IFATCA - The Controller - 2nd Quarter 1987

ISSN 0010-8073

JOURNAL

OF AIR

TRAFFIC

CONTROL

2 / 87

IN TH IS ISSUE: THE A I R TRAFFIC CONTROL SITUATION IN THE USA NEXT GENERAT ION OF ENG INES FOR AIRLINERS NEW KENYA INTEGRATED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL RADAR SYSTEM FIGHTIN ·G FOR ,FREQUENCIES GENEVA , SWITZERLAND -

2 nd QUARTER

198 7

VO LU M E 26

Sfrs 5 .-

Tosee Australia, you haveto hop.

If vou fly to Australia with most air line s, you'll only sec a sm'all pa~¡t of the countr y. The part they land in and ta ke off from . T hat 's usually just Sydne y or Me lbourne.

But whe n you fly to Australia with Qantas, you can hop from one side of the country to the other and see so much mor e .

Beca use Qantas (and on ly Qantas) take off and land in eight d iffe rent par ts of Australia.

So now you can visit so m e of the hcst holida y spots

Australia ha s to offer, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Town svillc, Cairns and Darwin.

For instance, yo u can fly into Perth, hop across to Sy dne y on Q_antas, then up to Brisbane and fly home from there . You'll also make quite a saving on th e c<.>st of your domestic airfare.

So if you plan to go to Australia , sec as much as you can . Talk to Qantas and plan your trip hop by hop. ¡rhc y don't ha ve a kangaroo on their planes for nothing.

t..aAN7AS THE AUSTRALIAN AIRLINE

IFATCA JOURNAL OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

THE CONTROLLER Geneva, Switzerland, June, 1987

Publisher: International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations. P.O. Box 196. CH-1215 Geneva 15 Airport. Switzerland

Volume 26 · No. 2

In th ·1s"issue

Officersof IFATCA: E.F. Sermijn. President and Chief

The Air Traffic Control Situation in the USA

page 4

Executive Officer. U. Windt, Executive Vice-President Administration, T. Gustavsson. Executive Vice-President Finance. W. Rooseman. Executive Vice-President Professional. R.W. Randall. Executive Vice-President Technical. P. O'Doherty. Executive Secretary

Next Generation of Engines for Airliners

page 10

Pilot/ Controller Meeting at Frankfurt

page 14

H. Harri Henschler 1998 Glenmore Avenue. Sherwood Park.

Alberta. Canada. TBA OXB Telephone (403) 467-6826

New Kenya Integrated Air Traffic Control Radar System

page 17

Management and Advertising Sales Office:

Wind Shear and Microbursts

The Controller, P.O. Box 196.

CH-1215 Geneva 15 Airport. Switzerland H.U. Heim, Subscriptions and Publicity.

Tel. (022) 82 26 79 M. Henchoz. Accounting. Tel. (022) 92 56 82 B. Laydevant. Sales Promotion, Tel. (022) 82 79 83

page20

Airlines of the World -Aer Lingus

page26

Book Review

page30

Fighting for Frequencies

page31

Editor:

Production 'Der Bund', Verlag und Druckerei AG Effingerstrasse 1, CH-3001 Bern.

Telephone (031) 25 66 55

Su~rlptlons

and Advertising Payments to:

Umon Bank of Switzerland. Airport Branch CH-1215 Geneva 15 Airport, Switzerland Account: IFATCA/The Controller No. 602 254.MD L

Editorial

IFATCAExecutiveBoard Most readers will remember August 1981 as 'the time PATCO ( Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. USA) went on strike'.

Much discussion has since taken place whether the strike- culmination ~ontributors are expressing their personal points of of years of frustration -'- should have vi~w and opinions. which may not necessarily coincide happened. s~ould have been with those of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers· Associations (IFATCA). · organized differently. could have been IFATCAdoes not assume responsibility for statements prevented or avoided. or re~~ted t_oin made _a~~opinions expressed. it does only accept reanother manner by the admm1strat1on. spons1b1htyfor publishing these contributions.

These are questions to which Contributions are welcome as are comments and critici~m. No payment can be made for manuscripts subhindsight rnay have answers. suffice it mitted for publication in 'The Controller'. The Editor to say that IFATCA made all possible reserves _the right to make any editorial changes in attempts at the time to bring the two manu~cnp!s, which he believes will improve the material without altering the intended meaning. sides back to the table even after the Wri~e~ permission by the Editor is necessary for precipitate mass dismissal of t~e air repnntmg any part of this Journal. traffic controllers. regrettably without success.

At that time the Federal Aviation Advertisers in this issue: Administration (FAA) predicted a Qantas. Philips. Ha-rris:Cossor. complete return to a normal air traffie Ceselsa. Thornson. Selenia control situation within two years.

Photos: IFATCA immediately and consis~ently WNET. Rolls-Royce. Aer Lingus. IATA declared to the then Secretary of Transportation. Mr. D. Lewis. andtMe Cartoons: Administrator of the FM. Mr . .J..L. R. Randall

Subscription Rate: SFrs. 20.- per annum (4 issues). plus postage and package : Surfacemail: Europe and Mediterranean countries SFrs. 4.20, other countries SFrs. 5.40.

Airmail: Europe and Mediterranean countries SFrs. 6.20, other countries SFrs. 10.60.

Special subscription rate for Air Traffic Controllers.

THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Helms who has since left that post under less than favourable circumstances. that 'the only immediate and cost-effective way of returning the US system to pre-strike levels of excellence is reinstatement of dismissed controllers·. These same sentiments were conveyed to the present Secretary ofTransportation. Mrs. E. Dole.

Five years after the dismissal the ATC situation appears not anywhere near back to normal. safety concerns. both from pilots - who supported the Administration action at the time and from politicians are growing and reinstatement is being demanded.

If there is one important lesson to be learned from a sad period it is that. no matter how much money is available and no matter how many people are hired. it is impossible to replace the majority of a controller workforce in a few short years and to achieve consistent quality.

Safety and efficiency in an ATC system depends not only on satisfactory equipment but. fundamentally. on weUtrained and experienced air traffic controllers. Anything less amounts to just filling chairs.

Twenty kilometers altitude, 400 kilometers radius.

That's the unprecedented operational reach of the new long -range radar we've installed in the centre of the Netherlands .

Developed by SIGNAAL,Philips' specialist radar company, the system utilizes pulse compression techniqu es to supply Eurocontrol, Schiphol (Amsterdam) and Military ATCcentres with very high-definition data on all flights within the Dutch F1Rand beyond.

Although the system is new, its operational capability has already been well proven in ATC networks in: Paraguay, Portugal, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. We have also equipped many ATC centres with advanced radar data processing, flight data processing and display s.

You will also find Philips extending aviation safety and efficiency in many other ways .

Our computerized AEROPP sw itching systems for AFIN and CIDIN handle vital data/m essage information such as: flight plans, NOTAMs,OPMET data, departure/ arrival messages and ATC data swiftly and securely from source to pertinent users, national ly an d in ternationally, on dedicated networks.

And our voice logging systems, access control and intruder detection systems, closed circuit surveillance television, portable radio netw orks and voice, image , text and data communications equipment enhance security and efficiency at airports the world over .

Philips. The sure sign of exp ertise worldwide ..

PHILIPS Phili ps Corporate Marketing Communications, Eindhovcn. the Ncthcrlancl" .

The Air Traffic Control Situation in the USA Edi tor 's note : The follo wing transcript is comple te, with very minor editorial deletions . It was tele vised on the ind ep endent, non-commer cial Public Broadc asting Service in the US during the highl y respected and independent M ac Neil/ Lehrer Ne wsHour on 29 Ju ly 7986 .

It is reproduced here wi t h the kind permi ssion of Statio n WNET / Thirteen in New York. N.Y. and t he MacNeil / Lehrer New sHou r.

rate of what it calls incursions - near misses . The safety board says it has been studying the problem at O'Hare since a 1972 runway collision . It recommended then the Federal Aviation Administration cha nge several technical procedures . The NTSB says the recommendations w ere ignored . The FAA says they were unneces sary . The safety board says near misses in the air and on the ground have continued since then . and so have rejections of th eir recommendations . Earlier this year. the NTSB completed a new study of incurs ions at a number of maior airports . includ ing Hare . Published on May 14. the report called for better controller training . more precise procedures. and better reporting of near misses .

Three days after the latest NTSB report w as issued. there w as a near catastrophe at O' Hare. A US Air DC-9 was rolling for take-off when an Am erican Airlines 7 2 7. proper ly cleared by the towe r. crossed the runw ay in front of it . The DC-9 managed to get off the ground at a much lower speed t han norm al and passed over the other Jet. W it nesses said the two planes missed each oth er by less than 20 feet.

Based on that incident. the safety board recom mended t hat a new position be esta blished in the tower to coordinate between con trollers. And three we eks ago a speciq l NTSB investiga t ing committee foun d t here may have been as many as 15 incurs ions at Hare since th e first of the year. The FAA had reported only three . The safety board says incur sions occ urred five t imes mor e often at O' Hare than at the next two airports on its list. O' Hare control ler J eff Mol sen says tho se figure s are mis leadin g. He says the NTSB may be ta lking about wh at are called operational errors. rather th an tru e near misses.

Jeff M olsen. air traffic controll er: Any time an aircraft gets less than thr ee miles from anot her one. we consider that an opera t ional error. That doesn't necessarily const it ute a near miss. Near misses are a rarity. The ones that have happened most recent ly at Hare have gott en a lot of public ity. And I' m not saying that that 's either right or wro ng. But when they start digging into all t he operational errors and saying t hat we have an awfu l lot of near misses here. and t hey· re going to report it. that's just not tr ue.

Bearden: M olsen says the NTSB's newes t reco mm endati ons for changin g proced ures are unnecessary. but he does th ink t he suggest ion to establish a coor dinator is a goo d one.

Mr . M olsen: I th ink a coordinator or anothe r supervisor up in t he t owe r wo uld be a help. and I th ink especially during the busy periods I thi nk it's very importa nt to have anothe r supervisor up th ere.

o·

o·

Robert MacNeil

Under Control?

MacNei/(Executive Editor. NewsHo ur): Our next focus ton ight is air safety. Last week the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it was investigating an unusual number of near collis ions this year at Chicago's O'Ha re Internationa l Airport -one of the busiest in the wor ld. Some are blaming the inc idents on errors by air traffic controllers. We have a maj or discussion tonight with FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Chairma n Donald Engen and two crit ics . But f irst. we have th is background report by correspondent Tom Bearden in Chicago .

Tom Bearden: The view from the tower at O'Hare is overwhelming to the untra ined eye. There are planes everywhere. from the sma llest commuters to the biggest of the j u.mbos. lined up on the ground for take-off . lined up In the sky tor landing.

The tower is a very busy place - perhaps too busy . The National Transportation Safety Board - the federal agency that invest igates aircraft accidents - says this airport has experienced an unusually high 4

o·

Bearden: But critic s of the FAA say th e real problem is lack of experience. Roy Bozych w as one of th e 11 500 controll ers who were fired by the President w hen their union . PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controller s Organization) . stru c k five years ago .

Roy Bozych, former controller : When you t ake 11 500 trained techni cians for the mo st. part who took three to five year s to be trained . to ss them out in the street. and then try and start all over again . you ' re not going to be able to rebuild that system in a few years. And that' s basically what they · re still suffering from .

Bearden: Legislation has been introduced to force the FAA to rehire 1OOO of the former controller s. but Bozych thinks the FAA will resist.

Mr . Bozych: The relationship between PATCO and the FAA wa s so bitter prior to the strike and after th e strike . that the FM just does not _want to bring tho se people back . In add1t1onto that. the FAA doe s not wish to admit that It made a mistake in firing those people and it can now not rebuild t he system.

Bearden: Bozych says the syst em is in suc h serious tr?uble that past animo sity must be put aside .

Mr . Bozych: This is no longer fired controll ers trying to get their jobs bac k. This is a G_AO (General Accounting Office) report which Is pointing its finger at the FM saying th ere_ are serious problem s. This is Congressional investigations and Senaton al invest1~atIons ~ointIng its finger at the FAA _ sayini;i th.ere. s serious problem s.

This Is private instItut1ons like the Aviation Consumer Action ProJect. like th e Aviation Safety Institute and Flight Safety Incorporated all saying th at the FM ' s got safety problem s.

Bearden: Bozych thinks up to half of the fired ~ontroll ers would return to the nation s control tower s if th ey wer e allo_w ed to do so. but he says it will take a maJor acc ident to generate enough political pressure for the FAA to make them an offer .

M acNeil: That report w as by Tom Bearde~. One. strong su.pporter of the leg islation to hire mor e air traffi c controller s is John O' Brien. director of safety for the Airline Pilots Associati .on . which represents some 3 7 OOO pilot s nationwid e.

Mr . O' Brien. how concerned are you about th e situation at Hare. to begin with?

John O'Brien , Airline Pilot s Association : O' Hare. no doubt. is one of the busiest airports in th e world . And on e of th e th ings t hat we're seeing is an increa se in a tot al number incident s. And w e don ' t care wh eth er we call them runw ay incur sions. near misses. syst em errors. pilo t deviati ons. wh atever th ey might be. We· re seeing a t otal numb er of incre ase in th ese type of incidents. and th at con cerns us.

M acNeil: Are t hese inc idents. w hatever t hey' re ca lled. incidents w hic h pot ent ially put t he public at risk?

Mr . O'Bri en: Every t ime yo u have an incident or series of incidents. it' s an indicator t hat som et hing is w rong . And our co nce rn is th at we 'r e seeing eno ugh of t hese indicators th at we want t o do soR'lethin g about t hat. We are work ing w it h t he

o·

THE CONTROLLER / JUNE 1987

John E. O"Brien

FAA. We have made several recommendations, and we have met with the administrator. And to date they have implemented some of our recommendations.

