Lossie controller awarded

[Gainesy]

Nice work Annie.:ok:
(What's the tattoo?):)
http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article3255623.ece

[anotherthing]

Reporting style way over the top - they even managed to get the old reporters favourite - "narrowly avoided a school/houses/orphanage" in, with a bit of a twist....

They could have collided over the base, or homes nearby........ :ugh:

..... but still a good job by Annie

Now, what happened to the pilot - was he taken to task for poor flight planning i.e. planning a flight to an airport that would be closed as per it's normal operating schedule etc etc?

[Lytham Lifeboat]

Excellent effort

[Bruiser Loose]

Nice to see John Nichol's name in the news again. Haven't heard anything about him for a while and was wondering if he was ok.

[Two's in]

Top class effort by the Lady, although the story would have stood entirely on its own merits, without the Independent apparently getting JK Rowling to write it - does Voldemort switch off the TACAN at the end, I couldn't bear to read any more?

[H Peacock]

But also among them were the Victoria Cross winner Johnson Beharry and John Nichol, the RAF Tornado pilot captured in the Gulf, who realised the extraordinary nature of what she had done.


So, do they mean John Peters, the Tornado pilot or John Nichol the navigator???

[tired-flyboy]

Well done, but oh my god how much dramatic license did the story writer use.

I wonder who'll play her in the movie - because with artistic license like that, surely a movie is in the offing!

Well done once again for doing a good job in difficult circumstances - bad wx, bad RT.

[Union Jack]

Bruiser

Nice to see John Nichol's name in the news again. Haven't heard anything about him for a while and was wondering if he was ok.

Perhaps Jackonicko knows .....:)

Jack

[ZH875]

Nice to see John Nichol's name in the news again.


No, it isn't.


That man has naff all to do with most things, but gets his face in the news, WHY?

[MightyGem]

A Flt Lt with a fiery tattoo on her calf...:E Officers just aren't what they used to be.

[JEM60]

Hi, ZH875. Sounds like a touch of the Tim Mclelland jealousy here!! He was in the right place at the right time, and he keeps a relatively high profile with his books, which, to be fair, aren't bad.

[Matoman]

From what I recall, the tattoo was one of those long serpent/dragon things. It started somewhere near one of her ankles, wound its way up around her leg, across her back and then over one of her shoulders to terminate by one of the wobbly bits - apparently!

Don't quite remember her explaination as to why she had it done, but it must have taken ages and stung a bit. I guess it'll look a little odd when she's in her 50's/60s in a swimsuit on the beach, still judging by what else you see tattooed on other females these days, she'll have plenty of company. It certainly made an interesting conversation point when she was in her No1 uniform and the 'thing' vanished up her skirt............

Nevertheless............good effort at Lossie

[Chris Kebab]

I think JN has successfully moved into a second career as an author. I think his books are pretty good; he has achived far more previuosly than most authors.

Why not cut him some slack ZH875 - you come across as a tad bitter and twisted in that posting.

Good luck to him I say.

[Out Of Trim]

Heard John Nichol on talkSPORT Radio last Friday 10:00am til 13:00pm filling in for Gaunty..

At least a slightly less squeaky voice than Jon Gaunt! :}

[ZH875]

He was in the right place at the right time

Unlike his switches.....

.....allegedly

[peterperfect]

MightlyGem, its not the tattoo that should concern you with regard to modern standards; its the facts that the wearing of tights is alleged in the article !

[Rakshasa]

Top class effort by the Lady, although the story would have stood entirely on its own merits, without the Independent apparently getting JK Rowling to write it - does Voldemort switch off the TACAN at the end, I couldn't bear to read any more?
Joking aside, you never know. ISTR that both her parents were ex-RAF. :8

Edit: Ooops nevermind, my pottermaniac of a girlfriend assures me they were Grey Funnel employees! :O:ugh:

[Phil_R]

> What's more important – your life or my jail term

I don't think anyone should be put in that position - ever.

If you're going to give someone responsibility, you also have to give them the authority to fulfil it. That's really very unfair.

P

[spanners123]

AIDU,
I don't always agree with your comments, but your last post is very funny!
Cheers:ok:

[L J R]

But no mention was made as to the significance of the wind in the Tower at lossie....Does the wind in the office affect the ATCO's performance? - or does it just tingle to tattoo'd dragon wrapped around her soft.....

[clicker]

Did wonder what she was doing all on her own, is that normal?

What if she had gone for a comfort break?

[TheInquisitor]

"But when I listened to the recruiting office I thought, 'Hmm, why not? Pilots are sexy."

Yes we are. Glad you joined for the right reasons, love! :}

All joking aside, good skills...and BIG Cojones, in this litigious day and age!

