By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Published: 11:32 EDT, 25 September 2023 | Updated: 11:37 EDT, 25 September 2023

By Ted Thornhill, Mailonline Travel Editor

Updated: 10:08 EDT, 4 September 2023

‘Radar contact lost.’

Former air traffic controller Robin A. Smith reveals in his memoir that he once had to utter that dreaded phrase – one that no one in the profession ever wants to say.

He recounts in the riveting tome the sequence of events that led up to him saying it. And how for a brief time, he thought a disaster involving an airliner and four military aircraft was imminent.

The account underscores that when an air traffic controller has a bad day at work, it can be truly hair-raising.

The ‘radar contact lost’ drama played out in August 1992 over Tucson in Arizona when Smith worked in the Tucson terminal radar approach control (Tracon), which was housed on the city’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and oversaw plane movements for the base and the international airport four and a half miles to the southwest.

The day in question had begun positively, Smith recalls – he drove to his 6am to 3pm shift under cobalt blue skies.

But ominous signs that a big storm was approaching appeared around 10am. Puffy clouds were forming and it was over 100F – that ‘drives an elevator that lifts moisture into the sky’.

Smith writes in Life With A View – Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller: ‘As with the fast-food rush, we anticipated the adverse effects of the monsoon and were prepared to adjust accordingly.

‘The radar scope resembled a teenager with acne, becoming increasingly cluttered with building thunderstorms.’

At 2pm Smith was assigned a final shift on the departure sector.

He writes: ‘Looking at the radar for the first time after a 20-minute break I was astonished at how quickly the storms had matured. Previously isolated thunderstorm cells had congealed… positioning themselves on the west side of both airports.’

The drama, Smith recalls, was kickstarted by a voice from Tucson tower, saying: ‘Northwest 551, Boeing 727, taking the runway for departure.’

Smith was shocked that the captain had decided to take off, given the intimidating weather.

He reveals that air traffic controllers cannot deny take-off clearance ‘because the weather looks bad’ – but can put an airport ‘on hold’.

Smith, in the moment, didn’t think pausing the airport was necessary, because he could ‘issue an immediate right turn’ for the aircraft belonging to Northwest [which merged with Delta Air Lines in 2008], which would take it around the storm.

But there was a caveat. This plan would only work if no aircraft took off from Davis-Monthan airport.

He writes: ‘[Hopefully] the air force pilots at Davis-Monthan had enough sense to look out of their window and opt for another Coke in the ready room.’

But the worst-case-scenario began to unfold, with the tower at Davis-Monthan announcing the departure of ‘Simon 22’ – the codename for four navy A-7s.

Smith, however, reasoned that he could turn the Northwest B727 over the top of Davis-Monthan and the departing A-7s.

His confidence came from the knowledge that announcements regarding commercial aircraft taking off were normally made as the flight was turning onto the runway, while military flights normally run through a checklist at the start of the runway.

He writes: ‘For a flight of four, as in Simon 22’s case, the taxi onto the runway and run-up process would easily take three to four minutes, and by that time, Northwest 551 would be… 20 miles northeast of Tucson and passing through 10,000 feet.’

He adds: ‘At least, that’s what would have happened on a perfect day.’

Next, Northwest checked in, revealing that it was ‘climbing out of 3,700ft… ‘

Seconds later, Simon 22 announced that it was ‘climbing out of 3,600ft… ‘

Smith writes: ‘As all five aircraft climbed into the thunderstorm I watched the storm change size and shape like an amoeba in a high-school science movie.

‘Each passing sweep of the radar emphasised the inevitable, and time slowed. I was not comfortable.’

‘As expected’, Northwest 551 requested ‘an immediate right turn for weather’.

Smith writes: ‘My worst-case scenario had just become very real because I had violated the cardinal rule of air traffic control. I didn’t have a way out.’

He explains that his only option was to restrict Simon 22 to 6,000ft, the minimum altitude to clear the mountains ahead, and send the B727 over the top of the A-7s after it had hit 7,000ft – ‘thereby ensuring the minimum one thousand feet of vertical separation required by ATC’.

The problem? ‘By the time Northwest 551 had the necessary altitude for the turn,’ writes Smith, ‘forward momentum would put all five aircraft in the worst part of the thunderstorm.

‘In the next few seconds, Northwest 551 would rapidly encounter severe turbulence, forcing crew members to wrestle with controls. The loss of control would be compounded by hail, which would sound like rocks hitting the cockpit windshield. Microbursts, extreme downdrafts of air present in mature thunderstorms, would compound the difficulties.’

What did Smith do next?

He replied: ‘Northwest 551, unable immediate right turn, traffic directly off your right side, four miles, four A-7s leaving Davis-Monthan. They will be stopped at 6,000ft, leaving 7,000, turn right heading zero-four-five.’

He continues: ‘The next response from Northwest 551 sent a chill down my spine. “Northwest 551 is declaring an emergency and starting an immediate right turn, northeast bound.”’

Once a pilot declares an emergency, Smith explains, ‘the book and all its rules go out the window’, because ‘the pilot in command is free to do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of the aircraft, crew and passengers’.

Smith adds: ‘From a strictly statistical view, the chance of hitting one of the A-7s was lower than the chance of losing a wing or an engine in the black cloud so, a right turn it was.’

The worst-case scenario wasn’t finished with Smith just yet though – because Simon 22 announced that they had lost visual contact with each other.

Smith writes: ‘I now had five aircraft in the middle of a severe thunderstorm who were unable to see each other and unwilling to accept my instructions as they approached downtown Tucson and flew directly over the University of Arizona.’

What’s more, the storm had become so dense that the ATC radar could no longer penetrate it and pick up the aircraft.

Smith was forced to raise his hand to summon his supervisor for assistance.

‘Seconds passed with no information from my radar or voices from the cockpits, and in this case, no news was not good news,’ he writes.

On the fifth sweep of the radar – some good news. It had picked up a plane heading northeast – then the 727 answered a call for a radio check, Smith reveals.

Another radar sweep picked up two A-7s, then the third was picked up, before the flight leader checked in and said that he’d made radio contact with the fourth A-7.

Smith writes: ‘The fourth Simon 22 member was radar-identified, and I issued headings to join them as a flight again.

‘As quickly as it had begun – it was over. And all aircraft were separated.

‘I issued headings commensurate with the aircraft’s original flight plans and sent them on their way.

‘The weather was now north of both airports, leaving behind shaken aircrews, a confused controller, and a city full of people who would not read in the morning paper about an incident in southern Arizona that had claimed a bunch of lives.’

Smith admits that he could have put both airports on hold for a few minutes and averted the situation. But that was a solution that only presented itself with hindsight.

His supervisor scolded him for not initiating ‘radar contact lost’ procedures, but Smith argued that ‘he didn’t have time’.

His final thought? Because no aircraft had ‘scraped paint’, in the world of air traffic control ‘it was a perfect day’.

Life With A View – Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller, by Robin A Smith and published by iUniverse, can be ordered from Amazon for £9.95 ($9.20). 

Smith spent nearly 38 years in the aviation industry, serving as a domestic and international controller at two Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) towers in the U.S, as well as being a certified radar approach control instructor in Oklahoma City.

French air traffic controller strikes are wrecking the plans of British holidaymakers after Ryanair cancelled 400 flights throughout Europe.

Staff walkouts have forced hundreds of flights to be grounded, sparking complaints from passengers about four-hour delays and being stuck on planes with dwindling food supplies and ‘just crisps and fizzy pop’ for sustenance. 

One mother told MailOnline her 19-year-old disabled son’s flight cancellation on Sunday left him and his friend stranded in Paris yesterday, having to wait until Thursday for a flight home. The teenager had only brought enough medication and hearing aids for the long weekend, mother Haleh Paul said.

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary expressed frustration that overflights across Europe are being cancelled, rather than French domestic flights. 

He said: ‘It’s absolutely indefensible that flights going from Ireland to Italy, from Poland to Portugal, or from Spain to Germany are being cancelled simply because the French want to prioritise their domestic flights and cancel all the overflights.’

Air traffic controllers are needed to make contact during overflights, where planes are flying through the French airspace. Airline EasyJet also saw cancellations and delays.

