'81 DWC grad honored for guiding distressed pilots home

 

Some days are more routine than others for air traffic controller Steve Schmalz of Hollis. Schmalz is a 1981 DWC grad.

It was one of those extraordinary days, two Decembers ago, that Schmalz was in the right place at the right time to talk an inexperienced pilot through a harrowing situation.

Today Schmalz and his proud family are in Washington, D.C., where he is being recognized by his peers during the National Air Traffic Controllers Association third annual Archie League medal of Safety Award ceremony. He is one of 10 controllers being honored for their actions in critical situations.

"It was probably the worst scenario I'd ever dealt with in terms of a pilot getting in trouble," said Schmalz last night from his hotel room in the nation's capital. "I've maybe handled 20 to 30 emergency situations in my 27 years. This one could've turned into a big emergency in a big hurry."

Schmalz, 47, was working his regular shift out of Boston Air Route Traffic Control Center in Nashua on Dec. 11, 2005, when a young pilot experiencing vertigo had the presence of mind to radio for help on Schmalz's frequency.

Schmalz explained that cloudy conditions made it impossible for the pilot to continue flying using visual flight rules, but he was not certified to fly using instruments only. He was quickly becoming disoriented.

"I don't know if his flight instructor had grilled it into him what frequencies to use, or what. A lot of time a pilot will fly around half an hour or more to try and find themselves, when I can do it in 10 or 15 seconds," Schmalz said. "Like when a man is trying to get somewhere. It's often beyond our egos to ask for directions."

Schmalz said he eventually directed the pilot to a five-mile opening in the clouds where he could see his way to a safe landing.

"First thing you have to do is convince them not to look out the window. You tell them to just read your instruments and believe them," Schmalz said. "As a controller, you have to stay calm. If they hear fear in your voice, they will be full of fear and trembling themselves."

After the fact, Schmalz was curious to know how dangerous that particular situation can be for a pilot. "Generally the life expectancy is three minutes -- actually, more like 177 seconds. Vertigo sets in rather quickly if a pilot is not trained to fly in the clouds. He'll look out and feel like he's not level when he is, and the next thing you know he's in a terminal dive," Schmalz said.

A second situation happened about six weeks later. Schmalz was again the go-to guy, as a chartered plane flying out of Charlottesville, Va., to Keene's Dillant-Hopkins Airport, lost electrical power, including radio and transponder.

The pilot shut down other electrical components to recover his radio and managed to get Schmalz on the line, who gathered enough information to reroute the pilot to Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y.

Although the second scenario was more routine, it's all in a day's work, said Schmalz, who earned his degree from Daniel Webster College in 1981.

Another routine but vital aspect of the job includes assisting a pilot in finding a direct route while transporting an organ from one hospital to another.

"Quite often we have 'lifeguard' flights, maybe a couple times a day, where someone's died in an accident and they're harvesting whatever organs they can and sending them to whoever needs it," Schmalz said.

"We're called upon to expedite the flight. It's a minor contribution, but in essence it's all part of saving someone's life. You know someone's got a Jarvik heart in their chest and needs the real thing, and you only have a certain amount of time to get it there," Schmalz said.

Hired in the wake of the 1981 PATCO strike and consequent firing of more than 11,000 air traffic controllers by President Reagan, Schmalz said the conditions that led to that strike -- long shifts without a break and mandatory overtime in an already high-stress environment -- are again reaching critical mass.

Many of his peers are bailing from the profession, said Schmalz, and coupled with the floundering financial stability of many commercial airlines, the future of the industry is questionable.

"You are tired all the time, and you catch yourself sometimes coming and going. When you work a busy session, you quickly get burned out," Schmalz said.

"The shift work and the hours wear on you. What they will be demanding of us in the near future, mandatory overtime, is something I had to do when I was starting out in my 20s. Sixty-hour work weeks? I'm not sure I'll stick around for that."