Controlling the SITUATION How ATC worked together in the aftermath of the Chicago Center fire B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N | I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y A L E X W I L L I A M S O N Without warning, the radar scopes went dark and the radio frequencies all fell silent. In the basement of the Chicago Air Route Air Traffic Control Center in Aurora, Illinois, shortly after 5 a.m. on September 26, investigators say Brian Howard-a contract employee-severed the main lines of the vast communications network that underpins some of the world's busiest and most complex airspace, set fire to the electronics, and then slashed his own wrists and neck. He also posted a suicide note on social media. Howard would survive, but the technological heart of the Chicago air traffic control system was dealt a fatal blow. 74 | AOPA PILOT January 2015