Kalitta six six (1 Viewer)

[DixonFan]

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This video is making the rounds again and it chills me as much to listen to it now as it did the first time I heard it.
The video features actual audio from Air Traffic Control dealing with a hypoxic pilot. Here are the details of what happened.
Kalitta flight KFS-66 was a cargo flight flying from Manassas, Virginia to Ypsilanti Airport, Michigan.
Kalitta Air is a cargo airline headquartered in Ypsilanti. Conrad Kalitta started carrying car parts in his twin-engine Cessna 310 in 1967. His business, originally called American International Airways. Kalitta retired in 1997 but in 2000, the company ceased operations and Kalitta came out of retirement to rescue it. He called the new airline Kalitta Air. In 2007 Kalitta received the FAA’s Diamond Award – the highest honor for maintenance training. Kalitta Air is still owned by Conrad Kalitta.
Kalitta flight KFS-66 departed Manassas normally and was en-route flying at FL320: 32,000 feet over the sea. The flight crew had just been handed off to Cleveland’s Air Route Traffic Control Center when air traffic controller Jay McCombs noticed that the aircraft had a “stuck mike” – that is, the Push-to-talk microphone was being pressed , keeping the transmission open.
What was actually happening was that the First Officer was already unconscious and his arm was flailing violently and uncontrollably, disengaging the autopilot and forcing the Captain was trying to hand-fly the aircraft. The air traffic controller can’t understand the Captain and a second pilot in a different plane helps to get the message across.

This transcript is from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Controller Jay McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six how do you hear?
Captain:	Kalitta six six … (unintelligible)
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six roger. You’re keying your mike and it’s staying on there frequently so please be careful.
Captain:	Kalitta six six, declaring emergency.
Second Pilot (in another aircraft):	Sir, he’s declaring an emergency with his flight controls.
Captain:	Affirmative!
Second Pilot:	Yes, sir, he said affirmative on that.
McCombs:	All right Kalitta sixty six, roger. What are your intentions?
Captain:	Request vectors Ypsilanti.
Second Pilot:	Sir, he’s looking for vectors.
McCombs:	Alright, Kalitta sixty six, I understand an emergency, you want a vector to Cincinnati. Is that correct?
Captain:	Negative. Vectors Ypsilanti.
Second Pilot:	Ypsilanti.
McCombs:	Ah, Kalitta sixty six are you able to maintain altitude. What assistance can I give you other than that vector?
Captain:	Unable to control altitude. Unable to control airspeed. Unable to control heading. Kalitta six six. Other than that, everything A-OK.
McCombs:	OK, Kalitta sixty six understand you’re not able to control the aircraft. Is that correct?
Captain:	That is correct.
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six are you able to land at an airport that is closer to your position? Pittsburgh approximately five zero miles southwest of your position, Cleveland about eight zero miles northwest of your position.
Captain:	Prefer to land aircraft at destination airport as the aircraft is (unintelligible). No possible damage to any part of the aircraft (unintelligible). So we’re slowly, ever so slowly, regaining control the airspeed and the aircraft if we are given the time to slowly reengage.

Meanwhile, follow controller Stephanie Bevins tunes into the frequency so she can hear the pilot. She concludes that he must be suffering from hypoxia. Hypoxia is where effectively your body is starved of oxygen. The onset of hypoxia is often masked by the euphoria – you have a general sense of well-being and can be apathetic to the fact that something has gone wrong. You will feel confused and disoriented. Your time of useful consciousness is limited – the time in which you remain capable of making sensible decisions and correcting the issue.
Bevins knows that they need to get the aircraft down from FL32 to a level where the oxygen is sufficient for the pilots, and quickly before the Captain loses consciousness. At this stage, the Captain appears to only be able to respond to direct commands. McCombs tells Kalitta to descend.

McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six if able descend and maintain flight level two six zero.
Captain:	Descending now to flight level two six zero, Kalitta six six.
McCombs:	Ah, Kalitta sixty six, are you still requesting a vector for Ypsilanti?
Captain:	Affirmative. We sure are. Got the aircraft back under control.

The Captain couldn’t turn on the autopilot as his First Officer kept switching it off, which probably saved his life. His focus on hand-flying the aircraft kept him conscious through-out; otherwise they almost certainly would have continued on autopilot at 32,000 feet until the aircraft ran out of fuel and fell out of the sky.
As Kalitta 66 descends, the Captain’s voice changes. Slowly, his words become more understandable and his reactions more professional. By 11,000 feet, he and his First Officer have recovered.

McCombs (to someone else inside Cleveland Center)	Kalitta sixty six can I vector him to the right? Try and hold on, we think he has hypoxia.
Unidentified voice:	All right, to the right is approved.
McCombs:	All right thank you.
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six if able fly heading of three three zero.
Captain:	Three three zero.
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six, area of precipitation 11 o’clock and one five miles extends approximately three zero miles along the route of flight.
Captain:	OK, we see that. Looks like it’s (unintelligible).
First Officer:	And roger, at eleven thousand Kalitta sixty six.
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six roger say intentions.
First Officer:	And Kalitta sixty six. Destination Ypsilanti.
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six roger. Cleared to Ypsilanti via direct. Maintain one one thousand.
Captain:	OK … proceed direct Ypsilanti, Kalitta six six.
First Officer:	And Kalitta sixty six, the aircraft is stable at this time.
McCombs:	Kalitta sixty six roger. Again, maintain one one thousand. You are cleared direct Ypsilanti. Contact Cleveland Center one two zero, point seven seven.
First Officer:	Twenty seven seven direct. Yip, Kalitta sixty six.

Stephanie Bevins and Marvin McCombs were awarded the Archie for the Great Lakes region, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association annual safety award.
Great Lakes Region Award Winner
I agree with NATCA that this is an amazing story which really shows off air traffic controllers at their best. It’s also well worth a listen for all pilots to remind them just how insidious and deadly hypoxia can be.