The Medellin Crash

[vintage ATCO]

I would just like to express my admiration for the lady ATCO who found herself dealing with LMI2933. She was dealt an impossible hand and dealt with it in a cool, professional manner.

The recording is available on YouTube if you care to find it, quite harrowing.

Will not go in the whys and wherefores, it's being discussed on R&N.

[EstorilM]

She literally NEVER missed a beat, even after losing transponder! Her multi-tasking of the Avianca flight was very impressive.

JFK should offer her a job. ;)

[pax britanica]

I made the same point on the R&N thread and am surprised that more ATCOs haven't commented/supported her. As you say she found herself in an absolute nightmare of a situation and no doubt faces flashbacks of the words of the increasingly frightened and frantic 146 crew who she , once they were off the radar, must have known they were going to die.

[cossack]

If we had found ourselves in her shoes on an emergency training sim run, we would probably feel it an unfair situation. "That could never happen!". But yes it can.
She did an outstanding job doing everything she could do with the limited information that was being given by the flight crew and moving the other priority traffic out of the way when the seriousness of LMI's situation was fully revealed.
Well done YM!

[Romeo_Fox]

Posted this on R&N but as I'm looking for some useful TRUCE / refresher material:

It seems like declaring an emergency could have saved the day. I'm looking into exactly this topic for quite a while now and it seems there is very little knowledge about why pilots seem so reluctant to declare.

Although in this case there are quite a few "obvious" reasons why the owner/pilot did not declare, does anyone know of some proper research / reports why (also GA) pilots do not declare, when they clearly need a maximum of help.

[Knackers]

I'm with you, RF. If the pilot had put out a Mayday call, everyone else would have shut up, complied with the controller's instructions without querying them.

[jack schidt]

Romeo Fox, I sent you a PM.

For ATC, this event was a "SULLY" moment. Thank goodness for professionals, although the sad thing is that the root cause of this accident appears to be far from professional.

Good day

J

[Romeo_Fox]

Romeo Fox, I sent you a PM.

J

Nothing received so far.

[jack schidt]

Resent PM and perhaps the original didn't send sorry as it might have been that I sent an email or the Title box was not filled in, apologies as I am only a pilot. :cool:

J

[HZ123]

Had the pilot declared a Full Emergency would that not lead to an NCAA investigation as a reportable incident, sadly revealing the pilot/airline whoever to have been in breach of safety parameters. The result of which may have led to a suspension of his pilots licence.

Coming from a different discipline than your good selves I have noted in accident / incident investigations a general hesitancy to declare 'full emergencies' as for the flight crew it can be detrimental to career. All very sad !

[jack schidt]

Under such circumstances as is the case here, the reluctance to call Mayday to ATC is more of a belief that "it can't really be happening to me". The failure of the other onboard pilots to not insist on a fuel stopover, or to have carried more fuel in the first place, is also a case of not being realistic of the situation they were putting themselves.

Having listened to the ATC recordings, incredibly well done to the Lady Controller. She remained calm, focussed and very professional throughout.

A technical failure is often very easy to declare "PAN" or "MAYDAY", if however the severity of the situation is career threatening then clearly some people might try to avoid the inevitable by keeping quiet until the last minute, or sadly until it is too late.

J

[Nil further]

As a humble pilot I can only second what others have said here . That ATCO deserves a medal , total pro' in the moment when fate came calling .