The Federal Aviation Administration is charged with overseeing the United States' air traffic control system. Fortunately, it is rare that plane crashes arise on approach or departure from airfields. Air traffic controllers (ATC) are well trained to assist in providing "a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of traffic …" (13-ER-3160). However, on those rare occasions when tragedy strikes, inquiries lead to questions of fault that judges in federal courts are called upon to answer in accordance with the federal Torts Claims Act. Predicated upon the duties spelled out in the air traffic controller's manual and the common law that has evolved over the past 70 years, judges (most often without an advisory jury) serve as the factfinder in deciding whether an air tragedy was the result of an ATC's carelessness. A very recent case decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit provides well-reasoned analysis of the role of the judiciary in deciding claims when tragedy occurs in the sky. Note: The author of this article provided an amicus brief on behalf of the former chair of the NTSB, Christopher A. Hart. See Brown v. United States of America, 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 14949 (9th Cir.).