We feel the system is safe. or else we wouldn't be flying in it. Howev er. there are enough things happening out there to cause us concern , and that's why we're speaking publicly about the safety of the system. like we are right now .

MacNeil : Now, what do you see as the cause of the increased number of incidents at Hare, to take that example. Is it procedural-wrong procedures or-which could be corrected by different procedures - or is it the lack of experienced controllers?

Mr. O'Brien: Actually, it's a combination of many things. We have more airplanes today flying in the system and at airports like O' Hare than we ever have had in the past . We have fewer air traffic controllers at many of the facilities in the system today. So common sense would say with more aircraft than ever and fewer control lers, the possibility that a situation might develop into an overwork condition because of weather or other complicating factors is much great er. And obviously, when you have this overwork condition , the potential for human error is greater.

And that's actual ly what we're seeing out there. So we have recommended several things that we think should be im plemented in order to not overwork what we think are very dedicated. very capable people. But we just shouldn't put them in positions where they're not capab le of handling it properly.

MacNeil: Are there people now handling air traffic who are not capable of handling it, do you believe?

Mr. O'Brien : I wouldn't go so far as to say that . I think we have very capable, well trained people out there. But at times the system puts a demand on these individuals that is not fair to them. And what we're trying to do is implement procedures and new technology and, obviously , get more people into the system so that we don't put these people in an unfair situation.

Mac Neil: When the FAA says they· re

getting - they're hiring more air traffic controllers, they· re training more controllers, they're going to continue to train more controllers, why do you think it's a good idea to support rehiring the dismissed PATCO controllers?

Mr . O'Brien : Well, basically because the problem we're talking about is now . It exists right now. And bringing new people into the system. it takes almost 18 months to two years to bring a new person up to a situation where he or she may be able to handle traffic in the same manner that an experienced person can. So if we were to bring some experienced people back into the system along with the new hires - a sprinkling of so many a month - this would have an immed iate impact on the experience levels in the system. and we think it would be a benefit not only to the people who want to travel in the system but to the people who are working the facilities and are, on occasion. are indeed overworked.

Woodruff (correspondent): For an explanation of what the government is doing about the situation and a response to charges levelled by the airline pilots and others. we go now to the head of the Federal Aviation Admin istration, Donald Engen.

Mr. Engen, it's not, as Mr . O'Brien says, they are concerned that the skies are not safe. but it's just that there have been enough incidents. incursions, near collisions -whatever you want to call themthat they are concerned . How do you respond to that?

o·

THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Judy Woodruff

Donald Engen, Federal Aviation Administration: We' re concerned about every single incursion or every single operational error that there is in the system. Let me assure you that in 1985 we reduced the number of operational errors in the United States by 25% over 1984 . Sofarto date in 1986 , we have reduced again by 25% those errors - the number of errors that were in 1985 . The system is performing well. It's interesting to note that we're getting this attention right now on a labor issue just, again , on the eve of pending legislation .

Woodruff: To rehire the PATCO contro llers.

Mr. Engen: Yes. Woodruff: What do you mean, it's interesting?

Mr. Engen: Well, I believe that the pending legislation is dr iving interest in this, and I would like to say to everyone that the safety of the system is my primary goal, and it is everyone's goal in the FAA, as it is those who use the system. If we were to rehire the fired controllers at this time. I believe that it will create - could create - an unsafe system, in that the feelings of the controllers who stayed behind. stood by the system, reworked it, rebuilt it. will be seeing the people com ing back who broke the law. who broke the faith. And those feelings are bound to show up in my work force. And there's not a day that goes by that I don ' t talk to an air traff ic controller who says. · Please do not bring back the fired controllers ·.

Woodruff: You think you would lose some of the current controllers? Is that it?

Mr . Engen: Perhaps. But I think. more than that, it's t he feelings that go t hrough out the system - the depth of feeling on the part of the people working in the system.

Woodruff: In other words, you think they· d be so upset or so bitter that would affect the safety of their work.

Mr. Engen: Yes. Woodruff: But what about Mr. O'Brien's point that we have more planes in the sky and fewer controllers. and that. therefore . you've got a gap. and there's a problem until we can bring enough controllers on stream to handle the problem.

Mr. Engen: We do have more traffic in the sky. And. as I said. the measure of the ability of the system to adapt to that is in the reduction of the operational errors . We have new computers on line. We have new procedures . We have an entirely new air traffic system run nationally, as opposed to regionally . So these new procedures . which are entirely different than anything we·ve done before. are allowing the individual controllers to control more traffic safely .

Woodruff : But you· re not saying that it's yet at the point that you'd like it to be at.

Mr. Engen: It's not. But we're getting there . Truly. I know that people have cited Chicago as a case in point . We have on board at Chicago today more people than are allowed. We have, in addition to these people that are at Chicago O' Hare. we have 20 supervisors who are fully capable of moving traffic and qualified to do so that aren't even counted in those totals . So we have the numbers of people out there.

Ours is a training problem. And , of course . we want to maintain the safety.

Woodruff: But let me just get back to Mr . O'Brien 's point. He said the problem exists now and that it takes time for these new people that you ·re hiring , that you're training. to get up to speed. He said a year and a half to two years . Do you dispute that?

Mr. Engen: The problem has existed for the last five years. and we·ve been solving that problem . The problem - we have today some 9100 fully performance level 5

A

t Kitty Hawk, air traffic control was Wilbur Wright shouting at the top of his voice.

Since then, managing the traffic in the skies has become tremendously more complex.

That's why Hanis is playing such a significant role in the FM's effort to launch the world's

most advancedair trafficcontrolsystem.The VoiceSwitching and ControlSystem(VSCS).

Hanis, and its team members, Magnavox and Tandem Computers, have joined forces with the FM to make air traffic con-

1\' .

trol more efficient And safer than ever before. As team leader, Hanis will provide the digital switching and systems experien.ce so vital to VSCS design, management, and integration.

VSCS, a key part of the National Airspace Systems Plan, will increase controller productivity and decrease much of the stress that accompanies air traffic control. VSCS will automate, switch, and control communications between aircraft and air route traffic control centers. And with the Advanced Automation System, VSCS will handle many of the functions that now burden air traffic controllers. But that's not all.

VSCS will also increase operational flexibility.Improve the availability of information to controllers and pilots. Ease facility, suite, and position reconfiguration And reduce the cost of manpower , equipment, and maintenance.

With over 100 years of combined experience, the Harris team has provided sophisticated systems for programs ranging from the Space Shuttle and B-18 to the Space Station and IDRS.5. That 's what it takes to meet today's air traffic challenge. And keep the dream of Kitty Hawk alive. To find out more, call TOU. FREE 1-800-4-Harris, ext 2640.

---

co ntroller s out there. That is far greater than we had two years ago .

Woodru ff: But you stil l have situations . as we 've seen at O' Hare recently. where there·ve been an inordinate number of incident s. near collisions. whatever you want to call them .

Mr. Engen: I've flown my entire life. and there have been instances as long as there have been two airplanes in the sky. There are instanc es. We wor k on each individual operational error to find out why it occurred and to prevent it from happening again . The number of controllers is not driving the number of operational errors.

Woodruff : Ifs not? Ifs not due to the number?

Mr. Engen: It is not .

Woodru ff: What is. then?

M r. Engen: Well. I think you come down to human factors . Any pilot can make a mistake . and any controller can make a mi stake. And I would deal with the controllers. A human factor error is one of omiss ion - ·1 forget to' or 'Why didn 't I remember to?' We have procedures in place. We've worked with the safety board. and we have our own team at Chicago O' Hare working with our team there to insure that we adopt procedures which are indeed good working procedures . And I believe that the safety board and the FAA are driving for the same thing : safety .

Woodruff : But do you deny that if there were more controllers at airports - busy airports like O'H are - you wouldn't have as many incidents as the ones we 've been ...

Mr. Engen: I do . I do deny it . And let me state categorically that in our terminal options across this nati on that we are staffed in excess of that which we require .

There are six or seven enroute centers at which we have less than enough people. and we are moving people from the te rminals - the Chicago O' Hares. if you will ; the St . Louises or th e Atlantas - into our enroute opt ion to be sure t hat we have enough t here .

Woodruff : Wait a minute. You lost me.

You' re saying there are some places th at don' t have enough controllers. · Mr . Engen: There are some enroute centers that do not have enough fully performance level contro llers.

Woodruff : Are th ese majo r airports?

Mr . Engen: No. t hose are enroute centers. The nation is manned by some 20 centers in the United States. These centers contro l all the traffic. These centers are fu lly manned at places such as Houst on . Denver. Jacksonvi lle. Miami. They are not manned by ful ly qualified people to the extent t hat we want at places like Indianapol is. Chicago . New York. Cl(;lveland.

Washington . And we ' re working on that .

That' s a training problem . That doesn 't mean if s unsafe. though . Let me assure you t hat. w ithout a doubt . every controller moving traffic out there is doing so safely .

Woodruff: But it sounds - to someone who doesn 't unde rstand the system and is hearing about t his for one of the first times . when you say. 'No. there aren 't enough.

We' d like to have more cont rollers ·. But on the ot her hand. ' Everything ·s fine . Everything ·s hunky-dory·. There· s a contradict ion there.

8

Mr . Engen: Let me assure you that what we ' re talking about is we want more fully performance level people . And that's a training problem . The people that I have today are in place . I will have by the end of September 14 480 control personnel. I have. as of the end of June . 14 282. I just have a matter of some 200 more to hire in the next 60 days . They will indeed be hired . I have the totals that are required .

Woodruff: But at some point . and I think what we ' re getting at. isn't there a gap between these people you 've brought on board getting trained and getting up to speed and getting experienced enough to be at the position you need them at .

Mr . Engen: No. because we ' re qualifying controllers at the rate of between 80 and 100 each month . and we ' re bringing them on line . The system is accommodat ing to this . The people who are controlling are fully performance level people. We don 't allow people to control aircraft who are not fully performance level. We back up people in a training mood . and we're developing new FPLs. or Fully Performance Level people .

Woodruff: Donald Engen. thank you for being with us.

Mr . Engen: Thank you very much .

MacNeil : Now a key sponsor of the legislation that would require the rehiring of air traffic controllers dismissed by President Reagan during the 1981 strike. He is Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey . who joins us from a studio on Capitol Hill.

Senator . Mr . Engen says it is not a safety problem ; it is a training problem .

What is your response?

Sen. Frank Lautenberg

Sen. Frank Lautenberg. New Jersey: Well. I disagree quit e active ly. if I may. with Admiral Engen. I listened to what he said. and frankly if you were watching me. you would have seen me shaking my head. beca use we have a system now that has about 90 00 fu ll performance level controllers. In 1981. when we had substantially less traffic . we had over 13 OOO.And

I don 't know how Admir al Engen. a man who 's had responsibilities for leading huge teams - he was a commander of an aircraft carrier fleet. etc. - can talk about morale in terms of a reason for not doing something that he knows very well is the right thing to do . We hear all kinds of reasons why things are okay. and I will tell you this : ifs less safe than it used to be . Is it unsafe? No. I don ' t think so. But it wouldn ' t take much to make it unsafe . We have over 700 near misses reported in this year. compared to 500 a couple years ago .

MacNeil : He says th at the number of controllers is not driving the number of operational errors.

Sen. Lautenberg : Well. I would have to challenge that . The number of things that we are not doing . including controllers. including technology. including wind shear detection equipment. does affect it .

You know. we talk about the safety factor . and that's the most important thing . But ask anybody who ' s travel led. and see how much delay time there is. and see how much missed appointments and how many missed transactions are done and people sitting in delays . Today I was with a group of senators in New York. We were on air force equipment. We sat over one hour at LaGuardia Airport waiting to take off .

The weather wasn ' t - certainly didn't seem to be bad on the flight down . Ifs a constant thing . I fly regularly - at least twice a week- between the New York area and this area. Traffic is way up as a result of deregulation . Just for your information . we had five years ago over 300 full performance level controllers. Today we have 150 .

I don't know how Admiral Engen can make the argument and seriously believe it . I' m sure he does. but it doesn ' t wash.

MacNeil : Well. what do you think the problem is?

Sen. Laufenberg : I think the problem is that he's defending a position that's indefensible at this point . He's toeing the line .

They want to punish the fired controllers. I wanted to punish them too. I think they deserved to be fired . They struck illegally .

But there is a point at which the punish ment is over. even with serious crimes committed . and you say. ' Okay. you 've been rehabilitated . Come on back into the system.· We need those people in many cases more than they need us. I talk to people in the towers regularly. I visit the towers. I fly a lot in small aircraft . And I see the tension that ' s there . and I hear the party line that says. ' No we don 't want those people back . We don ' t want to work with them. · Yet they barely have time to walk . talk . smoke. whatever they ' re doing up there . The stress is enormou s. We face incredible numbers. possibly. of retirees co ming up . And to sit here and just blithely say. ' No. they quit. they were fired . and now we want them to pay the price. We have trainable people.· Why can ' t we get enough people to bring the system up to date?

MacNeil : Mr. Engen. what's your answer to that?

Mr. Engen: I would like to say to the good senator that the reason fo r delays are t hat we are slowing down the t raffi c because of weather . purely and simple .

THE CONTROLLER/ J UNE 1987

Second reason is because the airports along the Eastern Seaboard are overburdened. We're giving people the delays on the ground so that it will be a safer way.

Those delays are not due to the manning of the air traffic system. They're due to consideration of weather and the landing runways available .

Sen. Lautenberg: I couldn't hear Admiral Engen ·s earliest remarks. but there are delays that are cause d by lack of skills in the towers . And to deny that really is not. ..

MacNeil:The senator just said there are delays which are due to lack of skills in the towers. _Sen. Lautenberg: Lack of full population . lack of skills. Admiral Engen . why is it that in the New York area. where we used to have over 300 full performance level controllers. with traffic up at Newark over 50% in five years. traffic in the New York region up over 30%. we have MacNeil: Senator. we have less than a minute here . Let the chairman answer .

