IFATCA The Controller - 1st Quarter 1988

IFAT CA JOURNAL OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

Geneva, Switzerland,

Volume 2 7 · No . 1

March, 1988

Publisher Internation al Federation of Ai r Trattic Controllers· Assoc iations . P.O. Box 196. CH-12 15 Geneva 15 Airport . Switzerland Officers of IFATCA E.F. Serm ijn . President and Chief Executive Officer.

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C_ontr ibut ors are expressing their personal points of view and opinio ns. w hich may not necessarily coincide w ith tho se of the Internationa l Federation of Air Traffic Contro llers· Associ ations (IFATCA).

IFATCA does not assume responsibility for statements made and opinions expressed. it does only accept respons ibility for publishing these contr ibution s.

Cont ributions are we lcome as are comme nts and criti cism . No payment can be made for man~scripts submitted for publ icat ion in 'The Control ler . The Editor reserves the right to make any editor ial changes ,n manuscripts. w hich he believes w ill improve the mate rial without altering the intended meaning.

Writt en permission by the Editor is necessary tor reprin ting any part of thi s Jou rnal.

Advertisers in this issue VARIG. Marconi. Thomson -CSF. Sofreavia. Selenia Photos DeVore Corporation. R. Randall .

Raytheon Company. SLATCA. E. Tai. hhh THE CONTROLLER/ MARCH 1988

In this issue 2

Night Shift Paralysis in ATCOs

page

Report on the !CAO Spec ial Committee on FANS

page 70

The Airline s· View

page 74

IATA Techni ca l Conference: Demand and Capacity

page 76

Modeling of ATC Automation Syst ems

page 20

Airline s of the World : VARIG

page 24

I FACTA Activitie s

page 28

Editorial

flight s per day and then by the number of days of operation . the total beH. Harri Hensch ler comes quite impressive.

More and more frequently . in all Air traffic contro llers . whenever parts of th e wo rld . air traffic con trol- possible . will grant ·direct route· lers are requested by pilot s to issue requests. They are hampered . of ·direct route· c learances. authori- course. by restricted and prohibited zation to proceed from the po int of airspace. national political bounddeparture. or shortly after take-off. aries. infle xible entry/ exit point reg udirectly to the destination or its arrival lations and. most of all , a lac k of adequate equipment and of manfix.

These ' INS' or ' R-Nav· routings are power. made possible by today's state -of-theOp erators must appreciate that. art airborne syst ems which allow. much as the contro ller would like to wit hout en-route reference to ground- author ize direct routings . he or she based navigational aids. imm ediate may find it impossible to do so when and precision computer-directed working in a non-radar environme nt shorte st possible distance navigat ion. where separation standards available For an airlin e. such requests make do not lend themse lves to off-airway perfect economic sense. reduction s. traffic, or when working in. or adjacent in air mil es tr avelled and in flying time . to a one-contro ller sector. where other translate directly int o tangible and priorities override the extensive coorsignif icant cost savings. dination required before a ·direct If one cons iders that. in October / route ' can be issued .

November 1987 as reported by 'Air We will not. for some time to come.

Transpo rt World '. the cost in US dol- see a world-wide air traffic control lars for an hour of fuel and oil co n- system which permits all random, sumption and tax. amounted to more minimum time tracks , howev er much than $ 1700 for a B74 7 . $1300 for a airlines, other operators and air traff ic DC10-30. $1100 for an L1011 and controllers wou ld like to see such sys$500 for an MD80 . then it is not diffi - tem in effect now . Wi th improvemen ts cu lt to calcu late that ju st one two- in availab le equ ipm ent and manminute saving in flying t ime trans lates power . however. controllers will be into anyw here between $56.66 and able to make an even greater than at $ 16 .66. If one then mult iplies these present contribution to the economic figures by the respective numb er of viability of the airspace users.

Night Shift Paralysis in Air Traffic Control Officers Simon Folkard and Ruth Condon, MRC Perceptual and Cognitive Performance Unit, Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN 7 90G, England

Editor 's note: This article first appeared in a special issue of the journal 'Ergonomics ', vol. 30 ( 798 7), on irregular and abnormal hours of work. It is an updated version of Dr. Simon Folkard's interim report on the subject to the 798 7 Annual Conference , and appears here by permission of the publisher, Taylor and Francis Ltd hhh Keywords: Circadian Rhythms, Shiftwork, Sleep deprivation , Paralysis, Individual differences Acknowledgments: We thank the officers, especially Harri Henschler, Erik Sermijn and M ichael Schoeps , and members of IFATCA for their help in this study . We also thank Ian Oswald for drawing our attention to Rudolf s early work in this area.

Abstract In an earl ier paper [Folkard et al.

1984] we reported on the incidence of a temporary but incapacitating paralysis known as ' night shift _paralysis' .

This appeared to be a special form of slee p paralysis that occurs when night wor kers manage to maintain a state of wakef ulness despite considerable pre ssures to sleep. The incidence of th is paralysis might thus be assumed to refl ect the level of sleep deprivation assoc iat ed with different shift systems or individuals . The present survey was des ig ned to examine this possibility in a sample of 435 air traffic control offi ce rs (ATCOs) from seventeen different co untr ies who were on a variety of different wor k schedules . The incidence of t his paralysi s wa s found to be affec ted by four main factors, all of wh ic h might reasonably be assumed t o influen ce t he night-worker' s level of sleep de privation or sleepine ss . These we re t he time of nigh t the number of cons ecut ive nigh t shifts , the requirement to wor k both a morning and a nig ht shift starting on t he same day , and indi vidual diff erences in t he fle xibility of sleeping habi ts. These results suggest t hat t he inc idence of t his paralysis may indeed prove to be a useful 2

' critical incident' for comparing the level of sleep deprivation associated with different shift systems or individuals .

Introduction In an earlier study [Folkard et al.

19 84] we reported a short-lived but incapacitating paralysis that had been experienced by about 12% of the night nurses surveyed . This paralysis, termed 'night shift paralysis', appears to have been first noted by Rudolf [1946a , 1946b] who found evidence for its occurrence in naval officers and printers, as well as in nurses . He describes it as 'a sustained immobility involving the entire va.luntary musculature, although full consciousness prevails and the subject can see and hear . Awareness of the inability to move is present. The musculature is rigid, and considerable force is needed to push the sufferer aside.

Attacks last from a few seconds to as many minutes, and the onset is insidious , the subject suddenly finding he is unable to move' [Rudolf 1946b, p . 132].

In general, the results of our earlier study confirmed this description, although in some instances there appeared to have been a loss of muscle tonus . They also indicated both that the incidence showed a marked 'peak' at c1bout 05 :00 and that it increased in an approximately exponential manner over consecutive night shifts . This suggested that it may be a special form of sleep paralysis [Hish ikawa 1976] that occurs when night workers manage to maintain a state of wakefulness despite considerable pressures to sleep . If this is the case then the incidence of night shift paralysis might be expected to be

Dr . S. Folkard

rather higher in male night workers , than in our earlier population of predominantly female n_ight nurses , since sleep paralysis is more common in males [Goode 1952] . Further , it implies that the incidence of this paralysis might be useful as a 'critical incident' in exploring differences between shift systems, and/ or between individuals , in terms of their level of sleep deprivation . The present study was thus conducted on a predominantly male population of shiftworking ATCOs from a number of different countries where different work schedules were in operation .

Sample Copies of a specially designed questionnaire were distributed to delegates at an annual conference of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA).

These delegates then distributed copies to their colleagues in their home countries. In view of this procedure we have no means of estimating the response rate, or whether we may have obtained a biased response.

Nevertheless it seems improbable that THE CONTROLLER / M A RCH 1988

such a bias would affect our main comparisons, namely between shift systems and individuals who might be thought to differ in their level of sleep deprivation. A total of 435 completed questionnaires from seventeen different countries were subsequently returned. The majority (422) of the respondents were male, reflecting a similar bias in the profession as a whole. Most (294) of them were working in an Area Control Centre (ACC). with a further 103 working in Approach (APP). and 38 in Tower (TWR), facilities. They had a mean age of 35.11 years (S.D.=7.73 years), and had been working as air traffic control officers for an average of 13.60 years (S.D. = 6.54 years).

and was considered as an irregular schedule for the purpose of analysis.

The next longest cycling system was an 84-d one reported by a number of Swedish respondents, and is illus-

------MHMMMMMM---------------MMMMMMMM-----------------------------NNNN NNNNNN------------------

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Work Schedules

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All the respondents were on a work schedule that involved night work. and had been on their current schedule for a mean of 7.09 years (S.D.=5.72 years). These work schedules ranged from totally regular. short cycle (e.g.

4-day) shift systems, through longer cycle (up to 189-day) shift systems. that were generally perceived as irregular, to totally irregular work schedules. However, the vast majority of these schedules involved only a single night shift (87.6%), or two successive night shifts (9.2%). The duration of these night shifts varied from 7 to 13 hours (mean= 10.31 hours). In many cases rest breaks of between 30 and 120 minutes were allowed at some stage during these night shifts.

Some examples of the regular shift systems worked by air traffic control officers are shown in Figure 1, together with their country of origin.

Most of the systems involved three main shifts, although a two ( 12 h) shift system was reported by a number of Hungarian ATCOs, while some of the systems reported also involved an occasional day (or 'swing') shift. In general, the systems reported were advancing ones that rotated in the order Evening-Morning-Night.

Further, in many of them a night shift started on the same day as a morning shift, with as little as five hours off-duty between them. Examples of these shift systems are shown in the righthand column of Figure 1. The reason for this feature is presumably that it maximises the number of successive off-duty days within each cycle of the shift system, but it must clearly contribute to fatigue on the night shift.

The 189-d cycling shift system reported by many South African ATCOs was clearly seldom adhered to, THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

trated in Figure 2. Inspection of this Figure reveals some interesting features. First there is a clear 10-d ·sub-cycle' that is extended to a 12-d one on its 4th and 8th occurrence

4d-cyc le <Hungary>

4d-cycle

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<Germany)

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189d-cycle <9d section> rsouth Africa}*

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Figure 1 Examplesofsomeoftheshiftsystemsreported. together with their country of origin. Each character (e.g. 'M') represents a single hour. and each line a single day. Note that those systems shown in the right hand column include a morning and night shift started on the same day.

3

within the overall cycle. An advantage of this was that the ATCOs involved recognized the regularity of their system. Secondly, there is a clear 5-d (occasionally 6-d) component to this system in terms of the occurrence of rest days. Thus it should clearly be considered as a rapidly rotating shift system despite its long overall cycle length. Thirdly, this system contains

unequal numbers of morning, evening, and night shifts, and the . inclusion of occasional day shifts, such that the number of ATCOs on duty at a given time of day takes account of the known 24 h variation in air traffic density. The relative numbers on duty at each hour of the day as a result of this shift system are shown in Figure 3.

SWEDEN{84dCyr.le)

---------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMMMMM------------------------------NN NNNNNNNN--------------------------DDDDDDDDDDD----------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMMMMM-----------------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMMMMM------------------------------NN NNNNNNNN--------------------------DDDDDDDDDDD----------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMMMMM-----------------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMMMMM------------------------------NN NNNNNNNN----------------

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Many of the ATCOs who reported that they were on an irregular work schedule also recorded a variety of constraints. Examples of the constraints mentioned included (a) a maximum of 10 successive work days before at least one off-duty day, and a limit of three successive night shifts (The Netherlands). (b) a maximum of two night shifts in each three week period(Finland), and(c)a maximum of three night shifts in each six week period (Switzerland). Further. most of the irregular schedules reported had a relatively fixed timing and duration of each of the shifts involved. Finally both the regular shift systems and th~ irregular schedules sometimes required individuals to be on ·stand-by'.

For the purpose of analyses all the systems reported were classified in terms of (a) their regularity, (b) whether or not a morning and night shift coul~ occur on the_same day, (c) the duration of the night shift, (d) whether or not a rest break was allowed during the night shift. and (e) the number of successive night shifts that could be worked. Factors such as the direction of rotation of a shift system could not be taken into account in view of the absence of any reported syster:r,s that . clearly delayed (i.e.

Morn1ng-Even1ng-Night).

Results

-------MMMMMHMM---------

General Incidence and Descriptive Of the 435 respondents 26 (6.0%) claimed to have experi~nced -----------DDDDODODDDD------------DDDDDDDDDDD-!hi~ _paralysis.. Most ( 18) of these ---------------EEEEEEEE---------------EEEEEEEEind1v1d~als claimed to have experi-------MMMMMMMM---------------MMMMMMMM--------enced It only once or twice. but the remainder claimed at least five occurrences, giving a total of 7 5 occurren---------------EEEEEEEE---------------EEEEEEEEces in all. The majority (80%) of -------MMMMMMMM---------------MMMMMMMM--------occurrences were claimed to have ----------------------NN ----------------------NN lasted for less than two minutes and NNNNNNNN---------------NNNNNNNN---------------only 8 occurrences were judged to have lasted for 5 minutes or more. In ---------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMHMHM--------the majority of cases the individuals -------MMMMMMMM-----------------------EEEEEEEEconcerned were sure that they were ---------------EEEEEEEE-------MMMMMMMM--------awake at the time (69% of cases), but -------MMMMMMMM-----------------------EEEEEEEEadmitted to feeling sleepier than nor-------MMMMMHMM-----------------------EEEEEEEEmal (70%). and were sitting down (86%). During the occurrence their visio~ was unaffecte~ (76%), they remained aware of their surroundings 0 (88%). they did not experience any 18 0 12 0 06 12 18 06 0 strange mental sensations (e.g. halTIME OF DAY TIME OF DAY lucinations) (90%), but their limbs 'felt heavy' (71 %) and some indiN.B. Days 1-42 are M=Mornlng, E=Evenlng, viduals (46%) experienced strange shown in the left-hand D=Day, and N=Night physical sensations such as cold or column, and days 43-84 Shift. numbness. in the right-hand -=Off Duty Despite a general immobility, few column.

(16%) fell over or slumped forward, and some (51 %) claimed they were Figure 2 The 84-d cycling shift system reported by many Swedish ATCOs. Note the higher freable to make minor movements such quency ·sub-cycles' of 516 and 70172 days, and the inclusion of occasional 'day· shifts.

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4

THECONTROLLER/MARCH1988

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38-

the facility or country in which they worked. Of those working in ACC. L 6.8% (20 out of 294) claimed to have R experienced it compared with 4.3% T (6/ 141) in APP and TWR (combined I in view of the small numbers involved) IJ (chi-square= 1.10. df= 1. p>0.25).

E 28,_ The proportion across countries varied H from 0% to 22%. but this appears to u have been at least partially due to the M B small number of questionnaires E returned from some countries. Thus R there was a significant correlation 18 0 between the number of questionH naires returned from a country and the number of individuals from that D country claiming to have experienced u T this immobility (Spearman¡s rho= y +0.670. df= 16. p<0.01 ). implying 8 88 82 04 86 88 18 12 14 16 18 28 22 88 that the proportion of individuals experiencing it was relatively constant TIME OFDRY across countries.

