[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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      TRIBUTE TO JEFF AULBECH, NEIL COSPITO, AND MICHAEL JACOBSON

 Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I rise today to salute the work 
of three New Hampshire-based air traffic controllers--Jeff Aulbech, 
Neil Cospito, and Michael Jacobson--who calmly and quickly resolved a 
complex situation in the snowy skies of New England in 2018. The three 
men were awarded the prestigious Archie League Medal of Safety Award 
from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, NATCA, last 
year, and I ask all Americans to join me and NATCA in marveling at the 
poise they all showed on that November afternoon.
  Jeff, Neil and Michael work at the Boston Air Traffic Control Center, 
a regional air route traffic control center in Nashua, NH, that covers 
tens of thousands of miles of airspace above New England, New York, and 
northeast Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, November 20, 2018, Neil was working 
an F-16 aircraft from the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air 
National Guard. Poor weather conditions were preventing the pilot from 
landing the aircraft at its home base in Burlington, VT. Neil scoured 
the region for a suitable location outside of the sprawling weather 
system, and he quickly found one in Syracuse, NY. He cleared the 
aircraft to travel southwest to its new destination and asked the pilot 
to estimate his time en-route and his remaining fuel. When the pilot 
relayed that he had 15 minutes of fuel for a 15-minute trip, Neil knew 
that the F-16 had become an emergency aircraft.
  As the aircraft left Neil's controlled airspace, fellow air traffic 
controllers Jeff Aulbech and Mike Jacobson continued working the 
emergency situation. Jeff and Mike promptly evaluated their options. 
They decided the best course was to divert a flight of KC-135 tankers 
from a nearby, unrelated mission and to conduct a mid-air refueling. 
Jeff explained to the KC-135 pilots that the F-16 was at ``Bingo 
Fuel''--a term used by military pilots when they reach a critical and 
emergency fuel state. When he secured agreement from both crews, Jeff 
executed precise time intercept vectors to join the two aircraft and 
begin refueling. As Jeff worked with the aircraft in the sky, Mike 
worked the radar and communicated with the airport in Syracuse to 
confirm suitable landing conditions. A short time later, the F-16 
safely touched the ground in Syracuse.
  Quick thinking and error-free execution from Neil Cospito, Jeff 
Aulbech, and Mike Jacobson saved the F-16 and its pilot from a number 
of dangerous alternatives, and they played a pivotal role in 
maneuvering this flawless refueling with a number of other planes 
sharing the skies. As many of us travel across the country throughout 
the year, we should take a moment to reflect on the significance of air 
traffic controllers like Neil, Jeff, and Mike and thank them for 
working every minute of every day each year to keep our skies safe.
  On behalf of the people of New Hampshire, I ask my colleagues and all 
Americans to join me in thanking Neil, Jeff, and Mike for their service 
and wishing them all the best as they continue their good work.

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