Mr. Engen : Let me assure you , sir.

Senator Lautenberg. that the delays are due to weather and to the availability of concrete and runways. We are taking our ~elays because we want people to take it rn safety , and when they take off we want them to land on time . And I am truly sorry for the delays, but they are ju st not due to lack of air traffic controllers .

MacNeil : We have to leave it there. gentlemen . Chairman Engen. Mr . O'Brien a~d_Senator Lautenb erg. thank you all for Jornrng us.

End of Transcript.

On the same subject.

The Air Traffic Control Situation in the USA, J .A. Donoghue . Executive Editor of ·Air Transport World'. eloquently voices his and the airline industry's concerns in an Editorial. published in ·ATW ' 12 / 86 . reproduced below in shortened format. titled:

A Numbers Game Air traffic delays in the U.S. this summer and early fall became the rule rather than the exception. The drill was this: board your flight at the assigned time . close _upthe doors and taxi in the general d1rect1on of the runwa y as if there was some hope of departing . and sit. waiting for the great gods in the air traffic control centers to see a parting of the seas of congestion . While awaiting this revelation. passengers and crew sit and stew. Passengers on schedules get the most restless. especially those with connections in our hub-dominated . deregulated industry.

Paying passengers have become angry. and their wrath has been directed at the airlines . The airlines. angry themselves . have done a poor job of informing their passengers exactly why they must sit motionless at their departure point . sometimes for hours . In one celebrated case a passenger is suing an airline for false imprisonment aher being taken on a trip THE CONTROLLER / JUNE 198 7

J.A. Donoghue that was so delayed he no longer needed or wanted to go.

FAA says delays are caused by weather. a lack of runway space. schedule bunching at peak hours and overall increased traffic. some 8.25% above 1984 levels overall, with the number of operations at the 22 pacing airports up 7 .8%.

The airlines disagree. some vehemently . Air Transport Association. at the urging of its members. has assembled a report blaming many delays on ATC procedures imposed by FAA after the 1981 controller walkout . Those temporary procedures remain in effect today. five years later .

Blaming the increased traffic and admitting to a lower level of expertise in the current controller work force . FAA is playing the game conservatively, keeping airplanes on the ground instead of allowing them to depart when a h_old at the destination or enroute seems likely.

The ATA study counted delays. discarded unavoidable weather delays, and found that these procedures in July caused 19 OOOdelay events. producing an average daily delay of 2 500 hours for t hat month. Overall average is 2000 hours daily. As pointed out by United President James J . Hartigan . that number of hours is equal to grounding 250 airplanes a day. or a carr ier about the size of Delta .

Annual cost to the industry is $1 billion .

ATA says. Passenger time lost sitting on an airp lane amounts to 54 million hours. The solution. ATA says. is to return to the procedures used before the 1981 walkout .

Instead of keeping all flights on the ground. the carriers are saying. let a reasonable number go even if holding at the destination seems likely. Then. if a hole in the traffic or weather opens as it so oh en does. the holding traffic can benefit.

Separation standard s. too . are far more stringent than they appear to need be. In some instan ces in-trail traffic is being kept 30 miles apart. regardless of altitude . In

addition . airlines want FAA to hire 500 more controllers than Congress has mandated for the current fiscal year . bringing the work force up to 15 500.

FAA has talked itself into a corner on this issue. On one hand it says it has plenty of money and manpower to do its job and it needs nothing more . On the other hand it says it cannot do its job like before. FAA protestations of sufficient money. bod ies. etc .. ring hollow . It is not likely the world will see an FAA administrator stand up in public and say that his bosses are not giving the agency enough money to do the job. Who remembers Walter Hic kle. secretary of the interior under Richard Nixon. and the last ranking administration memberto do that sort of th ing? He disappeared quickly .

Donald Engen. FAA adm inistrator. recently asked an aviation audience not to politicize the issue of air traffic delays , to ·avoid the temptation to have someone outside the system fix it for us·. He misses the point. The traveling public. includ ing members of Congress. is so enraged about the state of affairs as to force a fix on the system.

There is fear that FAA is mounting pressure on carriers to have another rescheduling conference . as was held several years ago . to flatten out peaks at the pacing airports. Airlines oppose t his. saying that if the public didn 't wan t to travel at peak hours there wou ld be no reason to schedule that way .

Capacity should be mat ched to demand. not the other way around . For deregulation to work thi s mus t be t he operating philo sophy .

The way to do tha t in t he short- t erm . airlines say, is to change procedur es . The way to do that in the long -term is to spe nd the money being collected in t he tr ust f und for that purpose .

In the coming months a new Congress will begin cons ider ing a fo llow-on to t he Airport Improvement Program. It is t he time to try to move ATC out from unde r t he restric t ing Executive Branch infrastr ucture . Establishing a federal corpo ration to run ATC seems t o be a bett er idea the longer we look at it .

Further. 'Time ·. t he wee kly new smagazine . carried . at least in its 12 January North Ameri can editio ns. a cover article titled: ·Ai r Travel - How Safe Is It?' Reproduced below are a few direct quotes . ' Near midair (colli sions) ... are incre asing at an alarming rate: 31 1 in 1982 . 4 75 in 1983 . 589 in 1984 . 777 in 1985 . at least 812 in 1986 . Commer cial airliners were involved in 35 % of the 198 6 incidents .... runw ay incursions are also on the rise: 10 2 in 198 5 and an est imated 112 last year.· · " There are not eno ugh controllers. and to o many of th em have a low experi ence level. " cla ims ... the President of the Aviation Safety Institute. a private foundation .. . The number of controllers is down from 16 30 0 to 14 700 since .. . striking members of ... PATCO... (were f ired) in 1981; more sign ificantly . only 9

62 % of them are qual ified at "full performance level", vs. 80 % before the strike.'

'A survey by the Government's General Accounti ng Office last March produced some disturbing findings : an overwhelming 91 % of controllers complained that the system does not have enough qualified controllers, 70% reported that they handle more traffic in peak periods than they should be required to accept, 5g% claimed that their heavy workloads adversely affect air safety. In the fiscal year before the 1981 strike, controllers put in 377 OOO hours of overtime; in 1985 they worke d an extra 908 OOO hours.¡ ' Moreover, the controllers are not optimistic about the immediate future. More than half rated the quality of training for new controllers as either .. less than

adequate" or .. poor" ... Of 450 supervisors in the survey, 75% said they hope to retire within a year ... A lot of us are tired, over-worked, stressed and demoralized", explained one veteran.¡ 'A survey of ALPA' s (US Airline Pilots Association) members in September showed not only that midair collisions are the pilots ' biggest concern but that 66% of them feel that the problems of air traffic control are more serious than the public realizes.¡ 'The dismissal of 11 500 strikers ... is still hotly argued from a safety standpoint .

Claims ... an ALPA executive and air safety consultant .. : "Instead of listening to the message, it (the Administration) killed the messenger. Now the message has resurfaced because the new people are expressing the same problems''.'

It appears obvious that the situation, if anything , has deteriorated . In the same Time article a senior vicepresident for flight operations of a major airline attributes the absence of catastrophies to 'the professional skills of our pilots or, in some cases, just plain good luck'.

P.S. As this issue goes to press it is reported that the FAA Administrator Donald Engen has tendered his resignation. hhh

Next Generation of Engines for Airliners David Marshall

Editor's note: Among the concepts being developed for tomorrow's airliner powerplants are high-bypass turbofan engines and open-rotor or propfan engines. The latter is under consideration by at least Lockheed-Georgia Company of the United States and Rolls-Royce in the UK. The author of the following article describes Rolls-Royce's work on their future engines. David Marshall is general manager , marketing planning and new projects in the civil engine group of Rolls-Royce . He was, earlier, Rolls-Royce's representative at Airbus Industries , sales manager- Europe, marketing managerNorth America, head of business planning, civil engine group and head of new projects. Mr. Marshall has, in addition, held a number of other positions in various Rolls-Royce departments. hhh Detailed studies and advanced technica l work are now being undertaken by Rolls-Royce to provide advanced engines for the world's airlines up to the year 2000 and beyond.

Project and advanced engineering work covers a range of possible future engines. These include more efficient large turbofans than those in service today as we ll as fuel-efficient propfan or advanced turboprop designs.

As usual when looking into the future, more detailed knowledge is required in a number of technical areas, and th is is being acquired in areas such as contra-rotating fans, prope llers and turbines, very large diameter nace lles, very high power gearboxes and noise control.

But what is uncerta in is t he competitive and economic environment in wh ic h the wor ld 's airlines will be operati ng, as well as the future cost of their fuel. These factors will affec t the 10

new aircraft and powerplants which they actually order as much as the technical considerations .

For example, in recent years US airlines have been unable to predict their patterns of future traffic as accurately as they could before deregulation . There has been an emphasis on purchases of smaller and more flexible airliners, enabling them to respond effectively to changes in their route networks dictated by competition . As a result, airliners such as developments of the DC-9 and Boeing 73 7 have sold on a larger scale than seemed likely at the end of the 1970s and major airlines have identified the need for a cost-efficient 100-seat aircraft that is being met by the RollsRoyce Tay-powered Fokker 100.

The development of advanced new engines and airliners in the mid-1970s was spurred by the rapid growth in the cost of fuel and the prospect that fuel

D.A.A. Marshall

costs would continue increasing indefinitely. This led to the launch of new and highly fuel-efficient aircraft and engines which have not, so far , sold as rapidly as had originally been anticipated.

It appeared that operators would have to purchase these new types if their fuel bills were not to become astronomic. In the event, they found that fuel prices stabilised and began to decline; this year they have fallen rapidly . As a result it has paid many operators to update their fleets of aircraft and to buy new equipment derived from established types rather than to purchase totally new and advanced airliners.

Fuel Efficiency Against this background a manu facturer planning to launch a new engine faces immense difficulties. An engine takes some six years between THE CONTRO LLER/ JUNE 1987

Cruise speed requirements 10.000,r-------------------------

.....

=61 Long range (three class) :

"'

•• •• • •

0

8

,.: 1,000 I

"'

_gi

·e

ShorVmedium range (two class) • • cc::_~

1en f!'g-g

___//i ~a--

. .

~

100>-

Short range

(.)

• • I

• •

~- ... '..I <.

,-,,_

- -

I

I

0.2

•

0.4

0.3

I

I

0.5 0.6 0.7 Cruise Mach number

I

I

0.8

0.9

Operating cost breakdown Medium-range aircraft

Short-range aircraft

Long-range aircraft

is simpler and operates in less exacting conditions. making it cheaper to buy and run.

An engine manufacturer must examine these factors closely.

Operators are not mesmerised by adv?nced tE:3chnology;they just want engines which will be highly reliable, cause them the least trouble to oper~te an~ which will generate the largest financial return on their investment.

These considerations must be weighed very closely by engine manufacturers when the industry faces new propulsion concept developments such as the propfan .

The relative importance of fuel costs and engine ownership costs depends on the mission for which an aircraft is used. Rolls-Royce has made a detailed study of the needs of the world's air transport industry over the ne:xJ15 years in order to establish priont1es.

Market Needs

19%

22%

1:::::::1 . ~ Ownership

8888jFuel

D

Maintenance

Powerplant demand

450 seats 3,000 nm stage

IIIIlllll Crew

~

Powerplant related

Summary of needs

Short to medium'.!--_"T""" __ range 10010170 seats

17%

150 seats 500 nm stage

50 seats 160 nm stage

Medium to long range

200plus seats

Medium/ long range Powerplant design priority Speed regime Market size

Proportions by valuo

Fuel

ShorV medium range

Short range

FueV Ownership Ownership and and maintenance/ Fuel maintenance

Mach 0.Bplus

Mach 0.7to0.8

Mach 0.25100.45

55%

29%

16%

Wing/rear

Wing-tractor

Current installations Wing/tail

Requirements for airline engines up to the year 2000

,.

the launch decision and its entry into service. Inevitably the air transport environment changes in this time and prospects for large-scale sales may not be as good as when the engine was launched. While prudence dictates that no major engine is launched without substantial initial orders, it is impossible to guarantee sales which will assure profitability when a new civil engine programme is started.

Hence decisions must be based on a fundamental study of the future requirements· of different sectors of the airline market in future - particulary if it can be established that these requirements will be independent of changes in fuel price and other econTHE CONTROLLER/JUNE 1987

omic factors which affect the air transport industry.

The design of any aircraft engine is a compromise, embracing its performance, first cost and operating costs. Very high levels of fuel efficiency are now technically possible, but there is always a trade-off between fuel efficiency and an engine's costs of ownership excluding its fuel consumption. These are made up of its first cost and spares and maintenance costs.

Outstanding fuel economy can be provided, but it may require an engine design which is more complex and costly to purchase and maintain than a design which, while it uses more fuel.

The study began by examining the demand for civil powerplants up to the year 2000_ and assessing requirements for different classes of airliner.

It s~owed that about 55 per cent of engine purchases by value will be for large airliners carrying 200 plus passengers and operating over medium to long ranges.

These airliners are high-speed types cruising at Mach 0.8 and above.

In their case the most important consideration is fuel efficiency. This is not related solely to minimising the cost of !he fuel they use. Fuel efficiency is very important for such types because it contributes greatly to improvements in their range/payload performance, ~nd thus their revenue-earning potential. over long routes. A large fall in the cost of fuel would not alter this.

The second category covers shortto medium-range airliners, seating 100 to 170 passengers and cruising at speeds between Mach O. 7 and 0.8. It is expected that they will account for about 30 per cent of the future market for engines and spares.

Fuel efficiency and ownership and maintenance costs are of equal importance for these types.

