Sleuthing May Have Prevented A Minor Problem From Becoming Major

A Wichita air traffic controller says he was just doing his job, when one day last year he investigated some debris crews had found laying on a runway at Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport.

After seeing the debris -- part of a tire, and a white landing gear door -- Controller Mark Goldstein tracked both items to an Atlantic Southeast Airlines Canadair RJ that had just taken off from the airport, en route to Atlanta. Goldstein passed along the information to Kansas City ARTCC, which passed it along to Memphis control, who in turn alerted the previously unaware pilot.

After the pilot declared an emergency, the RJ landed safely in Atlanta on its remaining tires. Afterward, crews discovered a tire had blown out, and that the debris had struck a wing flap in addition to .

For his efforts, according to the Wichita Eagle, Goldstein was awarded an Air Traffic Control Specialist of the Year Award by the Air Traffic Controllers Association last month at the organization's 50th annual conference in Grapevine, TX.

Goldstein, a certified controller as well as a pilot with close to 2,000 hours in the sky himself, received the award for his "exceptional efforts," the Air Traffic Controllers Association said.

He demonstrated his "knowledge, experience, expertise and willingness to go the extra mile," according to the organization.

According to the Eagle, Goldstein has been a controller for 22 years, all but six of them in Wichita.

FMI: www.atca.org