Everyone seems to be talking about ATC asleep at the wheel today. On Wednesday, 23 March, the air traffic controller at the tower of DCA (Ronald Reagan National Airport which services Washington DC) stopped responding and two flights landed without establishing contact.

I’m starting to hear some interesting rumours and guesses already, so I put together this “Just the Facts” post to keep track of the detail.

The National Transportation Safety Board have released a Press Advisory which I’m using as my primary source alongside the audio recording DCA Unmanned tower archived at LiveATC.net which you can listen to here with the volume increased and the noise reduced:

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23:55 The controller at the tower at Reagan Airport makes a standard transmission.

At this point, everything appears to be normal. The controller who we hear on the recording is Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON).

00:04 TRACON tells American Airlines Flight 1012 to contact tower for final approach into DCA.

The flight crew make multiple attempts to contact the tower and then report back to TRACON.

The TRACON controller tells Flight 1012 that he has tried the landline and commercial line and there is no answer. He then reminisces:

“Remember a while back, a year or so ago, a fellow got locked out of the tower…”

00:12 American Airlines Flight 1012 switches back to the tower frequency for a landing at an uncontrolled airport.

This has caused a lot of concern in the press but there’s no inherent danger in this. It’s a set procedure with a very specific approach pattern. The flight crew announce all their movements on the radio and any other aircraft in the vicinity can listen and respond as appropriate.

00:22 United Airlines Flight 628T is told that “the tower is apparently unmanned” and that the previous flight has gone in as an uncontrolled airport.

You can hear a cleaned-up version of the final transmission on the subject when the TRACON controller tells American Airlines Flight 1900 that the tower is apparently not manned and explains his theory that the controller got locked out.

00:26 United Airlines Flight 628T fails to make contact with the tower and lands at 12:26

00:28 American Airlines Flight 1012, on the ground at the airport, makes contact with the tower controller.

The incident took place over 14 minutes.

The controller was interviewed by the NTSB yesterday. The controller, a management supervisor who was alone on shift, appears to have fallen asleep while on duty. It was his fourth night on the 10pm-6am night shift.

The FAA have released this Statement by FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt:

The FAA is thoroughly investigating Wednesday’s early morning incidents at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport’s control tower. While that is taking place, we have suspended the air traffic controller from all operational duties. I am determined to get to the bottom of this situation for the safety of the traveling public.”

As a former airline pilot, I am personally outraged that this controller did not meet his responsibility to help land these two airplanes. Fortunately, at no point was either plane out of radar contact and our back-up system kicked in to ensure the safe landing of both airplanes.

The NTSB issued a safety recommendation letter to the FAA two days before the incident:

In this letter, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommends that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) take action to improve the safety of air traffic control (ATC) operations by prohibiting air traffic controllers from providing supervisory oversight while performing operational air traffic duties. As discussed below, the NTSB investigations of several events have found ATC staffing scenarios in which the supervisory function was being performed by a controller who was also performing operational duties.

This will certainly add fuel to that fire.

A few years ago, Kyle Franklin allowed me to put up a video of his Drunken Pilot act as a part of the Franklin’s Flying Circus & Airshow. At the time, the video was only available as a download, so I was proud to have the chance to offer it as streaming video on my website.

Fear of Landing » Drunk steals plane at airshow

It won’t surprise you that the video became one of the most popular pages on Fear of Landing over the next few weeks.

Kyle Franklin and his wife Amanda make a great team: they are both pilots but Amanda is also a talented wingwalker. This video on YouTube shows the talent and skill that the couple have:

So it was with great dismay that I read about the air accident at last week at the Brownsville Air Fiesta, when the engine failed while Amanda was on the wing.

The NTSB has posted a preliminary report:

CEN11LA228

On March 12, 2011, about 1500 central standard time, a Waco UPF-7 airplane, N30136, collided with the ground following a loss of engine power while maneuvering during an air show performance at Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport (BRO), Brownsville, Texas.