The third category covers shortrange airliners with 30 to 70 seats and is likely to account for some 15 per cent of the total engine market. These aircraft are turboprop-powered and cruise at much lower speeds. in the Mach 0.25 to 0.45 range. In their case the ownership and maintenance costs of engines are dominant. with fuel costs coming a poor second.

All of these aircraft must also be environmentally acceptable in respect of noise and pollution - particularly 11

noise, which also includes local airport limits that are more stringent than national certification levels.

Rolls-RoyceApproach In assessing future requirements for civil engines Rolls-Royce starts with some excellent existing assets.

Its RB211-524 continues to provide the most fuel-efficient installation for Boeing 7 4 7 operators and improvements will keep it competitive for years ahead for those airlines which operate RB211 s. Advanced RB211 s are also being used to upgrade the performance of Lockheed L-1011 TriStars.

Under an agreement with General Electric the two companies also have reciprocal stakes in the CF6-80C2 and RB211-535E4 engine production programmes for wide-bodied airliners and the Boeing 757 respectively.

In this latter 40,000 lb thrust class Rolls-Royce has the RB211-535C and E4 engines. Installed in Boeing 757s, these are proving more reliable than any new turbofan engine in the past.

The E4-powered 7 5 7 is one of the quietest aircraft in the skies, able to operate unrestricted in and out of close-to-city airports like Washington National. Continuing sales are anticipated.

At thrusts of 25 OOO lb upwards Rolls-Royce has a 30 per cent share in the five-nation V2500 engine programme. The V2500 has been ordered in quantity for the Airbus A320 and is also on offer for the proposed Airbus A340 long-range airliner. The engine is scheduled to enter service in 1989 and is likely to remain in production and service for decades thereafter.

Rolls-Royce is also exceptionally well placed in the 12,500 to 15, OOO lb thrust class with its new Tay turUltra high bypass ratio engine: The Contrafan

Ultra high bypass ratio engine: The Propfan

bofan which powers the Gulfstream IV executive jet and Fokker 100 airliner.

Both are selling well and are leaders in their own fields. The Tay again is an engine for which one can predict a life of 30 years or more - as has been achieved with the Dart turboprop.

The Dart entered service 33 years ago but is still being upgraded by Rolls-Royce. However, the company is planning the development of an advanced new turboprop, the RB500, for airliners in the 50- to 70-seat class.

The RB550 is based on the core of the advanced new RTM322 helicopter engine being developed jointly by Rolls-Royce and Turbomeca.

Clearly with this extensive range of commercial engines - several at the start of their lives - it would be imprudent for Rolls-Royce to launch even more advanced projects which threatened their markets and outmoded them before they had been

sold in quantity. So why is the company examining an advanced range of new engine types? The answer is threefold.

Firstly, Rolls-Royce has always recognised the need to look to the future and prepare, at very long range, in a fiercely competitive market.

Secondly. Rolls-Royce needs to develop the technology concerned and ways of overcoming the problems inherent in these new designs, thus putting the company into a position to take advantage of market opportunities in this field as and when they arise. This applies to advanced designs of engine for large long-range airliners as well as any possibilities for using the propfan concept.

And thirdly, the company must continue its programme of advanced engineering and technology work.

This is needed not only for new designs, but for the continuing improvement of its established product range. The benefits are shown by recent orders for upgraded versions of the RB211. British Airways alone placed an order worth ÂŁ100 million.

Future Programme Rolls-Royce work on advanced civil engines has two main strands.

The first line of work is devoted to more powerful turbofans for the very large long-range airliners of the future.

These aircraft have wing-mounted engines and cruise at speeds where ducted fans are most efficient. The propfan type of powerplant is thus likely to be unsuitable for them. New designs for these aircraft offer the prospect of a 25 per cent reduction in fuel consumption over current types.

Studies have covered a variety of ducted-fan designs, both of mid-fan configuration and of the front-fan type

12

THE CONTROLLER/JUNE 1987

comparable with engines which power today's large airliners. This concept is also applicable at smaller aircraft sizes. but the fuel gain must significantly outweigh any associated cost burden .

The second is a programme of studies and detailed technical work on open-rotor. or propfan. engines.

These offer the prospect of fuel savings of around 35 per cent. but many technical problems must be overcome before they can enter service : noise. vibration and blade integrity are just a few examples. All the same. considerable progress has been made in their design evolution. ¡

Technology Preparation In parallel with the design activity An artist 's impression of a future airliner powered on new propulsion concepts it is equally vital to acquire and evaluate 535E4 engine, to propfan blades; trial the technologies which will be needed manufacturing to research this is already under way. to underpin the design choices.

Timing and even commitment to The large, ducted, contra-rotating any full-scale propfan demonstration fan will be tested at model size to measure aerodynamic and noise per- ~ill depend on surmounting the techformance and the requirement for a nical hazards of noise. vibration and satisfactory airworthiness , as well as lightweight. low-drag nacelle will be future trends in fuel prices . supported by a structural and aerodynamic programme . The task of Future assembling this technological capaWhile Rolls-Royce is conducting bility will be a two- to three-year effort. detailed technical and design proIt will probably lead to a full-scale grammes on new engine possibilities. demonstration including flight test so it is also working closely with airframe that the decision to launch a procompanies . They are making their own duction programme could be taken on studies of airliner designs which the basis of a full-scale evaluation in incorporate new airframe and systems the early 1990s.

The Rolls-Royce propfan concept also embodies many unique design Ultra high bypass ratio engine: The Superfan concepts which require technological development. It includes a highly novel contra-rotating gearbox where the single input drive from the power turbine is translated into two contrarotati ng output drives. both of which include a variable-pitch mechanism to vary the setting angle of the fan blades. This gearbox is positioned within the propeller hub to create a compact powerplant. Rolls-Royce has now commissioned a new gearbox test facility to support detailed research on lubrication. gear teeth loading. etc. and to test a full-scale contra-rotating gearbox, for which design has started.

It may be appropriate to apply the hollow fan blade technology. successfully developed for the RB211THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 198 7

by rear moun ted Propfan engines

technology. This is the normal cooperative and evolutionary process through which new aircraft and engine types crystallise and are eventually ordered by operators.

It remains to be seen when this large volume of technology work will culminate in the first orders for new airliners and engines. Changes in the price of oil have t emporaril y reduced one ~ressure which drove operators in the past to order f uel-efficient new types . But whenever the large volume of engineering work being undertaken results in orders fo r new products.

Rolls-Royce is working t oday to ensure that it can offer technology and new engines which are second to none.

13

Pilot/ Controller Meeting held at Frankfurt Uwe Kroger

Editor 's note : The Federation has, for many years , actively encouraged dialogue and discussion between the two groups which work most closely together in the operational aviation environment- pilots and controllers . Such exchange at all levels, int ernat ionally , regionally , and at the national or even local level , contributes to understanding the other 's concerns, constraints , and pressures , and it helps overcome and prevent misunderstandings and confusion. A successful pilot-controller forum was held in Great Britain in November 1986 . Another such successful meeting took place in Frankfurt , FRG, 24 November 1986 . The author of the article is a member of the ATS Study Group of the German Cockpit A ssociation and a First Officer on A300 aircraft . hhh

The latest Pilot / Controller Meeting was initi ated by the Verband Deutscher Flugleiter (VDF); it was held at the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Sheraton Hotel.

Approxima tely 60 visitors joined the meeting , mainly air traff ic controllers from t he nearby Frankfurt ACC and pilots of Frankfurt based airlines.

Starting from 7 p.m. and lasting until about midnight, discussions we re frank and fruitful for both parties involved: controllers and pilots .

Following is a brief summary of items discussed : Radio Telephony Procedures: It was mentioned t hat the new ICAO R / T-Procedures are not strictly adhered to by eith er controllers or pilots. In many cases R/ T will be conducted by the phraseologies used during the initial call, either by a controller or by a pilot. Therefo re it was considered essential, t hat the person initiating radio telepho ny commun icat ion uses the correct wording.

Examp le: TWR : 'ca llsign, report clear of runway· A / C: ' ca llsign, clear of runway ' Safer communicat ion wou ld be: TWR : ·callsign , report runway vac ated' A / C: ·callsign , runway vacated' Further it wa s emphasized, that ·co nditiona l clearances · should conta in t he rest ricting part before the clearan ce part: Example: TWR: ·ca llsign, behind landing DC-9 on short final line up on 25 ' R A / C: ·callsign, behi nd DC-9 line up 25 R' .

14

Uwe Kroger

Both parties engaged were in agreement that the employment of co nditional clearances would lead to a mor e liquid flow of traffic instead of delivering a clearance solely when there are no more restrictions to be observed.

This, however , demands an alert engagement of both parties involved.

Another - humorou s - example of lack of R IT-phraseology : A / C (initial call) after a frequency change : 'callsign , climbing to nine zero (FL 90)'.

An air traffic controller complained it was possible to misunderstand that the aircraft migh t be climbing to FL 290 ( ...cl imbing two nine zero ... .. .c limbing to nine zero .. . ).

A pilot answered that in general t his comp laint w as ju stified , however , everybody fam iliar with the Frankfurt area knows that 'yo u never ever get an unrestricted c limb to FL 290 instead of FL 90 on t hat frequency·.

By using this answer pilots criticized the enormous amount of necessary frequency changes and coinciding sectorization when flying to and from Frankfurt .

Airspace Design Normally an aircraft bound for Frankfurt from north or east has to fly in the lower airspace (below FL 245) at a distance of approximately 100 NM from the airport.

This is a rather uneconomic way of flying .

Air traffic controllers regretted, however , at the present time they saw no way out of this dilemma due to lack of personnel and equipment, as more coordination would be necessary for continous descents .

Runway in Use 07: This was another difficult item . It often happens that aircraft on a radar vectored downwind at 5000 ft (Elevation 3 70 ft) while passing abeam threshold of runways 07 left/ right will be cleared for a visual approach in order to expedite traffic flow.

Pilots are eager to accept these clearances . It was , however , noted that these approaches result in an unusually steep approach angle, which could lead to a go-around maneuver . In order to avoid this pilots should not hesitate to request more distance to fly a normal profile.

Conclusions: Discussions were frank and open among all participants. It was mentioned that meetings between pilots and controllers on the basis of a rather informal meeting could be a very good tool to clear up items, which cannot (and should not) be discussed on ATC frequencies.

It was highlighted as the peculiarity of the relation pilot/ controller, that regardless of the degree of depen dency on each other they normally never meet together.

Therefore , before the participants departed the meeting , they had decided to meet again.

It Pays to Advertisein 'The Controller' THE CONTROLLER / JUNE 1987

New Airline enters International Commercial Aviation Scene

Canadian

Canadian An-lines International

"/don't

know who he is, but he is good . .. "

Ferranti to Market Microwave Landing System Micronav Limited of Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada and Ferranti Defence Systems Limited of Edinburgh, Scotland have announced the signing of a collaborative agreement under which Ferranti will have exclusive responsibility for manufacturing and market!ng of Micronav's Microwave Landing System (MLS) in various ~urope~n and Middle Eastern countries, India and Australasia.

The introduction of MLS to replace Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) h~s been declared mandatory for the airfields of all countries under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulations and an expanding market is envisaged during the next decade. Current estimates place the value of the world market at approximately U.S. $5 to $5.5 billion.

Microwave Landing System technology provides optimum high accuracy approach paths for all aircraft types from widebody jets to helicopters. Other features include lower installation and maintenance costs together with the possibility of installation at airfields where ILS cannot function satisfactorily.

Micronav is a recently established innovative company whose main business activity is the design and production of MLS systems which are of special importance to Canada with over 5,000 landing fields, often located in difficult terrain. Ferranti THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Defence Systems Limited, one of the five main operating units of Ferranti pie, has a world-wide reputation for avionic systems and is expanding into new applications for these technologies.

Air traffic controllers, pilots, travellers, and other members of the international aviation community will be noticing a new name in the air: Canadian Airlines International. Following the merging of Pacific Western, a Canadian domestic and charter carrier, and Canadian Pacific, the new 'Canadian', together with its commuter airline partners, will serve over one-hundred North American points as well as five continents, North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In addition to its present fleet of eighty-one aircraft 'Canadian' has placed orders or taken options on another fourteen 8767s.

CDNYEX17 "'----INTERNATIONAL-------'

CONVEX '87 INTERNATIONAL Holiday Inn, Slough. Windsor 14- 16 October 19 8 7 The Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers is holding its 16th Convention and Exhibition on the topical subject of the capacity crisis facing airports and airspace.

The theme of Convex 87 International is:

Airspace and Airports - a Crisis of Capacuty The Convex will include Technical Presentations Open Forums A large Exhibition A varied Programme of Social Events The Guild is very keen to attract delegates from all sections of the aviation community.

15

How M LS works

Instrument Landing System (ILS)

Microwave Landing System (MLS) ILS provides a single. fixed approach path to the runway which all aircraft. regardless of flight characteristic~. must f<;>llow.

MLS uses two scanning beams- one lateral and one vertical - to provide a variety of approach paths for different aircraft types. from airline jets through STOL aircraft to helicopters.

M LS Azimuth Antenna

M LS Azimuth Antenna

A

The MLS_azimuth beam sweep~ rapi~ly and continuously to left and right of the extended runway centre line. Normally. the sweep will_be ~oforty ~egrees e1~herside of the centre line. but this can be adjusted to suit local terrain or other requirements. determine its lc:>caJ1on. the a,~craft r~ceiver n:ieasures the time between "TO" and "FRO" sweeps of the beam: A lon_g interval ~Aabove) 1nd1cates_the a1rc~aft1sto the nght of the centre line. while a short interval (B above) indicates the aircraft 1s to the nght of the centre line. while a short interval (B above) indicates the aircraft is to the left.

!o

l:~~--=~~~-~--~---...

