FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday,
April 20, 2001
Contacts:
Ben Langer, 202-366-5580
Allen Kenitzer, 425-227-2015
DOT 36–01
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Presents
Valor Awards to Five Air Traffic Controllers
SEATTLE--U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta today presented Transportation’s Secretarial Award for Valor to five air traffic controllers for their efforts to ensure safe, normal air operations during and following the Feb. 28 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the Seattle area.
Secretary Mineta presented awards to Sheila R. Furlong, Feliciano B. Pagan III, Brian M. Shimpf, Debra S. Hart and Jamie E. Erdt. All were working in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport air traffic control tower during the quake. The Award for Valor is the department’s highest award for civilian employees for acts of heroism and courage involving great personal risk.
“These air traffic controllers stayed on the job to ensure the safety of aircraft and passengers in the air during and after the earthquake,” Secretary Mineta said. “As the quake shook the control tower, these brave men and women remained calm and focused on aviation safety in the face of a difficult emergency. I commend them for their exemplary performance.”
The 108-foot high control tower was evacuated after the earthquake and temporary communications were re-established at a local hangar on the airfield using emergency backup communications equipment. Air traffic controllers have been operating from a temporary portable tower since 8:30 p.m. Feb. 28, when runway surveys determined that surface damage was minor. Federal Aviation Administration emergency response teams meanwhile are working around the clock to restore air traffic services at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The tower is expected to re-open this spring, and a new, earthquake resistant tower is expected to open in 2004.
The Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center, which handles high altitude flights, temporarily operated on backup engine generators without interruption of service during and following the earthquake. It returned to normal service at 4 p.m. that day.
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport terminal radar approach control facility operated from the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center until fire department and the Seattle Port Authority declared the facility safe. Controllers reoccupied the facility at 2 p.m. and resumed control of the airspace at 2:40 p.m. The earthquake had occurred only three hours earlier at 10:55 a.m.
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