Release #: Vol. 84, No. 6
August 01, 2015
Awards Banquet Celebrates Pilot Excellence
By John Perkinson, Staff Writer
Capping off this year’s Air Safety Forum was the annual awards banquet, a special ceremony honoring ALPA members who have distinguished themselves either through acts of superior airmanship or significant contributions to aviation safety and security.
“The pilots selected for the awards presented this evening, as well as those whom we previously honored this week, uphold ALPA’s proud tradition of leadership and service to their fellow pilots and the public,” said Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president. “We acknowledge their skills, expertise, and pivotal decision-making, which have served the greater aviation community.”
Decisive action thwarts potential disaster
Capt. James Judkins and F/O Michael Oates were honored with ALPA’s Superior Airmanship Award for their combined efforts to safely return Delta Air Lines Flight 1990 to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Dec. 23, 2014, in poor weather after experiencing significant electrical failures that disabled several cockpit systems.
Oates, a new-hire pilot, was flying the third day of his initial operating experience on the B-717. The airplane was climbing through 8,000 feet when suddenly Oates lost all of his electronic displays. Multiple messages appeared on the engine and alert display, and the crew repeatedly heard loud clicking sounds in the cockpit.
Judkins quickly took the controls of the airplane, instructing Oates to review the reference materials and several checklists to troubleshoot the problem. Judkins soon contacted Atlanta Departure and declared an emergency. With the airplane’s autotrim inoperative, he hand-flew a Category II approach, landing the airplane safely in 2,600 feet of forward visibility.
“They kept the aircraft under control despite limited instrument references in bad weather,” said Capt. Mike Donatelli, the Delta pilots’ Master Executive Council chairman, who assisted with the presentation. “They effectively managed their high cockpit workload in a stressful situation.”
Canoll presented the awards to the two honorees, shaking their hands and personally congratulating them. Judkins then spoke to the banquet audience, thanking a wide variety of people and remarking, “All of this comes back to our training. Things you think you’ll never use─well, they have a way of presenting themselves again, but the knowledge is always in there, ready to be called upon when needed.”
From left to right, Capt. Tim Canoll, F/O Michael Oates, Capt. James Judkins, and Capt. Mike Donatelli.
Honoring excellence in aviation security
Assisted by Capt. Fred Eissler (FedEx Express), ALPA’s aviation security chairman, Canoll presented ALPA’s Aviation Security Award to Capt. Darrin Dorn (Alaska). Canoll noted, “Capt. Dorn’s accomplishments include introducing the individual crewmember security concept to ALPA for which he led the creation of a specialized training program. He was instrumental in working with the Association to develop and film the ‘Street Smarts’ video series to enhance situational awareness and improve crewmember security.”
Dorn was recognized for his work to update the One Level of Security and ALPA Hotel Security courses, which all new ALPA pilot security representatives are presented to. In addition, he’s a subject-matter expert in the areas of individual crewmember safety and the Federal Flight Deck Officer program. The Anchorage-based B-737 pilot serves as his pilot group’s Security Committee chairman and is a member of ALPA’s National Security Council.
In receiving the award, Dorn talked about the need for situational awareness in all of our daily lives, warning, “There are individuals, organizations, and even countries that want to do harm to you, harm to your family, harm to our airlines, harm to America.”
He also encouraged all ALPA members to seriously consider becoming federal flight deck officers.
From left to right, Capt. Tim Canoll, Capt. Darrin Dorn, and Capt. Fred Eissler.
ALPA’s highest safety accolade
“This evening, I have the privilege of recognizing Delta F/O Helena Reidemar for her extraordinary contributions to the safety or air transportation,” said Canoll. “I really should call her Dr. Reidemar because…she earned a Ph.D. in human factors and now serves on the graduate faculty at the University of Central Missouri.”
Joined by Capt. Charles Hogeman (United), ALPA’s aviation safety chairman, for the presentation, Canoll remarked that in 2014 Reidemar was named a Fellow of the London-based Royal Aeronautical Society for her work in human factors and has spoken on the subject to groups around the world. Reidemar, who serves as ALPA’s director of human factors, was a major contributor to a Flight Safety Foundation’s “A Practical Guide for Improving Flight Path Monitoring,” which serves as the benchmark for airlines seeking to improve pilot-monitoring skills among their pilots.
Reidemar, a Detroit-based B-767-300 pilot and the first female ever to receive this honor, talked about two close friends she lost in aircraft accidents and the many pilots whose contributions to aviation safety have inspired her. She said, “The work that we do is really meaningful and essential to the industry. We’re not doctors touching one body at a time; our work touches thousands of people every day.”
From left to right, Capt. Tim Canoll, F/O Helena Reidemar, and Capt. Charles Hogeman.
Pilot Assistance Award
During the Air Safety Forum awards banquet ceremony, Capt. Tim Canoll, ALPA’s president, noted that ALPA’s Pilot Assistance Group holds a stand-alone forum every other year. At the group’s event this April, F/O Tom Thornton (Delta) received the Association’s Pilot Assistance Award for his extensive work in reestablishing the Professional Standards Committee for the pilot groups at Northwest and later Delta.
F/O Tom Thornton
Presidential Citation, ASL, and Airport Awards
During the Air Safety Forum, Capt. David McKenney (United) has honored with an ALPA Presidential Citation for his considerable contributions to the science of human factors and training. McKenney, who serves as director of ALPA’s pilot training within the Air Safety Organization’s Human Factors and Training Group, continues to work with U.S. regulatory and policy groups, like the Crew Resource Management Working Group within the Air Carrier Training Aviation Rulemaking Committee. He’s also the vice chairman of the International Federations of Air Line Pilots’ Associations’ Human Performance Committee and was a pilot representative on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Flight Crew Licensing Panel.
From left to right, Capt. Tim Canoll, Capt. Dave McKinney, and Capt. Charles Hogeman.
F/O Mark Crystal (ExpressJet) was presented with ALPA’s Airport Safety Liaison Award for his outstanding efforts to promote safety and security at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Tex. Among his accomplishments, Crystal made multiple recommendations to the airport’s Runway Safety Action Team and served as subject-matter expert for the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum Scrutiny Group, which aided in the roll out of the Houston and North Texas metroplex airspace design.
From left to right, Capt. Tim Canoll, F/O Mark Crystal, and Capt. Steve Jangelis.
Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport received ALPA’s Airport Award for involving the Association in discussions concerning a radical runway construction project that required a 63-foot elevation change from the beginning of the runway to the end. ALPA was given the opportunity to weigh in on the nonstandard spacing of approach light arrays and airspace changes, and the facility was applauded for consistently including the Association on decisions about structural and operational changes. Airside Operations Manager John Pokryfke and Director of Operations Michael Nonnemacher accepted the award on behalf of the airport.
From left to right, Capt. Tim Canoll, John Pokryfke, Michael Nonnemaacher, and Capt. Steve Jangelis.
Past Honorees
View a list of previous ALPA aviation safety, aviation security, and pilot assistance honorees.
This article is from the August 2015 issue of Air Line Pilot magazine, the Official Journal of the Air Line Pilots Association, International—a monthly publication for all ALPA members.
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