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TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015 NATCA DAILY DISPATCH 8 Panel Preview: Chicago Center Outage Panel Discussion Chicago Center (ZAU) Outage Rio Pavilion Ballroom • 3:45 p.m. Airspace and facilities involved in the ZAU outage. A single, destructive act of sabotage at Chicago Center (ZAU) in the early morning hours of Sept. 26, 2014, became one of the most unifying, career-defining events in modern air traffic control history. A special panel this afternoon will explore how numerous facilities came together over 17 days in an extraordinary spirit of collaboration and teamwork to keep their large part of the system safe. Amazingly, these members also kept the airspace remarkably efficient while FAA and Harris Corp. technical crews worked to reopen ZAU. "If there's an air traffic crisis, this Agency knows how to respond. It never ceases to amaze me," said NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert, who will moderate today's panel, along with former Miami Center FacRep Steve Wallace. The panel includes NATCA Great Lakes Regional Vice President Bryan Zilonis; ATO Vice President of Air Traffic Services Terry Biggio; ZAU NATCA FacRep Toby Hauck; ZAU Air Traffic Manager (ATM) Bill Cound; South Bend (SBN) NATCA FacRep Matt Walters; Minneapolis Center (ZMP) FacRep Mike Thompson; and ZMP Staff Manager Ron Sekenski. As Indianapolis Center (ZID) NATCA FacRep Jim Larson said during the outage, all of the facilities involved accomplished things "they were never designed to do," including some like Muskegon (MKG) and Kalamazoo (AZO) that handled five times their normal traffic volume. Resourceful controllers and FAA employees were put to the ultimate test. FAA Administrator Michael Huerta called it "an event that was marked by profound teamwork." Huerta said a key part of the success of the plan was the decision to send ZAU controllers to surrounding facilities to work the airspace. He also cited the need to focus on NextGen and upgrading the infrastructure to give the Agency the ability to recover faster from unexpected outages. After the panel concludes, representatives from these facilities will be invited to the stage in appreciation for the extraordinary work performed during the outage. Indianapolis Center (ZID) Chicago Midway (MDW) Grand Rapids (GRR)

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