��rid Volume 11 N umber 11

U.S. Department of Transportation Fede��I Aviation Administration Research Highlights cab modeled after the one built in Honolulu. It is an eight-sided 24-foot-diameter struc­ Like an ornament atop a wedding cake, ture 18 feet high without its mechanical the FAA Technical Center's Experimental room, which raises it another I I feet. Tower Cab now relieves the straight roof line It is used to evaluate pre-engineered of the Air Traffic Control Laboratory wing mockups for equipment configurations and of the year-old complex. placement and the design of displays and Originally erected next to the Atlantic City other proposed tower equipment in a realistic Municipal Airport terminal, the 50-ton struc­ setting. Among systems to be checked out ture was moved this past September to di­ here are the Terminal Information Process­ rectly over the Terminal Area Test Facility, ing Systerrf (TIPS)-a video display to whose roof had been specially reinforced dur­ replace flight data strips-and the Traffic ing construction of the technical and ad­ Alert and Collision Avoidance System ministrative building. (TCAS), as well as equipment in the next The tower cab is a modified high-activity generation of air traffic control.

Fmnt crnu: Jim Bellamy of the Central Flow Control Facility in headquarters discusses flight scheduling with an airline dispatcher to help keep air traffic moving during the controller Strike. Phuto h1 J.n < ,1rrull World

US Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration November 1981 Volume 11 Number 11 8 FAA for the Defense When trouble brews for the agency and its employees, such as lawsuits from an acci­ dent, the Litigation Division of the Office of 14 the Chief Counsel steps in. In the wake of the Scar-crossed and Lost crash of Eastern Flight 212, FAA made a The flight of Pangborn and Herndon could stunning defense of itself and its employees in have come out of a Hollywood script, for all a landmark case. its adventure and misadventures. Despite repeated blunders and a failure of their mis­ sion, they achieved fame, thanks to the skills 13 of Pangborn. Kudos co the Commicced An airport manager shifts the focus of atten­ 19 tion to the controllers who stayed on the Singing the Song of the Unsung job and acquitted themselves well despite Keeping the airways open is not only the job 4 harassment and long hours. of controllers but of technicians, who main­ Keep-'Em-Flying Nerve Center tain controller equipment and landing aids. When the controller strike began on August Their skills are critical to aviation safety. 3, FAA was ready with contingency plans co be carried out by the Central Flow Control 2 Research Highlights Facility, where air traffic for the entire system was and is being managed for op­ 7 People timum safety and efficiency. 20 Update-Wiley Pose Redux

Secretary of Transportation FAA WORLD is published monthly for the em­ Mark Weaver Aeronautical Center Andrew L. Lewis ployees of the Department of Transportation/ Clifford Cernick Alaskan Region Administrator, FAA Federal Aviation Administration and is the of­ Joseph Frets-Central Region J. Lvnn Helms ficial FAA employee puhlicatinn. It is prepared by Robert Fulton-Eastern Region the Public & Employee Communications Division. Neal Callahan-Great Lakes Region Assisrant Administrator­ Office of Public Affairs. FAA. 800 Independence David Hess Metro Washington Airporrs Puhlic Affairs Ave. SW. Washington. D.C. 20591. Articles and Mike Ciccarelli New England Region Charles A. Murchison photos for FAA World should be submitted direc­ Judy Nauman. acting-Northwest Region Chief-Puhlic & Employee tly to regional FAA public affairs officers: George Miyachi Pacific-Asia Region Communications Div. David Myers Rocky Mountain Region 'ohn G. Leyden Jack Barker Southern Region .:di tor George Burlage Southwest Region Leonard Samuel, Michael Benson Technical Center Alexander Garvis Western Region Arr Director Eleanor M Maginnis /\.., '

I l •.

"The first two weeks were the hardest. That's when all the precedent-making deci­ sions were made. After that, it was all local adjustment and fine tuning. And we're still doing that." The words were those of Sam Rosenzweig, operations officer for the Air Traffic Service's Central Flow Control Facility, as he looked back over the hectic days that began the mor­ ning of August 3. That was when two-thirds of the agency's air traffic controllers walked out on strike, and the facility went on to become the nerve center of the successful ef­ fort to keep most of the nation's aircraft in the air. It was an effort that required a lot of wori by a lot of people-the controllers who stayed on the job and the supervisors who went back to controlling traffic, airline em­ ployees and other FAA people, both in and out of the Air Traffic Service, as well as the military. But it was the Central Flow Control Facility that put it all together and kept the traffic moving. It was a job for which the facility, more familiarly known as Flow Control or the CF', was uniquely suited. Ever since it was established 11 years ago, its 24-hour-a-day job has been to monitor and control the flow of air traffic in the interest of safety. Later it got the additional job of helping to reduce fuel consumption whenever possible. It is essentially a communications and

Jim Bellamy gets detailed information on traffic flow from a flow control specialist in one of the en route centers.

4 By Fred Farrar A public information specialist in the Office of Public Affairs, he is a former Washington correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. Keep-'Em-Flying Nerve Center Central Flow Control Manages Struck Airspace System

intelligence center with telephone links to all the air traffic control facilities, as well as air­ line dispatchers, plus a computer that can tell it what is in the air at any given time. From the start, Flow Control's basic job was to make sure that no air traffic control facility found itself with more traffic in its area than it could safely handle. Usually, these situations were the result of bad weather or some other unexpected event that threw the system out of sync. The tools it used were re-routing and holding-re­ routing the traffic around the bad weather when possible or holding it, preferably on the 1�round at the point of origin or in the air, if ecessary, until the affected facility could .iandle it. It increased the in-trail separation between aircraft from 30 to 50 miles in areas where large numbers of controllers were striking, routed traffic around other hard-hit areas and kept aircraft on the ground until each many controllers stayed on the job. Sam Rosenzweig (right), operations officer of had a clear shot at its destination without any "That was the first of our precedent­ Central Flow Control, and Jim Bellamy holding in the air. setting decisions and our first job on the discuss strategy for moving maximum air That is what Flow Control did during the morning of August 3. We had to see how traffic during the controllers' strike. strike and is continuing to do. many controllers we had left and test our "It soon became clear that we could It all went according to a contingency capability-make a decision on how much limit the restrictions to the top 22 airports plan-even to the point of deciding which traffic we could handle with that number of and that we could move more than 50 per­ contingency plan to use. controllers. It was at 10 a.m. when we saw cent of the traffic. Within a few days. we ··we had our choice of three contingency that approximately 30 percent of the con­ were handling 75 percent of the traffic or plans." Rozenzweig said, leaning casually trollers were going to stay on the job that we better, and we are continuing to do so. against one of five telephone consoles, while decided to use the 50 percent plan and hope weather charts, airport runway layouts and we could raise it later. "Our next big decision.·· Rosenzweig con­ tinued. "was what to do about general avia- other information were projected on screens "So," Rosenzweig explained, "we limited in the background. "We had one for han­ traffic at the peak hours at the 23 busiest air­ dling 20 percent of the normal traffic. one for ports to 50 percent of the pre-strike level. handling 50 percent and one for handling 75. This evened off the peaks and the valleys Which one we picked would depend on how and, by moving much of the peak traffic into non-peak hours, we were able to handle a relatively large amount of traffic with a lot fewer controllers.

