Work of Hunter Air Traffic Control prevents tragedy

By Jennifer HartwigMarch 12, 2012

Hunter Air Traffic Control
Cecil Boatwright and Joseph Cantrell, air traffic controllers, watch the runways at Hunter Army Airfield. The two, along with seven others, helped save an aircraft in electrical failure at night, safely guiding the Cessna 172 to an emergency landing ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, Ga. - At 10 p.m. on Feb. 23, the Air Traffic Control tower at Hunter Army Airfield received a call from the Savannah International Airport Approach Tower, requesting assistance for an aircraft in distress. A Cessna 172, a small single engine civilian aircraft, was en route from Winchester, Va., to Lake City, S.C., when it experienced total electrical failure. When ATC received the call, the aircraft was approximately four miles east of Hunter, disoriented and needing to land -- in the dark, with no lights or radar.

"They were controlling this guy and had lost him, they were all saying, 'we've lost a guy, do you see him?' But nobody could see him," said Andrew Blaske, shift leader on duty that night.

That's when everyone in the Hunter ATC tower who wasn't doing verbal coordination went to the windows; it was a dark, cloudy night, but they were hoping to spot the Cessna.

"All the available controllers were looking into the night sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of an aircraft shadow since there was no position or anti-collision lights available on the aircraft," said Jose Almodovar, ATC facility chief.

First responders at Hunter were put on standby in case of a crash. Because the aircraft was without lights, spotting the small plane was going to be a challenge, but luckily, though 6 p.m. to midnight is the height of traffic for the Hunter ATC tower, that night just one aircraft was out for training.

"The guys saw a blip on the radar and knowing we only had one [aircraft] making its way back from the range, they were pretty sure they probably had eyes on the aircraft in distress," Blaske said.

Then, the air traffic controllers got inventive -- one of the controllers flashed the runway and approach lights from off to high intensity, hoping the plane would see and realize an airfield was below.

"That's not a normal thing to see from the air, so you're getting the guy's attention: 'Hey -- big piece of real estate! We understand you have a problem, come this way!'" Blaske said.

The gamble paid off, as the pilot of the Cessna saw the flashing runway lights and made his decent to Hunter's runway 10; but ATC didn't know he had landed safely until they saw flashing lights.

"The tower never saw any indication the aircraft was actually landing until the aircraft silhouette crossed the bright runway lights [causing a flash as it moved down the runway]," Almodovar said. "The pilot turned toward the only lit area he could see, which was the Fire Station/Air Traffic Control Complex."

Once the pilot, an off-duty police officer from Pennsylvania, exited his aircraft and the all clear was advised by the fire chief with assistance from Military Police, the aircraft was pushed to the fire station parking lot until the next morning when

Though the entire incident lasted only about 30 minutes, it was the experience of Blaske; Joshua Reardon, Controller in Charge; Jon McDowell, Air Traffic Control Specialist; David Fuentes, Air Traffic Control Specialist; Cecil Boatwright, Air Traffic Control Specialist; Zena Slaymon, Air Traffic Control Specialist; Joseph Cantrell, Air Traffic Control Specialist; and Pfc. Nikolas Doyle, Air Traffic Controller, that prevented a tragedy from occurring.

"The amount ATC of experience led to the safe arrival to an aircraft that could have easily ended up in the ocean or in a secluded marsh area," Almodovar said. "They quite possibly saved pilot's life."