:ok::D:ok::D

[tired-flyboy]

@ Clicker
yea pretty normal. Used to be one controller and one assistant in the radar room at night. Kinloss had the same (one tower / one assistant).
@AIDU
no the other controller that said she was just doing her job is telling the truth. She was handed a difficult situation but her training got her through. She wouldn't have been allowed to do a night shift if she wasn't properly trained to do APP/DIR

The drama of the article makes it out to be more heroic than it probably was.

And i doubt she'd be just out of training
She would probably have done Gnd, PAR, Deps then App/Dir, so probably been at Lossie for a good 6 months at least.

And i don't think it really is in the same league as somebody risking their own life for someone else.

[Clockwork Mouse]

Yes, she was indeed just doing her job. But it is a complex and responsible job which threw a difficult and nearly catastrophic situation at her out of the blue (or grey). She handled it calmly, with complete professionalism, common sence and moral courage, thereby undoubtedly saving the life of a tosser who, hopefully, has subsequently had his license revoked.
Certainly not in the same league as someone who puts their own life at risk, but nevertheless an excellent advertisement for the RAF and the Armed Services in general. Be proud of her.
Pity about the journalistic overkill, but still a very positive article for a change.

[Report Position]

Sounds like a job well done by the Lady.

The tosser who was also involved sounds like one of the more insane ferry pilots. Some of them just keep plunging new depths of incompetence, just last week one caused his own bit of chaos with Scottish, also en route to Wick, after 20 hours flying from Canada in a 172!

RP

[BluntM8]

I have known Annie since IOT, having been in the same set, and I can say that I can't think of a better person to win such an award. I ran into her the other night at happy hour, and such was her modesty that we spoke for some time and she didn't mention it once. I found out quite by chance the next day. Top work by a very likeable, down to earth lady. And if you believe her comments about fancying pilots as a motivation then you can add yourself to the list of people taken in by her dry sense of humour - I bet she was laughing out loud when she saw that one published!

Oh, and as far as I recall the tattoo stops at mid thigh! :}

[Union Jack]

Oh, and as far as I recall the tattoo stops at mid thigh! :}

That's all very well, but does anyone "recall" just how many eyes the snake has ....?:\

Jack

[Bruiser Loose]

ZH 875, my tongue was wedged firmly in my cheek wrt my previous post. Sorry that I caused confusion.

:rolleyes:

[BEagle]

But where was the serpent's tongue lodged?

Firmly inside a cheek? But which one....:E

Top result for that lady ATCO - very well deserved award indeed!

[Il Duce]

"...........blue tights..."!!! Surely not whilst in uniform?!?

[serf]

What is an 'RAF worker' - as that is how she was described on the news.

[tired-flyboy]

this article contains the RT exchange between Lossie, Kinloss and the aircraft concerned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/7148596.stm)

Enjoy

[Koshmar]

Sorry guys but when you see who else were getting awards, I'm afraid she really does fall into the "just doing her job" category, as she reckons a colleague remarked. There are fine young servicemen and women doing heroic things every day inside and outside the homeland, and although this is a bit of a PR job, it does leave a little bit of a bad taste.

I'm also afraid the faux modesty doesn't do anything for me either. Still, does no harm for one's career, what what what?

:hmm:

[Magnersdrinker]

Yeah great job she done but yet again publicity with tits makes a great sit down at tea time story ,i commend her for doing her job , thats what officers do thats why they do that job, i like many have done commendable jobs and not even got a pat on the back , i know guys have done equivelent and have saved lives by doing there job but its classed as doing your job.Its like WW2 you need a few heros and officers are the way to justify what they do , since when did you see an airman in the news as of late .Ill say no more

[PPRuNe Radar]

I hear what you all say ... but let's be fair, she's always going to do more in the bravery stakes than an F3 mate ever will :}

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

"She was alone in the dark, face green from the glow of a radar screen. Fierce winds were tearing into the air traffic control tower as Annie Geisow sat watching out for planes with pilots brave – or stupid – enough to try flying through the storm that was lashing the north coast of Scotland."

Now if that doesn't have you checking your wifes Mills and Boob read list then.............

"I knew it was probably bad," says Geisow, "but I had no idea how bad it was going to get."

Good grief

"So Geisow started to transmit something called the Instrument Landing System"................................

Ah so that's how it works

"I got this chap on the radio. He was Russian, and very difficult to understand. We had a brief discussion, if you can call it that. I had to junk the technical language and keep it very simple."

Russian :eek: Where the **** was the Bufoon QRA..............chrikey doodles!!

"I wasn't militaristic," she says. "I wasn't fit. I was a bit punky. But when I listened to the recruiting office I thought, 'Hmm, why not? Pilots are sexy. And it's a very big challenge. I like those.'"