Photos by Jay Carroll

5 Harry Eberlin uses a console to call up flight­ schedule information from the computer at the Jacksonville, Fla., ARTCC.

strike and the efforts to counter it from the vantage point of the Aviation Command OFFICI AL AIRLINE GUIDE Center-the communications center that is normally used to handle hijackings. They kept track of the flow of traffic , the number of controllers on the job, harass­ ment and threats of violence by the striking controllers, a rash of "phantom transmis­ sions" broadcast over air traffic control fre­ quencies, the legal steps being taken against the controllers· union and the process of removing the striking controllers from The Official Airline Guide issued on Septem­ handled, center by center, monitoring those Federal service. All of this information wa her 9 (right) is markedly thinner than the one flights that were being made to be sure the fed to FAA Administrator Lynn Helms, in effect hefore the strike. limits weren't being exceeded. J. who made the key operational decisions once The computer center also played a crucial tion aircraft. On the first day, we issued a the strike was underway. role when the airlines were getting ready to NOT AM saying that we would accept no in­ The task force ate a lot of C-Rations­ print their first schedules reflecting the strument flight plans from aircraft weighing Army field rations that were stocked there restrictions. It used the computer to check the 12,500 pounds or less. This, in effect, kept for just that purpose-and they did a lot of schedules against the restrictions to make sure out most general aviation aircraft. But we their sleeping on couches in nearby offices. that there wasn't any fudging. quickly discovered that we didn't have to be When it became clear that the strike was But, as Rosenzweig is quick to point out that restrictive, so we cancelled that not going to close down the nation's air with more than a little pride, "All the shots NOTAM and left it up to each of the centers transportation system... that the controllers were called from here." I the Air Route Traffic Control Centers] to union was not going to win in its attempt to Meanwhile, another little-noticed group determine if and how much general aviation get what it wanted through an illegal action, also was working around the clock. This was traffic it could handle. Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis a task force made up of people from Airway "Five days later, only nine of the centers made a special effort to visit CF' and the com­ Facilities, Air Traffic, General Counsel, were refusing to handle general aviation mand center. His message was clear: "Thank Security, Labor Relations and Aviation aircraft. By the morning of the next day, only 1 you; we couldn't have done it without you." Medicine who monitored the course of the three were doing so, and by that afternoon, Then, on a telephone hook-up to more only one-the Chicago Center-was turning than 200 FAA facilities outside of them down. After that, the situation varied, Washington, he said the same thing to thou­ depending on traffic demands." sands of FAA employees in the field who had Flow control got invaluable help from the stayed on the job and helped keep the system Air Traffic Service's computer center in working. • Jacksonville, Fla. It kept track of how many planes were flying and what could be safely

6 The information in this feature is extracted from the Personnel Management Informa­ tion System (PMIS) computer. Space per­ mitting, all actions of a change of position and/or facility at the first supervisory level and branch chiefs in offices are published. All changes cannot be accommodated because there are thousands each month.

Alaskan Region Division ... Charles Taylor, chief of the supervisor at the Greensboro, N.C., Tower, Manchester, N.H., Tower, from the Opera­ from the Greenville, S.C., Downtown Tower Charles W. Muhs, chief of the Anchorage tions Procedures and Airspace Branch, Air ... William E. Roberts, team supervisor at FSS/IFSS, from the Operations, Procedures Traffic Division. the Knoxville FSS, from the FAA Academy. and Airspace Branch, Air Traffic Division Northwest Region ... John W. Williford, chief of the Bethel Southwest Region AF Sector Field Office, King Salmon AF Sec­ Russell L. Miller, chief of the John E. Hemmert, chief of the Little Rock, tor, from the Cold Bay SFO. Navigation/Communications Unit in the Spokane, Wash., AF Sector at Geiger Field Ark., GADO, from the Long Beach, Calif., FSDO ...Jose R. Hernandez, team super­ Central Region ... Helen M. Parke, evaluation and proficiency officer at the Seattle, Wash., visor at the Beaumont, Tex., Tower ... Harold G. Simpson, programs officer at the ARTCC. Edward J. Sinon, Jr., chief of the Moisant Tower, from the Airspace and Procedures Offutt AFB RAPCON, Bellevue, Neb .... Pacific-Asia Region Jesse]. Statham, team supervisor at the Ep­ Branch, Eastern Region Air Traffic Division "Jley Field Tower, Omaha, Neb., from the Dennis T. Kawashima, team supervisor at ... Lawrence P. Smith, team supervisor at ;AA Academy ... Billy E. Vandorn, chief the Honolulu, Hawaii, Tower, from the FAA the Houston, Tex., Intercontinental Tower, of the Lincoln, Neb., AF Sector Field Office, Academy .. . Robert H. Moll, team super­ from the Lubbock, Tex., Tower. Grand Island AF Sector. visor at the Guam IFSS. Washington Headquarters David L. Anderson, Eastern Region Rocky Mountain Region chief of the Manpower Systems Branch, Air Traffic Service, from the Gerald Shipman, chief of the Employment Domenic Digiallonardo, area officer at En Route/Terminal Requirements Branch Branch, Personnel Management Division. the Denver, Colo., ARTCC. . .. Harry I. McIntyre, chief of the Evalua­ Southern Region tion Staff, Air Traffic Service, from the Man­ Great Lakes Region power Systems Branch .. . Donald E. David Cherry, team supervisor at the Theodore J. Clark, Jr., team supervisor at McKillop, program maintenance officer, Cleveland-Hopkins (Ohio) Tower, from the the Knoxville, Tenn., Tower, from the Pan­ ATC Command Center, in the Jacksonville, Cleveland County Tower ... Jerry L. ama City, Fla., Tower ... Russell G. Fla., ARTCC. Crissinger, team supervisor at the Hailey, team supervisor at the Standiford Western Region Springfield, Ill., Tower, from the FAA Field Tower, Louisville, Ky., from the Academy .. . Brian F. Cukrowicz, Valdosta, Ga., Tower ... Alexander J. James L. Asby, chief of the Hayward, supervisor of the Radar-Communications Kulikowski, chief of the Procedures Sec­ Calif., Tower, from the San Carlos, Calif., Unit at the Mansfield, Ohio, AF Sector Field tion, Airspace & Procedures Branch, Air Tower ...Jimmie L. Haralson, deputy Office of the Columbus AF Sector, from the Traffic Division, from the Anchorage, chief of the Los Angeles FSS, from the Indianapolis, Ind., Hub AF Sector Field Of. Alaska, ARTCC ... Ronald J. Liszt, Ukiah, Calif., FSS .. . Benjamin C. Ken­ fice .. . Paul A. Stendahl, crew chief at the deputy chief of the Daytona Beach, Fla., nedy, chief of the Oakland, Calif., Tower, Minneapolis, Minn., ARTCC AF Sector. Tower, from the Memphis, Tenn., Tower from the Tucson, Ariz., Tower ... Ralph F. Mason, unit supervisor in the Fernando A. Lorenz, unit supervisor in the Ontario, Calif., AF Sector Field Office, from New England Region Knoxville AF Sector, from the San Juan, Puerto Rico AF Sector Field Office .. . the Riverside, Calif., AF Sector ... James B. William F. Healey, team supervisor at the Robert H. Patterson, chief of the West Manson, Jr., team supervisor at the Ontario Manchester, N. H., Tower ... Walter M. Columbia, S.C., Tower, from the Orlando, TRACON Gary P. Munnell, team (nof, team supervisor at the Quonset, R.I., Fla., Tower... William F. Price,Jr., team supervisor at the Tucson Tower, from the fRACON, from the Burlington, Vt., Tower Tucson TRACON Sheldon S. Olson, ... Stanley Matthews, deputy chief of the team supervisor at the Fresno, Calif., Tower, Logan International Tower, Boston, from the from the Litchfield Municipal Airport Plans and Programs Branch, Air Traffic Tower, Goodyear, Ariz.

