10
He dropped as low as 700 feet, quickly climbing back up to 1,800 feet, then
descending again to 800 feet, just nine miles from Islip Airport (ISP). Two
radio towers stood 643 feet and 821 feet high nearby as the pilot struggled
to maintain altitude. The pilot advised that he was having difficulty holding
his altitude or flying the assigned headings issued by controllers due to
turbulence, wind, and rain.
New York TRACON (N90) took over control of the aircraft and gave the pilot
no-gyro vectors, but he was confused by the instructions. At this point, N90
air traffic controller and licensed pilot Jeffrey Schuler began handling the
flight. Schuler was able to keep the pilot calm, and after again checking local
weather, he decided that the best option was for the pilot to land his aircraft
at Stewart Airport (SWF). Schuler cleared the pilot to land at SWF, but the
aircraft flew opposite to the instructions, at times circling and losing altitude.
Schuler: Are you still in the clouds?
N9525M: Yeah, I'm still here. I think one of my problems is the main GPS I'm
following is totally wrong.
Schuler: OK, tell you what N9525M. Just level your wings, level the aircraft, and
we'll start from there OK?
On Dec. 22, 2015, a disoriented Instrument Flight
Rules (IFR) pilot of a Mooney descended well below
the safe minimum vectoring altitude.
JEFFREY
SCHULER
New York TRACON