-=-:'."'. ____________ ~_-_-_-_-_--:---_-"'7-,i,..115 °

0.9°

The MLS elevation beam is a fanshaped beam which sweeps rapidly up and down through the azimuth coverage area. The aircraft receiver measures the time between the sweeps of the elevation beam to determine the aircraft's descent angle.

After selecting the appropriate inbound azimuth and elevation approach angles on his aircraft MLS receiver. the pilot obtains precise fly right/fly left. fly up/fly down cross pointer guidance down the approach path. During his approach. the pilot al~o receives continuous distance-to-go information from a separate precision distance measuring equipment(PDME) transmitter. normally located at the MLS azimuth transmitter site.

Some M LS installations may include a back azimuth transmitter. located off the approach end of the runway. which sweeps a second azimuth scanning beam through the missed app_roachare~ to provide precise guidance during missed approac~ and departure procedures. Azimuth. elevation. and back azimuth stations transmit in continuous rapid sequence on the single MLS frequency channel assigned to the specific runway approach.

16

THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

New Kenya Integrated Air Traffic Control Radar System R.H. Kahane , Thomson-CSF

l

Introduction: The new integrated A.T.C . Radar System currently being implemented in Kenya by Thomson-CSF under the terms of a contract concluded in 1985 , will provide modern air traffic control , information and alerting facilities throughout the very extensive national airspace , a portion of which extends out over the Indian Ocean .

System Configuration and Operational Organisation The provision of ATS is shared between the main centre at Nairobi and the sub-centre at Mombasa.

Nairobi centre incorporates the two en-route sectors covering the northern and southern halves of the airspace, and Nairobi TMA control.

Mombasa sub-centre provides enroute radar control within the portion of the southern en-route sector which surrounds Mombasa , as well as having reponsibility for Mombasa TM~ .

In view of this airspace organisation and to meet the requirements for extensive automated radar control , the new system will be composed of four radar stations, two air traffic control centres and one automatic AFTN message switching system (see geographical layout map and system block diagram) . . .

The four radar stations are distrib uted as follows : one airport radar on the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport of Nairobi . two medium range radars, one on Mua Hills site and the other one on the Arap Moi International Airport of Mombasa one long range radar on Poror site.

The ATC main centre operates with the information from all four radar ¡ heads while the ATC sub centre operates exclusively with the information from the Mombasa radar head .

The Automatic Message Switching System is located within _the Nairobi ATC main centre and 1s linked to the ATC processing system .

Furthermore , the Mombasa subcent re processing system 1s conTHE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

nected to the Nairobi main centre processing system in order to receive flight plan data .

The Radar Stations The following configurations will be provided at the different locations.

North-West Area

Poror site A long range (200 NM) radar head based upon the LP 23 K klystron-

R.H. Kahane

powered primary radar and th e RS 870 SSR, the data of wh ich w ill be transmitted to the Nairob i main ATC centre under digitized for m over an existing narrow band voice channel link.

ETHIOPIA

TANZANIA d

~/ ../

l!l

f/ I 0

0 N 0

,.__ :,:

Kenya A TC Radar System Network

V,

co

17

EH-ROUTEIWlAR (POROR)

I

.

'

I

THA/ASR

EN-RWTE/JMAIWlAR

(JOl«JKEHYAITANTL)

(MUAHILLS)

I I I I

I I I

TRACKER

I TRACK S

EH-ROUTE/THA

I

I

r--

FLIGHT

DATA MAHAGO!EHT COMPUTER

I I

I I I 1,1

FLIGHTPLAN

I

rc===.__=_==;--,,--____,

1

I

L--~---~~~~-..J NAIROBI REGION

I

~1 I~~ .

, ~ ~l!t~~ · · · l?lI I 1·· N. W. REGION

radar situation display ment radar by-pass mode

RADAR

I I I I I I TRAp:.s

I

L~H-TR_OL ~~_J MOMBASAREGION

New Kenya integrated ATC Radar System

Nairobi Area Mua Hills site A medium range ( 150 NM) radar head. composed of a Thomson-CSF TR 23 K klystron-powered primary radar and an RS 870 secondary surveillance radar. The data of these radars will be transmitted to Joma Kenyatta A rea Control Centre . under raw (primary) and digitized (primary and secondary) form, over a microwave link.

Joma Kenyatta site An airport radar head based upon the TR 23 MA magnetron-powered primary radar and the RS 870 Secondary Surveillance Radar. The data of both these radars will be transmitted to Nairobi ATC Centre under raw (P) and digitized (P+S) form over cables.

Mombasa ATC sub-centre will use a medium sized processing and display system of the Aircat 200 type, adapted to the mono-radar environment of this centre .

Both centres will be equipped with integrated voice communications systems (air/ ground and ground/ ground). and an automatic AFTN message switching system at Nairobi centre will enable enhanced flight plan processing at that centre. with automatic centre-to-centre transmission of flight plans .

Nairobi Centre - Organisation and Functions

The Al RCAT 500 system includes a powerful duplicated 3 2 bit computer system performing the radar and flight plan processing functions and connected interactively to the Mombasa Area operator workstations . namely : Arap Mai site two en-route control sectors (north A dua l purpose 150 NM radar head and south). each comprising one (ATC/TMA) based upon the TR 23 K radar and one assistant position; primary radar and the RS 870 sectwo approach control positions ondary radar; this radar head is ident(arrivals, departures) and one ical to that planned for the Mu a Hills approach coordination position; site. Its data will be routed in raw and three FIC positions (north. south . digitized form to M omb asa Sub~ coordination); Centre. and in digitized form to Na1rob1 operational supervisor position ; main centre . fl ig ht data operator position ; Each of these radar stat ion s will be one tower position with a daylight equipped with primary radar and SSR radar display . plot extractors. and mono-radar The main fun ct ions of the AIRCAT tracking processors.

500 syste m are: Control Centres Overview

The Nairobi ATC main centre with its mu lt i-radar environment is based upon the A IRCAT 500 high capacity process ing and disp lay system covering the operational needs of ACC. TMA and TWR control. while the 18

Radar Processing multi-radar tracking of the 4 radar input s. for the enroute traffic situation presentation mono -radar tracking of the approach radar (or back-up radar) fo r ARR / DEP co ntrol

manage-

Flight plan processing The main functions of the flight plan processing are: reception and processing of flight plans coming from the AFTN, manual entry of local flight plans (LPL). storage of repetitive flight plans on disk files (RPL). automatic allocation of SSR codes. code/ call-sign correlation . assistant controller display management, editing of strips. and management of strip printing at each sector . controller inputs management, resectorization. sending of flight plans to Mombasa ATC Sub-centre, off-line generation of data base . maps and RPL files .

AFTN message switching The Automatic Message Switching system will handle AFTN traffic in compliance with ICAO formats and procedures.

Mombasa Centre - Organisation and Functions The AIRCAT 200 system is essentially a distributed processing system comprising a flight plan data management computer ( 16 bits) connected interactively to the operator workstations. namely: one en-route control sector. with one radar and one assistant position . .. two approach control . pos1t1ons (arrivals. departures). which can be reconfigured as needed to provide a training position. and one coordination position two FIC positions (controller. coordination) By virtue of the_ centre-to-centre flight plan transm1ss_1on lin k.. this centre is endowed with operational facilities which are on a par with those of Nairobi ATC main centre.

Conclusion It is most appropriate that this new air traffic co ntrol system should commen ce its entry into operational se_rvice in 1987. the year when IFATCA s Annual Conference comes to Nairobi.

One could not imagine a mo re auspicious send-off to a new era of even safer and more expeditious air transportation in Kenya.

THE CONTROLLER / JUNE 1987

..

A book about the radar business for everyone whose business is radar.

In January 1937 Cossor was appointed as one of the first British commercial compan ies to manufacture the then highly secret radar systems.

Today we are a leading British company in radar, particula rly in the field of air traffic contro l and identification friend or foe (IFF).

Our latest product , monopulse secondary surveillance rada r, leads the world and is spec ified in air traffic control systems in fou r con tin ents.

To celebra te our anniversary we have co mmissioned a new brochure "Cossor Radar - the first fifty years'.'

It's a book that will interest everyone whose daily busi ness is rada r and air traffic control.

If you are in the business and would like a free copy of this fascinating brochure please just fill in the coupon and send it to us today.

by Dr. Altri . ~ 'BdPrice f;

1

To: Cosso r Electronics Limited , The Pinnacles , Harlow, Essex CM19 588 .

.

Please send me my free copy of "Cossor Radar-the first fift y years'.'

'1, ~ ~ ..--........,-,.._

Namo,_ ______

__

Company _____

___

_ _

8 5

Address_________

LPosit ion _________

_

I I I I I I I I I

_J

Cossor A Rayllleon Company

Wind Shear and Microbursts H. H. Henschler

The weather phenomena of wind shear and microburst have acquired incr easing importance as a major aviation safety factor for pilots . air traffic controllers. airlines and passengers .

A growing number of aircraft accidents are being attributed to these phenome na. most recen t ly the crash ofan L-101 1 at Dallas/Fort Worth. In th e United States alone. the National Transportation Safety Board. according to ·Aviati on Week & Space Technology ·. September 22. 1986. 's ince 19 70. has ident ified low-altitude wind shear as a cause or contributing factor in 18 accidents involving transport aircraft . Of these accidents . 11 were nonfatal. but the other seven resulted in the loss of 575 lives.'

'The NTSB said six of t he fatal accidents and at least eight of the nonfatal accidents occurred after the aircraft encounte red the convective downburst or microburst winds associated with thunder storms or heavy rain showers.· Major efforts are underway to develop and install equipment. both groundbased and airb orne. wh ich would allow detection , prediction of travel . avoidance. and proper reaction to occurrence. It is hoped that fu ture issues of 'The Controlle r' will give detailed analyses of these efforts.

However. unti l any one system or combination of systems can be expected to overcome t he dangers to aviation associated with wind shear and microbursts. great emphas is must be placed on educat ing. train ing. and familiarizing contro llers and pilots with operating procedures. relay of information. and te ll-ta le signs of the phenomena.

The material below is aimed at informing and has been collated from various 'Transport Canada' documents. pub licat ions . and the Manual of Training .

Let us f irst define the three phenomena: Wind Shear Wind shear is best described as a change in w ind direction and/ or 20

As this turbulence occurs in clear air with no cloud form to give warning of its existence. it is usually referred to as clear air turbulence(CAT) . Although we normally mean jet stream wind shear turbulence when we use the term ' CAT' . clear air turbulence can occur from any of the other causes wake turbulence. convection currents and irregular terrain .

The forces experienced in clear air turbulence can be of sufficient intensity to impose serious structural stress on an aircraft and physical violence on its passengers. especially since it occurs without warning .

Likely Locati _ons for Wind Shear

Harri Henschler

speed in a very short distance in the atmosphere . Wind shear can occur at any altitude .

Down burst A down draft of severe intensity affecting a surface area of approximately 15 miles diameter.

Microburst A microburst is a downburst of smaller intensity. affecting a smaller surface area and having definite definable characteristics of vertical velocity. size. intensity. type and duration .

Now . to determine where. when. and how these potential hazards occur. how to predict the likelihood of their occurrence. and how to react when t hey are encountered .

High Level Wind Shear The wind shear turbulence enco unter ed at higher altitude s (above 2 0 ,000 ft) is mainly associated with the jet stream . As the change in wind speed or direction when entering or leaving the jet stream is quite violent. the turbulence caused by the wind shear is violent

1. Jet streams stronger than 110 knots (at the core) are apt to have areas of significant turbulence near them in the sloping tropopause above the core . in the jet stream front below the core. and on the low-pressure side of the core . In these areas there are frequently strong wind shears . .

2 . Wind shear and its accompanying clear air turbulence in jet streams is more intense above and to the lee of mountain ranges . For this reason . clear air turbulence should be anticipated whenever the flight path traverses a strong jet stream in the vicinity of mountainous terrain .

3 . On charts for standard isobaric surfaces, such as 300 millibars. if 20-knot isotachs are spaced closer together than 60 nautical miles. there is sufficient horizontal shear for CAT. This area is normally on the poleward (low-pressure) side of the jet stream axis. but in unusual cases may occur on the equatorial side .

4 . Turbulence is also related to verti cal shear. If it is greater than five knots per thousand feet. turbulence is likely. Since vertical shear is related to horizontal temperature gradient. the spacing of isotherms on an upper air chart is significant.

If the 5 ° C isotherms are closer together than two degrees of lati tude ( 120 nautical miles) . there is usually sufficient vertical shear for turbulence .

5 . Curving jet streams are more apt to have turbulent edges than straight ones. especially jet streams which curve around a deep pressure trough .

6 . Wind- shift areas associated with pressure troughs are frequently turbulent. The sharpness of the wind-shift is the important factor.

Also . pressure ridge lines somet imes have rough-a ir.

THE CONTRO LLER/ J UNE 1987

Rules of Thumb to Assist in Avoiding or Minimizing Encounters With Clear Air Turbulence These rules apply to westerly jet streams and are important to air traffic controllers who must respond to pilot requests for changes in altitude. speed and/ or altitude.

1. In an area where significant clear air turbulence has been reported or is forecast. it is suggested that the pilot adjust the speed to fly at the recommended rough-air speed on encountering the first ripple. since the intensity of such turbulence may build up rapidly. In areas where moderate or severe CAT is expected. it is desirable to adjust the air speed prior to the turbulence encounter.

2. If jet stream turbulence is encountered with direct tailwinds or headwinds. a change of flight level or course should be initiated since these turbulent areas are elongated with the wind. and are shallow and narrow. A turn to the right in the northern hemisphere places the aircraft in more favorable winds. If a turn is not feasible due to airway restrictions. a climb or descent to the next flight level will usually find smoother air.

