Air traffic controller from eastern Idaho given industry award for rescuing pilot
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IDAHO FALLS – An air traffic controller from Idaho Falls has been awarded for his effort in guiding a pilot through a harrowing situation that likely saved his life.
During an awards presentation last month, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association awarded Brian Magnuson the 2022 Archie League Medal of Safety.
“Somebody from every region gets nominated for this (every year) … and it’s an honor to be selected for something like that,” Magnuson tells EastIdahoNews.com.
The situation Magnuson was recognized for occurred on Nov. 17, 2021, in the airspace above Kansas City, where Magnuson works.
Sometime before noon, a pilot in an N2RA Mitsubishi MU-2 turboprop airplane was en route from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Pueblo, Colorado. As he was flying through the Kansas City area, he requested a lower altitude due to an issue with pressurization. The specific reason why is not clear.
A video of the radio communication between the parties indicates the pilot failed to respond to multiple commands when Mangnuson stepped in.
“November Two Romeo Alpha, put the oxygen on sir. I can’t hear your voice,” Magnuson told the pilot. “Descend and maintain one zero thousand.”
The pilot is heard responding with “November Two Romeo Alpha. Roger” several times before Magnuson chimes in again.
“Two Romeo Alpha, you are talking to me sir but the aircraft is not descending. Two Romeo Alpha, descend that aircraft to one zero thousand,” said Magnuson.
A few seconds later, Magnuson tells the pilot his aircraft is heading into a left spiral and instructs him again to descend and put on his oxygen.
After several more seconds, the pilot sounds more coherent and replies with, “Two Romeo Alpha, roger. Fifteen down to 10.”
“You sound a lot better, sir. How ya feeling?” Magnuson asks.
“Much better. Thank you,” the pilot says.
After making sure the pilot is back on course, Magnuson again asks him how he is feeling.
“Two Romeo Alpha I feel better. Thank you,” the pilot says.
See how it played out in the video above.
Magnuson met with EastIdahoNews.com to discuss what happened during the three-minute ordeal.
He explains the pilot’s altitude was initially at 24,000 feet and he started to climb. He was in a state of hypoxia, which is a low level of oxygen. It’s difficult to breathe above 12,000 feet without an oxygen mask, Magnuson says, which is why the pilot was slow to respond.
“I was worried about him passing out,” Magnuson says. “So (I) just kept talking to him. At 15,000 feet, he keyed up and talked to me. He sounded like he was coherent and coming back out of it.”
Though he deals with emergencies like this all the time, Magnuson says the thing that made this one so harrowing is that it was so close and could’ve easily had a different outcome.
Voices of other controllers can be heard during the exchange. Magnuson points out that there were 10 other people in the room with him that day doing everything they could to help the pilot. For that reason, Magnuson says he can’t take full credit for how it turned out.
“It could’ve been (somebody else) on the mic. I’m very proud of all my co-workers … who are trained in this stuff. They are trained to recognize an emergency situation and they step up and help in every way that they can,” Magnuson says.
Magnuson is grateful for his wife, Jennifer, and all those who have played a role in teaching and tutoring him over the years, including his pilot friend and neighbor, Dave Sheldon, and his father, Richard.
“I’m very proud of him,” Richard says of his son.
Magnuson says the pilot is the real hero because “he never gave up and he never stopped flying.”
The presenter read a statement from the pilot during last month’s awards ceremony, in which he thanked Magnuson for his efforts last November.
“The controller that continued to talk to me in a calm, professional manner and kept telling me to descend over and over helped prevent me from passing out and likely a very different outcome,” the pilot said.