7 Michael Pan ia By g FAA's Assistant Chief Counsel in charge of the Litigation Division, he former! y served in the Department of Justice as a senior trial attorney. FAA for the Defense The Agency Defends Its Own in a Landmark Case

Ac 7 a.m. on Sept. 11, 1974, an Eastern lights. For the assigned runway, the MDA the airspeed indicators were showing ex­ Airlines DC-9-Flight 212-departed was 1,220 feet ASL (472 feet AGL). If the cessive speed. Then, when five altimeters Charleston, S.C., for a scheduled trip co crew could not make visual contact, they were were showing chat the aircraft was already Chicago via Charlotte, N.C., but it had a ren­ required co execute a missed approach-that below the MDA-the altitude below which dezvous with tragedy near Charlotte. is, climb and go around or fly to another air­ they were not permitted unless they could see It was co embroil FAA and four of its em­ port. the landing area-the captain commented, ployees in a legal battle that only now is near­ Flight 212 intercepted the final approach "All we got to do is find the airport." ing its end. The case showed both the limits and began its descent. Controller Hunter in­ Two seconds later, as the captain yelled, of responsibility of controllers and pilots for structed the pilots to contact the tower. "God damn," the aircraft flew into the flat flight and the measure of support that the There, Alden Hare, a developmental under ground 3.3 miles short of the runway. agency provides its people in a crisis. the supervision of controller Pete Hogan, af- Seventy-two people died and 10 were injured The crew of Flight 212 was apparently from the impact and flames that followed. looking forward co a rest period in Chicago. A series of lawsuits were filed against "That's what I need, rest; I don't need all the airline in South Carolina by the injured this damned flying," the captain complained (This] case showed both the and the families of the dead. Before a verdict to his co-pilot, as the plane, with 82 persons limits of responsibility of was rendered, the airline settled most of th< aboard, accelerated on its takeoff roll. The controllers ... and the cases. cockpit voice recorder of the remaining 34 Two seriously injured passengers and the minutes of flight captured a continuing measure of support that the widow of a passenger chose neither to be dialogue on segregation, busing, Watergate, agency provides its people in party to those suits nor accept a settlement. Chappaquiddick, the Arabs, Swiss bank ac­ a cns1s. Instead, they sued the airline in Charlotte, counts and the importation of foreign cars. N.C., claiming not only damages for their The visibility in Charlotte that morning losses but also punitive damages. This extra was about one and a half miles, and the ceil­ ter insuring that there was no conflicting traf­ recovery is permitted in North Carolina upon ing was broken at 4,000 feet with some fic in front of Flight 212, cleared it co land, showing wanton misconduct on the part of patchy ground fog. As the aircraft ap­ which the crew acknowledged. the defendent. They charged that the airline's proached, the crew contacted air traffic con­ At this point, instead of going through the management knew or should have known of trol, eventually being transferred co the final landing checklist-one calling out co the the lax, nondisciplined attitude of its flight radar approach controller, Dennis Hunter, other necessary preparatory operations-the crews evidenced by previous accidents. who cleared the plane for a VOR approach. captain remarked to the co-pilot, "By God, The airline, in turn, filed a third-party This requires the pilot merely co follow a chat looks like the Carowinds ...I know complaint against the U.S. Government, radio signal chat centers a needle on one of that, it's the Carowinds," referring co a alleging that the negligence of FAA' s air traf­ his instruments when he is on course. nearby amusement park and indicating he fic controllers contributed co the cause of the The crew then is supposed co consult an thought it was in the wrong place. "It's sup­ crash. The airline asked chat the government approach plate-a printed instruction­ posed co be really nice," answered the co­ pay half of any judgment against it. So far, which in this case, directs them to maintain pilot shortly before an alarm went off in the the case was not highly unusual, but a an altitude of 1,800 feet above sea level cockpit warning them that they were coo low. separate case was co complicate it con­ (1,074 feet above the ground) until crossing The alarm was shut off siderably. a position known as the Ross Intersection, 5.5 Other instruments, including two rate-of­ One morning in February 1977, the miles from the airport. After passing Ross, descent indicators, showed the aircraft to be chief of the Charlotte Tower, Bernie the procedure allows them to descend co the descending at double the rate permitted, and Grossclose, and each of the controllers­ minimum descent altitude (MDA), but no Hunter, Hare and Hogan-heard a knock on lower unless the pilots have and maintain the door of his house. It was a U.S. marshal visual contact with the runway or approach serving a summons and complaint from 19 ot

8 the airline's insurance companies, suing them ing that juries may tend to find against the The pre-trial work over, James Qay) personally and the U.S. as well for more than government based on its financial ability Dillman, deputy chief of the Litigation Divi­ $35 million each, plus interest and costs of rather than on the merits of the case. sion; Michael Pangia, its chief; and paralegal the trial. So, in this omnibus case, the jury had specialist Karen Huffman (left to right) load more than 25 boxes of documents and The insurers accused the controllers of to decide all questions, including the con­ evidence aboard an agency Cessna 310 bound causing or contributing to the crash and trollers' liability, except for the liability of the for Charlotte N.C demanded from them and the government government, which was up to the judge. the cost of the airplane and all or part of the I took on the defense of this case when superiors agreed. Some felt I should forge South Carolina settlements. This suit, which I was the senior trial attorney in aviation in ahead. Others proposed to assign separate was consolidated with the case against the the Justice Department and took it with me counsel for each defendant, but that wouldn't airline, touched off what the Charlotte as a special assignment when I transferred to solve the problem, because we would have Observer accurately described as "a costly, the FAA. identical loyalties and close communication intricate, often emotional legal war. .. Almost immediately, the airline's insurers with each other. Private counsel, on the other The United States cannot be sued except asked the court to disqualify me because hand, would have cost well over $75,000 with its permission. Because of many requests of conflict of interest. They charged that I each, and neither the government nor the for permission, Congress in 1946 gave couldn't represent all of the defendants at the controllers union was willing to pick up the general permission in a law known as the same time because they would not be free to tab. Even the judge said to me, "J would not .. Federal Tort Claims Act, allowing suits for cross-claim against each other-"you did it, be in your shoes for all the tea in China . I negligent acts or omissions of its employees not me." The court agreed that there was a was really caught in the middle, and now it while acting within the scope of their employ­ potential conflict and that I should withdraw. was I who needed a lawyer. ment. There are certain exceptions-for ex­ Within Justice, however, not all of my Since the controllers understood their ample, the discretionary function exception, rights, were all of a mind on the issues and. whereby the government cannot be sued for with a growing rapport with me. had per­ passing or not passing a law. Another excep­ sonally asked me to continue to represent tion is that the plaintiff must try the case them, I asked the court to issue an order dis­ against the U.S. without a jury-the idea be- qualifying me so that it could be appealed to