Figure 3 The relative number of ATCOs on duty at different times of day resulting from the 84-d In considering the effects of shift cycle Swedish shift system. and time of day it was necessary to either consider all reported occurrences. hence violating the assumption of 48 independence. or to arbitrarily discard p all but one occurrence from those E individuals reporting more than one.

I Both forms of analyses yielded similar C 38 patterns of results. and we thus report E on the former since this maximises our H use of the available data. Of the 75 T reported occurrences of immobility.

0 56 took place during the night shift.

F 28 12 during the evening shift. and only T 7 during the morning shift (chi0 square= 58.16. df=2. p<0.001 ).

T Further. there was a marked trend in R L 18 the incidence over the course of the night shift. with it building up to reach a maximum at about 05:00 and subsequently reducing again (chisquare= 73.64. df=9. p<0.001 ).

0-'---2-3.L..--08 ......... ~81~~82~...J.a.83~~~_,l,ul~~""4-~~--:8=--=-8-, This trend was very similar to that previously reported for night nurses [FolTIME OFHIGHT kard et al. 1984] and is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4 The incidence of night shift paralysis at different times of night, expressedas a percentage

E

-

-

--

of the total number of occurrences on the night shift, for ATCOs (N=58, shaded bars)and nurses (N=69. open bars) [from Folkard et al. 1984].

as moving a finger or speaking. In many cases the individuals became aware of their immobility when trying to make a gross motor movement (63%). often in response to some external event (82%). and felt that the immobility could have started before they became aware of it (59%). In approximately half the cases. the individuals concerned felt frightened (44%) and were prevented from responding to a work-related event (54%). In about half (55%) of these latter cases it was judged that the inability to respond could have resulted in an accident or near accident. However. in considering this latter figure the relative rarity of this 6

paralysis needs to be taken into account. We estimate that the potential for an accident due to this inability to respond occurs only approximately 0.5 times in each individual ATCOs working life. Further. we have no evidence of any accident or near miss resulting from an ATCO's experience of this paralysis. although we did not specifically ask for this information.

The Effect of General Factors on the Incidence There was no evidence that the proportion of air traffic control officers claiming to have experienced night shift paralysis was affected by either

The Effect of Work Schedule Factors on the Incidence The proportion of individuals claiming to have experienced this immobility appeared to be unaffected by the length of their night shift. Of those for whom the night shift was of 10 hours duration or less. 6.5% (13/ ¡ 200) claimed to have experienced it compared with 5.8% (11/195) of those with a night shift of 11 hours or more (chi-square=0.12. df= 1. p> 0.50). Similarly. the provision of rest breaks during the night shift had little effect. Of those allowed breaks. 6.5% ( 17 / 262) claimed to have experienced this immobility compared to 5.5% (9/ 164) of those who were not (chi-square=0.04. df= 1. p>0.50).

However. there was evidence that the THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

number of successive night shifts involved in an individual's shift system was important in this respect. The proportion of individuals claiming to have experienced this paralysis increased from 5.5% ( 15/ 275) of those whose work schedule allowed only a single isolated night shift to 15.6% (6/39) of those whose schedule involved two or more successive night shifts (chi-square= 3.92, df= 1, p<0.05).

Preliminary analyses indicated that the regularity of the work schedule, and whether or not it required/ allowed a morning and night shift starting on the same day (single day M / N shifts) interacted in determining the percentage of ATCOs claiming to have experienced this paralysis. However, an irregular system that allows single day M / N shifts is clearly not comparable to a regular system that enforces them. Consequently, examination of the effect of regularity was confined to schedules that did not involve/ allow single day M / N shifts.

This indicated that there was no effect of regularity per se, with both regular and irregular schedules showing a 2.9% rate (4/ 139 and 2/68 respectively). However, there was a marked effect of same day M / N shifts, with the rate increasing from 2.9% (6/ 207) without such shifts through 5.3% (4/ 75) when such shifts were allowed on irregular schedules to 11.8% (16/136) when they were enforced on regular shift systems (chisquare= 11.11, df= 2, p<0.01 ).

The Effect of Individual Factors on the Incidence There was an insufficient number ( 13) of female respondents for the

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15

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influence of sex to be examined.

Further, there was no evidence that the incidence was affected by the age of the ATCO, rather than by the number of years of work experience. However, there was evidence that the incidence was affected by 'personality' factors.

The questionnaire requested respondents to rate themselves on the degree to which they were 'flexible' or 'rigid' sleepers [Folkard et al. 1979], and 'morning' or 'evening' types [Horne and Ostberg 1976], on 10 cm visual analogue scales (VAS). Preliminary analyses indicated that those claiming to have suffered from this immobility had somewhat lower scores on sleep flexibility (mean= 35.6, S.D.=28.6) than those who had not experienced it (mean=49.6, S.D.=23.6) (t=2.89, df=422, p< 0.01 ). Similarly claimed sufferers had marginally higher scores on eveningness (mean= 60.8, S.D.=26.6)than non-sufferers (mean=55.3, S.D.= 21.0) although this difference did not approach significance (t= 1.28, df=424, p>0.10).

In order to explore these effects in greater detail, all the respondents who had completed both scales (N=422) were divided on the cases of median splits on both dimensions. This produced four, approximately equal size, subgroups of 'Rigid morning-types', 'Rigid evening-types', 'Flexible morning-types', and 'Flexible eveningtypes'. The percentage of individuals claiming to have experienced this immobility in each of these four subgroups was 8.65% (9/ 104), 9.35% (10/107), 0.96% (1/104). and 5.61 % (6/ 107) respectively. Thus it was nearly ten times higher in the

'Rigid evening-types' than in the 'Flexible morning-types', the two extreme sub-groups. Overall, the proportion of 'rigid' sleepers claiming to have experienced this paralysis was reliably greater than the proportion of 'flexible' sleepers claiming to have done so (z=2.45; p=0.007).

No such overall difference was found between 'morning' and 'evening' types (z= 1.145; p=0.125). although the incidence was reliably higher in 'evening' types when this comparison was confined to 'flexible' sleepers (z= 1.919; p=0.027).

At first sight, this latter finding is the opposite to that expected in view of the fact that evening types are generally considered to be better suited to night work [Kerkhof 1985]. However, it should be borne in mind that the majority of occurrences were on work schedules that involved single day M / N shifts, and there are two reasons why evening types may have greater difficulty in coping with these. First. they will be inclined to go to bed later than morning types the evening before this morning shift, but are likely to be forced to get up at the same time in order to get to work. Secondly, evening types are less likely to be able to take a nap between the end of the morning shift and the beginning of the night shift since their level of alertness will be at a maximum at this time [Vidacek et al. 1987]. This particular patterning of work hours is thus likely to sleep-deprive evening types to a greater extent than morning types. If this explanation is correct, then the higher incidence in flexible evening types should be limited to work schedules that include single day M / N shifts. Inspection of Figure 5 suggests that this was indeed the case. When the work schedule excluded single day M / N shifts the incidence of this paralysis was entirely confined to rigid sleepers (6/92 compared to 0/ 121 ). and there was no evidence of any effect of morningness (3 / 100 versus 3 / 113 ). Unfortunately. however. it was clearly not possible to test the statistical reliability of these effects in view of the small numbers involved.

5

Discussion

Although the overall incidence (5.98%) of night shift paralysis found in the present study was approximately half that previously reported for e-1-__.i;M-:u:TZ!VP~Eu:;S ~~_j~~~~---:-:M-:-T:-:'.".YP=-=E~S -+---=E-=- r::-:-:vP=-=El::-S ---, night nurses ( 11.98% ), this comparison fails to take account of the number FLEXIBLE SLEEPERS RIGIDSLEEPERS of consecutive night shifts involved Figure 5 The incidence of night shift paralysis in the four different 'personality' groups. shown sepwhich was far greater for the nurses. If arately for thoseATCOs whoseschedulesdid(N=211, open bars)ordid not(N=207. shaded bars) allowance is made for this factor. then include both a morning and a night shift starting on the same day.

s

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

7

the incidence in the present study was approximately three times as high as that in th e nurses' study. Thus it would appear that night working males are indeed more prone to this paralysis than their female counterparts . This is consi stent with the view that night shift paralysis is a special form of sleep paralysis, since the latter has been claimed to be about four times more com mon in males [Goode 1952].

Perhaps more importantly , the incidence in the present study was found to depend on four factors that might be expected to influence an individual's level of sleepiness or sleep deprivation. These were the time of night, the number of consecutive night sh ifts , the occurrence of both a morning and a night shift on the same day, and indiv idual differences in sleep flexibility and, to a lesser extent , morningness.

It is well established that subjectively rated alertness shows a marked circadian (about 24 h) rhythm , that is at least part ially independen t of the normal sleep/wake cycle [Fol kard et al. 1985], and that alertness is low in the early hours of the morning. Similarly, there is good evidence that the duration of day sleeps taken between two successiv e night shifts are co nside rably shorter than normal night sleeps [Knauth et al. 1980]. Thu s there will be a cumu lati ve partial slee p deprivation over success ive night shifts which could account for the increased incidence of th is paralysis on the second or subsequent night shift. Further, there is also evide nce that night sleeps preceding a morning shift are sh orter than norm al ones [Knauth et al . 1980]. Finally, rigid sleepers, and espec ially tho se who are also even ing types, are less likely to be able to sleep successfu lly prior to a night shift.

It thus seems reasonab le to conclude that the incidence of this para lysis may indeed be a useful reflect ion of the level of sleep deprivation assoc iated w ith diffe rent shift syste ms and/ or indi vidu als. Further, the present results suggest that th is potentia lly dangerous sleep deprivation co uld be red uced by limi t ing the number of success ive night shift s to one and by ensuring that no indi vid ual is allowed to work both a morning and a night shift on the same day . Finally they suggest that individual differences in sleep fle xibility may also inf luence t he level of sleep deprivation . If this finding ca n be repl icated in future studies , it wou ld sugg est that the sleep deprivat ion assoc iated with night work might be reduced by selecting t rainee shiftworkers on the basis of their sleep f lexibili ty questionnaire scores.

8

References Folkard, S., Condon, R., and Herbert , M ., 1984, Night shift paralysis.

Experientia, 40, 510-512.

Folkard, S., Hume, K.I. , Minors, D.S ., Waterhouse , J .M ., and Watson , F.L., 1985, Independence of the circadian rhythm in alertness from the sleep /wake cycle . Nature , 313 , 678-679 .

Folkard, S., Monk, T.H., and Lobban, M .C., 1979, Towards a predictive test of adjustment to shiftwork .

Ergonomics, 22 , 79-91 .

Goode, G.B., 1952 , Sleep paralysis . Archives of Neurology, 6, 228234 .

Hishikawa , Y ., 1976 , Sleep paralysis . In Narcolepsy (Edited by C. Guilleminault, W.C . Dement, and P. Passouant) (New York: Spectrum Publications) , pp . 97-124 .

Horne , J.A ., and Ostberg. 0 ., 19 7 6, A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-

eventngness tn human circadian rhythms.

International Journal of Chronobiology , 4, 97-110 .

Kerkhof, G.A. , 1985. Inter -individual differences in the human circadian system; A review . Biological Psychology. 20. 83-112 .

Knauth . P.. Landau. K .. Droge . C ..

Schwitteck. M ., Widynski. M .. and Rutenfran z. J .. 1980 . Duration of sleep depending on the type of shift work . lnt . Arch . Occup . Environ .

Health . 46. 167-177 .

Rudolf. G de M .. 1946a . Psychological aspects of a conscious temporary generalized paralysi s. Journal of Mental Science. 92. 814-816.

Rudolf . G de M .. 1946b. ' Nightnurse paralysis ': A temporary tonic motor paralysis.

Bristol M edicoChirurgical Journal . 43. 132-135 .

Vidacek . S .. Kaliterna. Lj .. Radosevic-Vidacek. B .. and Folkard , S ..

1987 . Indiv idu al differen ces in the pha se of circadian rhythms: A comparison of morningnes s and extraversion. Ergonomics (Submitted).

Air Navigation Bureau Director Appointed

ICAO Secretary General Yves Lambert announced the appointment of Dr. William Raymond Fromme as Director of th e !CAO Air Navigation Bureau for a period of four years. The new Director assumed his duties in Montreal on 1 September 1987 . He replaces Duane W . Freer (USA). who retire d recently after having served in the post since M ay 1979 .

A ci ti zen of the Unit ed State s. Dr. Fromme hold s a number of degree s: Bachelor of Sci ence in Aeronautical Engineering . a Ma ster Degree in Management Engin eering and a Doctorate in Civil Engine ering. He bring s to this post many years of relevant exper ience in various field s in aviation. including a commercia l pilot lice nce.

He comme nced his career in 1964 wit h the Uni ted States Navy where he served as a t ransport pilot and as a fli g ht off icer. He has served the US Fede ral Aviation Admini stration (FAA) in va rio us capac iti es as Transpo rtation Plan ning An alyst and Team Leader . In 19 78 . Dr . Fromme was appo inted to the position of Chief of the Analyt ica l Techn iqu es Division wit h the US Fed-

Dr. William R. Fromme

era l Railroad Admini str ati o n and was subseq uently promoted to th e post of Dire ctor. Office of Systems Analysis.

Sin ce 19 8 1 he ha s been employed by the FAA as Dire cto r of the Office of Aviation Safety.

THE CONTROLLER/ MARC H 1988

Visibility of Aircraft H. H. Henschler

·•·.

ity , the pilot of the radar-controlled aircraft is unable to see the other traffic .

The head-on situation depicted in the illustration may well be the most difficult. and dangerous. example of visually determining conflicting traffic Seeing is believing even in good visibility conditions. Now Tape this MU-2 profile to the wall imagine trying to spot other aircraft in and step back twelve feet . Assume poor weather conditions or in a comyou are flying in marginal VFR conplex and busy terminal environment ditions . See the MU-2? It's a mile where IFR aircraft are cleared to away and. depending on the speed execute an approach with reference to of your aircraft. closing at 360 one or more other aircraft. ahead in knots or more. You've got. maybe. the landing sequence. and identified ten seconds to react . to the pilot by posit ion. distance. type and. possibly, the airline company . in Adapted from AOPA Pilot particular at night.

Airline companies and private operators are using various means to make their aircraft more visible . both Tower controllers and other pilots to other air traffic and the tower conare well aware just how difficult it is to troller. spot another aircraft in the air. Radar Many have. for years now . a stancontroller s repeatedly issue traffic dard operating procedure of turn ing advi sorie s and . even at close proxim- on the landing lights in the descent at

.

altitudes where VFR or un c ont ro lled traffic may be expected . Other s use the landing lights at any time the y are operating outside of positive ly c ontrolled airspace.

Pract ices w hich have . no doubt . helped ensure early and certain identif icat ion an d increased consp icuity .

The introduction . also . of str obe lights . mostly at wing tips. has hel ped tremendously to increase the ab ility of others to spot an aircraft so eq uipped and if in the proper posit ion.

