Natca Honors Top Controllers

At an awards banquet last night in Atlanta, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca) awarded its Archie League Medal of Safety Awards to controllers who displayed exceptional professionalism, composure and quick thinking in dealing with emergencies. Among those recognized was a team of Chicago controllers that guided the pilot of an airplane with a lost localizer and low fuel in icing conditions to a safe landing, and a Denver Center controller who saved the life of a pilot and a passenger by instructing the passenger to an emergency landing route after the pilot became incapacitated from lack of oxygen.