9 CAPT. No. 1 ALTIM. INDICATED CAPTAIN'S TERRAIN WARNING TOO LOW INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHT AND SOUND

FLIGHT DIRECTOR INDICATED NOSE TOO LOW

' ( l • .,. .. '\" . ·�··· STBY. GYRO INDICATED NOSE TOO LOW

ENGINE AND

INST. VERTICAL SPEED No. 2 ALTIM. INDICATED EXCESS INDICATED DESCENT RATE TOO LOW the Circuit Court of Appeals fora final ruling on underlying issues that arose in the pretrial Although I thought we had a solid case, it one way or the other. There, I had the Assis­ period required research and paperwork, was possible for the controllers to be held tant Attorney General representing me. The which alone filled several file cabinet liable; if they were, the government couldn·t appellate court not only agreed with us but drawers. Of immense help was Karen pay their judgments without a special act of labled the insurer·s attempt as .. motivated Huffman, then a secretary in the Office of Congress. The stress began to show par­ more by the desire to fragmentize the defense the Chief Counsel and now a paralegal ticularly on Dennis Hunter. He not only was than by any sensitivity to the ethical con­ specialist. We literally spent a month of a principal target of the insurance companies siderations involved.·· Now, I was free to nights and weekends in preparing opening but was living a separate nightmare: His I 0- proceed with the defense. statements, issuing subpoenas, arranging for year-old daughter was dying of leukemia. He Preparation for the trial was over a period travel and accommodations for witnesses, lived with her vacillating condition during of two years. Each party has a right to serve briefing fact and expert witnesses, coor­ the entire pretrial period. Just before the written questions (interrogatories) on each dir.ati ng with the FBI for the production of trial, she died. I took time out to go to other party that are to be answered in writing trial exhibits and cataloguing them and han­ Houston-where Hunter was living and under oath. About 1,500 of these were dling many other details. working then-to attend the funeral, a served on the various parties. As we made arrangements for our gesture not only to Hunter and his family but Each side also may take testimony out residence in Charlotte for the upcoming one­ also to the other controllers, because, as their of court in depositions, which here were month trial, two FAA aircraft loads of more attorney, their welfare was my primary con­ taken of 25 witnesses. This is actually a small than 25 boxes of documents and exhibits cern. number for a case of this size, but some of were flown to Charlotte. I was counting on my deputy for assistance them required many days each. There was considerable emotional de­ at the trial, but just prior to it, I had to assign We had to bind. index and cross-reference mand, as well. Part of my job was to help my him elsewhere. I was fortunate to obtain the the thousands of pages of documents and clients keep up their spirits so they could pre­ assistance of Chuck Theisen, a new attorney deposition testimony for use at the trial. In sent themselves in the best possible way at the with the Justice Department, who quickly addition, the motions (petitions to the court) trial. This was a challenge in this case grasped the issues and helped significantly. because of the number and variety of the per­ sonalities involved, combined with the crushing workload in taking on major law firms as adversaries with the high stakes in­ volved.

10 AIRSPEED INDICATOR INDICATED FIRST OFFICER'S EXCESS INSTRUMENT PANEL AIRSPEED , FLIGHT DIRECTOR INDICATED NOSE #. TOO LOW TERRAIN WARNING LIGHT AND ;f:�1 SOUND � RADIO AL TIM. INDICATED TOO LOW

FLAP INDICATOR

UEL GAGES = ..©-�© ..© � ( ) ALTIMETER INST. VERTICAL SPEED INDICATED INDICATED EXCESS TOO LOW DESCENT RATE

fh\' rnckpu pand typical of th\' Ea,tcrn Air­ stand ro rell how the FBI, with all of irs true;" His "yes" rendered bis testimony lin\', [)( -9 that rr,1shed on the out,kirrs of equipment, could not hear the alleged srare­ useless for rhe insurers, since they could nor 'h,1rlotte, '\.(.,in 19� t. ment. We then challenged rhe insurers' ex­ explain how rhe crew of Flight 2 12 misread pert to play his rape. bur all that could he five altimeters, three airspeed indicators, two The trial opened on Nov. 5, 1979. In the heard ar rhe spot were two faint syllables, instantaneous vertical speed indicators and first few days, witnesses testified on crash "uh-uh "-hardly evidence of such a state­ several arritude instruments, as well as rescue operations and the weather at the ment. Then we read comments about this ignored an altitude alert. rime. They were followed by expert witnesses witness from judges in other cases-"a on airline operations, pilot technique, In addition, they couldn't explain why highly partisan witness with a strong, clear VO R weather and air traffic control procedures. their crew could nor make a approach, and pronounced bias against the FAA," said The rwo survivors rold about rhe horrors of which was so basic that it can be pertormed one; "unacceptable and incredible ... said rhe crash and their months of painful by a pilot no more rhan 17 years of age with another. The airline insurers' surprise had recovery. only a fraction of the instruments they had backfired. Despite all the advance preparation,a sur­ and without radar or a rower. Ir could only The insurers rhen called the co-pilot of rhe prise invariably pops up in a trial. When the be explained by the crew's conduct. which National flight rhar crashed in Escambia Bay, airline's insurers called an expert witness on rhe court later categorized as "borh ill­ Florida, while making a landing. They were voice recordings-a former FAA employee, advised and indicative of a fatal com­ attempting ro show that misreading an now a private entrepreneur-he unexpectedly placency." altimeter is common. 'Tm just here to testify The aircraft was equipped with an en­ testified rhat he had just learned of a state­ how I misread my altimeter, how it's possible coding altimeter, which automatically sends ment on the ATC tape that somehow had nor for a qualified crew operating under similar irs reading in 100-foor increments ro the been heard before. "You can tell he was in situations ro do precisely rhar," rbe co-pilor tower's automated radar terminal sysrem­ trouble," he claimed a controller said, in­ said. ARTS-where it is displayed on the radar sinuating rhar rhe controller knew Flight 212 On cross-examination, I asked just one scope. The system has a usable error of as was low and did nothing about it. question: "Sir, any instrument can be misread much as plus or minus 299 feetbetween what To counter this, we had ro do more than if you're not paying arrention. Isn't rhat the scope shows and what the pilot reports his just play the tape; we had ro prove rhar rhe altimeter reads. Thar much difference is witness simply was not telling rhe rrurh. I sent allowed because rhe system was designed sim­ Chuck Theisen back ro Washington ro work ply ro help controllers separate aircraft from with rhe FBI in re-analyzing the tape. He returned with an FBI agent. who rook the each other. It was not intended ro guide an