Finally , vertical tail floodl ight s. manufactured by . among ot hers. De Vore Aviat ion Corporation wh o ma de available the photo of the HS 125 . greatly contribute to the ide nti f icati on. after the initial spotting . of t raff ic.

Advantages of the ta il flood lig hts are that they allow a sense of clos ure rate. angular displacement. distance and direction of trave l. They are of benefit both in large and small aircraft . maybe more so even in the latt er cate gory since many of them wil l t ravel at simi lar speeds to large aircra ft but their smaller size makes t hem less easy to see .

Visually spotting airc raft of all types and in all we ather con dit ions. as well as on the ramp . ta xiw ay or runway . has long been an unwe lco me chal lenge to controlle rs and pilots . Any procedure or syst em w hich makes detection . early and posit ive. a greater proba bi lity w ill surely be appreciated by all involved.

HS 725 wit h tail brilliantl y lighted by Tel-Tail Lights®

THE CONTROLL ER/MA RCH 1988

9

Report on the Activities of the ICAO Special Committee on Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS)

ICAO FMSG (Frequency Management Study Group). It confirmed the need to retain exclusive use of the spectrum currently allocated to the aeronautical mobile satellite (R) service. However, FANS agreed that, until the aeronautical safety services require access to the full spectrum, aeronautical administrative communications and aeronautical passenger communications could take place in the bands but must be under the control of the aeronautical administrations.

J. S. Smit, Chairman

Editor's note : J. S. Smit has been the Chairman of !CAO 's Special Committee on FANS since its inception in 7984. Although he recently retired from the Directorship of ATS in The Netherlands he continues the FANS chairmanship and has kindly permitted the bulk of his Report, below, to be published in The Controller'. hhh

Introduction FANS was established by the ICAO Council at the end of 1983 to study , identify and assess new concepts and new technology in the field of air navigation and to make recommendations thereon for the development of air navigation for international civil aviation over a period of the order of twenty -five years.

Although the terms of reference of FANS indicate that its study should 'i nclude' satellite technology (but not exclude other), it was clear from the beginning that the main emphasis would be on the use of satellites for communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS systems) and its possible effect on other parts of the overall air navigation system. In this respect it is relevant to note t hat in fact a recommendation of the so-ca lled ARC (Aviation Review Committee), which was a follow-up of the Aerosat project was the incentive for the ICAO Council to establish FANS. The first meeting of FANS took place in July, 1984, at which its first approach to the work programme was developed. The second meeting was in April , 1985 ; it was only then that the committee could really start its work. An enormo us amount of work was done by Task Forces between FANS 2 and FANS 3 (November 1986) and remarkable progress was made. This reassured the committee that it cou ld meet its original goal to comp lete its work in a three to five year t ime span, which was needed in order to prevent its work be ing overtaken by events .

10

The committee established the aim of completing the bulk of its work by FANS 4 (second quarter of 1988) with final refinements to be completed at FANS 5, if required .

At the end of FANS 3, the Committee met with the Air Navigation Commission, which was given a review of the status of the work of FANS. This report reflects that review, which follows the order of the agenda of FANS 3 .

Summary

Review

Consolidation and review of material on shortcomings of the present air navigation systems FANS 2 already considered the functional shortcomings of the present air navigation systems in various parts of the world. That material was sent by the Secretariat to the ICAO Regional Offices for validation. The FANS 3 report now contains the results of the information received from the regional offices, which shows that there are major shortcomings of the CNS systems (CNS: Communication, Navigation and Surveillance) throughout the world.

FANS considers this task completed and no further work by FANS is proposed on this topic.

Re-assessment and updating of long-range aeronautical electromagnetic spectrum requirements FANS 3 considered further studies related to the use of the bands 15451559 and 1646.5-1660.5 MHz , including in particular the report of the

J.S. Smit

The above recommendation was not supported by the US member of FANS. As is expressed in a statement the USA policy aims at sharing the bands with other (non-aeronautical) services .

As regards the 5000-5250 MHz band, certain interests are proposing to make reallocations in this band in addition to its use for aeronautical navigation . Aviation use of the band is for MLS and, in the future , for groundsatellite feeder links to support the aeronautical mobile service. FANS recommends that ICAO determine the need for additional MLS channels in this band, which it will need to support a position on this band. In addition, States should be advised to support retention of the entire band for its currently allocated purposes .

Review of the preliminary scenarios representing typical air traffic situations in different parts of the world FANS has made significant progress in the development of scenarios representing selected world areas.

These scenarios can be used in the testing of future CNS system concepts, as well as technical and operational elements, and can assist in some measurement of cost and operTHE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1988

ational benefits. The FANS 3 report describes the five selected scenarios and a number of assessment tools.

FANS will continue on the development of CNS system validation methods, including refinement of scenarios, simulation tools and cost/ benefit assessments. A Working Group has been charged with that task.

Consolidation and review of updated material on present and future unfulfilled air navigation needs of civil aviation FANS has observed that plans for CNS systems have proved difficult to implement throughout the world and that full implementation of ICAO Regional Air Navigation Plans is unlikely to be accomplished. Hence, FANS is considering systems based on alternative technologies, functional concepts and more varied institutional arrangements.

The FANS 3 report in this item covers: • A condensed listing of current and future unfulfilled needs, on which subject no further work is proposed; • The need for ground navigation and surveillance, in which respect the prospect of fulfilling this need by an integral function of the future CNS systems will require further study; • Vertical separation above FL 290, which is studied by the Review of the General Concept of Separation Panel (RGCSP) and is followed by FANS with great interest; • Location of aircraft under emergency conditions, of which one category (detecting and locating activated emergency beacons) is covered by the ICAO Study Group on Satellite-Aided Search and Rescue; FANS agreed to study the other category, i.e. the detection of emergency conditions, as a feature of the future CNS system.

Review of material on systems requirements and specifications relating to potential future CNS systems FANS has extensively considered the various system functions and included its view on each in a section of its report. Separate sections of the report deal in more detail with certain aspects of communication, navigation and surveillance.

A major achievement of FANS is the development of an internationally agreed satellite system architecture for air-ground communications, which includes systems characteristics for worldwide satellite air-ground communication interoperability.

THE CONTROLLER/ MARCH 1988

· The report contains material which constitutes the basis for establishing minimum standards. Such detailed work is considered not to be a typical FANS task. However, as there is at present no suitable ICAO body to take on such a task, a FANS working group will continue this task until such a body is formed.

It was suggested to the Air Navigation Commission that the establishment of such a body (Panel) should commence. Taking into account the time needed to establish such a body, it could start its work immediately following FANS 4. It is of utmost importance that the work is continued without interruption; the rapid developments in (satellite) communication technology are the cause that any interruption would probably be detrimental to the work done and to the pace-keeping of ICAO with those developments.

One Task Force activity between FANS 2 and 3 consisted of reviewing technical information in respect of current and planned satellite navigation systems.

There are at present only two systems that fall within the category 'under development with a number of satellites in orbit', i.e. NAVSTARGPS of the USA and GLONASS of the USSR. Unfortunately, little information was yet available on GLONASS, which made it impossible to look into potential compatibilities at FANS 3.

There are also many other aspects that require further detailed study. such as reliability/ integrity and continuity of service of these systems.

One specific item emerged from the study of high precision global satellite systems, i.e. the need for an agreed standard global reference datum. As the interest for such a reference datum is much broader than just aviation, FANS recommends that ICAO find a suitable international body to undertake this highly specialized task.

Extensive material was developed in respect of ADS, Automatic Dependent Surveillance. This was done in close association with the communication task. It was ensured that the communication 'core system' (i.e. the minimum functions required) would enable ADS to be introduced (digital data only with voice relying on existing means, such as HF over-ocean).

Finally, the committee considered the role of ACAS, Airborne Collision Avoidance Systems. It was informed that the ANC had included a task in the Technical Work Programme of the organization concerning the airborne separation monitoring (ASM) concept with a view to determining the

feasibility of the ASM concept and the need for its further development.

While recognizing the useful role for ACAS as a last resort back-up to prevent collisions in the event of a large error or undetected blunder. FANS maintains the view that air traffic services provided by ATS units continue to be the primary means for the prevention of collisions. Therefore, FANS agreed that ACAS would not need to be included in the long-term air navigation systems concept.

Review of information on international institutions and the consideration of the institutional and management aspects of the future international air navigation systems The committee so far addressed only the institutional aspects of communications and surveillance systems; these aspects may be different with respect to navigation systems and will be looked at later.

FANS agrees that ICAO remains the only appropriate body to establish technical standards and to coordinate the use of frequencies allocated for aeronautical services also for the future (satellite based) air navigation systems. These will be its principal roles.

FANS sees little or no prospect in ICAO playing a role in the provision of satellite communication and surveillance services. This comprises a large number of elements (from ATS unit to aircraft) and can be provided by a variety of different suppliers and combinations thereof (States, organizations, etc., even including commercial entities). The committee developed a number of initial principles to be applied.

Further work will be done on institutional issues in relation to the development of the overall global CNS system concept.

Review of the future work programme With respect to the further work programme much has already been covered in previous paragraphs, i.e. the aim of completing the bulk of its work by FANS 4, planned for the second quarter of 1988; the possible need to review the aeronautical satellite mobile frequency spectrum issue; the continuation of the develop. ment of CNS system validation methods; the temporary continuation of the development of the communication system, until a more specialized ICAO body takes over; 11

-

the further study of satellite navigation systems; the temporary continuation of the further development of criteria concerning ADS, until a more specialized ICAO body takes over.

In addition, another working group will concentrate on the further development of the future global CNS system concept. This working group will, inter alia, cover a number of issues mentioned in previous paragraphs of this report, such as ground navigation and surveillance, location of aircraft under emergency conditions, system related institutional issues and arrangements.

One issue of particular importance will be the study and development of applications of (elements of) the system in serving air traffic management.

Concluding Remarks From the outset, FANS considered there was a time limit to its activity, i.e. three to five years. Also, the work of FANS was to be restricted to 'systemarchitecture' rather than detailed system specification.

However, the 'blueprint' of the future CNS system by FANS calls for extensive and intensive follow-up for the development of Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) by ICAO. The rapid developments of modern technology make it of vital importance for the international civil aviation community at large, and in particular for the future position of ICAO in air navigation systems development. that ICAO organizes the machinery required for such followup.

ulm

Promulgation of the Contest for the ¡serblinger Prize'

Introduction In 1986 the town of Ulm arranged an international flying contest to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Albrecht Ludwig Berblingers flying endeavors. On the same historical spot, and following the example set by Berblinger, the contestants attempted to glide across the Danube.

Some proved to be successful.

Because of his flight experiments, Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger ( 17701829) found a place in aviation history and is considered the first pioneer to have applied the gliding principle. In remembrance of his effort, the town of Ulm has founded a prize bearing his name. It shall be awarded every second year starting in 1988.

Terms of Contest Conditions Awards will be made for extraordinary effort, development and innovative ideas in general aviation in the past two years.

This may be in individual reference to:

Press Release The International Federation of Air Traffic Controller's Associations (IFACTA) has as one of its prime objectives the safety of air traffic. The Federation condemns any and all interference with civilian aircraft and urges all national and international bodies concerned with civil aviation to take all possible steps to ensure the security of air travel.

In this context the Federation has noted with grave concern recent acts of terrorism against civil aircraft, and in particular the bombing, on November 29th 1987. of Korean Airlines flight KAL 858 which was on a routine scheduled operation between Baghdad and Seoul.

The Federation takes this opportunity to extend its condolences to all those bereaved by the destruction of the aircraft.

IFATCA Secretariat

12

safety; power. supply and environment; manufacturing and technology; aerodynamics; design.

Conditions for Participation The contest is announced internationally. Entitled to participate are single individuals. groups, clubs and organizations whose entry complies with contest conditions.

Evaluation and Distribution of the Prize An independent jury will evaluate the presented proposals. The jury will consist of eight persons.

For the consideration of special problems further experts may be consulted. The entries will be evaluated specially for innovation. realization. economy, design and demonstration ability.

The winner of the contest will receive a monetary prize of DM 50 OOO. Other special prizes are under consideration. The decisions of the jury are final and incontestable.

Legal proceedings are excluded.

Applications All entries must be received prior to 31 March 1988. They should be sent to the town of Ulm. Rathaus, 7900 Ulm, Fed. Rep. of Germany. Telephone inquiries may be directed to Schul-, Kultur- und Sportamt of Ulm (Tel. + 731-1613430).

All entries must provide information about the applicant or applicants and a precise description accompanied by technical plans. models and, so far as possible. video or motion pictures.

Furthermore. the jury may request additional documents and material for consideration.

Changes in Contest Conditions The town of Ulm reserves the right to change the terms of the contest.

Distribution of Prizes The Mayor of Ulm will present the prize (and any other special prizes) at a special ceremony.

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

Convex 87 I nternationa I

CDNYEX17

R. Randall

Convex 87. Convention and Technical Exhibition organized by the UK Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers. was held at the Holiday Inn . Slough Windsor during the week of October 14th. 1987.

The official opening ceremony was conducted by Mr .

Christopher Tugendhat . Chairman. Civil Aviation Authority.

UK. IFATCA was represented by the Executive Vice-President. R. Randall. and Pat O'Doherty. the Executive Secretary . The Regional Vice-President. Europe-West was also in attendance.

The theme of Convex was ·Airspace and airports - a crisis of capacity·. Inasmuch as the subject matter was finalized over two years ago. it is now obvious that it was a very timely selection. There was good participation from all aspects of the aviation co mmunity as was evident by the more than 250 registered guests .

Tec hni cal papers were presented on a w ide range of subjects and were follow ed by an open forum which provided all attendees with an opportunity to debate individual topics.

It is to be noted that Convex 87 follow ed c losely on the heels of the IATA Conference in Montre al which had a simili ar th eme. This appears to indicate that the aviation commun ity as a whole is attempt ing to come to terms w ith the concept of a truly under staffed and inadequate air traffic contro l system.

The message which surfaced at Convex was that the system must be proact ive. not reactive. This realization appears to be slow ly spreadi ng its way through the ·system·. albeit somewhat late . It was pointed out on more than one occasion that. although the aircrah indu stry has taken complete advantage of the techn ica l advancements available . the element wh ich keeps aircraft apart has not.

It is now a common statement that in the wor ld of high-te ch aviation . ground support. insofar as ATC is THE CONTROLLER/ MARCH 1988

----INTERNATIONAL--------

concerned. is very rapidly reaching the point of being third . in a group of two .

If we were to list our problems alongside others from the industry. it would be a grand sight indeed .

The papers presented reflected the wide spectrum of difficulties the industry is attempting to come to grips with . Convex dealt with such issues as: • • • • • • •

traffic increases higher than forecast; controller shortages; inefficient runway usage; ineffi cient airspace usage; outdated computers and facilities; lack of fund s; lack of understanding of operational problems .

that of their own special interest groups . it was pleasing to note the extent of commonality .