STRANDED ABROAD? IS YOUR HOLIDAY RUINED? Send your holiday hell story and pictures to hannah.mcdonald@mailonline.co.uk 

Passengers affected by the cancellations and delays voiced their frustrations on Twitter. 

One user wrote: ‘Very confused, sat on flight FR455 FEU-NCL with delays due to French air strike. Already delayed by two hours but being told we’re now going to be sat not moving for a further two hours?

‘Why put us on the plane? Please communicate what the situation is. @Ryanair also doesn’t help the situation when two thirds of the refreshments are out of stock. Not hot food etc? Just crisps and fizzy pop.’

Another delayed passenger wrote: ‘Flight FR7045 dep 7.55am from Malaga to Dublin delayed 1hr30mins due to #Frenchairtraffic strikes but glad to be on home soil @Ryanair, thanks for not cancelling my flight.’

Haleh Paul, the mother of the 19-year-old disabled teenager, said: ‘I and the other set of the family had to scramble around from the UK to change their flight and find alternative accommodation for them. 

‘I am sure I am not the only one in this boat. But when you plan for a long weekend as a young adult and it ends up being a week, with no extra medication, hearing aid batteries or change of clothes, it’s very worrying.’

However not everyone saw it as bad, with David Wilson posting a selfie on social media writing: ‘Just got a message from Ryanair… my flight home on Tuesday has been cancelled due to air traffic control strikes in France so we can’t fly over France … oh well [laughing emojis]’. 

It was not just Ryanair that faced issues, as EasyJet flights were cancelled, with people stranded in Nice last night after Edinburgh flights were put on hold. 

Last minute flight cancellations were also seen at Bristol, with one Twitter user posting a picture of queues on Saturday, asking EasyJet to pay for his missed trip. It was not known if this delay was due to strikes. 

In a recorded statement, Mr O’Leary said: ‘I’m speaking to you this morning Tuesday from our Dublin operation centre with the bad news that again today we have had to cancel just about 400 flights of the 3200 flights we had scheduled to operate today.

‘All of these flights have been cancelled because of the latest French ATC strike.’

He added that the French have travel alternatives within the country, as they can take its high-speed train service or use motorways. 

Last week, Ryanair submitted a petition calling for the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, to insist that France protects overflights during French ATC strikes. 

The petition has so far been signed by over 1.1million of Ryanair’s ‘very fed up’ customers. 

The CEO added: ‘Spain, Italy and Greece already protect these overflights so that when their national ATC unions go on strike, the overflights are not disrupted. 

‘We are calling on the commission today for action.’ 

As part of Ryanair’s call to action, the airline revealed that more than 4,000 flights have been cancelled so far this year as a result of ATC strikes, ‘mainly overflying France’. 

In his call to the commission, he added: ‘Europe is a single market. In a single market the overflights and skies over Europe must be protected. Take action.’ 

Jan Dent told MailOnline: ‘My son, his wife and our 21-month-old granddaughter were supposed to be on an afternoon flight today from Manchester to Malaga.

‘We live in Spain so don’t get to see them as often as we would like to so we’re looking forward to ten days together.’

She added: ‘They are booked to fly again on Thursday but it means changing airport, parking, car hire etc.’ 

‘Absolute joke ours has been cancelled,’ another passenger wrote on Twitter. ‘Now been transferred Manchester to East Midlands with a 9-hour delay. No idea what to do about transfers, can’t get in touch with the holiday company as it’s too busy and yet no compensation apparently – livid!!!’ 

Air traffic controllers in France, as well as members of the French national rail company SNCF, have been striking in protest against proposed pension reforms by Emmanuel Macron.

His reforms would see the retirement age in France increased from 62 to 64 years old.

It would also force workers to contribute to the pension system for longer, as state pensions in the country are financed by a payroll tax.

Indeed, the public are not just angry at Macron for increasing the retirement age, but also because he used a special presidential decree (Article 49.3) to pass his proposals through the National Assembly without approval.

This has been perceived as undemocratic. Civilians and workers also argue that, if he is using Article 49.3 to increase the retirement age now, there is nothing to stop him doing so again with other legislation in the future.

Protests have been ongoing since January 2023.