The commercial pilot and passenger sustained serious injuries. A postaccident fire partially consumed the fuselage. The airplane was registered to Jim Franklin Aviation Service, Inc., Ruidoso, New Mexico, and operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an air show flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed. The flight originated from BRO approximately 1445.

According to the pilot’s representative and several witness videos, the airplane was maneuvering when the engine lost power. The passenger, a wing-walker, was on top of the wing at the time the engine experienced the problem. The wing-walker immediately entered the forward cockpit seat and the pilot initiated a forced landing. The airplane impacted the ground adjacent to the runway. The pilot observed no unusual indications on the engine instruments prior to the loss of engine power.

Examination of the airplane revealed the fuselage sustained fire damage. The main landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest upright. An unspecified amount of fuel was noted in the center wing fuel tank.

There is a short video clip in which you can see Amanda climb off the wing and into the cockpit before the plane goes down.

Matt Younkin, Amanda’s brother and Kyle’s brother in law, sent an email out regarding the accident, asking for it to be forwarded to all interested parties. In it, he gives the details of the accident which he witnessed:

When the engine quit, Amanda was on the top wing in the rack. Kyle continued to fly the airplane in a straight and level fashion as long as he could to give Amanda every opportunity to unstrap and get into the front cockpit where she would have the best chance in the event of a hard landing. He also resisted the tendency to turn for the pavement which typically induces a fatal stall/spin situation. He avoided a landing in the pyro field which could have proven to be fatal, and faced with the only other option of land in mesquite woods, Kyle landed into the wind drastically reducing the forward speed at impact. Upon reaching the scene, I noticed that he set the airplane down in the only Waco sized piece of ground in that dense woods that didn’t have tall trees in it. Kyle sustained the majority of his burns trying to pull his wife from the wreckage and when his efforts produced no results, he stayed in the cockpit and transmitted a repeating distress call about the post impact fire that had started. I honestly believe this motivated the rapid responders to press through the brush and douse the airplane at a more rapid rate which meant the split second difference that saved Amanda, who was still in the plane.

Their Facebook fan page is being updated daily. Kyle appears to be recovering well and Amanda’s progress so far seems positive.

Amanda’s out of surgery and everything went perfect!!! They were able to remove the majority of her burned tissue and have even started grafting procedures. This surgery was performed several days earlier than normal due to Amanda’s youth and excellent physical health. She is a real fighter and is progressing ahead of schedule.

The worst of Kyle’s injuries were some 3rd degree burns on his right arm. They anticipate him being in the hospital for another week, two at most. He could not stress to me enough that he is fine and that he will make a full and speedy recovery. He wants everybody’s prayers and healing thoughts directed towards Amanda. I reminded him that there are a LOT of people thinking of them and that there are enough prayers to cover them both.

I’d like to join the hundreds of well-wishers on Facebook commending Kyle’s fast reactions and wishing Amanda a fast and full recovery from her burns.

As I am not flying at the moment, I am feeding my obsession with exploring new locations: virtual flights into airfields off the beaten track. Would you like to join me?

This week, we’re exploring Vatra Dornei in the historical region of Moldavia, in the north of Romania. The Aerodrom Floreni website is currently only available in Romanian but an English translation is in progress.

Radu Sebastian of www.pilotmagazin.ro has been incredibly helpful with information and translations and is more than happy to help any pilots with planning for a visit to Vatra Dornei.

Romania is the meeting point of Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans and yet remains distinct from all three. It is north of the Balkan Peninsula, bordering on the Black Sea. It’s the ninth largest country of the European Union, a combination of Moldavia, Wallachia, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia. Romanian is a Romance language (related to French, Italian and Spanish) but you can generally get buy using English or French. The Wikitravel Romania Travel Guide recommends it for a visit as enchanting “with its scenic mountain landscapes and unspoilt rural areas, but also with its historic cities and its busy capital”.