One of the highlights of Convex was the presentation

by Peter McKinnon of Ferranti Computer Systems Limited who spoke on 'Living with artificial intelligence · . As he attempted to begin wha t proved to be a most interesting talk . his slide proj ector failed to operate. We lcome to the world of air traffic control . Peter .

Convex 87 was a success both in terms of log istics and subject material . The organizing committee is to be co ngratu lat ed for host ing a seminar that should be on everyone· s agenda. I am certain all participants are look ing forward to Convex 89.

During the open forum s. frank discussions took place on the recognized problem areas. In spite of the fact th at speakers presented their own view or

Preparing for an open forum discussion

13

3. To maintain and expand the provision of services to members.

The Airlines' View

In terms of the second objective and relating that to matters in your area. we looked around the system a G. G. Capern, Senior Vice-President, Technical Operations, Air Transport number of years ago and identified Association of Canada (ATAC). Excerpts from an address to the Canadian Air candidate areas for improvements.

Traffic Control Association's Convention 198 7 Banquet.

Our incentives were two-fold: fuel costs. and anticipation of major changes within our industry. Our concerns with respect to fuel were based upon experience where fuel costs as a percentage of operating costs had My research in preparing for this operations and small aircraft charter risen from 6% in 1973. to almost 27% in 1982: and our anticipation of evening indicated that. at least during services: and technical operations. change was simply an observation of the eleven years I have been involved which is my particular area of responwith ATAC. this is the first time a rep- sibility. Technical operations is pr_es- events in the US. where deregulation was in its maturing stages. with the resentative has addressed a CATCA ently involved with 23 committees function. During that same tenure. and subcommittees. accounting for apparent consequences of the tranthere is little record of direct involve- all the technical disciplines generally sition.

As a consequence. we aggressively ment between our assocIatIons. grouped under engineering and pursued improvements in all areas of except for certain occasions which I maintenance; communication. navioperation and in terms of ATC. we will discuss later. gation and surveillance: and flight I felt it appropriate. then. to deal operations. Our structure does not engaged multiple. and in some cases. first with what ATAC is. what we do. provide for. nor deal with. marketing overlapping projects. Among those and how we do it. and sales related activities or similar were the Northern Airspace Design ATAC is the national organization subjects in areas where our members Project (NASO) which sought confor the Canadian air transport industry. compete in the market place. For sistency in the Northern Control Area Our current membership accounts for example. we do not provide a central (NCA)with separation standards in the North Atlantic System. with the approximately 95% of Canadian focus for airline scheduling. commercial air transport revenue. or So that's the commercial - let me objective of reduced separation in a phased approach to random routing. some six billion dollars in 1986; the spend a moment on our mandate. carriage in 1986 of some 30 million which in the technical operations or an ability to utilize. to full advanpassengers and 900 million ton miles case. is supported by about one-third tage. existing onboard technology.

The process of examination identified. of goods: by an industry which cur- of our staff resources. rently employs some 45.000 people . During the past two years. changes not surprisingly. the need to provide at something in the order of$ 36.000 In ~oth the operating and regulatory controllers with better information. per employee. environment have resulted from through introducing available technology, in the absence of radar. It was Our membership roster involves de~egulation. demanding frequent initially difficult for us to rationalize the about 150 companies. almost evenly adJustments to the manner in which distributed in two categories: we have historically done business. need, in the 1980s. to hand-plot the Operators and Associates.

These changes have-created a need to position of an aircraft which was Operator Members are those pro- adjust emphasis and priorities. due operating with up¡wards to three Inerviding licensed commercial services in mainly to the reduction of staff by tial Navigation Systems on board.

The result was adoption of NAT Canada. in five categories: major air- most of our Operator Members. with lines. regional airlines. local service. resulting shifts in the availability of MNPS standards in the NCA, which had the effect of alleviating the perspecialty. and helicopter operators. res<;>urcesand expertise to support ceived peaking problem; a reduced Associates account for a variety of proiects. In part. those reductions companies. typical of major manu- have been offset by employing the and more efficient track system; with resulting cost improvements for some facturers of airframes. engines. avi- resources and expertise of Associate 8.600 operations annually. onics and electronics: legal. accountMembers. merging certain activities ing. and insurance interests: fuel and an~ at. the same time attempting to The current phase is one of opergeneral suppliers: a growing roster of maintain momentum and improve ationally testing the automated data specialized consultants. certain prov- efficiencies. system. or. to use another buzz term, incial aviation departments and the As we adjust to the changes in our pseudo-radar. We look forward to full Department of National Defence. industry and from government. further implementation soon, with progresWe do business through a current changes in the operation of ATAC will sive improvements toward the objeclisting of some 40 committees and occur. In the interim. three basic tive of an even more flexible system subcommittees. plus various short- objectives determine the extent to and further improvements to monitor term special working groups on which we assign resources: our onboard random routing capabiliactivities ranging from our traffic con- 1. To achi_evechanges in legislation. ties. ference. which deals with the comregulation and standards which Other projects involved access mercial side of the house in the conmaint~in or improve safety. cost routes through Military Flying Areas: text of processing and handling of effectiveness and productivity¡ revisions to the Speed Limit Order passengers. baggage and goods: an 2. To ensure the level and standa~d of enabled use of optimum climb schedeconomics section. which deals with support services provided by ules for aircraft previously limited to user fees. airport affairs. taxes. legal. government are affordable and are 250 knots. The results were nothing and insurance; we have provision for consistent with industry oper- short of startling. Using constant ab initio flight training. fixed base ational requirements: weight and temperature assumptions 14

--Au~--

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

of maximum gross and ISA+ 20, fuel burns were demonstrated to be reduced by between 10% and 16%, the higher being a factor typical of L 1011 and DC 10 types, where the speed improvements were in excess of 100 knots. The results were significant fuel savings for carriers and more ~fficient use of airspace, resulting in improved productivity in terminal areas.

Flow, or delay control, was addressed next and we have been deeply involved in those projects at Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary.

Comparing the terminal systems today. for example, to the situation even six years ago, identifies very en~~uraging improvements to eff1c1enciesand productivity.

More recently, we committed resources to a project in which CATCA was also very involved, and which will ~ave very significant impacts on our 1n?u~tryin years to come. The highest priority has been maintained in our participation in the Canadian Airspace Review project.

Twenty-six task groups have examined every facet of the Canadian Air Navigation System, resulting in over 700 recommendations for change. Our participation has identified airline operational requirements in the immediate future, and up to the turn of the century. Our role has assisted that process and conditioned it with the necessity for our involvement in assessing developed options, in both technical and economic terms. before any changes are made.

Throughout all these, and other projects, we have identified and encouraged the use of a very valuable resource-the operational controller. I can well recall the extensive discussions which started the NASO Project - but it wasn't until we got one-on-one with operational controllers, in the workplace, and heard their comments and most often commonsense recommendations. that the picture started to make sense.

In the flow programs. the introduction of operational controllers to the teams to help develop options and run them in the simulators. was of enormous assistance and value. I use the term 'simulators¡ in plural. since we ran the scenarios in the Hull ATC simulator and then took the selected options into aircraft simulators. with the controllers. to operationally test the options and at the same time let the controllers see them flown from the top down.

More recently. we have participated in the development of STARS and SIDS. for applications on a site specific basis. when operating conTHE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

ditions can best utilize them. The review project and will now be B767. for example, has some unique reinforced by mechanisms being capabilities which we felt would be developed, with the approval of our best understood by operational con- members, which will in effect provide trollers if they could see the process in means of better control and monitorreal time- some of you will have been ing of capital projects.

Finally, I want to direct some cominvolved in familiarization flights durments to the Familiarization Flight ing that process. program. an issue which has been The central thread I have hoped to introduce here, is the need to utilize all very difficult to deal with and largely and the best resources and expertise misunderstood by most.

The revised program, which was available. in support of what are usually highly complex projects. To do so introduced a year or so ago is, in our invariably produces the best results. in opinion, a compromise which best the best time, at the best cost and a serves the expressed needs of all parprofessional result. Our role in all . ties, in that it accommodates the projects is to first identify our oper- stated need for controller training; it ational requirements and then assist in provides, through confirmed space for project completion through assigning travel, an ability for Transport Canada to more effectively manage its resourthe best expertise available from within our membership. Those ces; and the airlines, including the resources are very often supple- operating crews, have a program that mented by an employee group of our is more easily administered and manmajor airlines. Canadian Air Line ageable. in an environment which grows increasingly less tolerant as Pilot's Association (CALPA), who. humans and telephones are replaced through the cooperation of their techin the management system by comnical safety division, effectively brokers an extensive roster of very puters and programs.

The success of this program is very professional, competent individuals who. working on committees similar clearly dependent on three basic to our own. have contributed greatly elements; your continued, profesto a number of projects we have sional and responsible participation; shared participation on. and an ability on the parts of both the We are hopeful that Transport Airlines and Transport Canada to Canada might utilize their employee retain custody and control in their resources even more. and we look respective areas of responsibility. toward to the expanded participation We are very confident that the Familiarization Flight program can of operational controllers on projects where your experience, expertise and now mature and improve with mutual professionalism will continue to be a advantage to all concerned. I would like to take this opportunity to extend valued asset.

We were asked to include some our thanks to those personalities comments on user fees and cost within both Transport Canada and CATCA. who assisted in that difficult recovery policy.

We have been, and are very con- process. cerned with what degree of upward That concludes my remarks. We mobility in cost recovery is intended by look forward to an even more government. Our concern centers on expanded professional relationship experiences such as in the 1985 / 86 and would like to extend our very best year expenditures of $1.302 billion wishes to all of you. were offset by cash revenues of $ 660 million. or 51 %; the 86/87 experience will likely be expenses of $1.332 billion offset by $ 750 million in cash revenues, or 56%, and the main estimates for 1987 / 88 stand at $1.312 billion, with offsetting revenues at $864 million or 66% cost recovery.

When you examine that rather sharp linear progression over a three year period. you might hopefully understand the reasons behind our somewhat rigid position on this matter. â&#x20AC;˘ We have expressed our concerns by advising the process that we will not pay for anything we have not ordered. or for things which do not 0 meet our operational requirements.

That position reflects in our conditions with regard to the Canadian airspace

It Pays

to Advertise

1n

'The Controller

15

IATA Technical Conference System Demand and System Capacity

.-....-~

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IATA

Jack M. Pinsent, Liaison Officer to !CAO (Technical and Operational)

Approximately 200 attendees representing various airlines, civil aviation authorities and special interest groups gathered at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada, 21-2 3 September 19 8 7, to attend the 2 1st Technical Conference sponsored by IATA. The theme of the conferenc e was 'System Demand and System Capacity '.

The conference was officially open by the Conference Chairman, Capt .

G. Herzfeldt, Technical Director , VARIG Airlines and assisted by the Conference Secretary , Dr . R.R. Shaw , Assistant Director General (Technical) of IATA. The keynot e speaker for the opening session was the Director General of IATA, Dr . Gunter 0 . Eser. In his address, Dr. Eser elaborated on the rapidly growing problems the aviation indust ry is experiencing with the imbalance between the airline demand for flights to high density destinations and the inability of the air traffic control system and airports to accommodate this demand. He stated that the basic objective of the conference is to analyze this problem in detail, including its causes, and to identify methods and techniques which the industry may adopt to al leviate the prob lem .

The conference was broken into three additional sess ions , each having its own cha irm an and session secretary . Prior to eac h session, there was an address by a keynote speake r to set the tone for discussion of the working papers.

The f irst session was chaired by B. Muller, General M anager , Planning and Logistics, Swissair. The Session Secretary was R. Hann, Manager , Airport s and Operations, IATA. The keynote speaker for this sess ion was E. Krolke , M anage r. Fleet Planning and Scheduling , QANTAS. In his address. he dealt with a factual review of the existing situation and sho rt te rm project ions that constitute a growing prob lem within the aviation industry. He covered scheduling difficu lti es brought on by night curfews, lack of airport movement capacity, 16

lack of adequate capacity to process passengers through government formalities (immigration, health and customs), various methods of slot allocations, and the forecast rise in aircraft movements in the immediate future .

The discussion covered working papers concerning: Slot allocation methods Methods for assessing runway capacity and delay Underlying causes of airport congestion Allocation of capacity Future air traffic demand Airport(s) schedule coordination case study Problems and opportunities: The airport view Open skies: Closed airports The second session dealt with strategic issues and was chaired by Mr . C.H. Glenn, Executive Consultant, Air Canada . Mr . J.A. Durante , Director, Airports, IATA. was the session secretary.

Dr. G. James. President, Airlines Economics Inc .. was the keynote speaker. Dr. James spoke on the underlying causes of both the economic and technical problems which the industry must deal with. He included the changing fleet mix and aircraft size, air service liberalization and competition, marketing objectives, and the expansion of system capacity.

This session discussed working papers concerning: Sensitivity of the future world jet fleet composition Varietie s of remedy for ATC system congestion UK system capacity: Today and tomorrow Boeing product forecast The influence of aircraft technology on apron capacity European liberalization and airport capacity US aviation growth: Can the infrastructure meet demand?

Development of airports and IATA's involvement

Jack M. Pinsent

Forecasts of aircraft fleet composition in Europe and at some European high density airports New aircraft orders New aircraft: Goals and challenges Traffic growth and airport capacity in western Europe The chaos of demand vs. capacity: A passenger's viewpoint The final session was chaired by Capt. P. Davis , Assistant Manager, Flight Operations , Air France . He , very competently , directed the conference proceedings in the discussion on initiatives to alleviate the problems addressed in the previous sessions.

He was assisted by the session secretary Mr . R. Woodhouse , A ssistant Director Flight Operations Services, IATA .

A keynote address was made prior to discussions by Mr. J. Donald Reilly , Executive Director/ Secretary General, Airport Operators Council International. In his address, Mr. Reilly spoke of technical initiatives to increase system capacity subject to maintaining or improving safety, economy and comfort. He gave a philosophical viewpoint on how the industry , governments and the public, together, must cooperate, in order to bring forth viable solutions.

THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1988

Working papers concerning this session were: Airport capacity enhancement plan Interactions between system capacity and aircraft design MLS and Heathrow arrival capacity in CAT Ill operations Increasing airport capacity Air traffic capacity at the Paris airports and the ways to increase it Methods of determining the optional location and number of rapid exit taxiways Operational methods for improving airport landside capacities Modified rapid runway exit taxiways to reduce runway occupancy times Alleviation of curfews Initiatives to alleviate ATC capacity constraints Demand/ capacity in the Mexican airports system Increasing airport capacity by modifying noise abatement flight procedures and restrictions US FAA initiatives to improve airport capacity MLS: A possible solution to demand/ capacity problems The separate access landing system: Airport accessibility using STOL aircraft MLS and airport capacity With the conclusion of the conference it was recognized that a commitment by the entire aviation industry is required for a solution to the problems that are with us now and others that lie ahead in the future.

