Asleep at the tower in Reno, Nevada?

It happened at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, and now it’s happened at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Last night, apparently, the lone air traffic controller was getting some ZZZZZZZ and didn’t hear or respond to the call from an incoming air ambulance flight.

“The medical flight pilot was in communication with the Northern California Terminal Radar Approach Control and landed safely,” according to a statement from the FAA. “The controller, who was out of communication for approximately 16 minutes, has been suspended while the FAA investigates.” according to a report in the Las Vegas Review Journal.

This type of thing gets lots of attention around this aviation heavy household. Between all the years that Ron flew as a captain for Western Airlines and then Delta, he had many occasions to bring an airliner into Reno, as well as Regan-National. In our days flying for the Nevada Wing, Civil Air Patrol, we flew many Search and Rescue (SAR) and medical/organ transplant flights out of Reno-Tahoe International. Many of those flights were in the middle of the night.

Here’s a couple things you need to keep in mind about this whole business:

1- There’s a world of difference between the traffic in and out of Reno during the late night hours and a busy airport in the nation’s capital during those same hours.

2- There are standard procedures in place for flight in and out of all airports when there is no ‘(control ) tower’. Airplanes operate safely in and out of ‘uncontrolled airports’ or ‘non-towered’ airports thousands of times a day around the country using the UNICOM frequency ( usually 122.8 ) and landing the airplane. When taking off or landing at Stead, we use the UNICOM. Same with Carson City. Over and over. You call out your tail number, position and intentions to be heard by any other aircraft in the ‘traffic pattern’.

In this instance, with a tower and a sleeping controller, the Pilot in Command (PIC), will try to raise the controller, but failing that, he/she will need to stay on the published ‘Tower Frequency’, because other aircraft in the area would be monitoring that. The pilot would keep trying for a reasonable amount of time, then check the ATIS or the wind sock/tetrahedrin, look for other aircraft/traffic and land - using the published traffic pattern for that airport. The pilot would then try again to raise the Tower on the aircraft radio, or even use a cell phone to call the tower.

At no time was anybody in danger. This was not an ‘emergency’. Airliners regularly use these procedures in a lot of small airports around the country, as do light/general aviation aircraft such as the five-seat Piper Cheyenne that landed at Reno last night. It’s been discussed, over the years, whether or not it could be justified economically for Reno to have the tower open over night at all.

That said, it’s not the optimal way our air traffic control system should be working. This is ridiculous penny-pinching, cost-cutting to prove that everybody is tightening their belts - rather than real cost effeciencies where they need to be.

The bottom line savings from two controllers on duty overnight is miniscule. This Reno controller should be given some ‘time off’ and a letter in his file, but there are larger issues here that nobody is really willing to talk about - like where is it smart to cut and pennywise pound foolish to cut. And of course, nobody wants to talk about raising revenue to simply pay for what we absolutely need.

-Maven

Could mine deaths be mitigated by use of ELTs?

Get enough aviation types together in one room talking about a mining disaster - as in my house last night - and you’d think ELTs ( Emergency Locator Transmitters) would come up more often.

Civil Air Patrol members use a manual ELT direction locator to find an ELT distress beacon.

ELTs are the first thing everybody is asking about after an airliner disappears in hundreds of feet of ocean. I can assure you that SAR crews are intently listening for that distinctive sound during search and rescue operations.

We wouldn’t think of flying without an ELT.

During this most recent mining tragedy in West Virginia, it’s been clear that rescuers are not sure where  survivors could be hunkered down - in a number of underground safe chambers.

Underground to surface radio communications should be the first line of defense, but due to the infrastructure that might be required to install it - and then move it as the mining operations and the shelters move - may be unworkable.

I don’t know.

But, ELT’s have been found pinging away well beneath the surface of water.

SARSAT/COSPAS satellites pickup emergency signals from lost seaman or divers via highly portable - and affordable-  EPIRBs or PLBs on the old 121.5 and newer 406 mhz frequencies.

Ground Penetrating Radar and various types of sonar help scientists understand buried rock formations below.

Why can’t these - or something similar - be turned into a type of “Help! I’m here!” signalling device for trapped miners?

It seems to me that technology has be failing those in the mines.

Money might be a reason why.

The Search for Steve Fossett

Well, the two compadres were back in the saddle again today, as Trooper Chuck Allen ( Nevada Highway Patrol Public Information Officer) and I ( the lead Public Information Officer for the Steve Fossett search of Sept. 2007) made the key note presentation at the 2008 National Information Officers Association national conference, held in Sparks, Nevada.

As I told Chuck afterward: ‘we’re still Rock Stars’ But truly, the morning that Trooper Allen walked in to the Command Post to offer me his help was the day I pulled triple 7’s ( it’s a Nevada thing ). I absolutely lucked out getting the best possible PIO help available for a search and media circus of that magnitude.

Needless to say, the presentation went very, very well indeed and we both received congratulations all around. Hopefully, somebody took a picture!

A Wonderful Photo Almost Lost. Thanks, Peggy.

I had forgotten how happy I’d been when this picture was taken, in fact I’d ‘lost’ the picture but Peg still had it deep in her archives.

Bob Spielman, aviator, commercial airline captain retired, and record setting glider pilot had just taken me up in one of his little gliders up in Palomino Valley.

I love gliding and love Bob. What a great day that was. In light of current not so nice events, thanks Peg for sending this photograph. I had also forgotten that I could smile like that.