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14 The evening of April 20, 2025, was cloudy, and Joshua Costello and Bryan Loquet were working a midnight shift at Bangor ATCT (BGR) in Bangor, Maine. Around 11 p.m., the pilot of N7471W, a Piper Cherokee, checked onto Bangor Approach's frequency. They were operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and receiving flight following to Belfast Airport (BST) which is 25 miles southwest of Bangor. About 15 minutes after cancelling their flight following, the pilot of N7471W returned to the frequency and informed BGR that they were unable to get into BST as the airport was "completely socked in with fog," the pilot said. The pilot inquired about the weather at BGR and Costello relayed the weather for BGR and surrounding airports, none of which had favorable conditions. The pilot then requested vectors into BGR for a low approach. Costello asked if the pilot was Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capable and qualified. They were not. Costello immediately understood the severity of the situation and recalled Loquet back from break to assist. Off frequency, they coordinated with other facilities, trying to find an airport with acceptable weather for this VFR pilot to land, but when given the options, the pilot said they would rather "try BGR because it's a bigger runway." Costello asked the pilot for his fuel remaining and was told 1 hour, 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Costello and Loquet had other aircraft to handle. One was an arrival into BGR who reported the tops of the clouds at 1,800 feet and the airport in sight at 600 feet. Another was a LifeFlight of Maine requesting to depart a nearby hospital, who, after having a conversation with tower about the situation at hand, opted to stay nearby. Before the first approach attempt, Costello asked N7471W if they had ever flown an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach, to which the pilot responded, "Two practice ones." Costello then explained what an Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) approach was NEW ENGL A ND R EGION NEW ENGL A ND R EGION Joshua Costello Bangor ATCT BGR Bryan Loquet Bangor ATCT BGR Wri en by Shannon Lyman (Boston Logan ATCT, BOS)

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