3. If jet stream turbulence is encountered in a crosswind. it is not so important to change course or flight level since the rough areas are narrow across the wind. However. if it is desired to traverse the clear air turbulence area more quickly. either climb or descend after watching the temperature gauge for a minute or two. _Iftemperature is rising - climb; 1f temperature is falling - descend.

Application of these rules will prevent following the sloping tropopause or frontal surface and staying in the turbulent area. If the temperature remains constant. the flight is probably close to the level of the core. in which case either climb or descend as convenient.

4. If turbulence is encountered in a abrupt wind-shift with a ?harp pressure trough line. establish a course across the trough rather than parallel to it. A change in flight level is not so likely to alleviate the bumpiness as in jet stream turbulence.

5. If turbulence is expected because of penetration of a sloping tropopause. watch the temperature gauge. The point of coldest temperature along the flight path will be the tropopause penetration.

Turbulence will be most proTHE CONTROLLER/JUNE 1987

nounced in the temperaturechange zone on the stratospheric side of the sloping tropopause.

6. Both vertical and horizontal wind shear are. of course. greatly intensified in mountain wave conditions.

Therefore. when the flight path traverses a mountain wave type of flow. it is desirable to fly at turbulence-penetration speed and avoid flight over areas where the terrain drops abruptly. even though there may be no lenticular (almondshaped) clouds to identify the condition.

Low Level Wind Shear During recent years. 60% of the 'total loss· type aircraft accidents happened during the final approach and landing phase of flight.

Air traffic controllers may assist pilots to avoid many of these accidents by warning them in time to prevent surprise encounters with reported weather problems such as the following: low level wind shear; - sudden deterioration of visibility; or - rapid change in precipitation.

Under certain conditions. the atmosphere is capable of producing some dramatic shears very close to the ground; for example. wind direction changes of 180 degrees and speed changes of 50 knots or more within 200 feet of the ground have been observed. This. however. is not something encountered every day. It is. in fact. the unusual. That is what makes it more of a problem.

Cause of Low Level Wind Shear The most obvious cause of significant low level wind shear problems are

thunderstorms and certain frontal systems at or near the airport.

Effect of Low Level Wind Shear on Aircraft 1. Lateral Shear Condition In the diagram below. a warm front is approaching the airport. The wind ahead of the front is from 040 ° while behind the front the wind is blowing from 220°.

The lateral shear which occurs at the frontal surface would cause the aircraft to suddenly drift rapidly to the left requiring a large correction to the right near the runway. This could be dangerous. especially in conditions of poor visibility.

2. Tailwind Shearing to Headwind or Calm In the diagram below. an aircraft is on final approach to runway 04. The aircraft is above the frontal surface in tailwind conditions and has developed a rapid ground speed equal to airspeed plus windspeed.

When the aircraft passes through the frontal surface it will encounter a headwind or calm condition. As the aircraft's momentum will prevent it from immediately slowing to the new ground speed (airspeed minus windspeed). it will be affected temporarily by the headwind or calm as follows: - airspeed (IAS) will increase.

- lift will increase causing a balooning effect or at least a reduction of the glide path sink rate. and - the aircraft will be above the glide path.

To correct the pilot must drop the nose and reduce the thrust to regain the glide path and reduce the airspeed. If the correction is not soon enough or if the reduction of power is

Lateral Shear Condition

WIND AHEAD

OF FRONT

SIDE VIEW

PLAN VIEW 21

.,

),HEADWIND

a

TAILWIND

•

\.JoR

1/

CALM

IAS AND PITCH INCREASE SINK RATE DECREASES

• *'"'"' * *~ ,1e

INSUFFICIENT INITIAL POWER REDUCTION

/

·** ·, * * ·. * *

Tailwind Shearing to Headwind or Calm

not sufficient the aircraft will be too high to land safely.

Very soon after making the initial corrections. the momentum developed during the tailwind will fall off and - the airspeed will decrease.

- lift will decrease, and immediate additional power is required.

Failure to correct in time would result in a hard landing short of the runway or a crash.

3. Headwind Shearing to Tailwind or Calm As illustrated below. if the final approach is commenced in a headwind and a tailwind or calm is encountered when the aircraft passes through the frontal surface. the initial effects are: airspeed decreases.

- nose pitches down. and - altitude decreases.

The aircraft is low and slow (a power deficient state).

An immediate increase of power is r:equired to correct the airspeed and regain the glide path. If the aircraft is too low or if the correction is not sufficient or soon enough. a hard short landing or crash could result.

If there is sufficient time to regain the proper airspeed and glide path before reaching the ground. the double reverse problem arises.

This is because the power levers are now set too high for a stabilized approach in a downwind or no-wind condition. So, as soon as the power deficiency is replenished. the power levers must be pulled back even further than they were before the shear (because power required for a 3 ° ILS in a tail or no-wind condition is less than for a headwind). If the pilot does not quickly retard the power levers, the aircraft will soon have an 22

excess of power- i.e .. it will be high and fast and may not be able to stop in the available runway length.

4. Departing Aircraft Low level wind shear may be dangerous to departing aircraft during climbout. In the diagram below. the turn after takeoff exposed the aircraft to a rapid change from headwind to tailwind conditions. This resulted in an immediate loss of airspeed and altitude which could have been fatal.

When wind shear is suspected during departure. the pilot should determine the direction for climbout which will avoid unfavorable conditions and request an appropriate ATC clearance.

If. during climbout it will not be possible to avoid an encounter with rapidly decreasing headwinds. or worse, a tailwind, the pilot may have to delay the flight.

Recognition of Low Level Wind Shear 1. Fronts

Not all fronts produce significant wind shear; in fact. most fronts have broad transition zones and contain gradual changes in wind direction and

<)

HEA0WIN0

'"

....

IAS ANO PITCH DECREASE_/ SINK RATE INCREASES

velocity. Certain cold and warm fronts do have sharp, narrow transition zones and are capable of producing significant amounts of wind shear.

Terrain near an airport can intensify shear conditions.

How can you tell the ·good guys' from the 'bad guys'? Quite simply the front contains significant low-level wind shear if the front in question (cold or warm) meets one. or both. of the following criteria: i) a temperature difference immediately across the front (at the surface) of 5 °C or more; and/or ii) the front is moving at a speed of 30 knots or more.

2. Thunderstorms The winds around a thunderstorm are complex. Wind shear can be found on all sides of a cell. The wind shift line or gust front associated with thunderstorms can precede the actual storm by up to 15 nautical miles. Consequently. if a thunderstorm is near an airport of intended landing or takeoff, low level wind shear hazards may exist.

3. Weather Maps and Briefings Information relocation and movement of fronts and thunderstorms is available to pilots during weather briefings and by a study of the surface weather charts.

When frontal activity is indicated, pilots should: determine the surface temperature difference immediately across the front; determine the speed at which the front is moving; note the surface wind direction to determine the location of the front with respect to the airport: and compare the surface wind direction and speed with the wind above the front to determine the potential wind shear during climbout or approach.

TAILWIND OR CALM

r ___

----

FAILURE TO RESTABILIZE POWER AFTER INITIAL ADDITION

.........

Headwind Shearing to Tailwind or Calm THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Airport controllers, through constant visual scanning, can obtain and provide valuable information to pilots.

If thunderstorms are observed at or near the airport, be alert for the possibility of wind shear in departure and arrival areas. Under these conditions, large changes in wind direction and speed can occur.

Whenever wind shear conditions due to thunderstorms or frontal activity are known to be present or have been reported by a pilot, provide warnings to aircraft before they depart or commence an approach.

Where possible, wind shear warnings should contain at least: - the direction and speed of the wind on both sides of the front; the altitude at which the aircraft will penetrate the frontal surface; and pilot reports of turbulence during climbout or approach; presence of thunderstorms or cell activity and any tell-tale signs.

Departing Aircraft

Microbursts WINDSHIFT LINE

\

N.M.

5

Thunderstorms

Pilots may estimate the approximate height of the frontal surface above the airport by considering the following: Wind shear is most critical when it occurs close to the ground; this occurs with a cold front just after the front passes the airport and for a short period thereafter. If the front is moving 30 knots or more, the frontal slope will usually be 5000 ft above the airport about three hours after the frontal passage.

With a warm front. the most critical period is before the front passes the airport. Warm front shear usually exists below 5000 ft for approximately six hours: the problem ceases to exist after the front passes the airport. Data compiled on wind shear indicate that the amount of shear in warm fronts is much greater than that found in cold fronts.

THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Requirement for ATC to Issue Wind Shear Warnings to Pilots ATC personnel cannot be expected to determine the location of a front or the height at which a pilot will experience wind shear.

How then, can a controller help the pilot? The answer, of course, is - provide pertinent known or pilot reported flight information to the aircraft in time for the pilot to take any necessary action.

Flight information concerning these hazards is obtained from various sources such as: Notams, pilot reports, weather reports, weather forecasts and briefings, unit instruments, radar observations. and visual observations.

Characteristics of microbursts include: Size - Two kilometers (approximately 6,000 ft) in diameter above the ground, expanding to four kilometers (approximately 12,000 ft) at ground level. Anything larger is considered a 'downburst!.

Intensity - Very strong downward winds. as high as 6,000 ft per minute, which become strong horizontal winds near the ground with greater than 80 kt variations through the base area. Maximum horizontal winds occur about 7 5 ft above the surface (much lower than some experts in the field have previously been willing to accept).

Types-Wet and dry. In most areas, microbursts are wet. that is they occur with rain, but. in high, dry climates, the rain frequently evaporates before reaching the ground.

The evaporation cools the air. increasing the intensity of the downdraft.

Detection - Difficult. because they often occur from small. rapidly building cells that may not contour on radar, especially when the antenna tilt is downward. It may be considerable benefit to examine the upper portions of a cell for high amounts of water content. It is suspected that large amounts of water are carried to the upper portion of a building cell by updrafts until the water can no longer be supported. Then. a large downdraft is generated. which fires a pulse of

23

high velocity air and/ or water at the ground. There appears to be little correlation between rain at ground level and the presence of microbursts.

The scale of microbursts is so small that present LLWAS (wind shear alerting system) surface anemometers may not detect them.

Life - Approximately two minutes of maximum intensity. The event will usually be entirely over within five minutes. Multiple microbursts are common and should be expected.

Risks - Very dangerous to an aircraft if it is close to the ground in the takeoff or landing configuration. Probably not dangerous if encountered above 1.000 ft AGL. The performance decrement to a three-engine transport category aircraft can be greater than a double engine failure.

Precautions - Microbursts occur from cell activity. Do not take off or land directly beneath a cell, whether it is contouring or not. Dry microbursts often cause a telltale ring of dust on the surface.

Opposite-direction surface winds over a short distance. accompanied by cell activity. are a clear indication of a microburst. Often. previous aircraft encounter severe performance problems before an accident occurs. Sometimes these

A pilot approaching the airport enters the microburst at point A and experiences a rapidly increasing headwind. Airspeed increases and the aircraft rises above the glideslope. The pilot reduces power to recapture the glideslope and finds (point 8) that the headwind has disappeared and the aircraft has entered an intense downdraft. A rapidly increasing tailwind follows (point C). adding to the improbability that the aircraft can remain airborne.

encounters cause strongly microbursts. which. if properly increasing performance.

Any .identified and reported to other strong performance encounter that flight crews. could save lives. could be associated with cell activity should be considered as Over the last few years our underhaving originated from a micro- standing of wind shears. downbursts. burst. and microbursts has increased draReporting - When reporting wind matically. While. as stated in the shear encounters that could be introduction. major efforts are undercaused by microbursts. say that way to develop and install equipment you are making a 'pilot report of a to detect and predict these potentially microburst encounter' and give the severe hazards to aviation. their details. Very likely. the event will be understanding and proper reaction to over before another aircraft them by pilots and air traffic controlencounters it. but. most often, the ¡ lers is. at present. our best means to one that kills is preceded by other avoid tragedies they might cause.

"Glide Path is ok. localizer is out .. :¡

24

THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

refresher courses ; familiarization flights; legal liability of contro llers; aircraft incident/ accident investigation .

I FATCA President visits Philippines E. F. Sermijn arrived in Manila on 11 February 1987 and was welcomed at the airport by Mr . Ismael Mascasaet. President of the Philippines Air Traffic Controller· s Association (PATCA). several board members of the association. and a number of controllers . A press conference had been organized at the airport and many questions were asked. concentrating on the working conditions of air traffic controllers in the Philippines.

On 12 February. at 8 a.m .. the commissioning of the new radar equipment took place at Manila Area Control Centre. This celebration provided an opportunity to meet with the majority of controllers and the representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Later that day a delegation of the PATCA Executive Board and the IFATCA President met with the Minister of Transportation and Communications . After a general discussion the Philippine Association introduced the

supplement to the PATCA Position Paper titled 'The need for realistic compensation policies and adequate recognition of the air traffic control profession·. Whereas the original Position Paper had identified the main concerns of the Philippine air traffic controllers. the supplement provides information on the salaries of other countries in the region as well as on the I LO Report on the Meeting of Experts on Problems Concerning Air Traffic Controllers held in 1979 .

The main points discussed were the low salaries (below basic economic needs) result in controllers holding down a second job or leaving for better paid positions making retention a problem ; payment for overtime work; lack of a housing program; allowance for transportation; premiums for legal holidays; premiums for night work;

These same subjects were afterwards discussed with the Deputy Minister .

In the morning of 13 February Mr. Sermijn visited the Civil Aviation Centre of Manila. which is jointly run by the Philippines and the International Civil Aviation Organiza tion (ICAO) . In the afternoon of that day a meeting took place with the Director of Air Transportation . Aga in the Position Paper and its supplement were discussed in detail. The Direc tor agreed to the creation of a Committee comprising members of the CAA. Ministry of Transportation and PATCA. Following the meetings in Manila the IFATCA President travelled to Bangkok and took advantage of the opportunity to hold fruitful and appreciated exchanges of ideas and concerns with the Regiona l Representative of ICAO and the Regional Technical Director for Asia and the Pacific of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Solutions toTomorrow's ATC Needs With Today's Resource • AutomatedApproachand/or Enroute Control Centers • Radarand FlightDataProcessing Systems.