Stay on the Ground There are, broadly, two approaches to the deployment of traffic collision avoidance systems. One school believes that the responsibility for avoidance procedures should lie with the captain of the aircraft, and the thrust of technology deployed in the cockpit. The other contends that it should be implemented, in the main, on the ground with the radar displays which face air traffic controllers.

If collision avoidance technology is to be deployed at all it should remain on the ground, within controlled air space.

In terminal control areas and along busy airways the air traffic controller has a much wider view of the general pattern of traffic than the pilot. It is no use the pilot executing a sharp turn to the left at the insistance of a cockpit command from an on-board collision avoidance system if that manoeuvre places the aircraft in the path of another, converging target.

But what if ground-based systems fail? Air traffic controllers are trained to separate safely aircraft without any recourse to the systems presently being developed. They are very much icing on the cake.

By placing these systems on the ground a much more flexible, and inevitably cheaper, implementation programme can be achieved. One system on the ground can cover a whole range of targets, transponder or nontransponder equipped, within a given area which has its own particular traffic density problems. There may be a case for implementing collision avoidance systems at one sector-with converging airways or particularly dense mixtures of traffic for example - but no case in quieter sectors.

Further there are limits to the effectiveness of on-board systems, and difficulties in obtaining the correct parameters of operation. For example, when should the equipment alert the pilot of a converging aircraft? What happens if the pilot does nothing - should the system automatically take control?

The debate highlights the main problem of the implementation of new air traffic control technology. Undoubtedly new navigational techniques and crowded airways will increase the pressure on airlines to fly more economic point-to-point operations. At the same time, these techniques should also be made available to air traffic control authorities to extend their knowledge of, and their ability to make correct decisions about, the traffic patterns above.

The above Editorial appeared in Airports International June 198 7 and The Controller is indebted to be authorized to reprint it here. The subject is of obvious importance to all who are involved in A TCplanning and aviation in general. hhh

Short Voluntary Volcano Watch Contemplated

J

\

The 17th International Aerospace and Space Exhibition (ILA) will take place 5-12 May 1988 at the Hannover-Langenhagen International Airport.

A complete range of aerospace and space technology will be shown, and offered to new and existing markets, on 190,000 m 2 of exhibition space.

Civil aviation is encountering a significant change. New aircraft types, long, medium and commuter range some still under development - are competing. Aging fleets and increasingly active regional aviati?n porte~d the need for new generations of aircraft. JLA'88 is the place where up-todate information on their development ean be gathered.

THE CONTROLLER/ MARCH 1988

Recognizing that the existing network of observers/ reporters of volcanic activity, eruptions and resulting ash clouds is insufficient for flight safety, ICAO Secretary General Yves Lambert - on the advice of the ICAO Volcanic Ash Warnings Study Groupwill seek means to expand the reporting network as it is now constituted.

The goal will be to organize a broader voluntary international airways volcano watch, with the cooperation of States and international organizations. Relevant information will be sought on a timely basis from nonaeronautical observers.

In this context, Mr. Lambert already has invited the cooperation of

the World Organization of Volcano Observatories: the latter, under the aegis of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, coordinates a network of observatories monitoring many of the world's active volcanoes.

Detailed operational co-ordination will be sought in the future to assure that pertinent data on volcanic activities will be made available to appropriate aviation authorities in real time. Also under consideration is establishment of a voluntary international airways volcano watch from a number of sources, including general aviation, to further enhance flight safety. '/CAO Bulletin' September 198 7 17

Introducing:

The Boeing 7J7 'Superior Comfort and Technology'

Boeing Commercial Airplane Company has embarked on a comprehensive program to develop a complete ly new aircrah for introduction in 1993. The 7J7 , as it is called during the current developmental stage, will seat about 150 passengers and tak e advantage of emerging technologi es in propulsion , aerodynamics , structures and aircrah systems, as well as innovative concepts in cabin design.

Boeing is committed to keeping the aircraft affordable, while at the same time designing it to provide major improvemen ts in operating economics, passenger appeal and flexibility .

Powered by ultra bypass engines, the 7J7 wi ll have improved fuel efficiency.

Reduced maintenance costs, through simplified design and application of the new techno logie s, will contribute further to the economical operation of the aircrah. Overall, the 7J7's direct opera ting cost (including fuel , maintenance and ownership) is expected to be lowe r than that of any competing airliner.

Developmental progress is aim ed at 1993 as the t ime per iod for introducing an all-new airp lane of this size.

Currently the dominant 150-seat ai rcrah is the 727-200, with more than 1200 in service. Many of these will approach their time for rep lac ement by the beginning of the next decade, but only if the price, operat ing economics and market ing advantages of alternative airp lanes are compe lling enough.

To assure affordabi lity, Boeing is reassessing the entire process needed to des ign and bu ild a new aircraft. The goal is to introduce more efficient methods, both at Boeing and at program part icipants and subcontractors.

Boeing wi ll share investment risk on _the 7J7 program through inter national partic ipation . The company has reached agreement with several overseas aerospace industr ies. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was sig ned providing the Japan Aircrah Development Corporation (JADC) with a 25 percent part18

nership or equity share in the 7 J 7 program. JADC is the coordinating agency for Fuji Heavy Industries , Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Together they will participate in all phases of the 7J7 program, including design, development and production.

In addition , Short Brothers of Northern Ireland , Saab-Scania of Sweden and Hawker de Havilland of Austral ia signed MOUs to become program associates, enabling each of them to participate in development and production of part of the aircraft on a non-equity basis .

Boeing's timetable calls for discussing specifications for the new aircraft with prospective customers during 1987. Boeing would proceed with detailed engineering, production and certification flight testing once a goahead decision is made.

Propulsion The 7J7 will be powered by two ultra bypass engines. Several versions are under development at major suppliers. These engines have very large

diameter fans with variable pitch blades. They can move a larger volume of air for a given amount of fuel compared to the latest high bypass turbofans, offering the potential of a 20 percent reduction in specific fuel consumption and up to a 45 percent reduction compared to low bypass engines . Noise levels will meet the current US and ICAO standards.

The version of the ultra bypass concept that is the baseline powerplant for the 7J7 is General Electric ' s 'unducted fan ' engine or UDF . It features two counter-rotating fans external to the nacelle . The fans , about 11 ½ feet (3 .5 m) in diameter, are powered directly by a counterrotating jet turbine. The blades of each fan are distinctively swept back and slightly spiral shaped.

Structures Where it is cost-effective to do so, lightweight structural materials will be used on the 7J7 to enhance efficiency. Two very promising types are an aluminum-lithium alloy and advanced composites . Developments under way at Boeing and aluminum suppliers now point to weight savings of about 8 percent in those areas where aluminum-lithium would be used compared to alloys on today 's jetliners . .

Composites such as graphite / epoxy are already in service on the secondary structures of Boeing's current twinjets . Weight savings of up to 25 percent have been demonstrated .

For the 7 J 7, primary structure is being targeted, including the tail section and floor structure.

Boeing 7J 7 artist's concept THE CONTROLLER/ MA RCH 19 88

Aerodynamics Another gain in efficiency for the airplane stems from advanced aerodynamics. A new wing design will allow a longer span with less sweep, for improved lift and less drag.

Performance will be further enhanced by vertical winglets on the wing tips, which effectively increase the span with only a minimal impact on the overall dimension.

Aerodynamic shaping of the aft fuselage in the vicinity of the engines will result in smoother airflow for reduced drag.

During the airplane's development phase, new computer simulation techniques have permitted the analysis of large amounts of aerodynamic data prior to wind-tunnel testing.

Researchers can then devote costly wind-tunnel time to the acquisition of data not available through prior analysis. This greatly refines the analysis process, reduces development costs and helps produce a more efficient design.

Flight Deck The 7J7's flight deck will be equipped with new flat-panel displays to provide pilots with flight and performance information. These thin, multi-color units take up far less space, require less power, save weight and have far greater reliability compared to today's cathode ray tube displays. They allow more flexibility in flight deck design and will not require the heavy, complex air conditioning apparatus needed to cool equipment on current aircraft.

Flight deck functions will be even more integrated than in the latest of today's jetliners. As a result. much of the information previously displayed on numerous instruments will be consolidated into just a few of the new flat panel displays. Greater integration will also enhance airplane handling and flight management capabilities for better control during changing weather conditions and improved overall flight efficiency.

ting/ receiving points via non-contacting inductive connectors. For redundancy, many of these points will be coupled to more than one pathway.

DATAC needs no central controller to distribute data among the various electronic boxes. The key is a specially designed very-large-scale integrated circuit chip, one for each device linked to the DATAC system. The chip controls the output of data generated by its associated device, such as a wing flap actuator. The chip is also able to recognize and accept data that the device needs from other sources connected to the data bus, including the flight deck.

Benefits of DATAC include the elimination of 46 miles of wire and 250 pounds of plug-type connectors compared with current technology.

This helps simplify both the manufacture and maintenance of the aircraft while also re.ducing weight. In addition, DATAC and the new inductive connectors make it easier to add new devices and systems to the airplane as they become available.

Flight Control System On current aircraft, directional control is transmitted mechanically from the flight deck to control-surface actuators via a heavy, complex system of steel cables and pulleys. For the 7J 7, by contrast. the pilot's comData System mands will be transmitted as electrical Boeing has developed a new high- signals through wires to the actuators.

The 'fly-by-wire' concept achieves speed, two-way digital data communications system for the 7J7 called considerable weight reduction and Digital Autonomous Terminal Access design simplification. Both primary Communications (DATAC). DATAC and backup flight-control systems will enables airplane instruments, actu- utilize this technology, with the ation systems and computers to com- DATAC data buses providing the municate with one another through a means of signal transmission. This will common wire path instead of through be the first total fly-by-wire system in individual wire connections. The path, commercial service.

Fiber optic signalling will be used in or data bus, consists of a twisted pair the engine control system. Comof wires.

Six of these simple wire pathways mands in the form of light pulses will will be installed in the 7J7, and each pass through glass cables running will be linked to dozens of transmit- from the engines through the struts to THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

an interface with the DATAC system.

Fiber optics were chosen for this application as a reliability enhancement. since they are unaffected by lightning or other electromagnetic interference.

Cabin Design The interior of the 7 J 7 will be designed to offer maximum flexibility in adjusting to changing market demand levels - seasonal, day of week, and sector by sector. Airlines will be able to quickly reconfigure combinations of galleys, lavatories, seats and class dividers. Any combination of four distinct seating alternatives can be offered: seven-abreast economy, six-abreast full fare, and five or four-abreast first class.

Passenger entertainment will be available through flat-panel TV screens on seat backs. which may also serve as a means of communicating with the cabin crew. A connectorless signal transmitter will eliminate the maintenance-prone plugs used in today¡ s entertainment systems and greatly increase flexibility in repositioning seats.

Affordability While development work is proceeding in major areas of technology, Boeing is undertaking a concerted effort to reduce costs. Design/build teams have been established with responsibility for attaining cost goals on each of the 7J7's major airplane segments. Computer-aided design and manufacturing capabilities are being expanded. improving accuracy and greatly reducing the possibility of costly changes once production has begun.

At the factory level. digitally programmed machining and assembly equipment will further contribute to cost efficiencies. The new technologies themselves will help cut costs through reduced numbers of parts and simpler designs.

19

Modeling of Air Traffic Control Automation Systems Dan Varon, Principal Engineer, Air Traffic Control Directorate Raytheon Company, Equipment Division , Marlborough, Massachusetts , USA

Dr . Varon is currently a Technical Staff Engineer in Raytheon 's Air Traffic Control Directo rat e. Sin ce 79 77 he has made numerous contributions towards the implementa tion of the NAS Computer Display Channel, Upgraded DARC, and DERD-MC , and is now ac tively involved in the Advanced Automation System and RAMP Displays projects . Before joining Raytheon he was a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Telephone Laboratories and Manager of a software developme n t group at Tymshare, Inc.

lator . The test bed is easily extensible into a complete model by suppleA we ll designed air traffic control menting it with additional attributes system must have sufficient process- that uniquely characterize the specific ing and sto rage capacities to operate system being modeled . This approach efficiently and satisfy required re- was applied to ATC systems designed sponse t imes and throughputs. It must for three countries. In one case, simualso have adeq uate reserves to permit lation of a communication link befuture expansion. The challenge tween two computers helped optimize before the system designer is to the message protocol ; in anot _her, design a properly sized system , given modeling the allocation of functions the external data load characte ristics among proce ssors prov_ided guid_eand the system's funct ion al require- lines for optimum utilization of a disments . To accompl ish thi s, the tributed system's computing resourdesigner is aided by mode ling . ces; and enhancement of aircraft This paper describes a practical tracking accuracy became possible simulation based model ing method after te sting various algorithms in a that has been successf ully used at modular tracking performance simRaytheon in the development of ATC ulator. systems to predict respo nse t ime s, internal data loads, processor utiliSimulators and Models zations and performance of algorithms (tracking, con flict alert, hazardou s The term simulator is commonly airspace warning). A key feature of this associa ted with facilities that create method is that sim ulated workloads realistic environments for training driving the mode ls are given very pil ot s or air traffic controllers. Simuauthentic characteri stics, w hich make lator s of a different kind assist system such wo rkloads easily replaceab le by engineer s to design systems . Before a actual recorded data. Wh at sets t his system is built, it is necessary to know method apart from convent iona l how it w ill behave under a variety of modeling and simul at ion methods is st imuli called workloads. The simuthat model s created by t his method lator applies the workloads to a sysare usable t hroug h all phases of a tems model which reacts to the workdeve lopm ent proj ect, from initial loads like th e actual system . des ign to system integration. The A model is a mathematical repinterc hangeability of simulated and resentation of a system or subsystem. real data permit not on ly the verifi- The model may be as simple as a few cation of models , but also their usage equations, or it may be a complex as troub le shoot ing tools dur ing sys- algo rithm programmed on a comtem integr at ion . puter. Complex mod els are construcSim ilarit ies in the arch itecture of ted with ' building blocks' provided by ATC systems have made it possible, by a simulation language. A simulator is using a simu lat ion language, to create formed by adding input and output a software 'test bed' that serves as a facilitie s to the model and a data gener ic , partia lly comp leted simu- analysis capabi lity. A simulation is an

Intr oduction

20

' experiment' performed on the model.

Many simulations may be run on a model for different workloads and internal parameter values. A simulation language also provides means for collecting and computing pertinent statistical data. The activities inherent in model construction, simulation runs , and analysis of resultant data form a simulation study . The objectives of a study, which should always be well defined , influence the complexity and authenticity of the model, the characterization of the workload and the type of statistical data collected .

We distinguish between queu eing , estimation and capacity models .

Queueing models are used to study situations in which several simultaneous activities contend for access to a single resource, be it a bus , a processor, a peripheral device , or a loc al area network . They provide informa tion about a resource's utilization , its access delay , the time it complete s a service and the size of waiting queue s.

