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The sky's filling up. If someone doesn't do something soon, it'll be major gridlock. At Thomson -CSF - a world leader in the field of air traffic control - we have done something. We've developed the world 's most advanced systems for controlling the flow of air traffic. On -the-cu sp technology incorporating network architecture, Ada programming and high-definition color CRT displays - backed up by expert systems - that's custom-designed to deliver the right information at the right time sifted and sorted by powerful processors so that controllers are presented with a total picture of the air situation in a form that simply gives them more control. And we've got more good news where that come from. Especiallyfor the airlines. With the integration of the world 's flight data networks finally getting off the ground, now we can really help man age the flow in fact the whole show - by putting our powerful computer brainpower to work to organize the problems of space and time, ground-to-air coordination, and interfacing civil and military operations . At Thomson-CSF we're helping to make the skies more ~ lllii. friendly. More user-friendly. ,• ~
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THE BRAINPOWER. THE WILLPOWER. THE WINPOWER. 1
JOURNAL OFAIRTRAFFIC CONTROL
Gen eva, Sw itzerland , December,
1990
Publisher International Fede ratio n of Air Traff ic Controllers· Associ ation s. P.O . Box 196. CH-12 15 Geneva 15 Airport. Switzerland Officers of IFATCA D .C .B . St uart. Preside nt and Chief Exec ut ive Office r. U . W ind t. Deputy Preside nt . A. El Seoud El Karimy . Exec utive Vice -President. Africa. H . Esquivel A .. Exec utive Vice -President . Americas. N . Vidle r. Executive VicePres iden t. A sia and Pac ific . P. Falkman-Lauridsen. Exec utive Vic e-Presiden t. Europ e. S. Ericsson. Exec utive V ice-President. Financ e. W . Roose man . Exec uti ve Vice -Preside nt Prof essiona l. M . Doo ling. Exec ut ive Vice- President Techni ca l. E.F. Sermijn. Past Preside nt . E.G.H . Green. Execut ive Secretary Editor H . Harri Hensc hler 1998 Glenmor e Avenue. Sherwood Park. A lberta. Canada . TBA OX8 Telephone (403) 467-6826 Fax (403) 467 -1939 Management and Adv ertising Sales Off ice The Controll er. P.O . Box 196 . CH-12 15 Geneva 15 Ai rport. Swi tzerland
Adm inis tratwn / S ubscnp tions Bernard Laydeva nt. Tel . (022) 782 79 83
Ac count mg
Volume 2 9 · No. 4
In this issue IFATCA ·go Technical
Pane l
pag e 70
M ore Cruising Levels at Hig her A lt itudes
page 72
ATC Rada r for Bird Detect ion
pa g e 76
New IFATCA Exec ut ive Board
p age 78
Boe ing 7 3 7 -40 0
p ag e 24
A Pilot's View
page 2 7
The Human Side of ATC
page 30
Editorial H. Ham Henschler
Adv ert,smg / Produc tion
Printing House · Der Bund ·. Verlag und Dru ckerei AG Effin ge rstr asse 1. CH-300 1 Bern. Telephon e (03 1) 25 12 11 Sub scriptions and Advertising Payments to: Union Bank of Sw itzerland. A irport Branch CH-1215 Geneva 15 Airport. Swi tzerland Acco un t : IFATCA/ The Co ntr oller No . 602 2 54 .MD L Sub sc riptio n Rate: SFrs. 20 .- per annum (4 issues). plus postage and package· . Surfac em ail: Europ e and M edi terranean count ries SFrs. 5 .- . oth er cou ntr ies SFrs. 6 .-. Airm ail : Europe and M edit erranean countr ies SFrs. 6 .40 . oth er co untri es SFrs. 10 .8 0 . Speci al subscripti o n rate for Air Traff ic Con trollers. Con tr ibut ors are exp ressing th eir personal poi nts of view and o pinion s. w hic h m ay not nec essarily _coin cide w ith
those of th e Int ernationa l Federation of Air Traffic Cont rollers· Assoc iation s ( IFATCA). IFATCA doe s no t assum e respon sibi lity for statement s mad e and opinion s expr essed . it does only accep t respon sib ility for publi shing th ese contribu tions . Contribut ions are w elco me as are comm ents a nd c riti cism No paym ent ca n be m ade fo r m anuscrip ts subm it ted fo r pub lic atio n in ' The Controller . The Editor reserves the rig ht to m ake any edit orial c hanges _1~ m an usc ript s. w hich he believes w ill im prove th e m ate ria witho ut altering the int ended meanin g . Wri11en perm ission by th e Edi tor 1s necessa ry for rep rint ing any part of th is Journal.
Advert isers in this issue THOMSON -CSF. Siem ens Plessey Radar . Sw issair. AIRTRA N ' 9 1. A IR TRAFF IC CONTROL ' 9 1. CCS Netwo rk Systems . SELENIA . Photo s Boe ing. hhh
THE CONTROLLER/ DECEMBER 1990
2
A irfr ame Ic ing
Mich el Henchoz. Tel . (022) 792 56 82 Patric k Sch elling. Tel. (022) 66 26 84 Fax (022 ) 66 43 05
p age
Whenever fundament al change s oc cur, be t hey of a poli tica l. scient ific or te chnologica l natu re, t he w orl d, as a whol e or in part . faces, at the same time. an opportun ity and a cha llenge. Significant changes have taken place in Europ e ove r th e last year or so. These changes have opened a w indow of oppo rtu nity fo r deve lopm ent wh ile simu ltaneou sly po sing th e c hallenge th at alterat ion s to existin g system s be introdu ced in a measured and rational mann er . As in gene ral. th e above is parti cularly true for the air traffic control environment s. Wh ile cont rollers have no problem s meeting and un derstanding each ot he r. as th e Feder at ion has proven over th e thirty yea rs of its existe nce , t ec hnica l adaptat ion of different syste ms is probab ly not as easi ly possible as the hum an inter change. Europe is fac ing , on a cond ensed sca le. a prob lem w hich will become mor e and mo re serious in air tr affi c co ntrol and its appli catio n aroun d th e wo rld . and in th e not to o distant fu tur e. Air tr affic control syst ems of various soph istication and stages of tec hnolog ica l develop ment face each othe r ac ross nat ional borders wh ose sign ifican ce, in many cases , is waning .
IFATCA, for ma ny yea rs now, has maintai ned t hat air tr aff ic control must be regarded as a wor ld-wi de syst em. States. in prin cip le. have acc epted t his concept by subscribing t o the int ernational standards develop ed on th eir behalf by ICAO. How ever, nat ional systems have often bee n developed with out m uch regard to exist ing systems across nat ional borders The price to be paid for such approach is well know n to air t raffic co nt rol lers. inc reased and cumb ersome man ual coo rdination. Ind icat ions are t hat, fi nally, the principle that ATC is a wor ld-wide system is becoming an accepted fact. Th e internat ional av1at1on ind ust ry, airlin es and ot her users , as well as nati onal decision makers beg in to embrace t he idea of comp at ib le, harmon ized systems . Such syst ems may we ll remain nation al in scope , accepti ng comp liance only with suc h sta ndards as ICAO may develop The big diff erence wi ll be that they are ab le to 111te rface w ith neigh boring systems . thus vastly inc reas ing to tal eff ic iency. A dded to this will be increased availabi lity of prev iously prohibited or rest ricted ai rspace . So. t he fut ure may look brighter now than ever before for eff icient air traffic control . However, the approach must be rational and measured . and it must take into account not only technical requirement s but also the needs , the input and aspirations of those who make the system work. the world's air traffic controllers.
Cov er : Budape st / Ferihegy Tower. Symbo lic gateway to the IFATCA 7th Regional European M eet ing. Phot o l aJos Tbkesi.
Ir I
The Technical Panel at I FATCA '90, Acapulco, Mexico
The 7990 Technical Panel convened on Wednesday, 25 April , in the largest of the confe rence hotel's meeting rooms. As in previous years, it was a well-attended and popular gathering . The meeting was chaired by the then-Executive Vice-President, Technical, Charles Stuart. Six Corporate Members of the Federation, ably organized by the Corporate Members Coordinator , Rod Roper, offered the gathering pr esentations of a widely differing nature. The first pr esentation was by Wilfred Parthier of AEG on the COM PAS (Computer Oriente d Meter ing, Planning and Advisory) system which was reported on fully in 'The Con troller ', 7/ 90.
COMPAS As prese nted to the meeting, this system is fundam entally a computer assiste d mete ring system for computing opti mum t imes over crossing points. fina l fix es or runway threshold s fo r the metering of tr aff ic. In particu lar. fo r sett ing up an orderly sequence of traffic for the approac h area. The system is in operatio n in Frankfurt and its operation t here was described in detail. The system is based on actu al radar data, weathe r and flight plan information. It ca lc ulates the earli est arrival t ime on an opt imum approach profile for eac h aircraf t , using dat a on the type of airc raft . From th is, a sequence is arrived at . Chec ks are th en made for co nfli cts, based on time in-
tervals set by the controllers . The latter will usually be a time interval over the final fix based on runway acceptance rate at the time . The system then calculates a sequence based on the optimum use of runway(s), least delay to the most aircraft. etc. The screen then displays this sequence with aircraft callsigns displayed in different colors depending on whether increases or decreases in speed are required . Suggested speeds or delays are indicated for each aircraft to meet a specified time over the fix, or the time can be given to suitably equipped aircraft for them to meet. Ray Hufnagel of Hughes Aircraft of Canada Ltd. gave a presentation on CMTS (Canadian Automated Air Traffic System) .
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System Automation Benefits the Controller Initially, Ray gave the background of Hughes ¡ involvement in aviation electronics. Hughes had ceased building aircraft by the late 1940s and had gone into aviation support areas, particularly electronics. They also branched into airspace management in the 60s , 80 percent of which was in military application . A brief description of the new Korean system was given. This system had been put together in two years for the Olympic Games. The audience was told that since 1986 there had been no downtime. Their current system had been developed during the FAA (US Federal Aviation Agency) sponsored playoff between Hughes and IBM for the American Airspace System (AAS). Hughes was not successful , but the knowledge gained was put into their bid for the Canadian CAATS . CAATS is the second largest ATC contract in t he world and includes the provision of 450 workstations incorporating numerou s function s such as flow metering, weather , flight plan s, etc . Of particular intere st is that the first 18 months will be spent on developing prototype workstations in conjunction with work face controller input. Much emphasis is being put on Computer-Human Interface (CHI). the new word for MMI (Man-Machine Interface). A report on CAATS appe ared in 'The Controller', issue 2 / 90.
llERSASSOC ATIONS UALCONFE RENCE ACAPU LCO,MEXICO
'
Nex t, Klaus Seitz of Conrac g a ve a presentation entitled:
The Solution of the Air Traffic Control Crisis Resume
With the outdated control equipment and pro¡cedures at the disposal of the air traffic controlle r del ays are bound to occ ur. M any advisory bodi es have brought forw ard th e ideas of 2
THE CONTROLLER/ DECEM BER 1990
harmonization (where similar operational systems performance 1s attained for a given region through the use of common standards, spec ifications and procedures) and integration (where the entire air traffic contro l system throughout a given region behaves, from the users' point of view as a single unit) . These advisory bodies have also stressed that action should be taken to remedy the air traffic control crisis as soon as possible, to achieve the overall objective of providing adequate capacity to handle a considerab ly increased volume of air traffic safe ly and exped itiou sly . Together , in an international cooperation, the companies ISS of Denmark, Network Systems from Minneapolis, USA, and Conrac Communications Software of West Germany can provide a system for the harmonization and the first steps on the road to integration. And , it is available now . From an operational, as well as an investment point of view, the system is highly efficient. The computer systems already installed in the various ATC centers can all be used, addition-
al investment is only necessary for the data communication links and the controlling software. Furthermore, the national ATC organizations have a free hand in their choice of computer hardware to be used in future expansion . With the efficient systems solution the 5 billion dollars cost resulting from delays in Europe alone can be reduced, with a relatively low-cost investment. It is not just cost savings w hich result. The air traffic controllers are happier because tiresome paperwork and time-consuming bureaucracy have been eliminated. Airline operators are happier because their landing charges and fuel costs are 'reduced since there are fewer delays. And , perhaps most important of all, the passengers are happier because they are not losing time and money due to delayed flights.
The Problem With the ever-increasing air transport, especially ir. Europe as deregulation in the air transport industry takes effect and when the free Europe an
market opens in 1992 , there are bound to be delays . The problem is not that there is not enough space in the air, but that air traffic controllers are human beings like the rest of us. A n air traffic control ler can only handle so many flights safely and accurate ly. It is no wonder that air traffic controllers are frustrated , they are the ones who always get the blame when a fl ig ht is delayed, but no one realizes that their control equipment is, for the most part, not just from yesterday but from yesteryear. Taking the procedure in many places into account, we can see the amount of bureaucracy it takes just to handle one takeoff. First the controller notes the start time on the control strip and passes this on to the flight data assistant. The assistant must then te lephon e the departure coordinator and inform him of the departure time. The departure coordinator searches thro ugh his 90 yel low pages for the right page and when he has found the. correct strip, he notes down the departure time and passes this departure strip on to departure radar controller. Now the departure coordinator calls
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computer system to another. Even this would save more than 2 billion US dollars per year.
Flight Delays in Europe
The Solution A combination of Network Sys1986 ••••.•••• 24 tems· Hyperchannel and Network 1987 ----· Management System for data transmission. ISS Videotex's ATCISS air 22 1988 traffic control information system and UGCCS from Conrac Communications CJ'J Software as system monitor can pro.c 20 Cl vide data transmission and control for .;::: a system connection for the various 18 computers in the ATC centers, 0 throughout Europe or worldwide for ' ., I\ II Q,) that matter. I ', I \ Cl 16 I ' I \ , .. , \ , What does our example now look ~ I , C: •. \ I ' , \ ,' like? The flight data assistant enters Q,) • ••• ~. I '' .,. -.'•••• \ , (.) the callsign of the aircraft and the de14 ,,,---, ···· ····••••.•• , ... Q,) parture time into the system and at the Cl. : press of a button this data is sent into , the respective control positions. The 12 ··.. :· departure coordinator no longer has to search through his numerous depar,.. 10 ture strips on which to fill in the departure time. this is done automatically. The system informs him of the fact 8 that the departure time has been received. When the departure coordinator has confirmed that the data is Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jui Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec correct. the system then sends it on to the hand-over controller for further Source:Association of EuropeanAirlines processing. For the first time. the system supervisor has a detailed overview of the complete system, greatly simplifying fault-detecting. Furthermore. the hand-over controller to inform him still be discussing which manufacturer system security is also increased beof the departure time. it should be well into the next century. For the hand-over controller. this Must we then remain in the stone age. cause the system supervisor in one paper pushing procedure repeats itself with the tried and tested system of ATC center can see that his system is every time an aircraft enters the air paper strips and telephone or is there running and also if the system in another ATC center is running propspace he controls. He must note down an alternative? erly. Thus. he can be certain that vital the estimated time overhead a reportFor quite some time. this problem ing point and pass this piece of paper has been brought to the attention of information arrives safely at its destination. on to the flight data assistant. and he governments. international bodies in turn writes down this time. and so on. Two ideas have been It is no wonder that with this pro- brought to the fore; harmonization and The Network cedure 30 percent of the flights in integration. Harmonization means It would be an expensive and timeWest Germany are delayed. And it is that through compatible standards. consuming job to install land lines bethe air traffic controllers who get the specifications and procedures. area tween .all of the ATC centers just in blame. even though with the anticomparable operational system perEurope. and time is something we do quated control system they are forced formance is attained within a specific not have. Instead. it would be simpler to work with. it is a miracle that the region. Integration. on the other hand, to use satellite communication. With other 70 percent are on time. means that the operation of the whole You would think that in this day and system spread over a given region be- the Hyperchannel from Network Sysage of the computer. once that data haves as if it were a single unit. All of tems the choice is simple. Satellite communication can be used where it was entered at one air traffic control the advisory bodies also stress that center it could be simply transmitted action should be taken as soon as is appropriate. or land lines where they already exist. or microwave transto the next. But the number of compossible to remedy the air traffic crisis. puterized control centers is not much On the harmonization front in Eu- mission. etc. It does not matter which greater than the number of manufacrope. a study from the German Air- medium you choose. you can still use Hyperchannel. turers who have supplied computer space Users· Association put forward systems to control centers. Here. we an interim solution to combat the air run up against a compatibility probtraffic control nightmare - a data The Benefits lem. We could enlarge the world's communication network between the This solution brings many benefits rubbish by throwing out all the comvarious air traffic control centers with for air traffic controllers. airline puters already installed in favor of one computers in each center used to operators and passengers alike. The manufacturer. but I imagine we would translate the data formats from one air traffic controller has more job sat-
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The Power.The Vision. At Siemens Plessey Radar we pride ourselves on a number of things. Our 40 year history in radar. The consistently high quality of our sensor and systems products. The thousands of complete systems we've installed throughout the world in more than a hundred countries. Our reputation for innovation, commitment and technical talent, backed by our substantial financial resources and extensive R & D programmes. Perhaps, however, we should be most proud of our ability to predict market trends. It helps keep us ahead. Which is why, in this changing world air traffic control will always mean Siemens Plessey Radar.
Siemens Plessey Radar Limited , Oakcroft Road, Chessington , Surrey KT9 1QZ, England . Tel: 081 391 6132 lnt. Tel: (44 81) 391 6132 (Direct line, Publicity Manager).
Siemens Plessey Radar Limited THE POWER THE VISION .
isfaction because tiresome paperwork and bureaucracy have been eliminated. Flights can be handled by the controller more quickly and efficiently. without any loss in safety. In fact. necessary safety margins can be reduced and thus more flights can operate in the same airspace. As flights can be handled more expeditiously. delays will be reduced. saving thousands or even millions of dollars in aircraft parking charges. fuel costs. etc. As for the passengers. they also save time and money because delays are reduced.
From an investment point of view this solution is also highly efficient. Computer hardware investment which has already taken place was not wasted. It can be simply connected to the network. And as for future investment. you have a free hand to choose.whatever hardware you wish.
Summary With this efficient system solution. incorporating ATCISS. UGCCS and Hyperchannel. the 5 billion US dollar cost resulting from delays in Europe alone can be reduced. with a relatively
Tony Bowden of Cassar then presented the subject of
Low Cost Radar Systems This was a particularly welcome talk. given that so many Member Associations lack acceptable communication (air/ground or ground/ ground). let alone a radar system which works. The emphasis of the talk was that not everyone wants the 'star wars· systems being developed for the intense traffic-activity countries. Many countries would find a low cost. reliable radar system a boon for many years. It was refreshing to have our attention drawn to the fact that all the 'High Tech' equipment to which we are exposed at conferences is not for everyone. Indeed. the initial high capital cost and ongoing maintenance costs are well beyond the resources of many countries.
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Harry Cole of Marconi Radar then addressed the question
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low-cost investment. From an investment point of view. this solution is also highly efficient. And it is not just cost savings which result; the air traffic controllers are happier. the airline operators are happier and perhaps most important of all. the passengers are happier.
Once again. I have the privilege of addressing my favourite audience. To me. one of the most undervalued and under-supported groups of prefessionals in the world. particularly today. when the world is going 'bananas· over ATC problems and wrongly blaming you for all of them. My full paper. which I hope will be published later. is called 'Take a Good Long Look': a set of arguments to show that Mode ·s· will only give you its full benefits if it uses an Electronic Scanned Array. It was a subject of a paper I presented at Convex in the UK and which was published in 'The Controller' some time ago. So many things have to be put to you in this short session. To make the best use of time. I have chosen to expand a little on the paper's last topic: That is - how are you to be sure that what is being done for you is what you need? I pose a number of questions on Mode ·s·. Mode ·s·- I know it works. I know it will help you greatly. My own belief is THE CONTROLLER/ DECEMBER 1990
that its impact on your life will be as profound as the introduction of radar itself. What I do not know is whether the questions I put are being answered for you in the fullest and in an understandable way. So now. the questions: Integrity of Mode 'S' Data SSR data has very high integrity. Its two questions are repeated about four or five times as the radar beam sweeps across the aircraft 'what is your identity?' and 'what is your altitude?' The repetition of question and answer yields data integrities of 99.9967 percent - that is one 'bum· answer in about 20.000. SSR uses two questions. each of which can have one of 4.096 answers. These are repeated four or five times. Mode uses a menu of about 70.000 million million questions and the same number of answers in about
·s·
the same time frame as SSR. The hopes are that Mode ·s· will still yield the same or higher data integrity as SSR but with only one attempt at question and answer. We are told that a very acute error sensing and correcting system will be employed to ensure this. Is there evidence that it will work? For there is a further question. on interference. to come. Position Reporting by Monopulse Most monopulse systems have a ±3 min. of arc accuracy-that is less than 0.2 nmi ·across track' error at 200 nmi. Most systems use azimuth data gathered when the aircraft is sensed at the peak of the beam as it sweeps across. As the beam sweeps across the target. there must be 'time sharing· between SSR and Mode ·s·. This leads to uneven samples across the beam-width with no guarantee that azimuth data will be gath-
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Impact of Fruit- Interference Mode transm1ss1ons are designed to suppress all Mode A/C SSR Transponders. Mode A/C replies are on the same frequency as Mode replies. which are much more complex ( 5 6 or 112 bits instead of the 12 bits in SSR) and in much the same time frame. A fairly recent study has highlighted this topic as vital for investigation - will the mutual interference be tolerable? I know of no published work on this matter. therefore. I mention it.
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Data Delay with Rotating Antennas My full paper shows that. by the year 2000. busy areas can expect 20 aircraft in one beam-width and 250 nmi range. Some system designs can offer a beam-width illumination time of only 30 mi Iii-seconds of which 10 milliseconds can be devoted to the Mode ·s· data interchange regime. This 10 milliseconds is perforce broken into uneven parts. With some aircraft needing Extended Length Messages. and the need to keep each segment clear of other interfering replies. the data delay on some aircraft will exceed 4 seconds. This is the current UK CAA limit. How will this problem be sorted out? Who Has Priority? ATC. air traffic management (ATM). MET services. airlines all have call on Mode data. Are you involved enough to ensure that you get your safe and fair share?
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Impact of Failure Both ATC and ATM will use Mode data in an executive manner. What will be the impact of its failure on both. individually and collectively? How does one guard against failure. for it will occur.
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Integrity of Ground Data Links Vast streams of Mode ·s· derived data will flow across and into neighboring FIRs. This requires ground data links of high integrity and high levels of back-up. Predicted loads indicate the need for 'kilo-stream· links with aversatile message querying system. Who is looking at this for you? What voice do you have in the resolution of its problems? Relationships between ATM and
ATC Both need Mode ·s·data. How is it to be integrated into both areas? THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
7
Portrait de client Swissair No 67: Geo rge Klarsfeld, directe ur, avec Nicol as et Gharlie , New York, photo de Pamela Han so n.
Cost Benefit I am sure that Mode will be of enormous value to all in ATC. But will it be ·cost-beneficial'? Someone has to pay for it and someone has to be paid. These are some of the questions in my mind and doubtless in the minds of others.
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Finally I am of an age at which it is permitted to be philosophical. I have observed that for humankind. especially those in science and technology, the following principle holds good: If it can be done - it will be done! Look only to: the wheel. the motor car. the aeroplane. the bomb. walking on the moon. and now the man-made child (through genetic engineering). The Technical Committee of IFATCA has a mammoth task right now. Never has there been such a tidal wave of new exploitable technology of use to you. The committee, I believe. is stretched to the full. If, in all matters concerning Mode ·s·and ACAS of consequence to you. they have the evidence that these questions have answers or are being adequately addressed with you in mind. I shall be very happy - but I do not see it yet. Maybe the evaluation programs in the UK and Europe will show it. However. even if I am right there is still time to get answers to these questions. I hope between us we will not waste it.
World Traffic up 6% in 1989 ICAO reported a 6% growth in total scheduled traffic for the world's airlines in '89. based on preliminary estimates. Total international and domestic traffic carried by airlines of ICAO's 162 member states on scheduled services was estimated at nearly 225 billion tonne-km. Passenger enplanements grew by some 3%. with over 1 billion passengers carried for the third consecutive year. Traffic increased by 5% over '88 to 1.8 trillion revenue passenger-km. Although the number of seats offered by ICAO airlines rose. they did so at a lower rate than the number of passengers carried and therefore the estimated passenger load factor went up by a point to 68%. ICAO said. Air freight is estimated to have increased by about 8% in 1989. to some 58 billion tonne-km. Air mail rose an estimated 3%. "Air Transport World" 3190 THE CONTROLLER/ DECEMBER 1990
Peter Wiborg of Autodiagnos. gave a presentation on
Introducing New Member Associations
Radar Presentation Unit for the Tower Controller This system was again. a look at a 'simpler' system. It is fundamentally a computer displayed Distance to Touchdown Measurer. Unfortunately. Peter's slides were still somewhere in the airline system on their way to Acapulco. The system was developed for the Swedish CAA and uses industry level hardware. This had been specified in the contract and allows ample spare parts and ease of maintenance. There are no keyboards (where do you put them in the tower?) and the monitors are of your own choice. In other words. a relatively simple. but very efficient and reliable tool for the tower controller. Once again. the Technical Panel concluded with a question-andanswer session. It provided the audience with the opportunity to further explore the subjects addressed during the presentations. The chairman then thanked the presenters on behalf of the gathering and also used the opportunity to express thanks to all Corporate Members who had gone through the efforts required to provide examples of their equipment in the Technical Exhibit.
IATA Congestion Task Force Warns of Looming Crisis in Asia/ Pacific The success of the Pacific Rim economy is presenting the air transport system with mounting capacity problems and constraints. according to IATA's Task Force on Airport and Airspace Congestion. which met in Singapore in February. Although considerable work is already underway. the Task Force warned that the region's airports and airways will be unable to cope with predicted traffic growth without provision of additional services and facilities. Already. six of the region's airports are congested and five airspace segments are causing operational constraints. Recognizing the magnitude and urgency of the problem. the Task Force formed a joint working group comprising representatives from ICAO and IATA regional offices, the AACC and the Orient Airlines Association.
Associacion di Controladornan di Trafico Aereo di Aruba Some thirty miles north of South America lies the island of Aruba. Twenty miles long and five miles wide. it has a population of about 65,000. Even though it is small. Aruba is known worldwide as a favorite vacation paradise. This is attributed to the sunny climate. sparkling seas. first-class hotels. snowy white beaches and unsurpassed hospitality. Approximately fifteen airlines ensure a scheduled constant flow of tourists seeking fun in the sun. The island's only airport. the Queen Beatrix International Airport. recently began modernizing its infrastructure to handle the demand of the tourist industry, the island's main economic pillar. New terminal VOA/ DME, ILS. communication equipment, approach and tower equipment and meteorological equipment have been installed. The control zone with a radius of 25 nmi and vertical limit of 6500 ft is managed by 17 ATCOs. who are all approach and aerodrome rated. On 2 March 1989, the Air Traffic Controller's Association of Aruba. known as ACTAA. was founded and immediately became part of the modernization process. insisting on certain changes. ATC being part of the government service, ACTAA had to demonstrate at first to be a responsible and useful organization to be taken seriously. Now there is a good understanding between ACTAA. the authorities and the airlines. The local airline. called Air Aruba, a fast growing airline, has been especially helpful to ACTAA. Only recently founded. with 12 members. ACTAAhad to struggle to be able to attend international conferences. The airlines and hotels assist in making this possible. Last year ACTAAattended the Regional IFATCAConference and the International Conference in Acapulco. There. ACTAA officially became a member of IFATCA. It will strive to contribute to a safe and better international air traffic control service. To our worldwide colleagues and readersof 'The Controller' we would finally like to say that when you visit Aruba. do not hesitate to contact us. for we will try to make you feel at home. 9
'the increasingly unsteady airflow over the wing results in correspondingly degraded lateral stability requiring larger and larger control wheel deflections to keep the aircraft from rolling off. This degraded stability occurs at lower angles of attack as the amount of contamination increases' . .. Since the stall speed is increased and occurs at a lower angle of attack. conventional warning devices such as stick shakers will provide no indication to the pilot that the aircraft is in trouble. Stall warning systems are actuated at a prescheduled angle-of-attack, one that will be higher than for an ice-contaminated wing. With a reduced stall angle-of-attack. the aircraft is also more prone to pitch up during takeoff rotation. This puts the aircraft in a stalled condition shortly after getting airborne. Tests accomplished by Boeing of aircraft with wing slats extended demonstrate that if the entire wing upper surface is covered with contamination. slat extension does little to restore the loss in lift. The chart below illustrates the increase in stall speed due to contamination. by equating ice to different grades of sandpaper. As the roughness of the ice increases, the stall speed increases. From the pilot's point of view. ice and snow go along with winter flying. Crew members often take an injudicious risk management approach to ice and snow. viewing it as an invevitable by-product of the environment. The pressures to get away on schedule, coupled with the significant cost of deicing. encourages many operators to bypass life saving precautions. The research has validated and flight experience has proven that in terms of aerodynamics. there is no such thing as a 'little ice·.
Some Information On Airframe Icing
Over the past decades. much re- that a wide variety of aircraft were insearch has been completed on the ef- cluded on this list and observed, fects of icing on aircraft. Many an . . . 'ice contamination is quite article has been published in technical democratic. Straight wing propeller journals on the subject and in broad aircraft like the Nord 262, small turterms we. as pilots. know that ice on bojet aircraft with conventional airfoils lifting surfaces causes serious de- like the Learjet. and larger aircraft with terioration in aircraft performance. conventional airfoils such as the F-28, However. the pressure of day-to-day DC-9, and DC-8, as well as aircraft flying can make any pilot neglectful of with leading-edge high-lift devices, this basic knowledge. Pilots of jet and such as the 8-737, are all adversely turboprop aircraft. flying well above affected' . .. most icing layers. can be cavalier One of the most important facts about the hazards because of the per- about wing contamination is that it formance of their aircraft. But in re- changes the horizontal stabilizer forality. all aircraft are affected by air- ces. The stabilizer is set to balance frame icing. not just the low perform- both aerodynamic forces and centre ance piston-engined types. of gravity location. On a normal takeIn a Flight Safety Foundation Accioff, without ice contamination. a pulldent Prevention Bulletin Robert I. back on the control column will result Stanfield noted that in predictable pitch change for a given 'In wind-tunnel experiments. the backward control pressure. Aircraft U.S. Air Force has found that an ice with tapered, swept wings are easily deposit of one-half inch at the leading unbalanced by wing ice contamiedge of an airfoil will reduce the lifting nation. As Brumby expresses it. power of the airfoil by up to 50 percent 'With contamination on the wing, and increase drag by an equal the aircraft will behave as if it was amount. The result: substantially mistrimmed in the airplane nose-up higher stalling speeds. direction. This will result in the aircraft 'This same ice deposit. for pitching up more rapidly than normal example, on the wing of some sweptduring the takeoff rotation, and will wing, pure-jet aircraft will alter the require an abnormal push force to stalling speed by as much as 40 knots. maintain the desired speed during Ice can also form on an aircraft very climb. This effect becomes greater as rapidly. There are cases on record the amount of ice contamination inwhere two to three inches of ice have creases. been deposited on an aircraft within However. the bad aspects do not the time span of a few minutes. · stop there. An aircraft with ice conThis information is basic but often tamination will not only stall at a lower forgotten. As John Enders, president angle of attack, but lateral control of of the Flight Safety Foundation. has the aircraft will deteriorate. (Aviation Safety Letter 6189) observed. 'The excess power of the jet engine allowed pilots to sometimes "get away with,· a meager amount of surThe Approximate Effect of Wing Upper Surface Ice Contamination face roughening on the wings on on the Stall Speed of a Typical Small Turbojet Transport takeoff, masking the subtle aerody120 namic lift and drag penalties' . . . Some Aemdlynamoc !Facts The Douglas division of McDonnell Douglas Corporation published a paper in 1988 entitled, 'The Effect of Wing Ice Contamination on Essential Flight Characteristics' (Douglas Paper No 8127). The author. R.E. Brumby, cites 13 air carrier category accidents on takeoff where surface ice on wings was a contributing factor. He notes 10
Roughness Equivalent Sandpaper
100 -\\\\\\\~
so~
Grade
l\\\\\\~
60
40 c-
l\\\\\\~
20 0 1__ 0
___
__,_1____
10
-11_____
20
=-1 ___ 30
--:-'.
40
Increase in Stall Speed Due to Contamination (Knots)
THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER
1990
FAA Trial Clears Low-DataRate Voice for Controllers
The newly released results from a US Federal Aviation Administration trial suggest that digital voice data rates lower than the currently proposed 9.6 kbit/s standard could be used for air traffic control purposes. The consequent reduction in bandwidth and power requirements would lead to more efficient use of satellite links. lowering costs and increasing capacity. The Satellite Low Data Rate Voice Transmission Demonstration was carried out in 1989 by the FAA Technical Centre. Researchers aboard the FAA' s Boeing 727 flying testbed communicated via the lnmarsat Atlantic Ocean Region satellite with colleagues at Comsat' s South bury, Connecticut. earth station. The air and ground terminals. incorporating narrow-bane voice digitising equipment. were supplied by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (J PL). The tests were designed to rate a selection of 11 different codecs digital coder/ decoders - for intelligibility and controller acceptability. Comprising one 9.6 kbit/s unit. five 4.8 kbit/s and five 2.4 kbit/s. the codecs were the survivors of a rigorous elimination procedure which began with a survey of all the available lowrate systems. Manufacturers were then invited to process through their codecs a one-hour test recording. The results were themselves recorded and played under test conditions to controllers from the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center. Preliminary Ground Tests The controllers' preferred systems underwent further testing in a specially built ground laboratory ~t the F~ Technical Center (FAATC) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There the codecs were put through their paces within a simulated satellite link. against a background of typical flight deck and control tower noise. Finally. the same tests were run with a live satellite link. between a terminal with a high-gain antenna at Atlantic City and the Comsat earth station at Southbury. THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
Objectives of the airborne tests were to: • Evaluate the codecs in a representative operational environment • quantify the effects of bit error rate (SER) and background noise on intelligibility • examine the effects of multipath propagation and Doppler shift • seek the views of professional air traffic controllers on the acceptability of low-data-rate voice transmissions. Equipment aboard the Boeing 727 comprised the terminal. the chosen codecs. modems. a high-power amplifier and two JPL-developed helical high-gain antennas. The antennas were mounted inside the aircraft; each looked through a window. one to the right. the other to the left. The routes for the demonstration flights passed through US domestic and offshore international airspace and were chosen so that the aircraft maintained a constant elevation angle in relation to the satellite, so minimising Doppler effects. Effects of Noise and Bit Errors The intelligibility tests were similar to those carried out earlier on the ground. Throughout, three different levels of background noise and three BERs were introduced in varying combinations. Two groups of subjects - made up of controllers and noncontrollers respectively - listened to typical ATC transmissions and were then required to recognise selected words and supply rhymes and missing numbers. Each subject answered a total of 108 questions. with the noise/ SER combination changing after every fourth question. At the end of each session the subjects were asked to give their opinion of the acceptability of the codec. The initial tests were carried out with the non-controllers. who listened to all 11 codecs. Their responses led to the elimination of five: two were found not to work at all at high BERs. while three more performed poorly.
The controllers. all drawn from the Washington and Oakland air route traffic control canters, listened to the remaining six, comprising the 9.6 kbit/s unit, three 4.8 kbit/s and two 2.4 kbit/s. The results were summarised as follows: • The 4.8 kbit/s codecs were nearly as effective as the 9. 6 kbit / s system. • The 2.4 kbit/s units were less effective than the rest. • The intelligibility of all six was found to be good. • Acceptability was rated ·poor·: better than HF radio but worse than VHF. The discrepancy between intelligibility and acceptability is the main problem to emerge from the demonstration. Why did the controllers express dissatisfaction with a solution which promises to reduce the number of transmission errors and requests for repetition? The FAATC researchers suspect that the fault may lie in their test methods and have recommended further work to refine them and to achieve a better understanding of the controllers' expectations. In the meantime. they are urging that the highest-scoring 4.8 kbit/s codec be promoted as a world standard for ATC use. (From: 'Aeronautical Satellite News')
Vacancy The appointment of the present Editor of The Controller ends at the IFATCA '91 Conference. Nominations for the post of Editor are invited from the Member Associations and should be lodged with the Deputy President on or before February 1st, 1991. The Executive Board will then make an appointment from among those nominated at its February Executive Board Meeting. In accordance with the Bye-law requirements. this appointment is subject to approval of Directors at IFATCA '91. Nominations and enquiries should be addressed to: Mr. U. Wondt, IOep1U1ty !President IFATCA, Sykerstrasse 21, 2800 Bremen 44, IFeclleral Rep1U11biic of GermaD11y. Teieplhlone+49-421481166, fax +49-421-488412 N. B.: The present Editor will not be available for reappointment. 11
More Cruising Levels Expected at Higher Altitudes Marinus C.F. Heijl Technical Officer, Rules of the Air, Air Traffic Services, and Search and Rescue Section /CAO Air Navigation Bureau (Montreal)
Steadily increasing air traffic in recent years, c¡ombined with the need to apply generous separation minima between aircraft to assure flight safety, are causing significant delays in several regions where traffic demand at times exceeds system capacity. However, plans are under way to effect measures which will permit the introduction of six additional cruising levels between Flight Level (FL) 290 and FL 410 (29,000 feet and 41,000 feet or 8,850 m and 12,500 m), thus increasing system capacity. When jet aircraft entered commercial aviation in the late 1950s. the need arose to extend the then existing cruising level system above 9.300 metres (30,500 ft). Because the accuracy of pressure sensing of barometric altimeters decreased with increasing altitude and, consequently, larger height deviations could result. it was considered necessary to increase the inteNal between usable cruising levels from 300 m, (1,000 ft) to 600 m (2,000 ft) above FL 290. This system of cruising levels, established in 1966. still exists today (Figure 1). As a result. only a limited number of economical cruising levels are available for use by jet aircraft. There followed the obvious question: Is a reduction in vertical separation minima possible? Shortly after the introduction of the 600-m (2.000-ft) vertical separation minimum (VSM) above FL 290. efforts were initiated to show that this VSM could safely be reduced to make available more economical cruising levels for jet aircraft. However. it was recognized that any such reduction could not be based on operational judgement alone. but it should be supported by a thorough risk assessment. for which no method was readily available. Fuel shortages and escalating fuel prices in the mid-19 70s caused a renewed interest in determining the 12
feasibility of reduction in separation minima. In the North Atlantic Region, based on collision risk modelling (CAM) and a target level of safety (TLS). it proved
possible to reduce the lateral distance between parallel tracks from 120 to 60 nautical miles (NM). This permitted more aircraft to take advantage of the prevailing winds (jet stream). and temporarily reduced the need for additional cruising levels in this Region. However, in view of the large economic benefit anticipated from a reduction in the VSM, the ICAO Air Navigation Commission¡ s Review of the General Concept of Separation Panel (RGCSP) continued its studies and in 1980 it recommended that a major effort be made by several states in different ICAO Regions to study the impact on safety of a 300-m VSM above FL 290. The ICAO Council endorsed the Panel's recommendation, which facilitated the allocation of funds for this purpose in the States concerned.
+
FL350....._ ..,~-----
330.______
310
,
lii...,,..._.a_.
T
600 m (2000ft)
1
FL290
Figure 1. The present cruising level system: above flight level (FL) 290 (29. OOO ft. 8. 850 m) the spacing between levels is doubled.
THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
Feasibility Study Undertakan Four Eurocontrol Member States (France. Federal Republic of Germany. Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). Canada. Japan. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States participated in the international effort. coordinated by the RGCSPmembers nominated by these States. To establish the feasibility of a reduced VSM above FL 290. the Panel based its judgement on major data collections on heightkeeping accuracy. data analysis and collision-risk analysis. and on an _assessment of the operational requirements to support safe implementation and operation of a 300-m VSM. Precision radar measurements were made in Canada. France. Federal Republic of Germany. Japan. United Kingdom and the United States to determine the geometric height of aircraft. using a total of 16 radar sites
and data comprising some 45.000 tracks. In addition. secondary surveillance radar (SSR) Mode C data (pressure altitude reports) were collected. as well as digital flight data recordings and ancillary data concerning altimetry systems. certification and maintenance procedures. and air traffic system data. Analysis of the vast amount of data collected resulted in values for assigned altitude deviation (AAD). altimetry system error (ASE). flight technical error (FTE) and total vertical error (TVE) - i.e .. the vertical geometrical difference between the actual pressure altitude flown by the aircraft and its assigned flight level. Both the Eurocontrol and the United States data sets showed good agreement in the resulting AAD. ASE and TVE. with a similar agreement between the Eurocontrol and Japan data collections using paired aircraft deviations.
FUTURE
PRESENT
f~ 600m (2000ft)
a
1
1~
600m (2000ft)
1
a
Figure 2. Vertical separation minima - present and proposed.
THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
A collision-risk assessment was made. using the collision-risk modelling/target level of safety (CRM /TLS) methodology and an assessment TSL value of 2.5X 10- 9 fatal accident per flight hour due to loss of vertical separation. For current operations in a defined part of the North Atlantic (NAT) Region known as minimum navigation performance specifications (MNPS) airspace. risk estimates were well within the assessment TLS value. demonstrating that a 300-m VSM was technically feasible. However. for European and United States continental airspace. the risk estimates were considerably higher than the assessment TLS value. The lower risk estimate for the NAT airspace compared to continental airspace resulted from the lower passing frequency of aircraft flying at proximate flight levels. and the generally better height-keeping performance of aircraft crossing the North Atlantic. Based on the collision-risk assessment. RGCSPconcluded in late 1988 that global application of a 300-m VSM between FL 290 and FL 410 was feasible in the longer term. subject to the introduction of a global altimetry specification to improve aircraft height-keeping capability. new operating procedures and system performance monitoring. In the interim period before introduction of such global standards. implementation of a reduced VSM was considered feasible on a regional basis. subject to the outcome of a safety assessment. which should meet an interim TLS of 5 x 10- 9 fatal accident per flight hour. Guidance material is being developed now to provide a sound basis for a regional air navigation agreement concerning the introduction of a 300-m VSM. (Figure 2.) In March 1989. the Air Navigation Commission endorsed the Panel's conclusions on the feasibility of a reduced VSM. and states have been informed accordingly. As a first step towards an ultimate global application of a 300-m VSM above FL 290. implementation on an interim regional basis is presently envisaged. In areas such as the NAT Region. the prevailing height-keeping performance of the aircraft population and the regional passing frequency would permit the introduction of a reduced VSM without major modifications to aircraft altimetry equipment. In the final instance. such regional agreement requires sound operational judgement. However. guidance material now being developed by the RGCSPwill assist in the decisionmaking process. with the objective 13
that adequate safety will be maintained. To assess the system performance when a 300-m VSM above FL 290 is being employed. a number of factors will need to be considered. Based on a re~ional pas_singfrequency and typical height-keeping capability to the aircraft population, and using the CRM / TLS methodology, the ability to meet the interim regional TLS should be assessed. Operational procedures should be developed for air traffic control, airworthiness and operational approval to operate in a reduced VSM environment. as well as procedures to ensure and verify continued system safety and integrity. Adequate notification of the intended application of a reduced VSM is required to permit timely preparation by all concerned, airworthiness authorities. aircraft operators. flight crew, maintenance personnel and air traffic control staff alike.
450----'J---¡ ...___ ,_____
430
Benefits expected are significant
Initially, it was considered that a reduced VSM at high altitude would primarly benefit flight economy through fuel savings attainable as a result of the availability of more economical cruising levels for jet aircraft. Recently, however. a rapid increase in air traffic caused the air traffic control system in several areas to reach its maximum capacity. As a result. peak traffic demands could no longer be accommodated without delays before departure. Such delays, apart from the inconvenience to the travelling public, added considerably to the cost for airline operators. The implementation of a 300-m VSM between FL 290 and FL 41 0 would result in the availability of six extra cruising levels for jet aircraft (Figure 3). This would be a welcome asset to increase air traffic control flexibility and airspace capacity, while maintaining or even increasing the current level of aviation safety. Such benefits in airspace capacity and economy may be attainable in several regions within the next few years. if the responsible authorities are prepared to use sound operational judgement on the basis of the guidance material presently being finalized.
Note: The IFATCA Executive Board comments as follows: The introduction of six additional cruising levels between FL 290 and FL 410 will certainly increase the airspace capacity of the area(s) concerned. The question of system capacity, (of which airspace is a part). is anoth~r r:r,atter altogether. System capacity, In a controlled environment is. _f~xthemost part. determined by the ability of the ground based ATC infrastr~cture to handle the aircraft popul~t1on. Determining factors include airports. (quantity, and design). proced~res. equipment, training, and s!aff1ng.levels. To simply make it possible to increase the number of aircraft in a certain area. without first ensuring the controlling agency is capable of accommodating any additional volume will not lead to an increase in system capacity. Rather. until the latter occurs, the aircraft volume will continue to be restricted to. basically, current levels. (as most ATC systems are operating at capacity), regardless of how many additional flight levels are made available. As for the question of airborne equipment and height keeping accura<?y,~tc .. we leave that up to the scIentIsts and technicians to determine. What we do require is a system that must be proven safe (meets acceptable levels of safety). prior to our acceptance of it. A case in point wou_ld b~ that of reduced vertical separation in domestic airspace. ICAO. while continuing to conduct studies into the question. has not sanctioned the use of a reduced vertical minima within domestic airspace due to the unacceptable risk estimates that have so far been achieved.
For all these reasons. I FATCA has ~dopted the following position on the issue.
0
';!~~~ ~ig~th
14
the future changes planned. six additional cruising levels will be introduced as shown
When considering system changes it is necessary to assess their impact on the entire ATC operational environment. and to ensure that the introduction of such changes into one air traffic system does not adversely affect. not only that system. but also any interfacing systems where changes have not been introduced. The reduction of vertical separation above FL 290 should not be implemented in any Region until the necessary procedures. staff. and equipment are available to safely and expeditiously handle aircraft_ in the airspace experiencing the reduction. as well as systems responsible for transition areas to airspace not affected by a reduction . . S)nly aircraft capable of meeting the Minimum System Performance Specificat!ons/ equipment requirements upon which reduced separation is dependent be permitted to operate in areas where reduced vertical separation is in effect. THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
NATO Advanced Studies Institute: Automation and Systems Issues in Air Traffic Control J. Michael Tonner Vice-President, Technical, Canadian Air Traffic Control Association
The NATO Advanced Studies Institute held a study session in Maratea, Italy, 18-29 June 1990. The theme of the study was ¡Automation and Systems Issues in Air Traffic Control'. Sponsors of the study included, in addition to NATO, the US Federal Aviation Administration. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Transport Canada, and the Research Institute for Information. Science and Engineering (RIISE). There were representatives from 13 countries, including several ATS administrations, corporations and experts from various scientific fields such as: Human Factors. Personnel Selection. Physiology, Psychology, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, System Design, and others. Each day of the study began with a number of keynote speakers. The assembly was then divided into pre-determined work groups. which changed daily. These groups met separately to discuss the issues which had been introduced by the speakers. The day concluded with a plenary session during which the results of each group's discussions were reviewed. It became clear, very early, that we had to define the meaning of what it was we were trying to address, i.e. what is an automated ATC system? By definition, it would be a system which required no human intervention. Turn the switch and it runs! We are many, many years from this concept. What needed to be studied was the computerization of some of the tasks which controllers perform. an aid for the air traffic controllers. Improvements in, or the introduction of. concepts such as flight data processing and management, data links, conflict prediction and resolution, flow management and other areas would lead to a more efficient THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
utilization of airspace. Also impacting on such a study are items like the effective use of colors for displays, automatic dependent surveillance and artificial intelligence studies, to name but a few. One of the features of the proceedings was a panel of former operational air traffic controllers. It was conducted as an open forum. Those gathered could ask us questions so that they could more clearly understand the nature of the job. A brief explanation of the origins of air traffic control and separation standards preceded the discussions. A lively exchange of information followed. I feel that we expanded the knowledge base by an acceptable margin. I must add that in return we also received a better insight into the so-called ¡scientific world' and how it functions. The study was not designed to solve the worldwide problems of air traffic control. It was more properly an opportunity to make contacts in fields other than our own. It allowed the opportunity for many new ideas to be put forward and discussed. Developing systems were explained. Everyone present was afforded the time to consider the problems and expand on today's assumptions. Experts from the personnel selection field discussed the results of ongoing studies. We dealt with selection criteria - what exactly should recruiters be looking for? How best can we exploit this information? How do we make the air traffic control profession more attractive so as to attract highly motivated applicants? Lots of questions and debate, but no conclusive answers. It was readily apparent to all attending. at the conclusion of the two weeks. that changes are required in all areas of the system. Improvements in
recruitment practices and policies. coupled with advances in training methods and simulation equipment, will help overcome the worldwide shortage of air traffic controllers. The next generation of computerized equipment is already upon us what with the American AERA system. European FEATS. and Canadian RAMP and CAATS. Where do we go from here? It was generally felt that the managers of the system must be open to change so as to adapt to the ever-expanding demand for service from the users. which shows little sign of slowing. Controllers. their associations. management and the research establishment must cooperate fully to take advantage of the onslaught of new technology available now and in the near future. There is a need for an increased sharing of ideas and research into ATC systems across national and international boundaries so that expensive and time-comsuming studies and experimentation are not needlessly repeated. I feel that the study allowed us to establish a greater respect for each others' disciplines and to broaden our horizons. Congratulations are extended to the Institute and in particular to directors. Dr. John Wise. Mr. V. David Hopkin, and Mr. Marvin Smith for an excellent symposium and a thoughtprovoking two weeks.
Lettersto the Editor of 'TheController'are welcomeandencouraged 15
This function may be performed by additional units, supplementary to the ATC radar unit. which automatically highlight the echoes from birds and subsequently assign some sort of flag to them which shows the nature of the target. By manufacturing such supplementary units as self-contained N. Yu. Rozin, Senior Scientist, and N. G. Mischenko, Department Head, additional circuits it is possible to Scientific Experimental Centre for ATC Automation (USSR) standardize these units. The only difference between them would be the software, which would depend on the type of radar. Two questions then arise: how to highlight the returns from the birds in real time and how most effectively to use the information obtained, given It is no secret to anyone that even a first of all radars used for air traffic single bird striking an aeroplane can control. Recent research suggests that existing radars do not make it lead to serious consequences. When that. using radar. it becomes possible possible to determine the height at an aircraft is struck by a flock of birds, to detect birds in advance and at the which they fly. The first problem is a specific case the probability that a fatal accident will same time to forecast the points at ensue increases sharply. of identification. The signals must be which the flight paths of the birds will The question of detecting birds to cross regular aircraft routes. Prelimi- divided into two categories: 'bird' and ensure flight safety has become an nary estimates show that these mea- 'non bird.' A solution to this problem is urgent matter, not only because of the sures could make it possible to reduce made substantially more difficult as a many millions of dollars lost annually losses from bird strikes by 30-50 per result of the specific operating mode by civil aviation as a result of bird cent. of the ATC radar which places limistrikes but also because of the threat Experimental radar research has tations on the length of the pulse which these bird strikes pose to the established that the receiver/ trans- samples to be processed and on the lives of passengers and crew memmitter unit of an ATC radar. operating permissible processing time. bers. in the decimetric wave band and By combining different methods of Among all the factors having an higher. is capable of detecting birds. radar signal processing, it is possible environmental impact on flight safety. However. the ATC controller usually to overcome these difficulties. The birds are at present the leading factor does not have the time nor the possi- most complete information on the in the number of incidents caused. At bility of identifying radar returns from nature of a target can be obtained the same time, the number of rec- birds against a background of returns from an analysis of the radar signal orded bird strikes is tending to in- from other targets. Moreover, modern spectra. The specific features of these crease. This may be explained by the radar information processing systems spectra will depend both on the signal huge population of birds, most of are designed in such a way as to sup- modulation and on the Doppler frewhich migrate over several months of press signals from birds as simple in- quency shift. For different types of tarthe year; by the increase in flight in- terference. gets this modulation will result from tensity; and by the widespread apAll of this makes it difficult to use different causes. pearance on airways of wide-body Thus, for aircraft. this may involve ATC radar to detect birds to enhance aeroplanes. Statistics show that the flight safety. Nevertheless. a potential yawing. structural vibration. etc.; for probability of bird strikes involving does exist for using ATC radar to de- birds. the main reason for modulations wide-body aeroplanes is higher than is the locomotive movements of the tect birds. One of the conditions for for narrow-body aeroplanes with tailmaking this possibility a reality is the wings (flapping). The depth of these mounted engines. automation of the process of identifymodulations may reach 30 dB. while The facilities presently at the dis- ing the - radar echoes from birds their frequency is correlated with the posal of civil aviation do not make it against a background of signals from frequency of wing beats. possible to avert bird strike hazards other targets, together with the subA sufficiently large number of fully in all phases of flight. even when sequent display of bird-strike hazard methods do exist for assessing radar the facilities are used in a complete areas in a form suitable to the ATC signal spectra. However. in practice and optimum manner. controllers. these methods all have a large error in The most widespread active systems used to frighten birds into movAnalog-to-digilal ing elsewhere (pyrotechnic. bioacConverter oustic. etc.) have a small operational Data Bank on Self-descriplive Spectral Selected Characteristics Flag Solver radius ( 100-200 metres). (There also Categones of Assessment Generating Phase Channel Unit Targets Unit is the need to detect the birds in the first place.) Moreover. the birds get Analog-to-dlgital Converter used to these systems when they are used frequently. The range of heights at which birds Amplitude Channel are observed most frequently extends To Radar Portrait Preliminary Control to 3,000 m where the use of active Plan Position Output Detectorof SelectionUnit Signals Analog-to-digital Adder Indicator Small Generating Unit (accordingto Converter systems to prevent bird strikes be(PPI) Circuit Targets speed) comes ineffective. In such situations. passive bird-strike prevention systems Figure 1. Block diagram of the additional circuitry necessary for a coherent ATC radar to highlight appear to be more useful. including. and flag bird echoes.
Prospects are Good for Using ATC Radar to Detect Birds
16
THE CONTROLLER/ DECEMBER 1990
I
ATC RADAR
I
I
t
t
+
Study of bird-migrations and long-term forecasting of the ornithological situation
Operational information provided to ATC controllers on the ornitological situation
Development of a data bank on the characteristics of radar signals from different types of targets
Figure 2. Areas of application of the circuitry added to ATC radar for automatic highlighting of bird echoes.
processing short samples. It is possible to overcome this obstacle by using the maximum entropy method for assessing spectra and. in particular. by using the multi-segment version of Berg's formula. But this method is complex from the computational point of view. This makes it difficult to apply it when working in real time in the surveillance mode. when a large number of targets have to be processed simultaneously. The conclusion suggests itself introduce preliminary selection of targets using some rough criteria. such as assessment of the density of point signals. selection according to speed and developing 'portraits¡ of targets. These criteria could make it possible to reduce the number of targets to be processed to an acceptable level. Such a design solution was experimentally tested using a mock-up of an additional circuit. added to the ATC radar and designed to highlight automatically the echoes from birds against a background of other targets. The mock-up. designed to operate with coherent radars. performed parallel processing of the radar amplitude and phase channels. Using the amplitude channel signals. a preliminary rough selection of targets was made according to the speed and the portraits of the targets. Spectral processing was performed using the phase channel signals. The comparatively small capacity of the processor used (300,000 operations a second) did not make it possible to perform processing using the maximum entropy method. As a result. a correlation method using the fast Fourier transformation was used to assess the spectral characteristics. This substantially simplified the computational process. but at the same time it had an effect on the quality of identification. However. the idea itself was validated: preliminary processing made it possible to reduce the load of the processor performing the spectral processing. while the use of spectral characteristics as self-descriptive made it possible with a sufficiently high level of probability to perform automatic highlighting of radar signals from bird flocks. THE CONTROLLER/ DECEMBER 1990
The identification algorithm which was developed assumes a training process which uses actual signals that is. as statistical data on actual signals are collected. the quality of identification improves. Thus. the studies and experiments performed first proved the possibility. in principle. of developing a unit for the automatic detection of birds and secondly outlined the practical feasibility of the unit. with respect to its design and the algorithms used for processing the radar signals. However. the question of the use of such a unit cannot be resolved in a positive manner without an answer to the question raised earlier. How can the information obtained on the birds be used most effectively? Who should receive the information on the birds and how should the bird hazard warning system be organized? Since more than 95 per cent of all bird strikes occur at heights up to 6.000 m. the birds should first of all be presented to the approach. inner and final controllers. It appears that aerodrome radars will be used as the basic sources of information on birds for these areas. Although such radars do not have information on the height at which birds fly. they nevertheless give a sufficiently complete picture of the ornithological situation and make it possible to forecast hazardous situations. What will be invaluable in this case will be the assistance of professional. expert ornithologists who. in addition to providing assistance to the controllers in assessing the operational situation. can also give them a long term forecast on the basis of an analysis of data from many years of observations of birds in a given region. These ornithologists should work in close cooperation with such specialists in adjacent regions. This may make it possible to forecast and provide information in advance of possible variations in the ornithological situation. In other words. a bird-detection service must be organized for flight operations support and it must involve expert ornithologists concerned with the longterm forecasting of bird flights and the study of the composition of
these flights with respect to the types of birds. This. in turn. could make it possible for them to forecast also the height at which the birds fly. We can also look to the future for development of additional units. supplementary to existing ATC radar. that can highlight echoes from birds. This accomplishment. together with institutional measures in establishing a single ornithological service for each region. may make it possible to reduce substantially the probability of bird strikes in all phases of flight. (From /CAO Bulletin)
Thailand Department of Aviation Acquires Ferranti Aeronet Switch The Department of Aviation (DOA) in Thailand has ordered a Ferranti Automatic Message Switching System for their Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network. the first automated system of its kind to be ordered by the DOA. The contract includes the supply of a new building. which as well as the new switching system. will also contain new systems and services for the Department of Aviation. The switch. which will handle all internal AFTN requirements. will be the first in the Far East to contain CIDIN capability - a new set of communications procedures the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has formulated. based on high speed packet switching techniques. The first CIDIN trials in Europe, which include participation by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. using the new Ferranti AFTN system at Heathrow, are scheduled to start in mid-1989. Thailand has seen an increasing level of internal air activity over recent years with regular north-south flights to and from Don Muang Bangkok's international airport. Chiang Mai in the north and the tourist destination of Phuket in the south. Don Muang is also becoming an increasingly important stopoff point for transcontinental flights in south-east Asia and competes with Singapore and Hong Kong in this sector. The new system will form an important part of Thailand's ATC upgrade enhancement program to meet this increased activity. The system also includes a NOTAM processing package which will provide improved pre-flight crew briefing services on route and area navigational aids and airports and automatic bulletin broadcast facilities within Thailand. 17
The Executive Board Elected at
IFATCA '90
Pr esident and Chief Executive Officer
Charles St uart was born in Alexandria. Egypt. on 25 Octobe r 1940. He lived in India until he was eight years old and was educated in England . He emigrated to Aust ralia in 1962 and joined air traffic control in 1963. Charles has been a controller in Launc eston. Hobart (Tasman ia). and Melbourne. He has been a procedural (no n radar) en-route contro ller. an aerodrome I approach (no n radar) controller. a radar en-route co ntroller . an aerodrome controlle r at Melbourne and an approach/ depa rture s rada r control ler. He has also been a flow cont roller and a crew chief since 19 7 5. He has had occasio nal periods as a superv isor in HQ and regional of-
fices. as well as six months as special advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Aviation Authority . He was Victorian State director of CAOOAA (the Australian Association) from 1970-1972 . Vice-President 1972-1976 , and again 19861988 . He was the founder of their Technical Committee . In 1979 , he was appointed by the I LO as one of the fifteen worldwide experts for the ' Meeting of Experts on Problems Concerning Air -Traffic Control '. He attended the 1980 follow-up meeting and was a Public Services International delegate to the 1979 ILO co nference. Charles has served as IFATCA' s Execut ive Vice-President, Technical . since 1989 .
Deputy President
Ulli Windt was born in Bielefeld, Germa ny, in 1946. He served with the German Air Force from 1966 to 1973 and it was there t hat he started his ATC career. Ulli joined the Bundesanstalt fur Flugsicherung (German Civil Aviation Admini stration) in 1973 and works in the Bremen Ai r Navigation Service Unit , holding rating s as area radar co nt roll er as well as app roach and tower controller for Bremen Airport . He has been an advisor on profess ion al and socia l matters to the Board of Directors of the German Air Traffic Controllers ' Association (VDF) from 1981 to 1985 andtheMan aging Directo r of th e VDF from 1985 to 1988. Ulli attend ed his first /FATA annual co nference at Cairo in 1981 , was
18
Chairm an of Stand ing Committee IV (Human and Environmental Facto rs in ATC) from 1982 to 1985 . At IFATCA ' 85 in Ath ens Ulli was elect ed to the position of Vice- President Admini stration. He was reelected at Nairobi 1987 and Frankfurt 1989 before he was elected to th e pos iti on of Deputy President IFATCA at thi s year's conference.
THE CONTRO LLER/ DECEMBER 1990
Executive Vice-President, Africa Abou El Seoud El Karimi first became invo lved in civil aviation as a wire less maintenance officer and chief of m aintenance section in Cairo bet ween 1961 and 1969. In 1969 he began his air traffi c control career and was licensed and wo rked as tower . ACC procedural controller and supervisor. and as ACC radar controller and superv isor. Abou El Karimi is deeply invo lved in civil aviation security programs at Cairo airport. He joined the Exec ut ive Board of the Egypti an Member Association in 1978 and has atte nded most IFATCA Conferences since then. In addition to his invo lveme nt in
civil aviation security programs Abou has taken a number of civil aviation courses outside as well as within Egypt and undertaken various liaison visits to many parts of the world. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Management and Organization . Abou El Karimi was elected Regional Vice-President. Africa North. at IFATCA ' 86 and has since then also represented the Federation in the Middle East Region on behalf of the Exec utive Board .
Executive Vice-President, Americas Hugo Esquive l Alfaro was born in 1948 in Costa Rica whe re he received his education. His air traffic cont rol schooling took place in M exico City. Brazil and Argentin a . He served the Costa Rica Association (SITECNA) as Vice-President before being elected its President in 1980 . a post he held until 1985. In 1986 he accepted the office of SITECNA General Secretary. He again served as SITECNA President from 1987 to 1989. Hug o Esquivel A. has a longstand ing involvement in IFATCA affairs; he organized Region al Meetings in 1981 and 1985 . and he served as Chairman
Executive Vice-President, Asia/ Pacific Nei l Vidl er graduated as an air traffi c con troll er in 196 8 and has worked all operating positions in Sydney Tower and ACC. He holds current ratings as an approach-departu re contro ller . flow director and shift superv isor. and c urrent ly works as a sen ior check contro ller w hich invo lves on-the- j ob performance c heck ing and assessing. procedure s modification and systems deve lopment. Various off ices in the Civil Air Operations Officers ¡ Assoc iation of Austra lia were held from 1970- 1982 c ulminating in three terms as Senior Vice-President 1976-1982. Ad-
THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1990
of the Organizing Committee for I FATCA '86. the annual conference held in San Jose. Hugo works in San Jose Area Control Center and Approach Control as a Radar Controller and has attended all IFATCA conferences. with the exception of 1982 . since 1980. He was elected Regional VicePresident. North and Central Ameri ca. at IFATCA '87 and has attended the IFATCA-sponsored seminar on supervision in air traffic control which was held in Costa Rica in 1988.
ditionally. Neil was Chairm an of the nationa l Technical Committe e for six years and continued on that committee until 1986 . He has travel led extensive ly. both offic ially and privately. throughout the Asia- Pac if ic Region and elsewhere in the wor ld . Sho rtly after the 1986 Annual Conference. Neil was appointed to the position of RVP Pacifi c and held this position for almost four years until the 1990 co nfere nce when elected EVP ASP follow ing th e restructure. ¡
19
Executive Vice-President, Europe Preben Falkman-Lauridsen was born in 195 7 in Esbjerg . Denmark. His air traffic control career began in 1979 . when he started his education at the Danish Civil Aviation Academy. After 3 years of training. he graduated as a 1WR/ APP-controller . and has worked as such ever since in the 1WR / APP control in Copenhagen. Since 1985 Preben has been a member of the Danish Board of the Air Traffic Controllers' Association. with airspace-structure. staffing. safety and security. and medical matters as areas of special interest. Among other
tasks. which he was involved in. the restructuring of the Danish airspace can be mentioned. a project which will end in late 1990. Since 1988 Preben has served as IFATCA Liaison Officer in Denmark . and has since then taken active part in the work concerning the Federation . with a special interest in human factors.
Executive Vice-President, Finance Sture Ericsson of Sweden is 35 yea rs old. He started his ATC training in 1974 . it was completed in 19 77. Between 1977 and 1985 Sture worked as a 1WR / APP cont roller at Lulea / Kallax airport and since 1985 he has been vVorking as a 1WR / APP control ler at Ostersund/ Fr6s6n airport. some 500 km northwest of Stoc kholm . Sture has been a Board Member of the Swedi sh Associa tion since 1985 and since 1986 he held the pos t s of IFATCA Liaison Officer and Treas urer .
Executiv e Vice - President, Profes sional
Wim Rooseman served as an air tra ff ic con trol off icer in the Roya l Dutch Air Force for t hree years before Joining t he Dutch CAA in 1966 . He is a ful ly licen sed tower and approach radar co ntrol ler at Sc hipho l Airport. Am ste rdam . and now appointed head of ATS tr aining. whi le keeping his ratings valid t hrough regular wo rk in operationa l positions. Wi m is 46 years old. he served for eight yea rs on the Boa rd of the Nether lands Gui ld of Air Traff ic Cont rollers as Vice-President and Liaison Off icer to IFATCA. and as the Guild 's President dur ing his last term of office.
20
He has attended all lFATCA conferences sinc e 19 76. and was f irst elected Exec uti ve Vice- President. Professional. in 1987 .
THE CO NTROLLER / DECEMBER 1990
Executive Vice-President, Technical Michael (Mike) Dooling of Canada is 34 years old. He started his ATC career in 1975 and worked in Penticton and Vancouver International control towers. Mike 's involvement in the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association (CATCA) dates back to 1977 . He served on the Board of Directors of CATCA as the Pacific Regional Director from 1983 to 1987 . and as CATCA's Vice-President. Technical. from 1987 to 1989 .
Past President
Born in Ghent (Belgium) in 1943. Erik F. Sermijn started his ATC career in 1965 as trainee controller working for the Belgian Airport and Airways Agency at Brussels Area Control Center. where he is st ill working nowadays as a radar controller. He became a member of the board of the Belgian Guild of Air Traffic Controllers in 1968 and was elected President of th at Guild in 1974. a post he kept until 1982. As Chairman of the Organizing Committee. he was in charge of the IFATCA ¡ 79 Brussels conference. The first IFATCA conference he attended was IFATCA '68 in Munich and with two or three exceptions. he
attended all subsequent IFATCA conferences. as well as several European Regional Meetings . In 1982. he was elected VicePresident Profession a I of the Federation and held this office until his election as President and Chief Exec utiv_ e Officer during the conference at San Jose in 1986. Erik served as President until IFATCA ¡go where he was awarded IFATCA's Scroll of Honour .
Executive Secretary
E.G.H. ('Edge') Green , the newly appointed Execut ive Secretary . is already well known in IFATCA circles . having attended most conference s since 1977 . Edge has been con nected with aviation all his life. National serv ice introduced him to radar in the Royal Ai r Force. aft er which he became a navigator with a major aerial survey company. He started his ATC career as a GCA contro ller. seconded to the Uni ted States Air Force. before join ing the c ivi I side at Bournemouth . Subsequent posting s took him to Heat h-
THE CONTRO LLER/ DECEMBER 1990
Mike has represented CATCA at six IFATCA Annual Conferences since 1984 and served as the Canadian representative to SC VI for two years. He also held the chairman ship of I FATCA SC VI for two years prior to his election at IFATCA 1990.
row and eventua lly London ATCC where he worked as both secto r and ch ief sector controll er. In between the se posting s he managed to get in 18 month s in Ac cra. Ghana. where he assisted with th e training of t he first rad ar contro llers He was UK GATCO' s I FATCA liai son officer for several years and eventually served as GATCO President for two years from 1985. He was a member of SC I for a number of years. serving on the IFALPA ATS st udy group as the IFATCA representive . He also represented the Federation at ICAO on a number of occasions .
21
Highlight s of th e IFATCA Executive Board Meeting D .C.B. Stuart, Pres ident IFATCA
The meeting of the Exec ut ive Board of the Federat ion was held in the capital of Hungary, the beautifu l city of Budapest in early Octobe r. Budapest is renowned for it s kindl y peop le . its sense of humor. it s ric h cultural heritage and outsta nd ing c uisine. It's also recognized as o ne of Europe's most handsome ci t ies. w ell known for the impressive array of castles. churches. monumen ts . and forts which line the banks of t he famous Danube River. Th is meeting of the Exec utiv e Board was the second get-togethe r of the ·new Board '. It has been ope rat ing in the expanded version for some six months now . Despite some in it ial teething problems. there is ce rtainty that the new organization is deve loping well . The members of the new Board work well together and t he de bates. whilst sometimes lively. are not acrimonious and the end resu lt is an agreed executive view. Wh ile. as always. there we re a great number of items to be d iscussed on the agenda of the Board meeting. two outstanding ones . of major significance. are highlighted here. Firstly. the Tunisian situation. M ost Member Associations and readers outside North Africa and Europe are not aware of the situation. This was deliberate. as the Tunisian Association did not want wide-spread publicity at the time. On 20 Ju ly 1990 . thirteen Tunisian air traffic contro llers were put 1n jai l pending their trial for allegedly endangeri ng the lives of the trave lling pub lic and the economy of Tuni sia by ·working to rule'. Initi ally, lette rs were sent from the President of I FATCA to the President of Tuni sia. the Prim e Mini ste r. and the Minister for Transport. IFATCA Member Associations in Europe were also requested to send letters. as a numbe r did . · 22
Control Tower. Budape st International Airport THE CONTROL LER/ DECEMBER 1990
As a result. the President of the Tunisian Association (TATCA) and some members of its Executive Council met with the President of Tunisia. It had been hoped that this meeting would speed the release of the controllers. Unfortunately. we were subsequently advised that. since the case was now in the hands of the court. no action could be taken. In August. the Executive VicePresident Professional. and the Past President travelled to Tunisia to meet with the Minister for Transport and the Director General of Airports of Tunisia. Unfortunately. the Executive VicePresident Africa. was hospitalized just before the visit and was unable to attend. Following this visit. six of the air traffic controllers were released on the grounds of there being no case to answer. The remaining seven were scheduled to appear before the court on 4 October. On 3 October. the President of IFATCA and the Executive Vice-President. Africa. arrived in Tunisia for further talks with the Minister and the Director General. and to attend the court hearing. During the hearing. they were introduced to the court. It reserved judgment for its decision on 11 October 1990. The Executive Board learned on the following day. during its meeting. that the remaining seven controllers had been sentenced to a total of six months in jail. We understand that this is a lenient judgment in these circumstances. A letter has been sent to the President of the Republic pleading clemency. which is in his power to grant. The controllers have also appealed their sentences.
The Executive Board. whilst not in a position to question the verdict. is concerned that this whole unfortunate situation does not have a long-term effect on the relationship between the controllers and their administration at a time when Tunisia is embarking on an ambitious program of modernization in order to cope with increasing tourist traffic. The second matter of great significance which was discussed is the formation of Regional Task Forces to investigate specific problems in the Regions. At this stage they are to be formed only in those Regions where low technology prevails. It is felt that the Federation may not have placed sufficient emphasis on the technical problems of these Regions where a functioning telephone line to an adjacent Flight Information Region may be a major priority. The first such Task Force to support the Regional Executive Vice-President will be set up by the EVP. Americas. and will investigate the problems facing the air traffic systems. primarily in Central and South America. Hopefully. the expertise and knowledge available in the Federation will help these areas develop to handle the ever-increasing traffic load. The meeting of the Executive Bo.ardconcluded just prior to the start of the European Regional Meeting. The members of the Board are indebted. as always. to a number of airlines and administrations for their cooperation. Appreciation must also be expressed to the Hungarian Member Association for their efforts and support in making this meeting in historic Budapest. and a visit to the local air traffic control facilities. possible and so enjoyable.
-------------------------------1
The Potential for Growth Business aviation in Europe has only just begun. Its potential for expansion is such that it will eventually outgrow the facilities which are available to support it. The ownership of business aircraft in Europe is already increasing-by six percent in the last six months of 1989 alone. There are now over 800 jets. 800 turboprops and 1.500 pistonengine business twins in 17 European countries. But this fleet is sure to see massive growth in years to come. Consider the example of the United States of America: THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
A single market of some 250 million people spread over a large continental landmass. To do effective business. US corporations fly some 40.000 aircraft. Then consider that the Europe of the not-too-distant future potentially has around twice the population (485 million if you include eastern Europe as far as the Ukraine). is spread across similar distances (Lisbon is as far from Helsinki as New York is from Los Angeles) and yet contains only around 3.000 business aircraft. The real growth is yet to come.
(European Business Air News. August 7990)
Monopulse Radar Station Installed in less than 6 Months Thomson-CSF has commissioned an RSM 9 70 monopulse secondary radar at Dublin airport. This radar station is associated to four control positions and is the first phase of the CAIRDE (Civil Aviation Integrated Radar Display Equipment) integrated air traffic control system which will cover the entire country. Completion of this first stage. within less than six months following signature of the contract. represents the challenge undertaken by Thomson-CSF with the excellent cooperation of the Irish Department of Tourism and Transport (DOTT) and Thomson-CSF's Irish suppliers. The information. provided by the RSM 970 and the primary approach control radar TA 1OM already installed. is processed in the new Dublin control center. which will have a high capacity automated system for radar and flight plan data processing. The center will contain powerful 32-bit computers programmed with advanced ADA language and intelligent radar screens. An ADA-programmed air traffic control simulator was put into service in early 1989 in the new Dublin airport training center. The CAIRDE system also comprises installations at Shannon and Cork of two TA 1OM radars and two control canters. and supply of three RSM 970 radars. To be completed by end 1991. the CAIRDE system will provide Ireland with an aeronautic infrastructure using the most advanced technologies. This infrastructure will involve the navigation and landing aids (VOA. DME. ILS) supplied by Thomson-CSF during the recent past years.
Overheard After a touch-and-go. called the tower:
the pilot
'Tower. this is ABCD. Request a higher altitude for the next circuit.¡ 'ABCD. Tower. would you prefer the circuit at 2 thousand or 3 thousand feet?' ABCD: 'Yes.¡ Tower: 'Yes - what?' ABCD: 'Yes. sir!' 23
New-Generation 737-400: The Newest Family Member
Less than a year after it entered service, the newest Boein g twinjet, the 737-400 , is already popular with airlines all over the world . Less than three yea rs afte r Boeing decided to launch the 737-400, the plane had completed its flight test progra m ahead of schedule and received Federal Aviation Admini stration ce rtifica ti on for commercial servic e the first week of September, 1988. In December 198 5 , Boeing decided to offer a 737 twinjet w ith a 10-foot (290-cm) fu se lage stretch that would add three more seat row s, or 18 more passengers in six-across seating. Boeing enginee rs had been studying a larger 7 3 7 for a number of years - one w ith a fuselage lengthe ned ju st enoug h to bring capac ity to about 145 seats in m ixed-class service. Airlines operating the 737-300 model were pleased with its low fuel c onsumption and high dispatc h reliability, and urged the deve lopme nt of an ai rpl ane with slightly more capa city, but one which would blend easily into existing fleets of B737s . . Airlines espec ially like the fact that the 737-400 is a stra ightforward derivative of the 737 -300 so that -300 pilots could be cross- qualified . Flig ht crews who can operate both a -300 and -400 g ive airlines great fle xi bility in sc hedul ing and sub seq uent sav ing s in fleet ope rations. The advantage of cockpit co mmonality wi ll be even larger for th ose airlines that add the 737 -50 0 to their fleets when it comes on line next year. The -5 00' s f light deck w ill be ide ntica l to that of t he -3 00 and -400, meaning crew c hecke d out on one can fly all three. Th e 7 3 7-400' s f light management comp uter system incorporates a required t ime of arrival (RTA) featu re making the 737 -400 the first commerc ial system to add ti me as a fo urth navigat ional factor along with spee d , direct ion and alti t ude. RTA provides a t im e window for 24
making a departure that assures the airplane meets a designated _time of arrival to avoid a holding pattern at its destination . RTA can cope with enroute delays too, enabling flight crews to adjust cruise speed for maximum fuel efficiency . Thus RTA should contribute to reducing the workloads of both flight crews and air traffic controllers alike. As a customer option , the plane can also have an electronic flight instrument system featuring multi -co lor cathode ray tube di splays for primary flight instrumentation .. Like its larger cousins , the B 7 5 7 and B767 , the 737-400 features a fully automated flight management system (FMS) for automatic control and guidance of the ¡aircraft. An engine instrument system shows en_ gine and hydrauli c information on two light-
emitting diode di splay s that take the place of 21 separa te electro-mechanical instruments for greater simplicity , easier maintenance and increased reliability . Another feature available on the new 737s is wind shear detection capability . Boeing 's windshear detection system alerts flight crews to the condition and provides flight -path guidance to cope with it. Apart from the longer fuselage , other changes from the 73 7-300 are engines of slightly higher thrust, strengthened wing components and landing gear . Enlargements in the plane 's air conditioning system keep the bigger cabin comfortable. The advanced-technology engines which power the -400 are the CFM56-3B2 built by CFM International, a company owned by General Electric of the U .S. and Snecma of France . The -3B2 engine is a highbypass-ratio powerplant rated at 22,000 lb thru st and offer s a 19 percent fuel burn improvement over engines powering early models of the 737 and 727 . But it is not ju st in fuel efficiency that the engines outperform earlier model s. People who live around airports will appreciate the fact that the -3B2 s are so quiet that under mo st conditions, the takeoff noi se cannot be heard outside of the airport boundaries . Other advances in the 73 7-400 stem from basic design .