• RadarDisplaySystems.

• CommunicationsControl Systems.

• SecondarySurveillanceRadars (Monopulseor Conventional).

• Digital DataExtractors.

• TrainingSimulators.

Thereforelet us know what you need, howevercomplex,and we'll be glad to demonstrateto you how our newest and cost-effectiveproducts,together with our systemsknow-Row,can provide the solution.

l, CESELSA r.° Castellana,143 - 28046 Madrid, Spain Tel.450 70 02 - Telex 43646 CSlf.-E Telefax 279 31 70 MonopulseSecondc1ry Surveillance Radar

THE CONTROL LER/ JUNE 1987

SevillaATC Center RadarDisplay

25

Airlines of the

AerLingus Transport was the major story in Irish new spapers on the 2 7th of May 1936. Public excitement centred on th e ma iden voyage of the gigantic liner Queen Mary. Little wonder that the maid en fligh t of a new Irish airline , Aer Lingus, was casually reported and , perhaps, promptly forgotten.

At 0900 hou rs, following a religiou s service and a blessing by the Irish Air Corps Chaplain , a tiny de Havilland Dragon named lolar (Eagle) lift ed off the grass runw ay at Baldonnel Military Aerodrome near Dublin and headed for Bristo l.

The tiny airc raft flew w ith Aer Lingus until 1938 when it was sold to Olley Air Services. It was lost . be lieved shot down. during World War II. A sister ship of the original lolar came out of ret irement last year . was re-registered w ith the orig inal registration and made several flight s w ithin Ireland and to Brita in as part of the airline's 50th annive rsary celebrations. The new lolar is also 50 years old.

Aer Lingus was formed in April 1936 with an authori sed capita l of £100,000, a staff of twe lve peop le. a single aeroplane and, it is said , a biscu it t in of spare parts.

In September of the same year a second aircraft, a DH86 nam ed Eire, was purchased and service s extended to London and Liverpool. At th e end of its first year of operat ion Aer Lingus had car ried 892 passengers, earned £4,697 in revenue and made an opera tin g loss of £5 ,147 .

The outb reak of World War II rest ricted everything but the enthusiasm of the airline· s founders. Services were conf ined to a sing le route to Brita in but dur ing th is period Aer Lingus boug ht its first DC 3 , increased its traff ic by 50% and moved its operating base to the new Dublin Airport at Colli nstown, six mi les north of Dublin ' s c ity centre .

A dai ly service from Dublin to Liverpool was inaugurated in October .

1939 and this cont inued in operation 26

d

6

De Havil land Dragon Tolar·

thro ughout the war years, somet imes using Manche ster as the Briti sh termina l w hen cond ition s made Liverpool inaccess ible . Skies dotted with barrage balloons made flying an interesting experience in those days.

Norm ality returned in 1945 . In · November of that year the direct Dublin-London service was reopened and the first three air hostesses took up duty.

Perhaps the singl e most important event in those formative years was the Anglo -Irish Air Agreement of 1946 .

Under the term s of thi s agreement Aer Lingu s w as asked by both Governments to develop all air services between the two countries. It also provided for a 40 % shareholding by BEA and BOAC in the Irish airline.

The agreement was for Aer Lingus a cha llenge and an opportunity and for the next t en years it concentrated on expans ion into Britain . Not exclusively, howe ver, because a mere two months after the signing of th e agreement Aer Lingus opened its first co nt inenta l route from Dublin to Paris

and, in the following year. a new company , Aerlinte Eireann, was formed to operate a trans atlantic service. Five Lockheed Constellations were bought and a number of proving flights operated . In 1947 , also, a second co ntinent al route. from Dublin to Am sterdam , was opened.

Some weeks later the practice of naming Aer Lingu s aircraft after Irish saint s began and this has continued to the present day .

The year 1948 was a year of contraction and retrenchment. A number of route s. including the propo sed tran sat lanti c service was suspended.

However, three new DC 3s were added to the fleet and services from Dublin to Birmingham and Jers ey added to th e route netwo rk. Later the historic Dublin-Bristol rout e was reope ned .

In 1950 intern ational recognition of the growing stature of Aer Lingus came wi th the award of t he Cumberbatch Trop hy by t he Guil d of Air Pilots and A ir Navigators for ' safety and reliabilit y in operations·.

THE CONTROL LER / JU NE 1987

WE'REN°1 IN OURFIELD.

OURSYSTEMSCANPUTYOU •• AHEADIN YOURFIELD. We've been getting new air traffic control systems off the ground for over thirty years.

And for the last twenty we've been among the leading suppliers of ATC systems in the world mark et and No.1 manu facturer of ILS (600 sold to date).

Our systems really can put you ahead, too. At Luga~o airport in Switzerland , for example, since Thomson- CSF install ed an !LS 381 · Luga no Airport.

advanced ILS,

landings are possible th e whole year round.

Resulting in a considerable increase in th e number of passengers using the airport - and in a considerably happier airport manag er.

At Thomso n-CSF our commitment to and investment in research and development is designed to keep us in

MLS 810 · EL Station.

the lead into the twenty -first century.

Already; building on our experience with ILS and confirming our leadership position in the market, we've developed our own MLS - new range of all-weather microwave landing systems designed for both small airfields and large, busy airports. In rigOrOUStests in MLS 840 · AZ Antenna the field, these systems far exceeded ICAO recommendations.

Thomson-CSF. Leading-edge technology for your airport into the nineties and beyond.

DIVISION SYSTEMES DEFENSE ET CONTROLE 40, rue Grande-Dame-Rose - BP 34 92360 MEUDON-LA-FORET - FRANCE Tel.: (1) 46.30.23.80 -Telex: 270 375 F

~ THOMSON·CSF THEBRAINPOW Rm THEWILLPOWER.

THEWINPOWER .

Lockheed Constellation

In May 1954 Aer Lingus became the first airlin e to operate scheduled services to Lourdes and it continues to be a major charter operator there.

The Anglo-Irish Air Agreement was revised in 1956 and a num ber of other airlines entered the Irish market .

Foreign shareholdings in Aer Lingus were reduced and subsequently Aer Rianta , the Irish Airports Author ity, took over all shareholdings before transferring them to the Irish Minister for Finance in 196 6 .

Contraction would have been the obvious consequence to the entry of competitors on the Aer Lingus route network. Faced with t he choice of contraction or the more cou rageous course of expansion, the airl ine's management chose the latter and headed further into Europe. With in the next three years Aer Lingus added Dusseldorf. Frankfurt, Zurich , Rome and Copenhagen to its network.

The Irish airline's operating base had, up to now, been located uncomfortably on the perimeter of its route network , fann ing out in an easter ly direction from Dublin. In 1958 the balance was redressed with the longawaited opening of the company's transatlantic service .

The inaug ural flight from Dublin and Shannon to New York took place on April 28th 1958 Later in the year

the service

Cork Airport . serving the Republic of lreiand's second city , opened in October 1961. The first aircraft to touch down after the opening ceremony was an Aer Lingus Viscount .

The first plane out of Cork on opening day was an Aer Lingus Friendship . On the same day the Irish airline began scheduled services out of Cork to Dublin, London. Bristol and Cardiff and some days later a Cork-Paris service was introduced.

In the following years new offices were opened in many off-line cities and Aer Lingus aircraft flew on some unusual off-line route s. In 1963 one of its Boeing 7 20s flew to Australia to carry st randed liner passengers from M alta to Melbourne . Another Aer Ling us Boeing flew from New York to Lisbon in a record 5 hours 8 ½ minutes

- the twentieth record set up by the Irish airline in three years. In 1966 Aer Lingus flew to Russia for the first time when it carried the Glasgow Celtic team to Moscow and Tbili si.

Past and Future met in 1967 . In that year a sister-ship of the first Aer Lingus aircraft. the five-seater DH Dragon . was flown to Dublin Airport and placed in an aeronaut ical exhibition there . In the same year the airline placed an order for two Boeing 747 Jumbo jets . The new lolar retraced the route of the original aircraft from Dublin to Bristol as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations last year .

One of the more interesting developments in Aer Lingus in recent years was the formation of Aer Lingus Commuter to operate commuter-style services on a number of Irish Sea routes using the Belfast-built Shorts 3 60 Aircraft.

Aer Lingus today is not just an airline. In the early 19 70s the uncertain economics of the airline industry prompted Aer Lingus to embark on a diversification programme . Basically the plan was to use the resources and skills of the airline to earn profits in other areas.

The programme has been an outstanding success . In the last published accounts , 1985 / 86 . operating profits from ancillary activities amounted to nearly ÂŁ30 million. The airline's investments are in a variety of aviation-related businesses. the hotel and leisure industry and in a number of service industries.

The provision of maintenance and overhaul facilities and airport services to other airlines is a major element of the ancillary activities. At present Aer Lingus services a fleet of aircraft four

Carvair

was

extended to Boston . The Irish transatlant ic service began with leased Super Conste llat ion aircraft but soon the spectacular growth in traffic led to the purchase of its own Boeing jets. For many years the Irish airline ' s load fac tor on trans atlantic flights has been among the highest of all airlines flying t he route.

28

THE CONTROL LER/ JUNE 1987

times the size of its own fleet in its own hangars and at Airmotive Ireland Ltd in Dublin . It has customers in Africa. the Caribbean, the Middle East and China . Airport handling is provided to other airlines at the three Irish airports and also at London . New York and Boston.

Aer Lingus also provides specialised training facilities for pilots, aircraft technicians and other airline staff from overseas. Students have come from Bahrain.

Malaysia.

Libya, Namibia. Nigeria. Sudan. United Kingdom. Kuwait Iraq, Guinea and the People's Republic of China.

Aer Lingus now has interests in hotels and leisure complexes worldwide .

In the financial sector Aer Lingus interests include insurance. aircraft leasing and general financial leasing.

Aer Lingus also has significant interests in computer services, helicopter operations, personnel recruitment, hospital management robotic systems and in the catering and leisure industry . The airline also runs Aer Lingus Holidays Ltd which packages and markets all-inclusive holidays to major resorts in Europe, the USA and Canada.

Aer Lingus now carries almost 2 270 OOO passengers and 54 OOO tons of freight and mail annually. It earns more than ÂŁ500 million in operating revenues, operates a fleet of 26 aircraft and links Ireland with the United States. United Kingdom. Belgium . Denmar k. France. Germany, Italy , Netherlands , Spain and Switzerland . It has come a long way since that May morning in 1936 and looks to the future with the confidence gained in its 50 years of service to Ireland .

Shorts For anyone who is interested or involved in aviation and space publications. journa lism . national and international press and information there can hardly be a better source and reference co llection than the ¡ Pocket Guide to the Aviation and Space Press'. The guide is sponsored

by Lufthan sa German Airlines and completely covers the international aviation and space scene on 3 7 4 pages in pocket size, almost 5000 individual name listings of aviation jou rnalists. information services of the aviation industry and administrations , and of the IATA and charter airlines.

The guide also contains informat ion on the aviation and space industry as well as national and international organizations and associations. lnfo rTHE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Shorts 360

B 747

mation or press officers of Membe r Associations will find the guide both interesting reading and a valuable source of relevant information.

Pocket Guide to th e Aviation and Space Press 1986 / 87 (Taschenbuch der Luft- und Raumfahrt-Presse) Publisher: Lufthansa German Airl ines Edited and printed at: Kroll-Verlag.

D-8031 Seefeld, Obb . Copies at OM 32 ,50 + p&p from BEMA Buchvertrieb GmbH. Hauptstr . 26. D-8 031 Seefeld / Obb .. FRG hhh A Hong Kong consortium has made a proposal to the government for the construct ion of a new airport for the territory. The existing airport, Kai Tak, is expected to reach runway peak of 30 movements an hour over a sustained period in

1996 and. because of geographical limitations. a second runway cannot be added .

The new proposal is for an airport at Chek Lap Kok. This is the location chosen by an earlier government study, but that proposal was abandoned in January 1986 because the government considered the cost was too high.

The new proposal is for a two -runway airport to be ready in 1992 and costing HK$25 billion ($3.2 billion) .

The consortium wants an initial goahead in June and final approval in December.

But the proposal is that the consortium takes equity worth 20%. and the Hong Kong and China governments take the remaining HK$ 20 billion ($2.8 billion) . (from 'AirTransportWorld '. 3 / 87) 29

Book Review Th e Target Is Destro yed '. Seymour M. Hersh. Random House, Inc ., New York, N. Y. 10022, USA, 282 pages, US$ 77.95 . ISBN 0-394-54267-4 'Shoot- Do wn', R. W. Johnson , Viking Penguin Inc .. 40 West 23 rd Street.

New York. N. Y. 70070 , USA, 335 pages. US$ 78.95 , ISBN 0-6 70-87209-9

More than three years after the KE007 (m ore popu larly refered to as KAL00 7 ) tragedy, only a number of facts are undisputed: In th e ear ly hour s of 1 September 1983 a Korean A ir Lines B74 7 jetliner, en-route from Anc horage . Alaska , to Seoul entered prohibited airspace over the easte rn Soviet Un ion and was shot down by military interceptor aircraft .

A lm ost immediately following the incident a number of books appeared on the market, most of which , due to the short time elapsed, had to be based on assumptions, speculat ion , rumors and the persona l opinions of the authors.

Now, two accoun t s of the circumstances lead ing up to, during , and after th e tragedy. are available. Both are written by researc hers with impressive records. S. Hersh has written on subjects as varied as chemical and biological warfare , the Vietnam war and th e Nixon administration in the USA. R.W . Johnson is a Fellow in Politics at Oxford Univer sity in the UK and has written on Africa, France and economics.

