Preflight

Air traffic controllers work unseen

One privilege that pilots have lost is the ability to tour air traffic control facilities - airport control towers, approach control facilities serving terminal airspace, and air route traffic control centers that serve the en route airspace. Many facilities encouraged pilots to visit, often as part of half-day or daylong "Operation Rain Check" educational programs, but new security restrictions have ended these visits, and they may never return.

And that's a shame.

You'll find that there are pilots who don't like to talk with air traffic controllers. Maybe it's mic fright, and they're just afraid to talk on the radio. Some independent thinkers don't want to be told what to do. And still others are concerned that they won't be able to comply quickly enough with the controller's instructions. Visits to control towers and radar facilities would allow pilots to see how air traffic control works from the other end of the radio transmission, gain a better understanding of how the ATC system works, learn about the various services available to both VFR and IFR pilots - and to meet and talk with controllers, perhaps helping them to realize that those voices in their headsets are people, just like you and me.

Controllers commute to work each day. I've met some who are pilots and fly to work. Most have a great sense of humor, which you'll sometimes hear over the radio during quieter moments. And they'll go out of their way to help you, especially if you're in distress (see "Solo, But Not Alone," p. 48).

Several years ago I interviewed an air traffic controller at the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center who had been credited with a save for the assistance that he rendered to the pilot of a Beech Bonanza. The airplane, which was flying under instrument flight rules, apparently suffered a vacuum failure, and the pilot didn't know it - he entered a spiral descent as he tried to follow the erroneous indications provided by his dying attitude indicator. It's a classic accident scenario that instrument students are trained to watch for, and this pilot may have become disoriented in the clouds.

But the controller recognized what was happening, based on the image he saw on his radar display. (The fact that the controller was a pilot who had recently been training for his own instrument rating probably didn't hurt.) He identified the situation, convinced the pilot that this was occurring, and talked him through the recovery.

And it apparently was a close call. The Bonanza's airspeed had increased so much in the spiral dive that the airplane was structurally damaged. Its pilot landed safely at an Alabama airport, where the airplane remained. The controller knew this because he flew there a day or two later to take a look at it.

Controllers provide flight assists every day. They're not all as dramatic as the Bonanza pilot's, but some are probably more so.

The AOPA Air Safety Foundation is offering a safety seminar, "Say Intentions - When You Need ATC's Help," at various locations across the country this year that addresses emergency services air traffic controllers can provide. Check the schedule on AOPA Online for a location near you. If you can't attend one of the programs, the Say Intentions ... When You Need ATC's Help Safety Advisor hits the high points and may be downloaded from the Web site. Last month, I wrote about the FAA's Wings pilot proficiency program and promised to relay information about any additional Wings Weekend programs. Here are two more.

The thirteenth annual Illinois Wings Weekend will be held July 11 through 13 at Coles County Airport in Mattoon. It's sponsored by the FAA's Springfield Flight Standards District Office and the Illinois Division of Aeronautics. More information can be downloaded from the Internet.

And while North Carolina's spring Wings Weekend had already taken place, dates were not available for the state's fall Wings Weekend. It will be held at Goldsboro-Wayne Municipal Airport in Goldsboro on October 18 and 19 and will be preceded by a career day on October 17. For more information, check the Web site for the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Division of Aviation closer to the scheduled dates.

Attend one of these programs if you can - any pilot, from a student on up, can learn something. And who knows, maybe you'll get to meet an air traffic controller while you're there.