11 aircraft to a landing-that's the responsibility quency, creating a potential collision hazard The judge then wrote a decision in favor of of the pilot who has accurate altimeters. with a small aircraft. Flight 352 flew straight the government, stating, "I am unable to find Later ARTS equipment does have a low­ through the course and out of Hunter's sec­ that an additional request by a controller for altitude alert for monitoring unusual altitudes tor. Before Hunter could correct the situa­ the pilot to check his altitude would have or rates of descent. tion, the 212 crash was reported, and he had changed the outcome" and that "[an] acci­ Nevertheless, both the airline and its in­ to get 352 back, vector the other aircraft and dent of this sort could only occur through surers based their allegations on the 1974 send them all into a holding pattern. pilot inadvertence and carelessness of a truly system in an attempt to shift the blame for While he was now vertically separating extraordinary nature." the accident. They claimed that the con­ these aircraft in the holding pattern, he saw The contest is not quite over. The in­ trollers should have been extra alert to detect Eastern Flight 590 disobeying its altitude surance companies and the airline appealed. altitude deviation and warn the pilots. assignment and ordered a correction. It took me several weeks of night work to The evidence on behalf of the control­ As we commented to the jury, in this write the brief and prepare for oral argument lers was overwhelming. I flew in an expert scenario where not only one of this airline's to defend the verdict before a three-judge from the West Coast who did a study on the planes had crashed but also three others tried panel in the Court of Appeals in Richmond, ARTS system before it was installed. He ex­ to-but for Hunter's quick action-the air­ Va., this past spring. plained to the jury the purpose of the altitude line's insurers should have thanked the con­ Trying a case is not just knowing the law. in formation. trollers, not sued them. It's orchestrating a complex symphony­ Then we read the deposition of the air­ The jury deliberated for two and a half knowing the strengths of each of the players, line's former division vice president, who, af­ days and returned a verdict in favor of the knowing when to mute your attack and when ter extensive cross-examination in his deposi­ plaintiffs against the airline. While not to call for the cymbals. I felt we had played it tion, finally admitted that "the ARTS system finding for punitive damages, they awarded well, but now was no time to let down. was not designed for an approach aid" and compensatory damages three times larger The oral argument in appeal seemed to go that "the altitude of the aircraft on the ap­ than had ever been given in North Carolina. smooth! y, except that the judges expressed proach is strictly the responsibility of the My heart pounded as they turned to the their annoyance at the airline and its insurers flight crew." liability of the controllers. As each of the con­ for filing briefs totaling more than 200 Not only is that the point, but the con­ troller's names was read off by the jury pages. "Counselor, we have a good mind to troller may have other duties to attend to. foreman, it was accompanied by "not liable." hand this back to you," one of the judges told When Dennis Hunter testified about his I settled back into my chair with a feeling of their attorney. "This borders on contempt for other duties at the time Flight 212 was mak­ profound relief. our rules." The court's rules were for no ing its approach, a shocking-and telling­ The trial had cost the government more more than 50 pages. situation was revealed. Other Eastern Air­ than $250,000 and nearly 1,000 hours of I am confident that the appelas court lines aircraft-Flights 352, 370 and 590- my personal time. It was worth every bit of will affirm the judgment, perhaps by the time were following 212 in the landing pattern. that because the controllers had done a fine you are reading this, and end this long ordeal When 35 2 was on the base leg, Hunter told job, and I had no hesitancy in defending for my clients. it to turn left on final and to contact the them all the way. tower. Instead, Flight 370, which was on the Apparently, the jury felt the same. In downwind leg, took 352's instructions, made fact, the foreman later told me that the jury a 180-degree turn and left Hunter's fre- had unanimously decided in the controllers' favor in the first five minutes of their deliberation.

12 Kudos to the Committed An Airport Manager Pays Homage to Those Who Stayed

student will also tell you that disagreement with a law does not authorize anyone to refuse to obey the law. Not without penalty ... The damage to the nation's commerce will be great. The airlines say they are losing about $35 million per day-and the damage to this ·city won't go unnoticed. But, it is not nearly so great as everyone expected it to be. The reasoni The supervisors, the controllers who stayed on the job and the military per­ sonnel on call are keeping the air traffic con­ trol system working on a daily increasing level of efficiency. What we need now is to let the country know that the system works, and that it is safe to fly. I personally would have absolutely no hesitation to fly anywhere on the domestic route system, and I would not hesitate to have my family fly to any city in the United States. Flight crews have been most complimen­ tary concerning the air traffic control system The following is excerpted from a guest have, for the most part, been ignored. We and the personnel manning their stations. column by John D. Solomon, Director of should all be thapkful for the level of com­ Perhaps there is a larger lesson to be learn­ Aviation, McCarran International Airport, mitment of these fine men-a commitment ed from this tragic event. It appears that Las Vegas, Nev., in the Las Vegas Sun, Aug. which exceeds their desire for personal gain. productivity has suffered greatly over the past 1 1, 1 981. Reprinted with permission. Perhaps there is in these unsung heroes a several years as a result of the activities of clearer understanding or recognition of the some PATCO employees. Secretary of ... While enough has been said about the fact that in a civilized society, laws are made Transportation Lewis, who has a monumen­ strike of the air traffic controllers, it seems to to bring order to an otherwise disorderly tal rebuilding program facing him, has an op­ me that almost nothing has been said or writ­ group of individuals. portunity to increase productivity while ten about the fine people who elected to keep In a democracy, as any eighth-grader will reducing the number of employees at the their oath to the U.S. Government. tell you, if you don't like a law, you have the same time. During the past week, 14 supervisors and opportunity to change it. And, if your cause is Instead of worrying about how to sell six controllers kept traffic moving safely and worthy enough, you can change a law which themselves and a large segment of the efficiently and are continuing to meet 100 doesn't work. That same eighth-grade civics American public on how stressful the job is, percent of the demand for air traffic service perhaps the new employees can expend the to and from Mc(arran. The focus has been same amount of energy on doing the best on the guys who have, in effect, deserted possible job of providing the best and safest their posts, while the guys who care about the air traffic system in the world. a federal government and the local economy

13 By Samuel Milner Now on the FAA historical staff, as an Army historian, he wrote Victory in Papua, a volume in the Pacific series of The U.S. Army in World War lI. Star-Crossed and Lost Pangborn and Herndon Achieve Fame Despite Many Blunders