Neither author has an ext ensive aviation background. a fact wh ich may well contribute to an un-b iased and open -minded approach to the subject matter. Both make use extensively of published and unpublished acco unts from various sources, civi l. mil itary. the inte llige nce services. In the end they differ in t heir assessment of the crucia l quest ion as to why KE007 . desp ite its sophistica ted navigation equ ipment and a highly exper ienced fl ight crew. moved significantly off its cleared route in an area which was known to require accura te navigation in view of t he published prohibited airspace adjacent to the North Pacific air route system .

S. Hersh . wi th the qualificat ion that ' the who le story of Flight 007 may never be to ld', g ives full account of t he ICAO investigators· report wh ich outl ines a number of factors. from 'f inger -t rouble ' to programming error which may have contributed to t he off -co urse flight, and he cites the 30

ICAO A ir Navigation Commission 's acknowledgement that it was ·unable to establish the exact cause for the significant deviation from track '.

~--R.W.JOHNSON

R.W . Johnson , on the other hand, conveys a hypothe sis of deliberateness of act ion by KE007's flight crew for the operation through prohibited Soviet airspace. having examined the ICAO repo rts. the hypothesis of fuelsaving by using an ' aerial short -cut' a· theory of Soviet electronic inter ference . and found them all to be nonsatisfactory .

Both authors, admirably, offer vast amounts of research . quotes and reports on the occurrence. Both give behind-the-scenes background and sce narios, military and intelligencegathering information , political and human reactions and the reasons for them.

Both books are fascinating and highly recommended reading . accounts of action and re-action- and reaction to reaction , of political public relation s. facts . false information . emotions and human tragedy.

Both authors conclude that the answers to the 'w hy ', in the absence of the flight recorders. despite highly sophisticated underwater search and recovery capabilities. are only theories .

Readers of ' Shoot-Down· and 'The Target Is Destroyed ' are left with having to make their own decision on the probability of various theories . It is to the credit of the authors that they provide a multitude of facts and data to enab le th e readership to do just that.

Regardless, however , of which decision the reader make s as to the probable cause. a tragedy occurred. lives were lost . Such tragedy . despite all political difference s and t ensions must not be allowed to strike civil aviat ion ever again .

H. Harri Henschler

In the next issue: •

IFATCA ' 87 26th Annual Conference, Nairobi , Kenya

THE CONTROLLER / JUNE 198 7

• II

g

g or

II

e uen 1es

Keith King, Director of Avionics, IATA

Future development of aircraft satellite communications depends largely on the airlines' exclusive use of certain radio frequencies . Unfortun ately, out side par ties are vying to gain access to this vital part of the radio spectrum . In this article , Keith King explains why the aviation industry must put up a strong case for retaining these frequencies at next year' s World Administr ati ve Radio Confe rence of the Intern a tion al Teleco mmunic ation s Union .

Establi shment of shared alloc ati on with other mobile services but with Aeronautical Mobi le being awarded ' Primary ' status.

None of these proposa ls wou ld meet the requiremen ts of inte rnation al civil aviat ion. Sharing of the ban ds on an equal footing , as t he first tw o proposals imply, would mea n in prac t ice that fir st users of the fre quenci es w ould have a prior ity status . This w ould prevent ICAO from ever dev ising a w orld w ide schem e for use of th e band and would lead to very substan tial coordination difficu lt ies betwe en

Keith King

The International Telecommunication s Union (ITU) regulates the worldwide use of radio frequ enci es to permit radio and television broadc asting , fixed radio communi cat ions and , of particular interest to airlines , radio communic ation s with mobile vehicles such as aircraft .

Allocation of frequency band s for communication s with aircraft in flight has traditionally been on an exclusi ve basis . This continues to be ju stif ied as aircr aft oper ate in a hostile environment and the communications are directly involved with flight safety. It has also allowe d ICAO, through worldwide and regional air navigation meeting s, to plan the use of the se frequency bands to th e greate st operational advantage and flexibility.

The tot al radio frequ ency system is now under far great er pressure than w hen the se exclu sive allocation s w ere initi ally made to aviation . Radio lin ks have been reco gni zed as th e only practi ca l form of communication with mobile vehicles. As a result, there is parti c ular pressure from the ' Land M obi le Services ' for satellit e communi cation s betw een cars, truc ks and t rains, et c.

'Us e it or lose it' On e of th e unw ritt en principles governing th e retention of radio frequ encies is th e ' Use it or lose it' rule .

The aviati on communit y has th erefore put itself in a diffi cult position by fa iling to use frequencies alloc ated t o it some 15 years ago fo r aircraft satelli te communi cati ons. Consequently , certain services , part icularly th e Land M ob ile Service, are now castin g covetous eyes towar ds thi s spectr um to acco mm odate w hat th ey regard as legiti mate req uireme nts. However, there are clear signs that the aviatio n comm unity now want s to make use of t his spectr um and, in fact a number of airlines wa nt to have an air/ ground dat a satell it e co mmunicat ion service availab le for operat ional contro l w ith in the next coup le of years.

THE CONTROLLER/ J UNE 1987

The main reason th at com me rcial aviati on has not yet developed aircraft satellit e co mmuni cati ons has been th e hug e capit al investm ent needed to launc h dedicated satellite s. Howe ver the Avi at ion Review Comm ittee, fo re~ runn er of ICAO's committ ee on Fut ure Air Navigation Syst ems , co ncluded th at t hese high co st s co uld be avoided if aviation shared mult iple pu rpose space platfo rms w it h oth er users.

These co nclusions did not suggest, howeve r, th at aviati on was wi lli ng to share freq uencies. In fact, t he aviatio n co mmunit y st ill w ished to retain con tr ol of t he systems it used . This w as confi rmed by a wor ldw ide ICAO Comm unicati ons/ Operat ions Divisional M eet ing in 1985 .

It is therefo re vital that commer cial aviation resists any attempt s to reduce its access to the se frequ enc ies. This means reject ing t he th ree fo llowin g propo sals to be ta bled by various part ies at t he ITU's Adm inistr ative Radio Conference in Sept ember 198 7 : • All ocat ion of L-band frequ encies to a ge neral Mo bile Satellite Service • Establishment of an equal ' Co-pr imary' allocat ion betwee n Aeronaut ica l M ob ile and ot her M obile Services such as Land Service

representa t ives of t he various typ es of services. Experience has shown that th is is diffi cult enough on a national basis and wou ld be unma nageable on a global basis.

The thi rd allocat ion possibility, app arently reflec t ing an adequate stat us for Aerona utical Mobi le Services , would in fact lead to similar condition s; in a st rict reg ulat ory sense services w hich have a ' Primary' status have prot ect ion fro m interference fro m services w hic h only have a 'Secondary' stat us. In practice, how ever, prior use of frequencies by a Secondary Service befo re t he existence of a Primary Service, leads to protection of investments made by the Secondary service and acco m modation of its usage t hrough informal agreements.

Such agree ments can never be to the advantage of the Primary Service.

Al so at issue here is the 'width' of the band of frequencies required to support aeronautical communications. In effect, this means making an estimate of the amount of message traffic which would be generated by various parts of the Aeronautical Services , such as Air Traffic Control , Airline Operational Control, Airline Administ rative Traffic and Passenger 31

Telephone Services. Various estimates have been made of these traffic demands and one. published by ICAO embracing just the first two of the foregoing. estimates complete occupancy by the year 2010 of the 28 MHz currently allocated in the ITU Radio Regulations.

The aviation industry has believed for a long time that satellite communications could make a major improvement in the safety. regularity and efficiency of aircraft operations. particularly over oceans and sparsely populated land areas where reliance is currently on high frequency communications. They also offer the prospect of unprecedented flexibility in the use of airspace over populated areas while maintaining high safety standards.

Airlines also want to provide. in cooperation with the world's telephone service providers. telephone and data communications services to passengers in flight. It will be necessary for the Radio Regulations to be amended to permit these services to be integrated with those of air traffic safety services. Such a system would always give priority to safety service messages. Of equal importance will be the organizational and institutional arrangements needed for the provision of these services. In this respect. airlines and civil aviation administrations are keen to retain their traditional control. exercised through ICAO by its Standards and Recommended Practices. of the design of the system. the use of the service and the procedures involved.

The ITU World Administrative Radio Conferences produce 'Final Acts· which. although subject to ratification by Member governments. are not subject to any further review process. Consequently. decisions taken at the meeting in September 1987 will have far-reaching effects on the airlines· ability to exploit satellite technology.

If we fail to retain the frequencies now allocated to the aeronautical mobile satellite service we risk losing access to such technology forever. It behoves all members of the industry to exhort governments to support the established views of the aviation community.

The above article first appeared in the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) magazine. 'Review·. 3/ 86. and is reprinted here to familiarize our readership with the intricate mechanisms which decide frequency allocations as well as with some of the goals the airline industry envisions. hhh 32

Norwegian Air Traffic Controllers' Association Annual Meeting 1987, Technical Seminar, Trondheim

This year's technical seminar subject was easy to find for the Norwegian Association: The · New Oslo ACC Plan· was keeping everybody busy in that time and it was felt rightly that the seminar should be used as a forum for the industry to show what they had to offer.

Representatives from leading European firms (most of them well known IFATCA Corporate Members) replied favorably and contributed to the success of the seminar.

After a presentation by the project leaders of what was expected from the new ACC. companies like Teleplan.

Ericsson. Norcontrol. Thomson-CSF. Plessey. Philips-HSA. Selenia. Cessor.

EB Telecom. Siemens. Teli. etc. showed what was possible and available on the market.

The big discussion in the corridors centered on the pros and cons of color

or monochrome radar displays for the future. A presentation of a color display (raster scan 1000 lines 72 Hz refresher rate) used for maritime control impressed some people. especially when a rumor circulated that a Japanese firm was working on a 2000 x 2000 points display enabling a definition superior to a 1OOO ASA photograph.

IFATCA was represented by the Regional Vice-President Europe West on the kind invitation of the Norwegian Association. which gave to the 100 or so Norwegian controllers present. the opportunity to meet and talk with a representative of the Federation.

A very successful seminar that will. hopefully. help the Norwegian Association make their decision on their future air traffic control center.

Philippe Domagala.

R. V.P. Europe West

Aid Project in Bangladesh Approved Approval of a large-scale technical assistance project to be executed by ICAO in Bangladesh was announced last month by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A 21-month extension of an on-going effort in the field of civil aviation. total value of this Phase-II I funding exceeds us $ 700.000.

Overall objectives are to strengthen and reinforce the civil aviation sector of the country. The immediate objectives are to develop an airworthiness inspection and licensing capability. to establish a flight operations inspection section. to improve stores-management skills through the introduction of automated procedures. to enhance the capabilities of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for installation and maintenance of navigatronal-aids equipment. to develop airport fire and rescue skills. to review maintenance facilities at Zia International Airport and submit a development report. to provide onthe-job instruction to complete training of national air traffic controllers and to introduce a selective pro-

gramme of fellowship training in technical. operational and administrative disciplines.

To date. project objectives have largely been met: advice provided to ensure the proper planning. provision and operation of the infrastructure required to support national aviation operations; improvements to airworthiness regulations effected and new written examinations for aircraft maintenance engineer licences prepared; assistance provided to flightcrew-licensing technical examinations; crash /fire/ rescue procedural guidelines developed and formal training given to emergency staff; and assistance given to prepare for a navigation-aids flight-calibration check.

Fourteen fellowships have been awarded to CAA staff in air traffic control. aircraft engineering. airworthiness. radar maintenance and airport management.

New UNDP funding totals US $656.000; the Government's contribution in kind is equivalent to us $53,000. ('ICAO Bulletin.' February 1987) THE CONTROLLER/ JUNE 1987

Corporate Members of I FATCA

AEG Aktiengesellschaft, Ulm, FRG Ansafone Electronic s.p.a., Pomezia, Italy Cardion Electronics, Woodbury, USA CAE Electronics Ltd., Saint-Laurent, Canada Cecsa Systemas Electronicos SA, Madrid, Spain Cossor Electronics Ltd., Harlow, UK Dictaphone Corporation, Rye, USA Eaton Corporation, AIL Division, Farmingdale, USA Engineering and Economics Research Technologies, Ottawa, Canada Ericsson Radio Systems AB, Stockholm, Sweden Ferranti Computer Systems Ltd., Cwmbran, UK Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V., Hengelo, Netherlands EB TeleCom, Nesbru, Norway Jeppesen & Co. GmbH, Frankfurt, FRG Litton Communications Switching Systems, Freiburg i. Br., FRG Marconi Radar Systems Ltd., Chelmsford, UK McDonnel Douglas Electronics, St. Charles, USA Mitre Corporation, Mclean, USA PhilipsTelecommunicatieen Data Systemen Nederland B.V., Hilversum, Netherlands Plessey Displays Ltd., Weybridge, UK Racal Avionics Ltd., New Malden, UK Raytheon Canada Ltd., Waterloo, Canada Schmid Telecommunication, Zurich, Switzerland SCICON Ltd., London, UK Selenia lndustrie Elettroniche, Rome, Italy SEL-Standard Elektrik Lorenz, Stuttgart, FRG Societe d'Etude et d'Entreprises electriques, lssy-les-Moulineaux, France Sofreavia, Paris, France Software Sciences Ltd., Farnborough, UK Thomson-CSF, Meudon, France Westinghouse Electric Corp., Baltimore, USA

The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers¡ Associations would like to invite all corporations, organizations, and institutions interested in and concerned with the maintenance and promotion of safety in air traffic to join their organization as Corporate Members.

Corporate Members support the aims of the Federation by supplying the Federation with technical information and by means of an annual subscription. The Federation¡ s international journal 'The Controller' is offered as a platform for the discussion of technical and procedural developments in the field of air traffic control.