Washington ARTCC

ZDC Sector 17

  From reading the flight progress strips, Franklin could plainly see from the routes that Windsor seventy- five and Air Force One were going to be in the area at the same time. Windsor seventy-five however, was at Flight Level two-two zero (twenty two thousand feet) and Air Force One was at Flight Level two four zero. The only problem that Franklin could see was that the aircraft routes were going to cross in the northeast part of his sector. He knew from experience that the pilots of Air Force One normally like to start their descent into Andrews Air Force Base early. Franklin judged that Air Force One would want to start it’s descent at about the time they would be right over the top of Windsor seventy-five. With the pilots of Windsor seventy-five already saying that they were getting close to minimum fuel, he knew that Windsor seventy-five would want to stay as high as they could for as long as possible. The lower that Windsor seventy-five got, the more fuel the seven forty seven would burn. Franklin ran through his mind, several options for when the aircraft came on frequency. He wanted to provide good service to Air Force One, while at the same time, keep Windsor seventy-five at altitude for as long as possible. As Franklin thought about what to do, the flight progress strip printer suddenly started printing numerous strips. Knowing that it was unusual for so many strips to print at this time of night, Franklin took several and read them over. Letting out a sigh, Franklin soon realized that a number of flights that had tried to land in New York were now diverting to Dulles. In fact, as the printer continued to churn out strips, it seemed like every aircraft on the east coast was now headed for Dulles.

Windsor 75

  “I do not like this one bit. Not one bit at all,” Captain Lloyd said loudly, his deep blue eyes focused on the navigational display. The headwinds had now increased and the Windsor Airlines seven forty seven had started to encounter light turbulence.

“I agree,” Nigel responded. “This headwind is going to put us right down to minimum fuel sooner than we thought. Do you think we should change altitudes?”

Captain Lloyd looked at the fuel and navigational readouts. Taking a few seconds to digest the information, Captain Lloyd looked out the windshield.

“If we go to a lower altitude, we will burn more fuel. If we climb, we will burn extra fuel when we increase to climb power. We will stay here for now. But, when we get closer to Dulles, we are going to have to request to stay as high as possible, for as long as possible. We are very close to minimum fuel now. However, I do not wish to inform A-T-C of this. If they want us to start down early, then we will have to declare minimum fuel.” 

ZDC

  Charlie Johnson held the door open for the man as he walked up. Coming inside and stamping the snow off of his shoes, the man then reached inside his coat pocket.

“Dan Allen, United States Secret Service,” he said as he held open his badge and identification card. Charlie introduced himself as they shook hands. Dan started to put his ID card back into his pocket.

“May I see your identification card please,” Charlie curtly asked. Taking it from Dan, Charlie read it carefully.

“What brings you out here on a night like this?” Charlie asked as he handed the card back.

“Just routine,” Dan said. “Every so often, we like to get an idea of the air traffic control aspect of protecting Air Force One.”

As he spoke, Dan looked around the entrance area, noting the security cameras and cipher door locks.

“Nothing but a routine visit,” Dan repeated, smiling weakly.

“On the night of a snowstorm?” Charlie asked.

“When it’s put on the schedule for us to so, we just do it. No matter what time or weather conditions. We have been out here before.”

As they walked upstairs toward the control room, Charlie eyed the man suspiciously. In the eighteen years since transferring to Washington Center, Charlie had never once seen a Secret Service agent in the building. Charlie laughed to himself at what he considered a stupid cover story.

ZDC Sector 17

  “See if you can convince them to wait another hour!” Franklin pleaded with the Dulles Approach controller.

“Even just half an hour. We are going to have aircraft dropping all over the place if they close the runway.”

“I’ll have the supervisor talk to the airport authority. You know as well as I do, if they say it’s closed. It’s closed. They don’t want anybody sliding off the end of the runway,” the approach controller responded.

“Would they rather have…” Franklin stopped in mid-sentence. He knew the he should not take his frustration out on the Dulles approach controller.

Franklin terminated the call with Dulles Approach.

He fell back into his chair. He suddenly wished that he were home, in bed. Looking at the radar scope, he saw the radar targets of all the inbound aircraft. He saw all of them converging on the only open airport on the northeast coast. He heard them calling on the radio. He could visualize the tired people sitting in the cockpits and passenger seats. He didn’t have the heart to tell them that the Washington Airport Authority wanted to close Dulles International indefinitely so they could clear the snow that was accumulating on the end of runway thirty.

Any more time wasted on self-pity, was wasted valuable time for the aircraft.