Justin Krenke
Green Bay ATCT/TRACON
Adam Helm
Green Bay ATCT/TRACON
Mike Ostrander
Green Bay ATCT/TRACON
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On February 13, 2014, Green Bay Tower/TRACON (GRB)
NATCA member and former airline pilot Justin Krenke
was working a satellite position in the TRACON when a
Beechcraft Baron was inbound to Menominee, Wisc.
(MNM) from Rochester, Minn. Because of known icing in
the area, Krenke told the pilot to descent to 3,000 feet at
his discretion. Upon initial descent, the aircraft did indeed
encounter icing.
Due to the minimum vectoring altitude in the area, Krenke
was not able to descend the pilot any further, however, he
did offer a straight in approach to MNM. The pilot declined
and asked to continue for the initial approach for which he
was set up.
At this time, NATCA member and single engine instrument
rated pilot Adam Helm passed through the TRACON on
a break and he heard the pilot was concerned about the
icing. After the pilot could not safely descend any further,
he asked to climb above the icing conditions and informed
Krenke that his gyro had spun. The controllers knew they
needed to work quickly.
Krenke climbed the aircraft to 4,000 feet, while NATCA
member Mike Ostrander quickly called Minneapolis Center
to let them know they were handling the aircraft as an
emergency, and the pilot needed to climb past 4,000 feet.
Krenke climbed the aircraft to 6,000 feet, then 8,000 feet,
in an effort to climb above the icing conditions.
Helm pulled weather reports from satellite airports to
try to find one that had higher ceilings. He even called
Minneapolis Center and Milwaukee TRACON to ask if
they had any airports in their area with visual flight rule
conditions. There were none.
The pilot began to descend and head towards GRB. Mindful
of the icing and pilot-reported equipment malfunction, the
controllers started to prepare for a possible emergency
ASR approach to GRB. As time progressed, it became
evident that the pilot was having an increasingly difficult
