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Eastern Region The pilot of the Velocity – tail number and call sign N129VA – who took to the skies above Northern Virginia after taking off from Manassas Regional Airport on July 5 last year probably is still quite thankful for his good fortune that afternoon. He received some of the very best personal care and safety service that a NATCA member can provide, courtesy of veteran Potomac TRA- CON (PCT) controller Louis Ridley. Ridley, in addition to being a 22-year veteran controller who has been at PCT since 2004, is also an accomplished and highly skilled pilot as well as a flight instructor. "I grew up on an airport in upstate New York," says Ri- dley. "My father taught me to fly before I could drive a car." During Ridley's first FAA assignment, at Columbia, S.C., TRACON, he started and ran his own pilot service busi- ness with 11 employees and also became in- volved in the airshow industry, with extensive experience at both Sun-N-Fun and Oshkosh until 2005. So on this particular afternoon, Ridley proactively came to the aid of this pilot armed with an array of skills and talents and, above all, an extraordinary level of care and sense for what a pilot needs at a particularly challenging moment. Ridley keenly spotted this Velocity pilot, whom he knew just by in- terpreting the information on his radar scope was trying to land at Shenandoah Val- ley Regional Airport but was unable to do so because of an overcast layer. Ridley then di- aled up the SHD Unicom frequency and lis- tened for any aircraft talking. As soon as he could confirm a call sign, he reached out to the pilot to offer assistance. RIDLEY: Velocity one-two-nine victor alpha, Potomac. You on the radio? N129VA: Ah, Velocity one-two-nine victor alpha has you sir. RIDLEY: Alright, do you require any assis- tance at this time? N129VA: Uh, sir, if you know where there's a hole for me to get down, I'd be a happy pappy. RIDLEY: OK, you're not IFR capable or equipped at this time? N129VA: That is correct. The pilot is not IFR capable. Ridley then set to work to find a way down for the pilot. He discovered the aircraft had 45 minutes of fuel remaining and then, using his calm demeanor, reassured the pilot that he could get to an airport with acceptable weather conditions for a safe landing. He went the extra mile, using his own experi- ence in the cockpit, to ask the pilot about his navigation and terrain-awareness equip- ment. Number one, it would help Ridley know what the aircraft was capable of. Num- ber two, it might offer a measure of reassur- ance to the pilot to know he would be OK, keeping the mood light during this serious situation. RIDLEY: I can sure talk you through an ILS if you'd like, or take you over to Culpepper where the land is flatter and take you in on a localizer approach, whatever you would like to do. I am a CF-Double I (CFII), I have six thousand hours, talked for over twelve hundred. I think I can talk you down if you want to do that. The pilot said he was comfortable with going into Culpepper, so Ridley gave him a heading and pulled up the approach plate. He also recommended that the pilot utilize the autopilot and altitude hold functions. He also formally declared an emergency for the pilot and assigned him an altitude of 7,000. Soon, the aircraft would join the localizer and Ridley would track it to the airfield. Then, Ridley made an amazing offer of as- sistance. RIDLEY: November nine victor alpha. When 10

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