As Romania is a member of Schengen, no visa is required for British visitors. In addition, US Americans and Australians can visit for three months without a visa.

There are a number of airfields but the larger airports apparently charge exorbitant amounts for landing fees and fuel. But that’s OK, because we have a personal invitation for Aerodrom FLORENI / Vatra Dornei.

Airfield: Aerodrom Floreni
Website: http://aerodrom-floreni.ro/web/
Email: office@aerodrom-floreni.ro
Phone Number: +40 740 580 793 Dan Cobuz
Hours: Any time with 24-hour PPR
Radio Frequency: 123.45
Runways: 10/28 concrete 550m x 35m
Airfield Height: 883 metres (2,897 feet)
Fuel available: Yes

The tower includes a visiting area and kitchen, Radu assures me it has everything a pilot needs to organise a great vacation. There’s a hostel 35 km from the airfield. Wintersports look wonderful and there is also gliding, river rafting, horse riding and a perfect start point for a tour of the famous Painted Monasteries of Bucovina.

The city of Vatra Dornei is 12km to the west of the airfield and has numerous hotels. The entire region is well known as a spa and ski resort area. Bistrița another popular spa resort, is approx. 60km north east of Vatra Dornei. Bram Stoker fans will recognise Bistrița as the Transylvanian city where Jonathan Harker stayed at the Golden Krone Hotel in Dracula.

Only 85km from the airfield you can visit the medieval city of Suceava, a Romanian tourist destination with a beautiful old town from its two hundred years as the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1388 to 1565.

And if that doesn’t convince you that you should visit, try this YouTube video taken at the airfield:

This definitely sounds like an interesting flight and a great way to spend a week.
I love the snow photographs but I suspect I might be happier there in the summertime.

Radu Sebastian first brought this airfield to my attention and he has more photographs on Pilot Magazin. His website includes articles in English so be sure to pay him a visit as a thank you for his help and for all these lovely photographs.

This week, a round-up of questions:

What do you do if your wheel falls off in mid-air?

This lovely classic video posted on the PPRuNe Forums shows Gladys Ingle of the 13 Black Cats – clearly an amazing woman – changing plane mid-air to replace a lost wheel for a stunt film.

What was the Slowest You Ever Flew the Blackbird?

Those of you who follow me on Facebook will have already seen Brian Shul’s answer to this question but it bears repeating. I’ve now tracked it down to Plane and Pilot Magazine which I think is the original source.

Speed Is Life – Plane & Pilot Magazine | PlaneAndPilotMag.com

As I noticed the airspeed indicator slide below 160 knots, my heart stopped and my adrenalin-filled left hand pushed two throttles full forward. At this point, we weren’t really flying, but were falling in a slight bank.

What Happened to Amelia Earhart?

AVweb report that a wreck has been found near Papua New Guinea which might be Earhart’s plane:

Earhart Wreck Found?

A report from Papua New Guinea says the wreck of an aircraft that might be the Lockheed Electra flown by Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan has been found on a reef near Bougainville Island near Papua New Guinea. The Papua New Guinea Post Courier is reporting “armed men” are guarding the area over a reef off Matsungan Island where an aircraft matching the description of Earhart’s plane has been found. Divers are now checking the wreck and inquiries are flooding in from all over the world. There is no word on whether any human remains have been recovered.

How Did Hugh Hefner Travel?

Gadling has a fun feature this week on Hugh Hefner and the jet he purchased in 1969:

The Playboy jet: How Hugh Hefner traveled in style | Gadling.com

Even by today’s private jet standards, N950PB was a very luxurious jetliner. A rear folding private entrance took Hefner directly to his private quarters with an elliptical bed. After a long flight, he could take a shower or get some work done in his conference room.

Popping the Question!

Vancouver Air Traffic Controller makes Marriage Proposal live on Air (and doesn’t he sound sweetly nervous?)

This is an old recording (apparently they have three kids now!) but this marriage proposal over the radio was so lovely, I couldn’t resist including it.

Any questions?