Boeing 73 7-400 THE CON TROLLER / DECEMBER 1990
EXHIBITION AREAS - AirTraffic systems andequipmen t - AirNavigation systems andequipmen t (Avionics) - Airport services andequipmen t (handling, catering, loudspeaker systems,security) - Training - Airline Companies - AirDefense
PARALLEL ACTIVITIES - Highleveltechnology itinerarieson aninternational basis, coordinated bytheMinistry of Transport, Tourism and Communications andtheABCC A (Air Traffic Controller Association oftheBalearicIslands), withthecollabora tion of the National Pilots Associatio n, the AirForceandAirline Companies. - Flight Exhibi tions - Presentation ofnewtechnology - "AirMuseum " Exhibition organised bytheAirForce .
PROFESSIONAL VISITORS
- AirTra fficControllers; Civil andmilitary pilots;Authorities fromtheMinistryofTransport, Tourism andCommunication andthe Air Force; Managing staffofAirports, AirTraffic Cont rolCentres and Airlines, mainly fromtheEEC, / Medite rraneanandSouth-American area. ~ /
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Cockpit of the 8737 -400
During development work on the airplane. Boeing kept as a goal long service life and low maintenance. as wel l as elimination of any excess weight in the airplane. The latest aluminum alloys are used in the st ruc ture. alo ng wit h increa sed carbon compos ite parts . A speci al program of corros ion prevent ion is designed to assure custo mers tha t the airplane will maintain its or igin al stru ctural soundness in any ope rati ng environment. Som e operators w ill fit add itional seats into the 7 3 7-400 but t he basic
Boeing Revises Market
Forecast Upward
Boe ing. which last year forecast a market for 7,838 jet-a ircraft de liveries worth $490 bi llion through 2005. now predicts that the market will accommodate 9 . 9 3 5 deliveries worth $ 6 2 6 billion over the same period. acco rding to the ¡ 90 edition of the ¡current Market Outlook '. Of those 26
configuration is 146 seats (138 economy with 32-inch [800 mm] pitch between seats and eight first class at 36-inch [900 mm] pitch) . Other options include 159 all-economy seats at 31-inch (800 mm) pitch and an inclusiv e-tour layout of 168 passengers at 30-inch (750 mm) pitch. With the longer fuselage. airlines gain larger cargo areas. With a total usab le cargo volume of 1,373 ft 3 (38 .9 m 3 ) . the 737-400 still offers a freight hold accessible from the
airc raft. 70 % are for growth and 30% for replacement. Non-US airlines w ill abso rb 62 % of the dollar value of those aircraft. The com pany also predict s average annua l traffic grow th of 5.9 % through 200 0 . dropping to 4.8% through 2005. Stro ngest growth w ill be in
ground without ladders . The basic airplane gross weight is 138.500 lb (62,820 kg). with an optional high-cross-we ight version of 150,000 lb (68 ,040 kg) . Fuel capacity is 5 .311 gals (20 . 105 I) with an option of 6,121 gals (23,170 I). This gives the new airliner a range capability of 2,270 statute miles (3 ,653 km) in its 146 -passenger version. The airplane is 119 h 7 in (36,4 m) long with a tail height of 36 ft 6 in ( 11.1 m) and wingspan of 94 ft 9 In (28.9 m).
Asia, w ith tr affic from North America and Europe to Asia inc reasing at an average annua l rate of 9.1 %. w hile intra -Asian traffic is expected to grow at a rate of 7 . 7 % . US domest ic t raffi c wi ll grow at 5.2% per annum . Intr aEuropean t raffic is for ecast to grow at 5.8% annual ly. Air Transpo rt World" 4 I 90 TH E CONTRO LLER / DECEMBER 1990
A Pilot's View Some Interesting Observations and Remarks
(Editor's note: The following are excerpts from a paper titled 'Airport Tec~nology and Development-A Pilot ·s View·. Thepaper was presented by the President of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots· Associations. Captain Bart Barker. to the Airport Technology (Airportech 2000) Seminar. held in Jakarta, Indonesia. in early 1990).
... Air traffic has increased by 60% between 19 79 and 1988. and it is further going to increase dramatically over the next ten years. Predictions have been made that the number of passengers will double by the turn of the century to reach two billio~ a year. Orders for new aircraft certainly reflect that trend and the manufacturers are booked up for all of their production into this decade. In amongst all this we have a system of airports and an air traffic sy~tem that is woefully inadequate in meeting current needs much less capable of being expanded to handle a 100% increase in traffic over the n~xt ten years. The system growth capacity is just not there. Efforts are under_way by ICAO to increase airport capacity to include improving surface movemE:nt guidance and control. measur~s. installation of MLS. the introduction of airborne collission avoidance systems and reducing the existing minimum distance between parallel runways. Regulators have forced engine manufacturers to come up with much quieter airplanes; but th\s ~~n be quickly negated if you s1gnif1cantly decrease the time interval between the aircraft passing overhead. A workable measure towards solving the capacity problems_ is to increase the carrying capacity of t~e next generation of civil transport _aircraft. Multideck and most certain_ly multi-winged aircraft. comparable in dimensions to the 74 7-400 and capable of carrying 1OOOpassengers or more. are foreseen. Such an approach. avoiding increasing both airspace and runway capacity ~roblems. would. however. create immense headaches for airport and transport authorities on the ground side ... THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
Our main concern is the lack of capacity. both in the air and on the ground. and what solutions are being proposed.
Air Traffic Services Development in the ATS field has not followed the same pace as the explosive growth in civil aviation: noncompatible ATC computers. lack of trained personnel. too many centres. inefficient airspace usage. Overloading of ground. tower and approach frequencies are unacceptJble. The use of automated data transmission systems to relay essential information and clearances is long overdue. ADS The potential of Automated Dependent Surveillance as a tool to enhance the ATS-system through improved communication via datalink will be a welcome improvement over the present archaic control system. TCAS The TCAS airborne alert and collision avoidance system interrogating ATC transponders in nearby aircraft may help in protecting a volume of airspace around the TCAS-equipped aircraft and diminish collision threats. IFALPA views TCAS as a supplement to the ATS system. a last ditch defence. The ATC system itself should still be ultimately responsible for traffic separation. Automated Air Traffic Sen,ices An example is the Canadian Automated Air Traffic System. CAATS. It uses very sophisticated technology resulting in an efficient ATC system: a
rival to the American Advanced Automation System. There is a European interest in CAATS by West Germany and Scandinavia ...
Noise Bans Relaxing restrictions on the use of existing airports should ensure that existing runway capacity is not wasted by the need to adhere to rigid rules in regard to minimum noise routing. aircraft handling techniques and night bans. all developed during the noisy aircraft years in the 50s. when jet aircraft were powered by low by-pass ratio engines. However. new aircraft with their latest large fan engines are operating in a much more efficient manner and cause a much smaller noise footprint. Aircraft noise is a highly emotional subject and has political implications; however. relax1~g operational restrictions for new. quiet aircraft will provide an incentive to operators to invest in these aircraft. The new quiet engines would be beneficial to the environment both by day and by night. Night jet noise bans. introduced ~t many airports. result in waves of aI~craft. sometimes required to hold until the airport opens. causing further disturbance. Then the big exodus just before the night curfew starts. A peculiar anachronism; it is high time that the peaks and troughs were smoothed! ... Satellite Navigation An interesting development is that of low cost. very accurate satellite navigation in the very near future. when GPS and GLONASS become available. making reduced vertical and horizontal separation with ADS possible. and which could render MLS a very expensive alternative. In general. it was thought that satellites werE:l~ot fully suited as a subsitute for _pre?IsIon approach aids. but the ap~hcat1on of new techniques may provide an accuracy suitable for autoland. . For the pilot it is relatively unimportant what type of approac~ and landing aid is used. as long as its reliability. integrity and accuracy meet the operational requirements. IFALPA will continue to monitor the development of precision approach aids. but does not engage itself as a promoter of a specific system.
S11.11riace MovemeD'1lt IG11JJudaD'1lce aD'1ld ControD Systems Aircraft accidents and delays on the ground have indicated to ICAO the need for an overall review of equipment and procedures for surface movement guidance and control. lm27
prove ment s in runw ay prot ect ion m easures. rules for sepa rat ion and colli sion avoida nce on apron s. and separatio n between ta xyi ng aircraft are to be provided. Anne x 14 do es not specify t he actu al visual aid s requi red for prot ect ion of take-off run wa ys. Therefo re. spec if ications shou ld be devel oped on the m arking . lighting and ide nti fi c at ion by sign s of tax iholding positio ns at ta ke-off run way s . The adequacy of t he spec ifi ca t ion s fo r vi sual aids for pro viding t axi gu id ance and contr o l. pa rticular ly in low visibility and hig h t raff ic d ensity have to be reviewed. IFA LPA ful ly supp o rts th e deve lopme nt of SMGCS and it s associat ed vis ual aids . We have attended mee t ings of th e ICAO V isual Aids Panel and t he VA P Working Group on Visual A ids and SMGCS . Two topi c s that nee d hig hlight ing are st opbar s and maneuv ering / mo vem ent area boundary markings .
Conclusion For the pi lot. a lack of c ap acit y means conge st io n. It mea ns th at he cannot ope rat e hi s ai rcra ft as efficient ly as he wo uld like. c osting mor e money to his co m pany and . in t he end. the passeng er. But it also inf luenc es the safety standard. So w e need mor e runways. suitable airbo rne equ ipment. additional ground aids. mor e ATC automation. fewer night rest rictions. more avai lable ai rspace and bigger. quieter aircraft. But. above all. the re is a nee d for a joint industry/ author ities/ line pilot development process. invo lvi ng al l parties regular ly. The developme nt in tec hno logy is formidab le. The fut ure of aviation is coming to us so fast that one's first inclinat ion is to duck. However . if you duck in the 90s you are likely to be hit twice as hard when you try to stand up again in the year 2 00 0 !
