Written by a flight instructor with more than 40 years of experience in collaboration with air traffic control (ATC) specialists, a new book, “ATC and Inflight Emergencies: What ATC Specialists Should Know About the Piloting Environment,” provides air traffic controllers with information to help them deal with pilots who are in need of airborne assistance.
Previously, nearly 30% of controllers were pilots. Today that number is less than 10%; therefore, there is a real need on the controller’s part for more knowledge of the pilot’s situation, according to representatives from the publisher, University Aviation Press.
Author Ted Spitzmiller includes examples of notable accidents and incidents, with transcribed air-ground communications to highlight how these emergencies were handled.
Chapters are dedicated to understanding flight, flight instruments, the engine, electrical systems, weather considerations, pilot physiology, and assist factors.
While some of the topics are those normally found in pilot ground school textbooks, these are abridged, supplemented and described in terms more relevant to the air traffic controller, according to the publisher.
This 56-page book was designed for use in accredited college-level programs. Price: $12.95.