , drinking water , and shown a pad for taking notes . while on duty during the -lsb- http://www.faa.gov/about/history/photo_album/air_traffic_control/index.cfm?cid=begins air traffic control begins -rsb- 1 october 1986 annandale , virginia poplar bluff , missouri archie league
 19 august 1907 generally considered the first air traffic controller . archumb.jpg federal aviation administration degree louis in aeronautical engineering from washington university in st. archie william league
archie league

archie william league -lrb- august 19 , 1907 -- october 1 , 1986 -rrb- is generally considered the first air traffic controller .
league had been a licensed pilot , and licensed engine and aircraft mechanic .
he had barnstormed around in missouri and illinois with his `` flying circus , '' prior to st. louis hiring him as the first u.s. air traffic controller in 1929 .
he was stationed at the airfield in st. louis , missouri -lrb- now known as lambert-st .
louis international airport -rrb- .
before the installation of a radio tower , he was a flagman who directed traffic via flags .
his first `` control tower '' consisted of a wheelbarrow on which he mounted a beach umbrella for the summer heat .
in it he carried a beach chair , his lunch , water , a note pad and a pair of signal flags to direct the aircraft .
he used a checkered flag to indicate to the pilot `` go '' , i.e. proceed , or a red flag to indicate the pilot should `` hold '' their position .
he kept warm out on the field in the winters by wearing a padded flying suit .
when a radio tower was installed in the early 1930s , he became the airport 's first radio controller .
league went on to earn a degree in aeronautical engineering from washington university in st. louis .
league joined the federal service in 1937 at the bureau of air commerce -lrb- the precursor to the civil aeronautics authority , and the federal aviation administration -rrb- .
he rose rapidly through the ranks as an air traffic controller , served as a pilot in world war ii -lrb- where he rose to the rank of colonel -rrb- then progressed to his first top management position in 1956 , as assistant regional administrator of the central region .
he next went to washington headquarters as chief of the planning division -lrb- planning and development office -rrb- in 1958 .
after a short assignment as director , bureau of national capital airports , he moved to fort worth as the director of southwest region .
his next assignment was in may 1965 , relocating to washington headquarters as director of air traffic services , where he became head of the staff responsible for the safe and efficient operation of the nation 's air traffic control system .
he eventually became faa 's air traffic service director and retired as an assistant administrator for appraisal in 1973 .
during his 36-year career he helped develop the federal air traffic control system .
the national air traffic controllers association -lrb- natca -rrb- named the archie league medal of safety awards after him .
he was born in 1907 at poplar bluff , missouri in butler county .
he died on october 1 , 1986 at the age of 79 in annandale , virginia .