Estimation models are used to study performance of algorithms that estimate the speed and future location of aircraft and potential violations of separation standards. They provide information on how algorithm performance depend s on the accuracy of input values and the motion characteristi cs of aircraft . Capacity model s are used to ensure that sufficient stor age and proce ssing power are provided to sustain the operation of an ATC system in real time. They model the di stribution of data amo ng system fun ction s; and given me ssage rates and sizes, instruction count estimates of function s, instru ction execution rate s, and data base c hara cteristic s, THE CONTROLLER/ MARCH 1988

mated and measured performance Workload Characterization and suggesting corrective actions.

The intent of a simulation often Unfortunately. probabilistic models. determines the characterization of a workload. Simulations intended to because of their dissimilarity with true Modeling of ATC Systems study generic behavior often rely on workloads. cannot be readily used for Creating a single queueing or stochastic processes: workloads are trouble shooting. In contrast. models capacity model for an entire ATC sys- characterized by known statistical based on operational analysis ( 1) are tem. accounting for its myriad details. distributions (Uniform. Normal. Pois- very suitable for design work because is a formidable task. Practically. it is son. etc.); and system performance is the laws of operational analysis (2) infeasible. because the size and com- expressed in terms of statistical (Throughput Law. Response Time plexity of a model is limited by the means. variances. and occasionally Laws. Resource Utilization Laws) can computing resources available to run higher moments of sampled data. be readily applied to measured data. a simulation. A sound modeling meth- Such characterization has two limiodology must. therefore. balance this tations if applied to simulation aided A Simulation Test Bed limitation against the objectives of the design: it is not verifiable by measureAt any hierarchical level of mosimulation by ensuring that no details ment. and it may not be sufficiently with substantial influence on the accurate to determine critical design deling. a simulator has the following generic components: a workload. a simulation results are omitted. yet parameters. keeping the required utilization. of In practice. a random function is model which processes the workload. computing resources at a practical not an authentic representation of live a data analysis capability. and a report level. Pursuant with this approach. a data. Radar data. the most dynamic of generator. Because these commodeling methodology called de- all data types in an ATC system. are ponents are always interfaced simicomposition is adopted. correlated both in space and time. In larly with one another. it is advanDecomposition is modeling an ATC space. flight patterns (airways. hold- tageous to preserve the similarities in system as a hierarchy of subsystems. ing areas. landing profiles) and separ- the form of a computer-based test At the highest level. the e!'tire syste:m ation standards oppose pure random- bed. Creating a simulator for any subis represented as a single entity ness. In the time domain. radar data system then becomes a matter of with specified response times and are periodic at frequencies equal to integrating its model and data analysis throughputs. Below that. the sysJ~m the radar scan rates. Therefore. simu- routines into an existing structure. The is decomposed into smaller ent1t_1es lated workloads. when used in support main ingredients of the test bed are called subsystems. modules. or units. of ATC system design. must have the shown in Figure 1. The central comeach individually modeled. At the same attributes as the live data they ponent is a program containing the logic which controls the simulation lowest level. each entity is decom- simulate. process. It provides a clock. an event posed into groups of related functions.

Measurements and Performance calendar. a scheduler. message When subsystems are interconnected router. and random number generto form a higher hierarchy level. the Analysis As a design tool. a model is valued ator(s). For discrete event simulation. details within each subsystem are omitted. but the data rates and trans- by its ability to predict a system's per- a number of commercially available fer delays between subsystems are formance. An inaccurate model. products (GPSS [3]. SIMSCRIPT [4]. whose predictions do not compare 0-GERT [5]) already contain such preserved. Such subsystem ~odels. called flow-equivalent queuein~ net- favorably with measured perform- control logic. works. exhibit the same behav1or ~t ance. is of little value. no matter how The workload is composed of a their external interfaces as do their simple or mathematically elegant it is. stream of¡ time-ordered messages.

Therefore. models intended to aid in which are received by the model more detailed counterparts.

For a flow-equivalent network to be the design process must not only be across its input interface. The most meaningful. the detailed network accurate and authentic. but also veri- common attributes of these messages fiable by actual performance mea- are their type. length and frequency. must be analyzed first. Then_~ flowsurements. The importance of verifia- In models of communication systems. equivalent network that_ exh1b1tsthe same interface behav1or can be bility goes beyond model validation. the length may include framing bytes created. Starting at the lowest func- The model must also be helpful in required by the protocol. If the number isolating discrepancies between esti- of message types is small. such as in tional level. flow-equivalent networks are created and interconnected to form higher level networks. allow_ing the scope of the model to grow ~1~hSUBSYSTEM out an accompanying increase in its STATISTICAL MODEL ANALYSIS complexity and demand for coml?utALGORITHMISI ing resources. For exa_mple._adeta1~ed e MESSAGE PROCESSING â&#x20AC;˘ DATA COLLECTION model of a disk to estimate its service o DATA REDUCTION o DATA ANALYSIS time would include the disk's address map, seek time. l~tency: and . data SIMULATION transfer time. A s1mulat1on with a REPORT WORKLOAD CONTROL GENERATION LOGIC given statistical distribution _of_ servi~e requests will produce a stat1st1caldisMESSAGE TYPES o TASK SCHEDULING o RESPONSE TIMES o MESSAGE LENGTHS o CLOCK o RESOURCE UTILIZATION tribution of service times. The flowo MESSAGE FREOUENCIES o EVENT CALENDAR o ACCURACIES equivalent network of the disk is a ra~o DELAYS o FRAMING o MESSAGE ROUTING dom function which computes. in o RANDOM NUMBER GENERATORS response to a service request: a service time in accordance with the statistical distribution derived from the Figure 1. Simulation Test Bed detailed model. they estimate the fraction of time a processor will be active and the amount of memory needed.

0

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

21

the case of a tracking simulator (radar messages only). messages may be MESSAGE PROCESSING periodically generated as part of the MODEL simulation process. Otherwise. if the YES NO MESSAGE message stream is a mix of many INPUT message types. frequencies. and QUEUE lengths. message generation becomes a two step process. as shown in Figure 2. First. messages are sepREAD arately generated by type. Then. all MESSAGE messages are sorted into a timeordered sequence and placed in a workload file. from which each message is read at its precomputed arrival • TIME ORDERED time by the simulator and passed on to - MESSAGE-SEQUENCE the model for processing. If processing of a previous message is still in MESSAGE GENERATION progress. the new message is queued.

• MESSAGE GENERATION Messages are released from the MESSAGE GENERATOR • TIME SORT queue as soon as message processing can proceed. This concept is depicted by the 'Switch' in Figure 2. The advantage of this method of workload • TYPE characterization is that the input file • LENGTH may contain either a simulated or a • FREQUENCY true workload previously recorded. If the model is an authentic representation of a subsystem or algorithm. it can. in conjunction with a recorded Figure 2. Workload Generation and Interface with Model message file. serve as a problem solving tool if response time. throughput, or capacity space falls short of expectation . . Of all activities comprising a simulation study. the most creative is the TRANSMITTING RECEIVING construction of the model of a subSTATION STATION system or algorithm. Here. the modLOCAL INPUT AREA MESSAGE eler is attempting to characterize the NETWORK STREAM beha~i_orof an entity under a variety of cond1t1ons without performing mea• SOURCE ADDRESS (SA) • PROPAGATION DELAY DESTINATION ADDRESS (DA) surements on the entity itself. To cap• MESSAGE • TRANSMISSION PROTOCOL LENGTH ture the pertinent properties of the • modeled subject. it is not always necessary to abide by the constraints of its physical environment.

For Figure 3. Generic Model of a Local Area Net.work example. in modeling the behavior of local area networks. it is not necessary to represent each station distinctly. because only a single message is transmitted over the transmission medium at any give time. As illustrated in Figure 3. as long as the propagation DATA DATA delay and protocol are authentically COLLECTION BASE modeled. all of the stations can be represented by a single generic transmitting station and a single generic receiving station which assume. for each message. the identities of the SIMULATION REPORT DATA REDUCTION transmitting and receiving addresses.

CONTROL AND ANALYSIS GENERATION respectively.

LO<.IC The results of a simulation are communicated to the analyst via a report printed by the simulator at the end of a simulation run. The report contains statistical measures (histoREPORT grams. averages. maxima. minima) of pertinent performance parameters (response times. delays. utilization of resources. accuracies) and message counts. The information in the report Figure 4. Statistical Analysis

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THE CONTROLLER/ MARCH 1988

is computed from raw data collected during the simulation and saved in a data base. For example. in Figure 3, the raw data item for computing the network's bus utilization is the sum of the propagation delays of all transmitted messages. The utilization is the ratio between this sum and the total simulated time. The same sum can also be used to compute the average propagation delay by dividing it by another raw data item: the total number of messages transmitted. The relationship between the raw and processed data in the test bed is illustrated in Figure 4. The data base and report generator are fixtures of the test bed. whereas the data collection. reduction. analysis. and report contents are tailored to the simulation and the performance parameters of interest.

Book Review Manual of Avionics, Second Edition, Brian Kendal, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 OEL UK 2 76 pages, £ 77. 50, paperback (ISBN 0-632-01863-1)

Brian Kendal, in his second edition of 'Manual of Avionics', takes the reader on a fascinating tour of equipment. ground-based and airborne. historical and state-of-the art.

He begins his book with a historical section covering the early origins of radio through the precursor equipment of ILS and VOR, ending it with the early theory and experimentation of radio detection and ranging to the useable radars developed in the 1930s and matured in the 1940s.

In Section 2 Kendal addresses air traffic management and operational facilities as they exist in the United Summary Kingdom. While some of the aspects ATC systems h~ve stringent_ re- described are specific to the UK, such sponse time. capacity, and algorithm as airspace designation, most of this performance requirement~.

To material is useful in the international guarantee delivery of a compliant sys- context as regulated by ICAO Stantem. it is necessary to em~loy mod- dards and Recommended Practices. eling and simulation. In spite of the Beginning with Section 3 'Radio size and complexity of AT~ systerr:is, Telephony Communication· the book modeling can be accomp~1shed "".1th offers both very detailed. for those reasonable effort by resorting to hier- who require or are interested, desarchical decomposition and identifycriptions as well as more generalized ing common features a~ong models overviews on VHF, UHF, AM, SSB. which can be captured in a softw_a~e speech processing, direction finding, test bed and reused. Furthermore. It 1s Doppler D/ F. fixer systems and DI F possible to model the_ system in an siting. authentic manner with workloads Kendal then describes short range closely resembling real data. Such navigational and approach aids: NOB, workloads can be replaced with re~I ADF, VOR, Doppler VOR, DME. data to validate the models and. 1f Tacan, ILS, MLS. Again, both the necessary, use them as performance ground-based and airborne equipproblem solving tools. ment are subject of in-depth information. Next is a section on radar - priReferences 1. Deaning P.J. and Buzen J.P:: 'The Operational Analysis of Queueing Network Models'. ACM Computing Surveys. Vol. 10.

No. 3: 225-261. Se~emb• 1978.

2. Buzen J.P.: 'Fundamental Operation?! Laws of Computer Systems Performance . Acta lnformatica.Vol. 7.No.2: 167-182.1976.

3. Gordon G.: The Application of GPSS V to Discrete System Simulation. Prentice-Hall.

Englewood Cliffs. N.J. 1975. .

4. Kiviat P.J. et al.: Simscnpt 11.5Programming Language. CACI. Inc. Los Angeles. CA. 1973.

A I .

5. Pritsker A .. Alan 8.: Modeling and na ys1s Using Q-GERT Networks. Second Ed1t1on.

Halsted Press. New York. N.Y. 1979.

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

mary and secondary -, monopulse, Mode S, radar displays, mapping, radar data processing systems and sub-systems.

Section 6 offers hyperbolic navigation systems. i.e. Decca. the Loran systems, Omega - the ground-based long range navigational systems. The airborne systems - inertial navigation (INS), Doppler navigation and R-nav are explained in Section 7. · A new feature in the Second Edition of 'Manual of Avionics' is: Space Systems - Search and Rescue Satellite (SARSAT). geostationary meteorological satellites.

Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS). a look at high-tech systems on which future developments may well be based. Finally, a section on miscellaneous systems such as RVR, recording systems for speech and radar data concludes the text.

'Manual of Avionics· is a book which should be considered recommended, possibly even compulsory, reading for controllers, pilots and electronic technical personnel who wish to refresh their understanding or broaden their knowledge of avionics and their theoretical and practical functioning. The book would be a welcome addition to any air traffic control library and a rewarding investment for anyone who is interested in the systems which enable accuracy in air navigation.

H. Harri Henschler

Shorts Record operating profits for U.S. airlines in '87 are forecast by Airline Economics. Inc. The Washingtonbased firm predicted that operating profits in excess of $2.5 billion will best the previous record of $ 2. 2 billion set in '84. Other analysts have predicted even higher profits. Net profits, however, are not expected to break the $1. 2 billion mark set in · 78 due to the $ 1.6 billion annual interest expense burden. Airline Economics said. First half operating profits of $ 1.3 billion will lead the way toward

the · 8 7 record. Sophisticated yield management techniques will enable airlines to remain profitable while keeping average fare increases below the inflation rate, AEI said.

The African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) estimates that African airlines will need an additional 650 jet transports. including 100 widebodied aircraft. over the next 20 years at a cost of $32.5 billion. The estimate does not include propeller aircraft. (Air Transport World' 1718 7) 23

Airlines of the World VARIG VARIG

Offic ial Carrier IFATCA '88

Foun ded on May 7 , 1927 , VARIG w as th e f irst airline to be created in Brazil and wa s, in fact, one of the very first airlin es in t he world . Its history- a fascina t ing st ory of men and machines - date s from 19 21 , severa I years befor e t he company was offi c ially fo unded .

That is the year when Otto Ernst M eyer, th e man who c reated VARIG, arrived in Brazil from his native Germany . He had a contract to work for the Lundgren brot hers of Recife in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco . And along w it h his baggage , he carried a dream, a desir e t o c reate an airline in Brazil. M eyer, who had bee n an off icer in the German Air Force, to ok the first available opportunit y to sugge st the idea of creating a Brazilian airline to his employer. His enthus iasm d id not meet with positive response .

Undaunted. M eyer moved to Rio de Janeiro in the hope of f urther ing t he ach ievement of his goa l. The best he was able to do at first was t o ope n a steamship ticket age ncy. But he moved south again, t his time to the city of Porto Aleg re. He recog nized th e struggle that was ahead of him because at that time in history, virt u~ ally no one bE:lieved in t he feasibil ity of sta rting an airline In Brazil . A cknow ledging _thediff icu lties he faced, M eyer wrote: We are making great effo rts to transmit our Europea n aviat io n experience. In light of_its vast geograp hy and enormous size, t his co untry understands all too we ll t hat it m ust ensure its place in t he new fi eld of c ivil aviation.

Unfo rt unate ly, howeve r, since th_e co ncept is not suff ic ient ly mature in t he minds of the public or t he ho lders of cap ita l, tw o attempts made between 19 2 1 and 19 24 were not successf ul .'