When the fuel-heavy Bellanca Pacemaker 000 as a first installment on the flight. over Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, and out failed to make it off the runway at Roosevelt Thanks to Herndon, the pair was nowhere over the North Atlantic. Then, Herndon took Field, Long Island, and the action had to ready to go when Post and Gatty stole their the controls while Pangborn slept. Herndon's switch to the longer runway at Floyd Bennett thunder and girdled the earth in eight days, dalliance paid off almost immediately-he Field in Brooklyn 11 days later, it was not 15 hours and 51 minutes onJuly 1, 1931. wandered off course a full 10 degrees. As a the first miscue to plague Clyde Pangborn. A They could no longer be the first; they now result of this navigational blunder, Pangborn lesser man and pilot might have rechecked could aspire only to being the fastest. found himself in a dense fogbank and had to his horoscope and gone back to bed. But without consulting Pangborn, land at the first opportunity, which turned Murphy's Law-what can go wrong, Herndon had bought the six-place Bellanca, out to be Wales, rather than the planned will-was to work overtime in frustrating an airplane never known for its speed. Pang­ Moscow, after a crossing that took 32 hours, Pangborn's aeronautical goals. That he born had to insist on replacing the 300-h.p. as compared to Post's 16 hours and 32 achieved fame as the first to fly non-stop J-6 Whirlwind engine with a 425-h.p. Pratt minutes. The next morning-July 30-they across the Pacific Ocean-not what he start­ & Whitney Wasp nine-cyclinder, air-cooled flew to Croydon near London to refuel. ed out to do-was in spite of an albatross in radial engine. Under an advertising contract Instead to taking off immediately, the the person of Hugh Herndon,Jr., his with an oil company-not that to which Miss Veedol sat on the ground while navigator. Mama Boardman owed her nomey-the Herndon ran off to London to visit with Pangborn, 3 7 in 193 l, had been an Army plane was painted red and dubbed "Miss relatives for six hours. flying instructor in World War I and chief Veedol." The flight reached MoscowJuly 31; the pilot and part-owner of the Gates Flying Then, too, instead of buckling down to pair was feted with a banquet and took off Circus, where he earned a considerable prepare for the flight and concentrating on that evening for Irkutsk and Khabarovsk, the reputation for his skill as a flier. his navigation studies, since he was deficient two planned stops in Siberia. It took Pang­ Herndon, 27, had built a considerable in this area, Herndon spent almost all of his born a great deal of time and effort to cross reputation as a playboy. Born into a wealthy time courting a young lady in upstate New the Ural Mountains, and the weather on the family, he had, after dropping out of Prince­ York. Because Pangborn had to go to other side was so bad that he had to put down ton and the family oil business, learned to fly Herndon for funds for everything, very little briefly at Dzhetygara, an isolated gold­ and, finding it suited him, decided on a flying in the way of preparations was done until mining center in western Siberia. Omsk, the career. Herndon married the girl. nearest city of any size, had better facilities, He had barnstormed with Pangborn the With speed now the goal, Pangborn but the men still had to wait 3 Y2 hours to get year before, and, in February 1931, unaware figured out how to beat Post's time. While refueled there. then of Wiley Post and Harold Gatty, the Post's supercharged Lockheed Winnie Mae Pangborn, who had flown all the way two decided to try an around-the-world could cruise at 180 miles per hour, Miss from Croydon, now turned the controls over flight. Veedol at 100 miles per hour had greater lift to Herndon and went to sleep. Sure enough, Pangborn was broke. His partner, Ivan and could carry more fuel for greater range. when he awoke, he found that Herndon had Gates, had taken his share of the money Thus, the Bellanca could fly from New York wandered off course, well south of Irkutsk earned from the flying circus and invested it to Moscow non-stop and make fewer fuel into Outer Mongolia. When Miss Veedol in the New Standard Aircraft Corp., which stops the rest of the way. was set down, they found that officials would set about building pass� airplanes for Finally, Pangborn's problems really not tell them where they were nor let them barnstorming and went bankrupt. Herndon's began-they took off from Floyd Bennett leave for about seven hours. mother, Alice Carter Boardman, a Standard Field onJuly 28, 1931. They headed north Then, Pangborn found his way to Chita in Oil heiress, anxious forJunior to make a Siberia, set a heading for Khabarovsk, re­ name for himself, wrote a check for $100,- turned the controls to Herndon and went back to sleep. The next morning, August 3, Khabarov

14 !mbers of the press and newsreels take ,eir final photos at Floyd Benne!! Field before the big red Bellanca, Miss Veedol, took off for an around-the-world flight.

was mired in mud. Pangborn, who had had a lot of experience in landing on water-logged, slippery runways, thought it would be good experience for Herndon to land here. Although he told Herndon how to handle it, the younger man came in too fast and too hard. The plane hydroplaned and slid off the runway into even deeper mud and damaged its wing. There was no way of getting Miss Veedol out of the mud that day, and it no longer mattered. They had taken 30 hours more than Post and Garry to get to where they were and had no chance of beating their time. It was time to turn around and go home. Fate determined it otherwise. An oppor­ tunity came to turn abject failure into

Clyde Pangborn (left) and Hugh Herndon, Jr., before a biplane during their barnstorm­ ing and circus flying days in 1930.

15 In uniforms considered dashing in their day, storm forecast for the Khabarovsk area, the over fortified areas and illegally Ivan Gates and Clyde Pangborn (right) pose men took off on August 6, passing an incom­ photographing those areas. A fine of $1,0= with one of their Flying Circus aircraft in ing flight bearing a message from the editor each was assessed, or 205 days in jail, anL 1926 in the only photo made of the pair. of the Japan Times, which told them to make their maps and cameras were confiscated. their own arrangements with the embassy. Herndon immediately cabled his mother resounding success ... but not without Pangborn flew to Tokyo. Herndon, a for money to pay the fines and to put the Herndon's contributions to near disaster. photography buff, had taken movies and stills Miss Veedol in shape for the Pacific Flight. On that very day, they received a wire along their route without objection from the When the fines were paid on August 18, the from the editor of the Japan Times urging Russians and now took pictures over the embassy asked permission of the Japanese them to try for the $25,000 prize offered by Tsuguru Strait, Hokkaido and down the east Aviation Bureau for the Miss Veedol to be Japan· s largest newspaper, the Asahi coast of Honshu to Tokyo Bay. They arrived flown to Sabishiro Beach, an 8,000-foot strip Shimbun, for the first non-stop flight be­ at Tachikawa on the evening of August 6, 280 miles north of Tokyo. It was the only tween Japan and the United States. It was where their troubles really began. runway in Japan long enough for a fuel­ fate, for their Bellanca's superior load­ With Japan at war in Manchuria, the heavy Miss Veedol to take off from. carrying ability ideally suited it to fly the plane's approach had been reported by There was a wide difference of opinion as 4, 500-mile distance-no greater than the Japanese picket ships in the Sea of Japan and to whether or not to issue the permit. The originally planned New York-to-Moscow off Hokkaido and Honshu and by military in­ Japanese Aviation Bureau, whose regulations hop. stallations at Tsuguru Strait and Ominato. were modeled after those of our Bureau of Herndon cabled his mother for funds to Pangborn had no sooner landed than officials Air Commerce, were breathing fire at the in­ support the venture, and Pangborn cabled the demanded landing papers, spotted the fractions of its regulations and refused to editor of the Japan Times, thanking him and cameras and called the police. Suspecting es­ issue the permit. The controversy extended to asking him to get the American embassy tc pionage, the police seized their maps and the Japanese press. Finally, the Japanese file the necessary papers for landing at cameras and hauled the men off for question­ Cabinet ruled against the bureau, released the Tokyo's Tachikawa Airport. ing for three days, up to eight hours a day. plane on September 2 and had the aviation With the damage repaired and a new The police report was turned over to the local procurator (the equivalent of a district attorney), who questioned them for two days more. On August 15, they were tried and convicted of illegally landing, illegally flying

