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[Page S433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS
______
TRIBUTE TO JEFF AULBECH, NEIL COSPITO, AND MICHAEL JACOBSON
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise today to salute the work
of three New Hampshire-based air traffic controllers--Jeff Aulbech,
Neil Cospito, and Michael Jacobson--who calmly and quickly resolved a
complex situation in the snowy skies of New England in 2018. The three
men were awarded the prestigious Archie League Medal of Safety Award
from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, NATCA, last
year, and I ask all Americans to join me and NATCA in marveling at the
poise they all showed on that November afternoon.
Jeff, Neil and Michael work at the Boston Air Traffic Control Center,
a regional air route traffic control center in Nashua, NH, that covers
tens of thousands of miles of airspace above New England, New York, and
northeast Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, November 20, 2018, Neil was working
an F-16 aircraft from the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air
National Guard. Poor weather conditions were preventing the pilot from
landing the aircraft at its home base in Burlington, VT. Neil scoured
the region for a suitable location outside of the sprawling weather
system, and he quickly found one in Syracuse, NY. He cleared the
aircraft to travel southwest to its new destination and asked the pilot
to estimate his time en-route and his remaining fuel. When the pilot
relayed that he had 15 minutes of fuel for a 15-minute trip, Neil knew
that the F-16 had become an emergency aircraft.
As the aircraft left Neil's controlled airspace, fellow air traffic
controllers Jeff Aulbech and Mike Jacobson continued working the
emergency situation. Jeff and Mike promptly evaluated their options.
They decided the best course was to divert a flight of KC-135 tankers
from a nearby, unrelated mission and to conduct a mid-air refueling.
Jeff explained to the KC-135 pilots that the F-16 was at ``Bingo
Fuel''--a term used by military pilots when they reach a critical and
emergency fuel state. When he secured agreement from both crews, Jeff
executed precise time intercept vectors to join the two aircraft and
begin refueling. As Jeff worked with the aircraft in the sky, Mike
worked the radar and communicated with the airport in Syracuse to
confirm suitable landing conditions. A short time later, the F-16
safely touched the ground in Syracuse.
Quick thinking and error-free execution from Neil Cospito, Jeff
Aulbech, and Mike Jacobson saved the F-16 and its pilot from a number
of dangerous alternatives, and they played a pivotal role in
maneuvering this flawless refueling with a number of other planes
sharing the skies. As many of us travel across the country throughout
the year, we should take a moment to reflect on the significance of air
traffic controllers like Neil, Jeff, and Mike and thank them for
working every minute of every day each year to keep our skies safe.
On behalf of the people of New Hampshire, I ask my colleagues and all
Americans to join me in thanking Neil, Jeff, and Mike for their service
and wishing them all the best as they continue their good work.
____________________