Desp ite these ear ly fai lures, however, Otto Ernst M eyer refused to abandon his dream. 'O ur efforts between 1925 and 1926 began to show resu lts, and we found positive support among leading persona lities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, who were wi lling to co ntribute their signifi24

cant prestige and their modest financial support .'

A short time after Meyer asked the state of Rio Grande do Sul to grant ta x exemption to the future 'Empresa de Via9ao Aerea Rio-Grandense ' VARIG . This request was approved on December 1, 1926 .

The public provided support by purchasing stock . In November 1926 , the new company was well underway and the t ime had come to purchase aircraft and contract for pilots and mechanic s. Otto Ernst Meyer traveled to Germany and met with various major indu strie s there to obtain the appr o priate airc raft and the specialized manpower he needed. He signed a contract for a hydroplane called Atlantico .

The last step in bringing th e pl an to fruition was the necessity to obtain lice nses for both regular and special fli g ht s in Brazilian territory. Granted in January 19 2 7, the se license s marked t he true beginning of the airline ' s existence .

The next step was the hiring of help in Brazil. Otto Ernst Meyer placed an adve rtisem ent in a new spap er in Porto Alegre , but few people answered it .

The salary was not very high , and there was no certainty that the company would ever get off the ground.

The first employee was Ruben Martin Berta . He later succeeded Otto Ernst Meyer as President of VARIG .

The two men - Meyer and Berta took charg e of the office . They were also respon sible for publicity, administration , and practically everything else . It wa s intense, arduous and slow work whi c h they found immensely rewarding .

At9 .30a .m.onJanuary27 , 1927 the Atlantico took off from Rio de Janeiro and after several stops , arrived in Porto Alegre two day s later. At each stop the pl ane wa s greeted with honors and celebration s - at the citie s of Santos, Sao Franci sco do Sul and Flor ianopol is.

On April 1, 192 7 , the first prepar atory shareholder s' meeting wa s held . The sta t ute s of the comp any were pre sented and discu ssed .

On M ay 7, 1927, at the shar eholders ' meeting wit h stoc kholder s from Porto Alegre , Pelotas , Sao Leopoldo, Rio Grandee Novo Hamburgo , and Cachoeira do Sul , it wa s a profoundly moving mom e nt when the

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stockholders. at 3 .00 p .m . officially declared the founding of VARIG. Brazil 's very first airline. with headquarters in the city of Porto Alegre.

The event was duly notarized and off icia lly recorded on page 1, book 1 of the Brazilian Commercial Aviation Registry. Otto Ernst Meyer was elected Managing Director, Count Rudolf Cramer von Clausbruch. Technicc;1I Director and Engineer; and Count Fritz Hammer. Delegate Director. Otto Ernst Meyer's dream had at last become a reality.

On June 15. 1927. when the leasing contract with the Condor Syndikat of Berlin ended. Count von Cramer and the mechanic Franz Nuelle became employees of VARIG .

At the same time the company pur chased the hydroplane. Dornier Wal 路At lantico路. which was listed as P-BAAA on VARIG's aircraft register VARIG B 76 7 Extended Range book . The company also extended its services to Lagoa dos Patos, between Alegre to Montevideo. using a de Porto A legr e. Pelotas and Rio Grande . Havilland Dragon Rapide .

The company paid off all the debts it By the end of 1945. VARIG had a had incurre d six months previously in standardized fleet of 10 Electras types Berl in. and a new plane. a Dornier 1OA and 1OE. The company then purMerkur. was baptized 'The Gaucho'. chased a large fleet of Douglas DC-3 .

In the beginning of the decade of which had a greater flight range . New the 1930s. despite all of the difficultservices were established in 1946 ies of being a pioneer airline VARIG with the inauguration of the Rio de was already serving most of the state .Janeiro-Porto Alegre route , with of Rio ~rande do Sul . with flights to stops in Florianopolis. Curitiba and Bage . L1vramento. Uruguaiana. Santa Sao Paulo . This flight. made with the Cruz do Sul. Torres. Cruz Alta Santa Curtis Commando C-46 . connected Mar ia. Santo Angelo and other cities . the capitals of Southern Brazil . In The growth of the company and the 1952 VARIG expanded its service to subs equent increase in demand for Northern Brazil. One year later , VARIG services made the purchase of new extended its Montevideo flight to aircraft necessary. The seaplanes Buenos Aires. were replaced by other aircraft .

After assuming the position of including two Junker F-13s. and two President and restructuring the airline Junker A-50s . VARIG also purchased to meet Brazil's post-war expansion a Mes serschmidt M -20 B. a Junker needs. Ruben Berta decided to create JU-52. a de Havilland Dragon Rapid a totally new relationship between the and a Fiat. airline and it s employees . He made a For 15 years. Otto Ernst Meyer surprise proposal at the Shareholders directe d VARIG. with Ruben Berta. his Meeting ; he suggested transferring indefat igable colleague at his side. In half of the company's stock to a new 1941 . when Brazil sided with the Employees路 Foundation . It was an Allie s against Germany in the Second idea of his own conception. based World War. Otto Ernst Meyer became upon his personal convictions as well fearful that his German origins might as principles in the Encyclical ' Rerum create difficulties for the company.

Novarum 路 of Pope Leo XIII. Berta's Despite the protestation of many concept incorporated the most socipeople who pleaded with him to ally advanced ideals . including the remain on the job . he handed in his creation of benefits for workers and a resignatio n. degree of participation in ownership Ruben Berta was then chosen by workers. These were ideas which President of the co mpany. A new would eventually be incorporated phase in the history of VARIG had many years later - in labor legislation begun . in the most advanced countries in the With his profound knowledge of world. The proposal was unanimously the company, Ruben Berta estab- approved . and the Foundation was set lished a new plan for both national and up the same year. international ro utes . The following Thu s VARIG was created and has year . 1942. VARIG inaug urated its prospered . thanks to the combined first internationa l flight. from Porto efforts of both its directors and its 26

employees VARIG does not belong to any one person or group . The Foundation maintains control as the largest shareholder in VARIG . VARIG belongs to its employees.

The airline's greatest period of expansion began in 1953 . when the Brazilian government guaranteed VARIG regular flight service to New York. The company restructured its fleet and purchased Super G Constellations and Convair 240s for the New York and Brazilian trunk routes respectively . On August 2 . 1955 . the New York route was inaugurated. In the light of its new responsibilities .

VARIG created a program of onboard service at the very highest level . While complying rigorously with flight schedules. VARIG also offered its passengers the very best possible service from ground and flight personnel.

As service expanded and technology changed. the company required modern aircraft to match its growing

VARIG Fleet. Cruzeiro. Rio Sul Numbers 10 2

3 1 2 6 1 14 3 18 5

2 4 14 7 6

Aircraft Types Douglas DC-10-30 Douglas DC-10-30 cargo Boeing 747 200 B Boeing 74 7 200 Boeing 74 7 300 Boeing 767 200 ER Boeing 707 Boeing 727 Boeing 737 300 Boeing 737 Boeing 707 cargo Boeing 727 cargo Airbus AB300 84 Electra II Bandeirante Fokker Friendship F2 7

THE CONTROLLER/ MARC H 1988

prestige and its responsibilities, especially on the New York route . In 1959, VARIG upgraded its fleet by purchasing Caravelles and Boeing 707s. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of VARIG's employees. the company's reputation had now extended beyond its national borders. and VARIG became an international symbol for the excellence of Brazilian products and services.

In 1961 the company expanded even further by purchasing another · airline, which gave VARIG its Pacific route, with stops in Lima, Bogota.

Mexico City and Los Angeles. its Miami Route. and routes along the east coast of South America. VARIG increased its international routes by 400 per cent and doubled its Brazilian network.

Also at this time. VARIG's fleet increased by three Convair 990-A 'Coronado' aircraft . In 1965. when Panair stopped its commercial activities. the Brazilian government transferred to VARIG that company's European flight services and facilities.

VARIG's extraordinary growth continued . In 1970 . the company began flying jet aircraft on its Brazilian routes. In 1974. the first 'widebodies·. the Douglas DC-10-30s . were introduced on international flights. In 1975. the group incorporated another Brazilian airline . Cruze1ro do Sul. Upon the death of Ruben Berta in 1966 Erik de Carvalho. then VicePresident assumed command. consolidating and extending the company's services and infrastructure .

VARIG' s jet service was implemented on domestic flights. the first DC-10s were purchased. and_t_h_ela_rgest maintenance service facil1t1es in South America were established in Rio de Janeiro.

Harry Schuetz. assumed the Presidency in 1984.

Schuetz had joined the company in March 193 7 . when it had only 24 employees ; he died in 1983 .

The President of VARIG today 1s Helio Smidt. elected to office by the Administrative Council on April 30.

1980.

Under Smidt's command.

VARIG has consolidated its growth and expanded its network. both at home and abroad. It has also introduced Boeing 7 4 7 airc_raft on its international flights . a maJor factor in keeping VARIG competitive on the world scene.

Another great step in the continued expansion of the airline was the purchase of new Boeing 7_47-3 00B aircraft. which were delivered to VARIG in December 1985. The Boeing 7 4 7-300B offers such key advantages as greater seating capacity and THE CONTROLLER/MA RCH 19 88

the very latest technological innovations. Helio Smidt is an experienced and sophisticated authority in the field of aviation, with comprehensive knowledge of the company in all of its facets . He joined VARIG on February

5 , 1945 , and as President has directed the company with a dynamic. progressive policy. recogniz ing the critical importance of teamwo rk and of the development of human resources to the maximum of their potential.

Introducing: New IFATCA Member Associations

The St. Lucia Air Traffic Controllers' Association. SLATCA prepares proAssociation (SLATCA) joined the posals and advises during negoIFATCA family at the 26th Annual tiations on the technica l aspects of the Conference in Nairobi . Kenya. This profession . was a significant step in the history of In 1987 the St. Lucia association SLATCA as the association had only welcomed the Executive Vice-Pres ibeen formed on 5 December 1985 . dent. Finance . Tard Gustavsson who The St . Lucia Air Traffic Controllers· met with the Permanent Secretary in Association has twenty-two full mem- the Min istry of Commu nication and bers which is 85% of the total ATC Transport and with the senior staff of staff, it is hoped that 100% member- the Airports Division. A special mee tship will be secured very soon. ing of the general body of SLATCA was The aims and objectives of SLATCA convened where Mr. Gustavsson are compatible with those of IFATCA addressed the members on the role as the association is non-profit and and activities of IFATCA within the non-political with the primary aim of aviation community. The visit received protecting and advancing the interests both radio and television coverage . of the controllers and the ATC proNow that SLATCA has been fession . SLATCA is not a union and accepted into the family of ATC therefore does not negotiate directly associations it intends to play a for air traffic controllers. However . the meaningful rnle in the affairs of the association works closely with the Federat ion and particular ly in t he bargaining body for air traffic controlCaribbea n Region of IFATCA. lers which is the St. Lucia Civil Service

I tor : E. Narciese. Manager Vigie Airport . M. Gustave, President SLATCA, T Gustavsson, EVP. L. Remy, Secretary SLATCA, J. Quinlan. PRO SLATCA

27

IFA

4th Regional Meeting

-

The 4th Regional IFATCA meeting for Africa-North took place 17 and 18 November 1987 and was hosted by th e A ir Traffic Controllers Association of Morocco (ACN A) in Casablanca.

The meet ing place was the private club of th e associatio n situated at the Casa Anfa airport, next to the airline pilots' cl ub.

In fact, the tw o-day Regional Meeting was on ly part of a one-week project very efficient ly organized by AC NA and ca lled th e ' Moroccan Air Traff ic Control Wee k' .

Sat urday, 14 November: Meeting of the ACNA National Coordination Council. Controllers from the different airpo rts and air tr affic contro l units of Morocco met for one day and discussed variou s procedures in order to obtain a safe r air tran spo rt system .

In the evening a recept ion was offered by ACNA on the occasion of the' International Day of the Air Traffic Controller' . The recept ion was we ll attended by the represe ntative s from CAA, airline compa nies and the press.

Sunday, 15 November : Round Table meeting wit h air t raffic co ntrollers from the adjacent air t raffic control centers. Main th eme of d isc ussion wa s coordination procedu res, so tha t a better flow of air t raffi c betw ee n the adjacent FI Rs of t he reg ion cou ld be ob t ained. The meeting was very succe ssful and was attended by de legate s from Spain. Port ug al, Senegal and, of course, Mor occo.

M onday, 16 November: Round Table meet ing w ith the pilo ts of Roya l A ir M aroc . M ain t heme of di sc ussion was t he wo rking relatio nshi p between pilots and air traff ic co nt roller s and how to obta in better coope rati on and co llabo rat ion.

Appro xim ate ly 50 pi lots and air traffic co ntroller s were prese nt and the discussions took place in a very pos itive at mo sp here.

Aft er the meet ing, a lunch was offered at the M o hammed V Ai rpo rt and a vis it was pa id to the ATC prem ises .

In the eve nin g , Lt. Col . ld rissi. an exp ert in aviat ion med icine , offered a 28

Africa-North,

Casablanca

Abou El Karimy , RVP AFN

very interesting dissertation on ' Stress and related illne sses'. He explained in great detail the causes and symptoms of stress. as we ll as different methods to reduce stress. The conference was wel l attended and was followed by a lively question-and-answer session.

Tuesday. 17 November : At 10 am . after an introdu ctio n by Mr. Hafid Ahmed. President of the Moroccan ATCA, the 4th Regional IFATCA Meeting of Africa-North was opened off ic ially by Mr . Mohamed Moufid.

Dir ec tor of Civil Aviation in Morocco. w ho exp lained the importance of the air traffic cont roller s in civil air tran sport. The President of IFATCA then addressed the meeting, stressing the impo rtance of regional meetings w ithin the total framework of IFATCA. The meeting was then addressed

by Mr. Abou El Karimy, Regional VicePresident for Africa-North. and by the presidents of the Tunisian and Egyptian Air Traffic Controllers' Association s.

Aft er elect ion of the Regional Council for the next year. the working session s started.

Report s of Activ iti es were provided by the Regional Vice-President AFN and the Moro cca n, Tunisian and Egypt ian ATCAs.

It was interesting to hear the work done by our Member Associations in publicizing the profession of air traffic control and the activities of I FATCA. Indeed. the Tunisian Air Traffic Controllers¡ Association also celebrated the 'I nternationa I Day of the Air Traffic Controller' and full press and radio coverage was given to this event.

As far as our Egyptian friends are concerned. it looks like they have a very good relationship with the CAA and this on a permanent basis . The representatives of the Executive Board gave a full update on activities since Nairobi and on relations with international organizations.

In the evening. a very interesting and well attended conference was held by the Director of the Arab Civil Aviation Conference (ACAC) on the future of Civil Aviation in Arab countries.

Wednesday. 18 November : During the second day of the AFN Regional Meeting the following agenda items were discussed: Technical and professional prob lems of Member Association s in Africa-North; Coordination procedures within the region; Flow control within the region ; Exc hange of visit s of air traffic controller s within the region; Future of the Federation ; Budget of the AFN Regional VicePresident.