16 bureau issue the permit on September 18. Pangborn prepared for the flight. He collected the needed maps and charts, arranged for a Pratt & Whitney dealership to check out the engine and hired a contractor When all was ready, first they were Miss Veedol suffered only a bent prop on its to add a cabin fuel tank that would give the delayed by heavy cross-winds, then by the belly landing at Wenatchee, Wash., after the Bellanca a capacity of 915 gallons. theft of their maps and charts by an anti­ 41-hour flight from Japan. Herndon suffered Used to modifying aircraft for special ef­ American group, replacement of which took a cut from a flying oil can. fects during his flying circus days, he planned 14 hours. to get more speed and range out of Miss On the morning of October 4 Qapan had rigged to retaining pins, and the under­ Veedol by a device that would permit him to Standard Time), Miss Veedol rolled down carriage dropped-except for two rods left drop the entire landing gear into the ocean the ramp. The fuel-heavy plane used up a full dangling. This had to be dealt with, for they once airborne. In addition, the fuselage mile of nway to reach 60 m.p.h. A quarter would pose a danger for landing would be strengthened for a belly landing by rn of a mile later, with the pile of logs dead With increased speed and buoyancy from ·ernal bracing and a steel plate bolted to its ahead, the airspeed was 90 m.p.h., and the the new streamlining, the engine purred. The _ .derside. The modifications, he figured, plane still was not flying. Pangborn tried advancing night and the northern latitudes would increase the plane's speed 15 to 20 rocking the plane from wheel to wheel to get made the cabin colder, numbing their hands m.p.h. and its range 600 miles. It airborne but without success. Then, less and feet, freezing some hot tea and causing It was certain that from a safety point of . than 200 yeards from the log barrier, the air­ ice to form on the wing. view, the Japanese would not permit the speed indicator hit 100 m.p.h., and the plane As the night wore on, the ice abated, and plane to depart if they learned of his plans. . struggled into the air just above stall speed. Pangborn turned over the controls to With the help of local Americans, Pangborn It wallowed and climbed with difficulty. Herndon and took a brief nap. A couple of was put in touch with an American Pangborn headed out over the ocean and hours later, Miss Veedol emerged on top of a machinist, who set to work clandestinely cloud layer at about 17,000 feet, and Pang­ made a wide, cautious turn back, circling . when the plane was released. . Sab1sh1ro until Miss Veedol settled down. born decided 1t was a good time to take care On September 30, Miss Veedol was flown Pangborn headed up toward Hokkaido of the dangling rods. He climbed out of the to Sabishiro beach on a route 50 miles out to and the Kuriles and toward the Aleutians to cockpit in his stocking feet onto the wing sea, as required by the ever-watchful stay near land, since the plane had neither braces, a not unfamiliar exercise from his Japanese Aviation Bureau. Openly skeptical radio nor life raft. days in the flying circus. He braced himself that the plane could lift off with its load the In view of the extended range he had with one hand in the bitter cold and loosened bureau ruled that only one attempt at takeoff prov1 ded for the plane, his goal was not just the rods with the other, the job taking about . would be allowed. If it failed, the pair and the first non-stop trans-Pacific flight but also, 20 minutes. the plane would have to leave Japan by boat. he hoped, the long-distance, non-stop record. The plane passed over Dutch Harbor and . To forestall that possibility, Pangborn His destinatton was Salt Lake City, 5,205 the Gulf of Alaska. There was more than walked the sandy runway the next morning, miles away. enough fuel for the rest of the intended finding the first 4,000 feet relatively smooth About 300 miles out, Pangborn decided to record flight, but it had to be transferred and the next 4,000 feet much less so. At the drop the landing gear. He pulled the cable he from the cabin tank to the main wing tank end, was a large pile of driftwood logs that via a hand pump. This was one of Herndon·s could spell disaster. At the beginning of the few responsibilities during the flight, but runway was a wooden ramp built on a large sand dune, used in previous trans-Pacific at- ·mpts, that would provide some initial Jmentum. Local laborers repaired the ramp .or about 15 cents.

17 •••••••••• Intended Route Actual Route twice he let the main tank run dry. The first a lot more fuel than anticipated. Miss Veedol stepped out of Miss Veedol into the arms of time it happened, he was able to restart the was now over Mount Rainier southeast of his prescient mother and brother. Even more flow. Seattle, and Salt Lake City was out of its amazing was that a representative of the Now. the second episode became a range. Asahi Shimbun was there in Wenatchee to nightmare. The engine sputtered and died, Pangborn figured there was more than present the $25,000 check. the propeller stopped, and Miss Veedol was enough fuel to reach a good field at Boise, Their fame spread, with congratulatory set to plunge into the gulf below. Pangborn Idaho, but Boise was fogged in. He now messages from the President, the Cabinet and had seen emergencies of this sort and knew needed a clear-enough field that was within others around the country. The Japanese Im­ what to do. With Herndon frantically pump­ reach. He tried Spokane, Wash., but it, too, perial Aeronautical Society awarded them its ing away. Pangborn dived the plane straight was fogbound. Now, fuel was a problem. White Medal of Merit. down in the hope of getting the engine re­ There was only one of his original alternates Pangborn deserved his honors, but started by windmilling the propeller. The left: Pangborn·s own hometown of Herndon hadn't. Of the 200 hours flown in plane dropped more than 13,000 feet before Wenatchee. Wash. both flights, Herndon piloted for about I 0, the prop turned over and the engine started. The field was clear as he expected. He getting lost three times, plus nearly killing Not until he was only 1,500 feet above the began dumping his fuel and moved Herndon them by fuel mismanagement and losing water was he able to pull the aircraft out of to the back of the cabin to keep the tail down. them a shot at the distance record. Althouh its dive. It was a close brush with death He executed a low glide, swung the tail he later became a competent pilot, Herndon because of inexcusable laxity. violently from side to side to slow his speed. had been inept in the flights that built his After some 35 hours in the air, they were slowed the engine to just above stall and reputation. over the northern tip of Queen Charlotte turned off the switch. The plane skidded for Unfortunately, Pangborn got little more Island. Since Pangborn was going to make more than half a mile. the tail flipped up and than the honors. A skilled pilot but an incom­ the difficult landing and had had only a brief the prop dug into the ground. Otherwise the petent businessman, he was .. taken .. in the nap since leaving Sabishiro. he turned the plane was intact. The landing was truly a vir­ days of the Gates Flying Circus and the New controls over to Herndon in the wee hours of tuoso performance. Standard Aircraft Corp .. and now he was October 5 so he could get some sleep, telling It was 7: 14 a.m., Oct. 5, 1931-only 41 "taken" by Herndon's mother. When Pang­ Herndon to hold the course and wake him hours and 13 minutes after leaving Japan. born was busy preparing for the around-the­ when he saw the lights of a large city. which The distance, including the detours to Boise world flight, Herndon had presented him would be Vancouver. and Spokane, was 4,883 miles. Pangborn with some legal papers concerning the flight. Once again. Herndon·s inattention to his which Pangbornsigned without reading. One navigation lessons brought them to grief. of them provided that Mrs. Boardman would When Pangborn was awakened several hours be paid back every penny she spent before he later, it was apparent that Herndon had would share in the proceeds. As a result. Pan­ wandered off course again. Not only had he gborn was left with under $2.400. managed to miss nighttime Vancouver with Pangborn was to find his reward its miles of blazing lights. but he had burned elsewhere. Adding to his well-deserved reputation in aviation circles. the two flights led to his being awarded the prestigious Har­ mon Trophy for 1931 an honor he shared only with a select few: Frank Hawks. Jimmy Doolittle and Charles Lindbergh. •

