I listen to a lot of ATC tapes and the latest was about the flap damage on the Southwest flight at Denver Sunday morning. When pieces fall off an airplane in flight it's a flat-out, hair-on-fire emergency. Neither the controllers nor the pilots know for sure what has been damaged and even though decisions are made quickly the incident unfolds in a frustrating slow motion.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/insider/from-the-inside-thinks-look-even-worse-for-air-traffic-control