It was also decided that the 5th Regional IFATCA Meeting for AfricaNorth will be held in Tuni sia. most probably during the last week of September 1988.

The official closing of this regional meeting took place at about 2 pm . with speeches from the Regional VicePresident. the Execu ti ve Vice-President Admini stration and the President of IFATCA. A visit was then paid to Tit Mella I, a sma ll airport for general aviation , where a complete set of facilities is available for the air traffic controllers: flying c lub , in and outdoor sporting facilities . restaurant, etc .

THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1988

Congratulations to the Moroccan Member Association for their efficiency in organizing the Regional Meeting and the 'Week of Air Traffic Control' . Many discussions have taken place both at annual conferences and regional meetings on publicizing IFATCA. Our Moroccan

friends have demonstrated what can be achieved by a member association at the national level. It was indeed impossible during the ·week of Air Traffic Control ' to open any newspaper in Morocco · without finding at least one major article on air traffic control and IFATCA. Erik F. Sermijn

4th Caribbean Regional Meeting of IFATCA The 4th Caribbean Regional Meeting of IFATCA was organized by the Barbados Air Traffic Control Associ ation from 9-11 December 1987 .

The venue was the Dover Convention Center. offering all conference facilities and situated in the beautiful surroundings of St . Lawrence . midway between the airport and the capital.

Bridgetown.

After registration of the participant s an orientation meeting was organized . Afterwards . a visit took place to the air traffic control facilities at the Grantley Adams International airport. It is certainly worthwhile to mention that Barbados possesses the best equipped airport of the CAR Region and the same goes for the air traffic control equipment : wellequipped tower . primary and SSR radar coverage going well beyond the Barbado s area with synthetic representation at the ATC center. and a modern ATC training center.

Wednesday evening the official opening ceremony took place . After a welcome address by Mr . Cecile Trotman. the Master of Ceremonies . and a speech by Mr . Cedric Murell . President of the Barbados Air Traffic Control Association . the Regional Vice -President. Mr . Vivi an Hanenberg. addressed the meeting. drawing attention to the fact that the theme of this meeting was : ·Air traffic control in the Caribbean ; the present and the future· and that ATC. to ensure safety in air transport. should have the proper equipment in terms of navigation and communication aids. adequate manpower and satisfactory working conditions .

On behalf of the Exec utive Board of IFATCA. the IFATCA President then addressed the Regional Meeting . exp laining the main objectives of the Federation and stress ing the importance of regional activities within the framework of IFATCA. The feature address was given by the Minister of International Transport.

Telecom muni cat ion s and Immigration . the Hon . Philip M . Greaves . who extended a warm welcome to the delegates . He then briefly outlined the history of aviat ion in Barbados. from t he grass runTHE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1988

way and small building in 1939 up to the asphalt runway and beaut iful air terminal building now used by large widebodied and supersonic jet aircraft; from the handheld light-signals and flare -pots to the sop histicated technical equipment now making the Grantley Adams International airport the best in the region.

After some folkloric entertainment. a cocktail reception was offered by the Minister. Thursday and Friday were entirely devoted to di sc ussion the many working papers introduced by the member associations.

This 4th CAR Regional Meeting was extremely well attended : there were delegate s from Antigua and Barbuda . Guyana. Netherlands Antilles . St . Kitts and Nevis . St . Luc ia.

Suriname . Trinidad and Tobago and. of course . Barbados . It was also a pleasure to see observers from Grenada . Martinique . St . Maarten and the Trinidad and Tobago Airline Pilots Association .

Both Grenada and St . Maarten indicated their intention to affiliate to IFATCA in the very near future. whereas the air traffic controllers of

Martin ique would automat ically become members of IFATCA. if APCA (France) rejoined the Federation.

The working sessions started w it h the Regional Vice-President giving his report on activities since the 3rd CAR Regional Meeting . The n the member associations of the region reported in detail on activities and some problems they were experiencing .

In general. it can be said that lack of a good communication network and in some countries lack of rada r equipment coupled with an urgen t need for refresher tra ining. are the problems experienced by a major ity of the countries in the CAR Region .

After the reports. the following items were discussed: •

Refre sher training in the Caribbean.

• Problems associated wi t h non or late receipt of flight plans .

• How to organize the ' Internat ional Day of the Contro ller' .

• The creation of a Carib bean Regiona l Newsletter.

• The creation of a Regional Execu tive .

The official closure took place at 4 pm on Friday with speeche s from the President of the Barbados Air Traffic Control Associa t ion . the Regional Vice -President CAR and the President of IFATCA. It was an excellent regional meeting. with more than 40 individual controllers attending and 12 Controllers · Associations present. The motto of the Barbado s association 'Togetherne ss. Efficienc y and Professionalism· certa inly proved to be true.

Erik F. Sermijn

--

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Headtable at the opening of the 4th CAR Regional Meet ing.

29

4th Joint European Regional Meeting

Participants at the 4th Joint European Meeting

This year's regional meeting of the European regions was attended by a record 53 delegates from 21 associations.

The meeting was superbly organized by the Portuguese Association .

The Opening Ceremony , in the presence of the Director General of ANA the Portuguese air traffic control

agency, was held in the new Lisbon area control center . This afforded an opportunity, after completing first business , for the participants to visit the ATC facility , one of the few in Europe to have been planned beyond the year 2000 as far as capacity is concerned .

Subjects discussed at the meeting

4th Joint Asia/ Pacific Regional Meeting, The fourth Joint Asia / Pacific Regional Meeting of IFATCA was held at the Hotel Metropolitan, Tokyo on 9 and 10 December 1987 and was hosted by the Japan Federation of Air Traffic Controllers . _The meeting was attended by Mr. W1m Rooseman, Executive VicePresident Professional, Mr . E. Chu , RVP-Asia, Mr. N. Vidler, RVP-Pacif ic, delegates and observers from six Member Associations, one non MA IFALPA, Japan ALPA the Japan M inistry of Transport Workers Union and the Japan Civil Aviation Bure au, more than 40 peop le in all.

The meeting commenced with reports from the Regional Vice-Presidents . Mr. Chu reported on coord ination and visits to non MA s in the region includ ing The Philipp ine s and Malaysia.

He also attended t he I FALPA AS I / PAC Regional Technical/ Safety I Sec urity meeting in Kuala Lumpur in October.

M r. Vidler reported on visits with MA s Au stra lia and New Zealand and two vis its to non MA Papua New Guinea, who have ind icated their intention to affiliate with the Federation in 1988. Industrial trouble is looming in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea over working c ondit ions claims.

A full report on t he 1987 Annual Confer ence in Nairobi was delivered , up-to-dat e informa t ion on the next 30

IFATCA

annual conference in Rio de Janeiro was advised and Wim Rooseman reported on recent Executive Board and general Federation activities.

Under agenda item 'Regional technical matters and problems ' a series of work ing papers was presented and discussed in detail . These included ' Coordination between adjacent ATCCs / ACCs', 'Uniformity of cruising levels in the Asia region' , 'Delay of international flights in Japan ' , 'R-nav routes ', 'Establishment of safety reporting systems', 'Implementation of radar control procedures between FIRs in the ASI / PAC areas', ' Extension of I FATCA representation in the ASI / PAC regions', 'Licensing of ATCs' and ' Privatization of air traffic services'.

These papers prompted much disc ussion and alerted delegates to the myriad of problems existing throughout the region s whilst at the same time indicating that similar problems exist everywhere and further , that assistance is available from other MAs and the Fede ration. All delegate s present contr ibuted to the discussions.

The Au st ralian Association (CAOOAA) has agreed to ho st the 19 88 annual regional meeting and this will be held in Sydney 10 / 11 November . CAOOAA's bi-annual conve nt ion wi ll be held the following week ( 14-18 November) in Ad elaide .

are too numerous to be listed here but serious areas of concern of the meeting were the tremendous increase of air traffic, with monthly peaks of up to 20% over last year in some areas, and the deterioration of ATC conditions in some countries . Messages of concern were sent to Greek, UK, and Israel authorities .

The Federation was represented by the President. Executive Vice-President. Administration, and Executive Vice-President. Professional .

Kurt Kihr, Regional Vice-President Europe Central reconfirmed the determination of the member associations in his region to accelerate developments, a determination supported by all European associations -.

A very successful weekend! Janet Hall , GATCO, volunteered to be the meeting secretary and worked so efficiently that the meeting's minutes were ready the next day .

The next Joint European Regional Meeting is planned for Israel next autumn .

Philippe Domagala

In conclusion, a visit was made to the Aviation Safety College , incorporating the ATC training facility, at Haneda Airport . Delegates and observers were shown the college facilities , the radar simulator, the tower simulator and Haneda airport approach room and control tower.

All delegates and observers agreed that the 4th Joint Regional Meeting was most successful and thanked the Japan Federation of Air Traffic Controllers and the organizing committee for their hospitality .

Neil Vidler

Short Proposal recently made by the Japan National Land Agency calls for establishing a transportation network to make possible one-day trip s to the major Japanese cities from any place in the country . This would entail the construction of 50-60 additional airports around the larger cities , plus another 50- 70 commuter airports or heliports around the country. The proposal, part of the Fourth Overall National Development Program used as a guideline for land development up to the 21 st century, also recommend s that key international airports in Tokyo and Osaka be operated around-the-clock and that smaller airports be opened to international flight s.

(A ir Transport World ' 8 187) THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1988

North Atlantic I FR Violations and Incursions

Recently there has been high profile newspaper and television publicity on a risk of collision between two . wide-bodied jets over the mid-Atlantic enroute from Europe to North America. Aviation professionals would like to be able to say that such an airspace conflict on the trans-Atlantic route structure is rare. but a reading of infraction reports filed with Transport Canada suggests otherwise. There seems to be a disturbing laxity exhibited by flight crews with regard to IFR clearances. altitudes. and separation from other traffic.

Pilots are asking for flight levels that their aircraft are incapable of reaching at high gross takeoff weights. are changing to more desirable cruise altitudes without ATC permission. and flying at speeds different from the ATC clearance on the flight plan. This is creating serious problems for ATC and setting the stage for a possible fatal accident.

One example that was reported in February 1987 involved the crew of a Boeing 7 4 7 that accepted clearance into Oceanic Airspace at FL 370. but progressed by 60 degrees West at FL 330. advising ATC that it was unable to climb to FL 370 till 30 degrees West. Another Boeing 74 7 crew lost legal separation with preceding traffic on track Delta at FL 350 because they were not maintaining the ATCapproved Mach number. The other aircraft. also a 7 4 7. was moved up to FL 370 to prevent further loss of separation.

The pilot of a Cessna 421 cleared at FL 150 gave a 50 degrees West position report at FL 190. The flight plan requested a change to FL 190 but the pilot did not receive ATC clearance to climb to that altitude. The crew of a Gulfstream Ill told ATC it was leaving FL 390 for FL 430. When asked by ATC where the clearance for FL 430 had been obtained. the pilot advised that the G-I11was being flown in accordance with a computer flight plan.

An east-bound aircraft requested FL 3 70 on departure. but ATC was unable to grant this request due to westbound traffic. Flying at FL 250. the crew requested higher altitude THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1988

four times and were turned down four times. They then climbed on their own without clearance to FL 350 .

The pilot of a Cessna 206 climbed from FL 170 to 190 without ATC clearance because that higher altitude had been indicated on the flight plan. despite the fact that no ATC clearance had been issued.

A Boeing 727 crew were advised to cross 62 degrees North. 40 degrees West. at or below FL 230 due to traffic at FL 240. However the 727 crew called by 62N 40W at FL 310 asking for descent. ATC was obliged to issue a holding clearance at FL 250 until the conflict was resolved.

All these infractions took place in the first half of 1987. We would like to think that this unprofessional behaviour by a few flight crews is infrequent on the Atlantic route system. The flying public would also wish to be reassured on that count. The hazards tic. There hasn't been a fatal midair of disobeying ATC or following a flight yet - let's keep it that way. plan of your own devising should be (Reprinted from 'Aviation Safety obvious to all pilots flying trans-Atlan- Letter' issue 6187)

Definitions

Air traffic controllers actively encourage the reporting by pilots of adverse weather and flight conditions so that other pilots may benefit from the information passed on. Turbulence and icing are among the critical conditions for which PIREPS (pilot reports) offer updated information. It is important to remember. of course. that depending on the type of aircraft involved 'light' turbulence to one aircraft may mean 'moderate'. possibly 'heavy¡ turbulence to another. hhh Turbulence Light - an occupant may require the seatbelt for comfort but objects in the aircraft remain at rest.

Moderate - an occupant using a seatbelt is occasionally restrained by

the belt and objects in the aircraft move about.

Heavy - the aircraft may be momentarily out of control. An occupant is forced violently against the seatbelt and objects in the aircraft are tossed about.

Icing Frost - white feathery crystals which can cover the entire surface of an aircraft on the ground.

Rime ice - white. pebbly. granular ice which forms in flight on the leading edges of the wings but does not spread back over the wings.

Clear ice - clear. solid and glassy ice which forms on the leading edge of the wings and spreads back over the wing.

31

Ar LINJEFLYG Linjeflyg, Sweden 's national domest ic air car rier wi th twenty destinations and four million passengers pe r annum celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1987.

On 2 May Linjeflyg arranged a spectacula r air show over Stoc kholm w hich land ed the airline in the Guinness Book of World Records . For tw enty minutes eight of Linjefly g ' s Fokker F 28-4000 passenge r aircraft flew formations at altitudes of 900 to 1 500 feet and at a speed of 220 knots.

For the first time ever such a large numbe r of civ ilian transport aircraft flew box for m at ions . Within each

32

box the aircraft were separated by just one wingspan (25 meters) , the planes had departed at 1 5 second intervals - a tower controller's dream, the IFR controller's nightmare .

The show ended w ith the F 28s executing a perfect ' split-out' over Stockholm's 'Grona Lund ' amusement park - headquarters for the anniversary festi vit ies and va nt age point for the thousand s of ,,( spectators.

One wonders what Linj ef lyg wi ll offer ¡ the celebrants at ~ it s 50th anniver_____ _ _, sary.

I

In coming issues of The Controller' 1

Advanced Automated Air Traff ic Control Modernization of ATC in Egypt Voice Driven ATC Simulator The Controller's Workstation New Hong Kong ATC System Advanced Automation System Global ATC System

LINJEFLYG 30 ARSJUBILEUM

THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1988

THEY ARECOMING TOCONTROL THEWORLD.

27 ANNUAL IFATCACONFERENCE th

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION

_ From the 26 th to the 29 th of April the airtraffic controllers from all parts of the world will be gathered at the Hotel Nacional-Rio to take part in their 27 th Annual Conference.

VARIGis proud to be the official carrie r of this event. And pays homage to the HOTEL NACIONAL - RIO APR IL, 26 to 29, 1988

Ill!

'"''"""°'" co,c,ess ''° co"rnno,

efficiency and the high technic al level of the air-traffic controllers who are he re with us now.

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