NATCA Bookshelf

12th Annual Archie League Medal of Safety Awards

A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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12 The pilot was flying to CMH after starting his long journey in Guatemala. He had been in the air all day. Weather in the area was instrument flight rules (IFR) with a 200-foot cloud ceiling and a half-mile of visibility. Kilgus began vectoring the pilot to instrument landing system (ILS) Runway 10R at CMH, but he was having a hard time understanding his instructions. English was not the pilot's first language, and the difficult flying conditions, combined with the lengthy flight, made that barrier even harder for him to overcome. Suddenly, the pilot made a hard right turn towards final approach without instruction, directly into oncoming inbound traffic. Kilgus immediately caught the pilot's error and issued him a hard right turn away from traffic to get the pilot back on track. Kilgus then began vectoring the aircraft towards Runway 10R for a second landing attempt. The pilot had difficulty maintaining the ILS and his altitude and flight course did not line up with the required final approach. Kilgus continuously gave corrections as well as the ILS frequency, after which the pilot asked Kilgus to "keep an eye on me." It soon became apparent the pilot could not make the approach into CMH due to his inability to navigate the ILS approach. Kilgus decided to offer the pilot the location of nearby satellite airport, Rickenbacker International (LCK). LCK had reported better weather than CMH. The pilot accepted this suggestion and was given short-range clearance and a weather report by air traffic control. The pilot was still having difficulty navigating this new approach and was constantly setting off low altitude warnings. David Kilgus plugged in to position on March 10, 2015, and began working a Piper Comanche. DAVID KILGUS Columbus ATCT

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