Ep35: Piper Pilot Gets Chance to Thank Two Virginia Air Traffic Controllers Who Helped Him

Summary: When Ray Hanson sat down with fellow Potomac TRACON (PCT) controller Mark Dzindzio to assist Piper PA-28 pilot Karl Muller, who was having difficulty navigating in IFR conditions above the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia, Hanson applied the full breadth of knowledge he has acquired from 13 years as a controller and nearly a quarter of a century as a pilot himself. It wasn’t until a couple of days after helping Muller out of the jam that Hanson realized the incident was eerily similar to his own in-flight challenge in the summer of 1999. He had just gotten his instrument rating and was flying with a friend from Daytona Beach, Fla., to Mansfield, Mass. Their rented plane was burning fuel at a much faster rate than he was expecting, and Hanson found himself over the Chesapeake Bay with thunderstorms in the path of his urgent need to land and refuel, but with Washington Center (ZDC) controllers lending a helping hand. “I was Karl 20 years ago,” said Hanson, who grew up wanting to be a 747 pilot thanks to two parents who worked at Pan Am and nurtured his love of aviation. He found his way to air traffic control as a career after the 9/11 attacks decimated the aviation industry, but earned both his Certified Flight Instructor Instrument and Multi-Engine Instructor ratings. “That is what happened with me. The only difference is that I was 19 years old and I was young and stupid and felt like I was indestructible so at the time, it didn’t really register with me compared to when my friend reminded me of the situation. That hit home a lot more.” Muller began flying in 2015 and earned his license and instrument ratings over the next two years. He had just joined a flying club in Harrisonburg, Va., near Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport (SHD), and bought a home nearby. On this day in late May 2020, he planned to fly up to his previous home airport, Hagerstown (HGR) and back to SHD. The first leg was uneventful. On the flight back, Muller filed an IFR plan. Listen as Karl joins Mark and Ray to discuss what happened next in this event.