The only downside to my short commute is I don’t get to listen to the radio much. Fortunately I was able to catch a story tonight (All Things Considered on NPR) about a tower controller who talked a student pilot down to the ground. The student was a solo student out of Delta State University, MS, and was having a little trouble putting the plane on the ground. The controller talked her through it and on the third attempt she landed safely.
For his efforts the controller, John Charlton, was awarded the National Air Traffic Controller Association’s Archie Award for Safety at their annual “Communicating for Safety” conference. The broadcast includes excerpts from the controller-pilot communications.
Flight Controller Honored For Grace Under Pressure
As a bonus, while I was getting links for this post I discovered that the award ceremony was being broadcast live over the Internet. Each region has a recipient and their stories are being told with audio from the events. It’s really amazing the things the controllers encounter…so far I’ve heard a Cherokee nearly out of fuel, an Eclipse jet landing with the throttles stuck on full, a Bonanza that lost all oil pressure (and power) in solid IFR, and a hypoxic pilot in the creepiest exchange ever. That pilot was clearly not all there at the time but the controller got him to descend, the pilots recovered and continued on to their destination.
I don’t need an emergency to appreciate air traffic controllers – I’m happy with the job our local controllers do every day. They keep the big planes away from me and vice versa, and have given me heads up on traffic in the area numerous times. They can just keep doing what they’re doing as far as I’m concerned.
Best quote from the awards ceremony: breaks are like sex…take advantage of them when you get the opportunity because you don’t get them back at the end.
I appreciated our controllers at SPG. I didn’t know how much until I flew to a couple of busy non-towered fields. It’s nice to have someone keeping order.