I NERC Pro j ect Cossor Elect ronics Limi t ed have been awarded the project management support cont ract as part of the CAA United Kingdom Advanced A ir Traffic Systems (UKAA TS). Th is major strateg ic program will support UK air traffic serv ices into the next century backed by a Government approved initia l investment of£ 200 mill ion. Work has co mmenced on the initial phase of the proJect - a New En-Route Cente r (INERC) wh ich wi ll take ove r the func tion of the London Air Traffic Contro l Centre based at West Drayton and provide a signifi cant increase in UK enroute ai rspace capac ity in the mid to late 1990s. 28
Books:
Asleep in the Fast a The pact of Slee Lydia Dotto , ISBN 0-7737-2286-6 , Stodd art Publi shing Co. Ltd. . 3 4 Lesmi/1 Road. Toronto , Canada . M38 2T6 . Can. $26 .95
Che ating on sleep is fast becoming part of th e work ethic for the nineties as mo re people try to cope and compet e in w hat has become a 24-hour econom y. Putting in 16- and 18-hour wo rk days is becoming . for many . the acc epted norm . But the race to do mo re w ith less ca n lead to seriou s he a Ith problem s and even death. That fro m science writer and aut hor Lydi a Dott o w hose new book ·As leep in t he Fast Lane; The Imp act of Sle ep on Wor k'. has ju st been pub lished in Canada. In her book . Dotto cl aims that the notion of a good night 's sleep (meaning 8 to 10 hour s a night} is now being seen as · an indulg ence. a sign of weak ness. even stup idity. someth ing that co uld easi ly be overco me by w illpowe r and disc ipline'. A result . she says. of a chang ing w or k eth ic; one bro ugh t abo ut by t he advent of high spee d t ech no logy. ·In th e past two years. the trend towa rd a 24-h our lifestyle has been great ly acc elerat ed by devices suc h as ce llul ar phones. th e porta ble computer and t he fax mac hin e. Toget her these techno log ies have permitt ed indeed. forced - dramati c c hanges in our wo rk patterns. They have made possib le our att em pt to override biologica l tim e . Western c ivilizat ion has do ne everyt hin g possible t o elimin ate slee p · An att empt . she point s o ut . w hi c h is doo med to failure . 'Tec hnolo gy evolves mu c h faster t han bio logy and we are hard pressed to keep up. For t he overw helming part of t he mil lions of years the hum an body has been evolving. it w as not required to cope with wo rking th e graveyard shift. cramm ing all night for exams. preventi ng a nuclear meltdown. launc hin g a space shuttl e or zapping aro und the wo rld faster th an the spee d of sound .· Thi s new emp hasis o n endur ance and hig h performance raises serious quest ions as to w hethe r t he hum an sieep / awake cycle is really up to life in the fa st lane. Can it handle the c hallenge of monitoring. ma naging and
controlling the vast array of dangerous technologie s that are supposed to make life better and more product ive. but are just as likely to make it more hazardou s - as often as not becau se of human error? Add s Dotto. · despite the mounting eviden c e that sleep can cau se seriou s soc ial and economic di sruption . w e still tend to di smi ss them as small potatoe s. With the like s of ca ncer . hea rt disease and A l OS lurking abou t . thi s indiff erent attitude toward s slee p is perhap s not surpri sing. But. even though sleep prob lems m ay not errify us th e way c anc er and AIDS do . they can neverth eless de stroy lives and ca ree rs and cost billion s of doll ars in lost prope rty and reduc ed pr odu ctiv ity of th e wo rk fo rc e. ·And though slee p is rarely t houg ht of as a life-t hre atening ac ti vity. sleep problems dir ec t ly or indir ec tl y ca use thou sand s of death s eac h yea r · Consider the following exa mpl e : • In 1978. a comm erc ial airli ner sc hedu led to land at Los An ge les Inte rnation al A irpo rt passe d ove r th e airp ort at 31 OOO feet and unacco unt ably headed o ut ove r the Pac ific. Flying on auto m atic pilot . the plane was abou t 16 5 kilo met ers ( 100 mi les) o ut t o sea before air tr affi c c ontr o llers fo und a way to sound an alarm in th e cockpit . Th e entir e cr ew had fallen asleep o n the flight d eck. The tr oubl e w ith sleep. not es Dotto. is th at we are onl y now beg in ning to unde rst and and exa mi ne its aff ects o n ou r lifestyle and wo rking habits. Resea rc h in th e f ie ld is relative ly rece nt. On e fi nd ing in pa rtic ul ar co uld have a pos iti ve impact on t he wo rkplace . · If t hi s new resea rch can be ada pted to th e wo rkp lace we m ay fin d exec uti ves repl ac in g th eir .. powe r lunc hes" w it h "powe rnaps" · Ju st how t hese latest fi nd ings from t he laborato ries of sleep researc hers w ill affect our lives is examined in t his grou ndbreaking book. THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1990
Company Address
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The Human Side of ATC John W Olcott (This article appeared in 'Business & Commercial Aviation·. July 1990. and is reprinted here with permission of that magazine's editor. hhh)
Aviation stimulates human creativity. It is an arena in which primordial needs for conquest. creation and recognition seek expression; an environment in which dreams and aspirations are transformed into deeds. in which human spirit fuels the pursuit of progress. Performance parameters such as speed. height. range and endurance are measured specifically and immediately. leaving no doubt about accomplishment. Seekers of fame and fortune recognized aviation's ability to provide instant gratification as they sought to set records during the 1920s and 1930s. By doing so. they also opened the nations· eyes to the capabilities and benefits of flight. Without the ingenuity of engineers and the courage of aviators. mankind would not have the advantages of air transportation and all it contributes throughout the world. Today's messures of success are less dramatic than were Lindbergh's crossing the Atlantic and Armstrong's flight to the moon. but they are no less important. They are defined by passenger miles. tons of air freight and aircraft movements; by the effectiveness with which executives conduct business throughout the world: and by the rewards that come to those who experience the fulfillment of flight. For mankind. the payoff is a transportation system which facilitates commerce and enhances the quality of life for everyone. Today's accomplishments are no less demanding of man's ingenuity or spirit than were those of the past. Men and women still are called upon to be creative. to persevere and achieve. and they do so without the acclaim awarded to their predecessors. Air traffic control (ATC) is certainly an area where men and women are called to exercise the creativity which is uniquely human. Aided by machines. such as radars to see traffic and computers to process transponder data. controllers are the vital link that enables the air transportation 30
system to work. and their abilities to predict and resolve conflict affect the efficiency with which aircraft flow within the airspace. The difference between the capacity of the air transportation system in visual meteorological or instrument meteorological conditions is a vivid example of that dependence upon the human element. When the weather is VMC. acceptance rates at congested airports are noticeably higher than during IMC. Controllers are able to use their special skills creatively to fit traffic into a flow that more than doubles airport capacity when the weather allows visual separation. But when conditions require the rigidity of IFR criteria between aircraft. the current system slows since controller options are limited. Washington National Airport (DCA) is an outstanding example of controller creativity and ingenuity in action. When weather permits VFR traffic. DCA's controllers do a particularly impressive and professional job of increasing aircraft acceptance rates by fully utilizing all of the airport's available runways. Light aircraft and commuters are fitted safely and efficiently into Runways 21 and 15 as airline traffic uses Runway 18; or. when the wind is from the north. GA uses Runway 33 the same time airlines are using Runway 36. Airport utilization is significantly higher in VMC than when instrument weather is present. The skill and cooperation of DCA controllers impresses me each time I fly into the U.S. capital. Enhancements underway in connection with the FAA's National Airspace System Plan (NASP) are designed to aid controllers during IMC and enhance the role of the human operator. For example. the Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) system. which is being tested at Raleigh-Durham International. can increase the scan rate of terminal radar from one sweep every 4. 8 seconds to one every 0.5 seconds. thereby allowing controllers to monitor approaches more
closely and reduce the minimum separation from 4.300 to 2.400 feet between parallel ILS runways in simultaneous use. By giving controllers better 'eyes· with the PRM's 'quickscan· radar. IFR separation can be closer to VFR criteria. and airport acceptance can be increased by nearly 40 percent. Many of the NASP improvements under development are designed to enhance controllers· effectiveness as human operators. rather than replace the human element within the system. The Advanced Automation System- a major acquisition program to increase air transportation capabilities within six years by providing improved computer software. processors and controller work stations- relies heavily on human controllers as the key element in ATC. It is the 'human element' which allows the current system to work. Hence. improvements to human efficiency and effectiveness are necessary in the short term. But. demands for ATC capacity are rapidly outpacing the ability of our current human-dependent ATC system to keep pace. By the year 2000. demand will have nearly doubled from 1988 levels. while improvements created by the NASPwill have given only a 25-to 30percent capacity increase. It is time we reevaluate the human element within ATC. Technology provides the opportunity to use computers. data links and flight management systems in a way that significantly lessens dependence on humans as links within ATC. allowing them to serve as the designers and managers of a truly automated system There is a better way to use human creativity within ATC than is currently done: have people design systems and program computers to do the controlling. rather than having computers programming people.
There is a better way to use human creativity within ATC than is currently done ... THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
Complex Departure Instructions Cause Confusion
In 1988 a OC-9 was flight-planned to fly Calgary to Victoria via HL508. to maintain FL250. As luck would have it the Calgary Terminal Control Radar was shut down for maintenance at the time of departure for the OC-9. and non-radar separation procedures were in effect for arriving and departing aircraft on IFR flights. The departure clearance was a mouthful: Company Flight XXXis cleared to the Victoria Airport via HL 508 Vancouver. maintain FL 250: depart runway 34. direct Echo NOB. turn left out-bound track 240 degrees to intercept and maintain the 15 mile OME arc of the Calgary VOR to the 248 degree radial: cross Echo NOB at 7. OOO or below: cross the 265 radial of the VOR at 7. OOO or above: cross 30 OME on course at 13.OOOor below. When the clearance was first issued by the controller. he omitted the 240 degrees relating to the outbound track from Echo. The first officer read it back. the controller repeated the portion of the clearance about the outbound track. but still did not state 240 degrees. The first officer then repeated again. saying 248 degrees. and the controller then corrected that the outbound track was 240 degrees. The first officer. during a delay for separation prior to takeoff. asked again for clarification of the clearance. and the captain and first officer also discussed the clearance with each other. and understood what was required. . After they were instructed to line up en the runway. an amended ~l~aranca was issued. adding a restriction to cross the 25 OME. 248-degree racial at or below 12.000. The first officer read back · 240-degree radial'. and the controller corrected to · 248degree radial'. Approximately three minutes after takeoff. the OC-9 called by the Echo NOB outbound. passing 6.000 feet for 12.000 feet. The controller shortly thereafter cancelled the restriction of THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1990
ECHO
NDB
t------
AIRCRAFTTRACK
..........
12.000 feet till the 248-degree radial. quired to execute these manoeuvres all else unchanged. The first officer while traversing a distance of approxiread back the 248 radial. and said. mately 20 miles at an airspeed up to ·we are now cleared to FL250'. The 250 knots and a time period of about controller advised that the restriction five minutes . . . to cross 30 OME at 13.000 or below . . . The pilot was distracted. was still in effect. probably because of the departure After crossing Echo NOB. the OC-9 delays, the detailed departure clearcontinued in a left turn through the ance and associated confusion over outbound track. eventually rolling out the outbound track. and the numerous on a southeasterly heading. pointed at altitude restrictions in the departure the airport. After a minute or so. the clearances. crew recognized the error. and comAll this crew needed for the final menced a right turn to intercept the ingredient of an accident was a fire 248-degree radial. Shortly thereafter warning bell. electrical malfunction or the terminal radar was reinstated. and radio failure. Unfortunately. the KISS the controller identified the OC-9 (Keep It Simple. Stupid) Principle got about one mile west of the Calgary lost somewhere in this scenario. airport. A heading of 2 70 degrees was assigned to intercept the on course. (From 'Aviation Safety Letter'. 5/90) As the Canadian Aviation Safety Board report noted: The non-radar departure clearance ... required that. after crossing the Echo NOB. the aircraft make a left turn of 100 degrees plus the intercept angle to intercept an outbound track of 240 degrees within an approximate distance of nine nautical miles before reaching the 15 OME arc. Tointercept the 15 OME arc. another left turn of 75 degrees is required. On reaching the 248-degree radial (HL508), a right turn of approximately 90 degrees is required to the on course. Tocomply with the clearance, (the OC-9) was re-
In the nextissue~ Aeromexico Accident at Cerritos: CourtF~ndengs andConch.udons 31
Corporate
Members
of I FATCA
AEG Electrocom GmbH, Konstanz, FRG AUTODIAGNOS, Stockholm, Sweden Bofo rs Electronics AB, Stockholm, Sweden B0r ge Pedersen A/ S, Allerod, Denmark CAE Electronics Ltd., Saint-Laurent, Canada Ca rdion Electronics, Woodbury, USA CCS, Roedermark-Waldacker, FRG CESELSA, Cecsa Systemas Electronicos SA, Madrid, Spain CI SET S.p.A., Rome, Italy Cossor Elect ron ics Ltd ., Harlow, UK Di ctap hone Corporation, Rye, USA EB N ETCO M, Nesbru, Norway Fe rranti Computer Systems Ltd., Cwmbran, UK FFV Airp ort T ec hnology AB, Froson, Sweden HI C KLIN G M anagement Consultants Ltd., Ottawa, Canada Holl a ndse Signaalapparaten B. V ., Hengelo, Netherlands HUGH ES, Grou nd Sy stems, Fullerton, CA, USA IS S Vid eot ex A / S, Charlottenlund, Denmark Jepp ese n & Co. GmbH, Frankfurt, FRG Jerry Thomp son & Associates Inc., Kensington, USA Marconi Radar Syste ms Ltd., Chelmsford, UK McDonn e ll Dougl as Electronics, St. Charles, USA Mitre Corporat ion, M c l ean, USA Network System s, Fra nkf urt , FRG Norcontrol Surveill a nce Syste m s A .S ., Shipping Sodbury, UK Racal Avionics Ltd ., Lond on, U K Raytheon Canada Ltd ., W at er loo, Canada Schmid Telecommunicat ion , Z urich , Switzerland SD-SCICON Ltd., Wav e ndon, UK SEL-Standard Elektrik Lorenz, Stuttgart, FRG SELENIA, Radar and Systems Divis ion, Rome, Italy Siemens - Plessey Radar Ltd ., Ch essington, UK Societe d'Etudes et d'Entreprises Electriques , Malakoff, France Sofreavia, Paris, France SWEDAVIAAB, Norrkoping, Sweden TASA, Telecomunica,;oes Aeronautic as S.A. , Rio de J aneiro, Brazil Telefunken Systemtechnik GmbH, Ulm , FRG Thomson -CSF , Division SDC, Meudon, France UNISYS Europe / Africa Ltd ., Uxbridge, UK Westinghouse Electric Corp., Baltimore, USA The Internat iona I Federatio n of A ir Traff ic Contr ollers· Assoc iat ions wou ld Iike to invite a 11 co rpo rat ions. organizat io ns. and inst itut ions inte rest ed in and concerned wit h the maintenance and promotion of safety in air traff ic to join t heir orga nizat ion as Corporate M embe rs. Corporate Memb ers support th e aim s of th e Federat ion by supply ing the Federation w it h te chnical informat ion and by me ans of an annua l subscr iption. The Federation· s internat iona l journal 'The Control ler· is offered as a platform for the discussion of technical and procedura l developments in the field of air traffic contro l.
32
THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1990
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