So bird walks into AFCO and say "I want shagging by lots of pilot types"........does'nt make her a bad person but come on.........

The unwitting pilot was no more than 150 feet above a series of huge electronic masts feeding vital signals to planes for miles around. "If he touched one of those he would crash and die. The transmitters would go down as well."

No **** Sherlock

"We can go to prison for negligence. I had that in my mind. But in the heat of the moment I was like, 'What's more important – your life or my jail term"

Now that is vomit inducing

Worse yet, another voice startled her. A Royal Mail transporter was coming down out of the sky, oblivious to the disoriented small plane buzzing below. They could have collided over the base, or homes nearby.
Thinking fast, Geisow told the Mail man to circle until the crisis was over.

Even someone who makes tea could come up with "Royal Mail # hold at FL blah blah.................:rolleyes:

!' But then I realised I had another aircraft that still needed to get down."What did Geisow do next? The answer is typical of this wry woman, and the RAF mentality. "I might have allowed myself a brief, 'Yeah

So two aircraft in one shift................Ever sat at the holding point at an RAF base with an aircraft turning finals 7 miles away..........now consider sat at the holding point at Minneapolis with one just taking the high speed turn off and one two miles out and you are cleared to line up.........................:D

Another air traffic controller said to me, 'I can't believe you won that just for doing your job.'"

Breasts are always a big help in this sort of thing :rolleyes:

All joking aside remeber how Caz Leavey was stitched.............I suspect a whole host of journo "license" went into this story :=

Good job Annie :ok:

[orgASMic]

Us air traffickers have never been very good at blowing our own trumpets, which is why the cone-heads continue to steal a march on us.

Well done Annie. It is just a shame none of our elders and betters from the ATC desk at AIR Cmd could be bothered to support you at No 10.

[radarman]

Sounds like a terrific job by an enterprising young lady who had the balls (figuratively speaking) to put her career on the line to help save an idiot.

Q. What would have been the reaction of the top brass had the pilot speared into the radio masts? Great shame kid, you had a bloody good try?

A. Nope! They would have hung, drawn and quartered her for breaking every vectoring and terrain clearance rule in the 552. Ask Spot. And the journos would have portrayed her as a tattoed punk who should never have been let within a mile of a control tower.

Well done Anne. Just be very, very careful in future. They'll get you if they can!

[LOTA]

Well done, indeed. Good work.

It has to be remembered these are 'showbiz' awards backed by Vodafone, the Daily Express and GMTV, and as such, have done a great job in keeping the RAF in the public eye over a number of years. As for the over-dramatic reporting, I read about this (in RAF News) a couple of months ago, and that report certainly reflected the controller's excellentwork.

[Melchett01]

Obviously a good job done under some fairly hairy circumstances, especially for one not long out of training, but does this really come under the category of 'bravery' as suggested on the RAF website?

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!]

I misread the title as Lassie controller awarded and was looking forward to pages and pages of vitriol about barriers and who was handling whom.

Such a let down :(

[KeyPilot]

"Such a let down"

Indeed - hence the award :rolleyes:

[Sven Sixtoo]

With 20/20 hindsight, I suspect that "Bravery" is in fact the second criterion for these awards. The first criterion is in the title - "Lifesavers". Now if you have a look at the Vodafone lifesavers website, all of the award recipients did things that, had they not been done, someone would have died. There are two examples of people pulled from ice-covered water, a man dragged from a burning car, a fireman who shared his air supply with a survivor until the ladder could turn up and get them out, two guys who saved a man whose tractor had rolled on top of him - and so on. Anne used all her skill to help a guy who would have otherwise at least ended up needing the SAR guys and quite likely would have been the meat in a metal sandwich.

Sven

[harrogate]

It's an interview feature, rather than a piece of standard news writing.

It's a bit over the top admittedly, but imagine how painfully boring the story would be if it was reported as unbiased fact. They have to sell papers and a bit of licence certainly helps. It's not 'reporting', as such.

Besides - it makes her job sound sexy and exciting. It might inspire people to follow in her footsteps.

That feature beats the **** out of a lot of the HM Forces recruiting copy I've seen recently. Maybe they should look and learn.

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

''With 20/20 hindsight, I suspect that "Bravery" is in fact the second criterion for these awards. The first criterion is in the title - "Lifesavers". Now if you have a look at the Vodafone lifesavers website, all of the award recipients did things that, had they not been done, someone would have died............''


Thanks Sven. For once sense prevails

Internet points scorers PLEASE shut up

[Magnersdrinker]

if it was a bloke do you think the award would have been given :ok:

[spanners123]

Positive discrimination.. in the RAF.. in todays society.. don't think so!:ok:

[Koshmar]

Cynical, moi?

:hmm: