cover image Vectors to Spare: Life of an Atc-93

Vectors to Spare: Life of an Atc-93

Milovan S. Brenlove. Iowa State Press, $29.99 (198pp) ISBN 978-0-8138-0471-2

Now an assistant professor of aviation at Daniel Webster College in New Hampshire, Brenlove spent 12 years between 1974 and 1989 as an air traffic controller. At Dayton (a quiet airport), Minneapolis (one of the busiest in the country) and Pittsburgh (a happy medium), he had a love-hate relationship with the job, a reaction to its combination of stress and excitement. He offers tales of skyjacking, plane crashes due to structural defects or pilot error, medical emergencies and fires on board. Brenlove gives a provocative account of the nationwide 1981 strike, for which he blames the Federal Aviation Administration as much as the air traffic controllers' union, PATCO. A treat for those who like adventure in the skies. ( July )