When the Tower Goes Dark: What Happens During ATC-0?
If you would’ve told me a year ago that air traffic control can straight-up go offline for hours and still have airplanes flying in and out safely, I wouldn’t have believed you. But tonight, that’s exactly what happened, and it happened right in the middle of a snowstorm.
At 10:30 PM, we got the call:
“Hey Ops, just a heads up. There will be an ATC-0 from 0500 to 1000 Zulu.”
In English? That means from midnight to 5 AM local time, our control tower would be completely unstaffed. No one up there. No clearances. No ground control. No tower frequency.
And that changes everything.
What is ATC-0?
ATC-0 is the official FAA term for when a control tower temporarily has no air traffic controllers on duty. Usually this is a staffing issue, maybe someone called off, they are doing maintenance on their equipment, or maybe something else happened. It can happen at any towered airport, and while it’s rare, it’s something that the system is actually designed to handle.
Airports don’t shut down when it happens. Planes still land. Pilots still talk. Things still move. But instead of having a tower controller coordinating it all from above, the pilots have to coordinate everything on their own using something called CTAF, Common Traffic Advisory Frequency.
Think of it like being at a four-way stop sign with no police officer directing traffic. Everyone has to announce what they’re doing and work together to make sure nobody collides. It’s a little scary if you’re new to it, but it works when everyone plays by the rules.
How Pilots Talk Without a Tower
When the tower is open, pilots talk to air traffic controllers who give them clearances like “Taxi to runway 28L via Alpha and Echo” or “Cleared to land runway 28L.” But when it’s ATC-0, all that changes.
Pilots switch over to the CTAF frequency and say things like:
“Columbus traffic, Southwest 2048, ten miles out, landing runway 28L.”
“Columbus traffic, Delta 2469, taxiing from Gate C56 to 28R via Echo 1.”
Everyone talks, everyone listens, and they coordinate with each other directly. The airfield lights can even be pilot-controlled, just like at smaller airports like Bolton Field. They click their mic on a certain frequency three times and the runway lights come on, no controller required.
Why ATC-0 During Snow Ops Is a Big Deal
Normally during a snow event, airfield operations, like me and my team, are constantly talking with the tower. We close taxiways and runways as needed, plow snow, reopen pavement, issue runway friction reports, and respond to anything unexpected.
But tonight? The tower was dark right in the middle of a snowstorm.
That meant every taxiway closure, every runway closure, and every snow plow out on the airfield needed to be coordinated in an entirely different way.
And fast.
Scrambling Into Action
As soon as we got the ATC-0 notice, my job as Airport Operations was to:
Send an Everbridge alert — This is our mass notification system that alerts airline partners, ground handlers, emergency contacts, and just about everyone else working overnight that something major is happening. I had to explain what ATC-0 means, what hours it would last, and who to call if they had questions or needed help crossing the runway.
Issue a NOTAM — I sent out an official FAA Notice to Airmen letting everyone know our control tower would be unstaffed. These go out to every pilot planning to land or depart at our airport.
Notify airline maintenance — I had to call Republic and Envoy to let them know there would be no ground or tower control overnight. That’s a big deal because they frequently need to tow aircraft across the airfield, which now has to be coordinated through CTAF and Operations — not the tower.
Keep our snow team safe — This was the biggest concern. Without a controller watching the entire airfield, webecame the eyes and ears. We needed to know where every plow was, what runways were closed, and how to make sure no aircraft accidentally rolled into an active snow route. Safety became a giant group project — us, the pilots, the airline ground crews, and even Indianapolis Center.
Shoutout to Travis
A big part of tonight went smoothly because my coworker Travis — who used to be an air traffic controller, stepped up. With so many taxiway closures due to uncleared snow, pilots were trying to figure out how to get from point A to B without a controller to guide them. Travis was out on the radio, helping give suggestions to pilots, explaining which routes were open, and doing his best to keep things moving safely. He didn’t tell them what to do, because we’re not controllers, but he helped them understand what options were available.
So Wait — Who Controls the Skies?
Even though our local tower was closed, the airspace above us was still active and monitored. We called Indianapolis Center, who was responsible for handling the high altitude traffic in our region. They needed to know what runways were closed, what surface conditions were like, and when it would all reopen. They became our new best friends for a few hours.
Final Thoughts
Most people don’t realize this is even possible, that a commercial airport can function safely without air traffic control. But it can. And tonight, we proved it.
It takes trust, good communication, lots of notifications, and a whole lot of people working together.
And next time someone says working in airport operations is boring… I’ll just send them a link to this post.
Let’s keep the frequency clear.
Why I’m doing this
Partly because people keep asking me, “What do you do?” and I want to be able to point to something that actually shows it.
But mostly?
Because I don’t want to forget what I’m learning.
This job is crazy. It’s complicated. It’s full of nuance. You can work here for twenty years and still not know everything. And I don’t want the lessons to slip past me just because I didn’t take five minutes to write them down.
So this is my version of capturing it.
One post at a time. One story at a time. One lesson at a time.
If you’ve ever wondered what happens behind the jet bridge, out past the taxiway lights, or behind those giant “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY” doors… you’re in the right place.
Let’s get to work.