Like most serious accidents, the sleep deprived controller is just one part of what went ridiculously wrong there. Had the controller actually been sleeping the

Like most serious accidents, the sleep deprived controller is just one part of what went ridiculously wrong there. Had the controller actually been sleeping the entire time, and the pilots followed the automated systems, it's entirely possible that they would have been ok. In addition, the equipment failure/downtimes severely limited any operator's situational awareness. It's one of the cruel ironies here, that a completely passed out controller likely would have lead to a better outcome.