(Thumbnail Image: Wycombe Air Park)

Child: "Jet Blue 171 contact departure."
Pilot: "Over departure Jet Blue 171. Awesome job."

To the Federal Aviation Administration, a kid directing air traffic at JFK airport is not "awesome". While the FAA is investigating the situation, the air traffic controllers who let the child take the mic have been suspended.

We have perspectives from NBC, WFXT-TV, ABC and The Gothamist.

On the Today Show, NBC’s Tom Costello explains hearing a child's voice could have been a distraction.

Viera: "Was anybody put in real danger here?"
Costello: "Probably not, but, you know, I have been, as a part of my job, I've been in control towers, and I am always so careful not to say anything or do anything that would distract a controller. I think that is the concern."

And on Fox's Boston affiliate, a retired pilot says the child's father made a foolish choice in the post-9/11 era.

Baker: "I've never, ever heard a small kid in the tower giving instructions for an airplane to take off or cross a runway or any kind of instructions ... I'm sure the controller is, he's probably a tremendous controller and all that, but, not a wise move, not a wise move. Not in this day and age."

But not everyone thinks the situation is so serious. ABC News points out lightheartedly that the little boy did a great job directing the Jet Blue and Air Mexico flights.

Anchor: "What is amazing though is how professional this, uh, junior controller actually sounded. He must have been practicing with his dad."

And The Gothamist, a New York City blog, says the airline pilots involved seemed to enjoy the child's voice.

"The boy made at least five transmissions to pilots from the control tower, and the kid's performance was uniformly greeted with warm guffawing. (To be fair, he does sound pretty darn cute.)"

So should Dad be disciplined for letting his child direct air traffic? Or did the boy do an "awesome job"?

Writer: Elizabeth Eberlin