Photos counesy of Carl M. Cleveland from his book "Upside-D0u•11" Pa11ghorn. 197f

18 Singing the Song of the Unsung FAA Technicians' Job Critical to Safety of Airways

Excerpted with permission from the their lack of understanding of the techni­ darkened and he spotted the coming storm. Springfield (Mass.) Daily News. cian's critical role and of the tough training "I felt the changing air pressure caused by that goes with it. the tornado, so I quickly opened the win­ At Bradley, 34 technicians are responsible By Charlotte Libov dows," he recalled. for making certain that roughly $50 million That act, he said, saved his life by equaliz­ When Warren Davis came to work at worth of equipment is operating correctly. ing the pressure and preventing the build­ Bradley International Airport, Windsor This includes an instrument landing ing from exploding, as did many of the Locks, Conn., 22 years ago, the airport had system for each of the three runways, radar, neighboring structures. only one runway and wasn't even equipped computers and about 70 units of transmitting He hid in the building until the danger with radar. equipment. was over, then joined his fellow workers in During the ensuing years, Davis has seen To provide the service which, Davis restoring power to the stricken airport. the airport's operation grow to triple that stressed, must be accurate to ensure that a When the blizzard struck in 1978, the air­ size, and has helped supervise the installation pilot isn't inadvertently given a fatally wrong port again suffered a loss of power, and of radar and computers. signal, technicians ··1earn the equipment in­ technicians had to work quickly to get During the years, he's narrowly escaped side and out. battery-operated generators working. : fury of a tornado, weathered a bliz­ "They could pretty well build it from He also said that when help was called in _Jrd and, most recently, helped keep the air­ scratch," he said. to help dig out the state, the landing instru­ port operating in the wake of the air con­ Such expertise comes from partaking in a ments had to be working perfectly, because trollers· strike. training program not unlike the one the con­ "when a plane has to be guided in to a He is one of the legions of electronics trollers face at the FAA Academy in runway surrounded by a snowbank, there's technicians in airports throughout the coun­ Oklahoma City. no margin for error." try who are the "unsung heroes of the skies," While there, the technicians study each Bradley's latest crisis came when the con­ according to David Rickard, an FAA piece of equipment, sometimes for months, trollers made good on their threat to strike. spokesman in the agency's [New England then take written examinations. When a new Himself now a supervisor, Davis said his Regional Office]. piece of equipment is developed, they must go main concern was wondering whether his Davis, a stocky man with thinning white back to Oklahoma City to learn it, a journey technicians would strike in sympathy, leaving hair and a wry sense of humor, chuckled Davis said he's taken several times. his division short-staffed. when a visitor quoted Rickard's words. He also contended that, like the con­ They didn't and the airport appears to be But he acknowledged that technicians had trollers, his technicians face stress. He noted running relatively smoothly. long felt frustrated because the importance that they must work rotating shifts, which he Standing at the entrance to a [TRACON], of their work is ignored while, in hundreds of did for 1 7 years. And they also have the the only sign of the strike appears to be the Hollywood movies, the fate of nations hang responsibility for guaranteeing that the heightened security. Inside the dark room, a on the tersely uttered words of controllers and delicate instruments controllers and pilots busy crew of nonstriking controllers are busy pilots. read are working perfectly. reading the blinking lights and flashing Davis acknowledged one reason for the Although his job doesn't seem glamorous signals that Davis' technicians strive to keep public's lack of interest in technicians may be to the public, Davis said the past few years at in peak shape. • Bradley have been almost too exciting. Striding past a weathered-looking small warehouse, he pointed it out, saying, "that building saved my life." He was standing alone inside the building one October day in 1979 when the sky

19 Wiley Post a Hard Act To Follow Now, that's progress," Pitts said wryly. Calvin Pius (right) and his last co-pilot, Em­ His Beechcraft Bonanza-the Spirit of met Fry, alight at Manchester, N.H., after a Not only Clyde Pangborn in 1931 (see Winnie Mae-took off on June 23 from 25,000-mile globe-girdling flight. page 14) but also Calvin Pitts in 1981 had a Manchester, N.H., instead of New York Wide World Photos hard time trying to beat or even duplicate because of a threatened controller strike. Wiley Post's epic round-the-world flight (see Over the Atlantic, his radio broke down, refuel at first because he had hit a two­ FAA WORLD, July 1981). causing him to divert from England to Ger­ day Moslem holiday and officials wouldn't Thanks to bureaucratic foulups, it took many to seek repairs. There, he found that take his U.S. currency. Pitts 63 days for a 25,000-mile trip, com­ his prior arrangements with the Soviet Union Then, he headed for India, but monsoons pared to Post's 15,000 miles in eight days, wouldn't hold. Not only couldn't he make forced him into further detours, eventually 15 hours and 51 minutes. Post's stops but he would have to fly 4,000 taking him to Australia and island-hopping "Fifty years ago, it took two men in a miles over Siberia without a fuel stop, which across the Pacific. $20,000 airplane eight days to fly around the was impossible. He returned to the Manchester airport, world. Now it takes four men [ in relays] in a Pitts detoured to Athens where his plane but with the feeling that not only were his quarter-million-dollar airplane eight weeks. was impounded breifly. In Egypt, he couldn't flying skills tested but also his patience. •

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