kevin peterson
central RVP
"I am incredibly proud that Omaha
TRACON has its first Archie League Award
winner in Travis Arnold. This was a
wonderful save. Travis's calm and cool
professionalism resulted in earning the
full confidence of pilot Mike Bukstein.
Travis was reassuring and displayed great
judgment. His masterful controlling skills,
including issuing no-gyro vectors, brought
Mr. Bukstein and his aircra safely down
through the clouds. Mr. Bukstein has flown
on and off since 1959. Travis has been in
the FAA for just seven years. But on this
day, it was about skill, not experience."
9
to 3,000 feet. The pilot acknowledged. However, the aircraft
continued to descend. Arnold issued another low altitude
alert and again instructed the pilot to climb. He immediately
instructed the pilot to stop his turn and climb to 4,000 feet.
The pilot mentioned he had ground contact and was currently
at 2,000 feet. He proceeded to climb to 4,000 feet again and
was eventually able to fly above the clouds where he was able
to get his equipment working again.
Later communication with the pilot revealed that originally
the pilot did not realize he had descended. However, once
he was near the cloud base and he saw the ground, he just
wanted to land the aircraft safely in the nearest field. It was
because of Arnold that the pilot had the confidence to once
again climb through the clouds, get his equipment working,
and safely land at Lincoln.
