IFATCA The Controller - March 1996 by IFATCA

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JOURNAL OFAIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

United Kingdom. March 1996 PUBLISHER

IFATCA. International Federa tion of Air Traffi c Contro llers路 Associations. See bottom of page 2 for contact address. EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA

Prebe n Laurid sen Pres ident and Chief Execut ive Officer Neil Vidler Deputy President Oliver Far ira yi Executive Vice-President Africa/ Middle East Sa mu el Lampkin Executive Vice-Pr esident Ameri cas George Chao Pao Shu Executive Vice-President Asia/Pac ific Gunt er Melchert Executive Vice-P resident Europ e John Redmond Executive Vice-President Finance Bert Ruitenberg Executive Vice- President Profes sional Ch ris Stock Executive Vice-President Technica l Ed ge Green Exe cuti ve Sec retary

Terry C rowhur st Editor EDITOR

TerTy Crowhurst 29 Heritage Lawn. Langshott. Harley. Surrey. RH6 9X H. United Kingdo m. Tel. +44 lO) 1293 784040 Fax +44 (0) 1293 77 1944 Co mpuServe:Te rry Crowhurst. 100743.3372 Internet: I00743.3372@co mpu serve.com

Vo lum e 35 N掳 I

IN THIS ISSUE FOREWORD

The D eputy Pre s id e nt of IFATCA AFRICA MID DLE EAST R EGIONAL MEETI NG A Report from Nairobi

6 8

EUROPEAN REGIO NAL MEETI NG A R e po11 from Bled ASI A PACIFI C CONFERE NCE A R e port from Hon g K o n g

I CELAND A n Update

11 from

the Last

Iss ue

AS IA PACIFIC REGIO NAL MEETING A R eport from Auckland

GR EEK A IR TRAFF IC CON T RO L A Pilot s Vi ewpo int

A IR T RAFF IC CONTRO L AND B ALLOON ING P a tri ck Sche llin g R e port s

A VIATION SAFETY IFATCA Comments

'96 IFATCA Tu ni s Airport , Ga t eway

20 to Conference

FREE FLI G HT IFATCA E xec uti ves Repor

22 t

M AN AND M ACHINE Swis sc ontro l A r ticl e

RESULTS OF E ND OF YEAR COMPETITION

COPY TYPING

Dona Crowhurst ADVERTISING AND SALES OFFICE

Ron Mahendran U Stanford Way. Broadbr idge Heat h. Horsham West Sussex. RH 12 3LH. United Kingdom. ~ Tel & Fax +44 lO) 1403 256 798 ACCOUNTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tim Mac Kay "Dunadry" . Minshull Lane. Wet1enhall. Winsford . Che~hire. CW7 -mU. United Kingdom. Tel +44 tm 1270 528363 Fax +-14(Ol 1270 528478 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Patrick Schelling Ch. Sur le Moulin. 126 1 Le Yaud. Switzerland. Tel +41 (0) 22366 2684 Fax +41 (0) 22366 4305 PRINTING

Mercury Press Unit I . Baird C lose. Craw ley . West Sussex. RH 10 2SY. United Kingdom. Tel +44 tO) 1293 51JOOO Fax +44 (0) I 1lJJ 519000

T HE CO NTRO LL ER/MAR CH 1996

Advert isers in this is sue Ale nia. C rim p. GB Airwa ys . Hu ghes. No rco nt ro l. Omn ili fe. Schmi d Te leco m. Tuni sair. P h o tographs T . Crow hu rst. P. Doma ga la. A.Ta ylor. P. Sc hellin g . G . Melc hert. G. C hao Cove r Ba lloo ns over Sw itzer land - See Pag e 16 C harli e Ca1路toon Ke n T ull y Proof Readers Lucy Le ve son. Han-y Col e ISSUES APPEAR END OF M ARCH, J UNE, SEPTEMBER, D ECEMBER. C ONTRIBUTORS ARE E XPRESSING TH EIR PERSONAL POINTS OF VIEW AND O PINIONS, WHI CH M AY N OT NECESSARILY C OINCIDE WI TH T HOSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDER ATION OF A IR TR AFFIC C ONTROLLERS' A SSOCIATIONS . IF A T CA. IFATCA DO ES N OT ASSUME R ESPONSIBILITY F OR S TATEMENTS M ADE AND OPIN IONS E XPRESSED, IT A CCEPTS RE SPONSIBILITY FOR PUBLISHING THESE CO NTRIBUTIONS. CO NTRIBUTIONS AR E W ELCOME AS AR E C OMMENTS AND C RITICISM. N O P AYMENT C AN BE M ADE F OR M ANUSCRIPTS SUBMITIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE CONTROLLER. TH E E DITOR R ESERVES T HE R IGHT TO M AKE ANY ED ITORIAL CHA NGES IN M ANUSCRIPTS, W HICH HE B ELIEVES WI LL IMPROVE THE M ATERIAL WITH OUT A LTERING TH E INTENDED M EANING. WR ITI EN P ERMISSION BY TH E E DITOR IS N ECESSARY FOR REPRINTING ANY PA RT OF THI S J OURNAL.

Everyone's flock ing to Tunis.

T he 1996 ATC Con ference will be held in Tunis and British Airways would like to fly you there. We offer a hug e ran ge of servic es into London with onward

connec tion s to Tunis

opera ted by our franchise p art n er GB Airways Ltd. For further information

ple ase ask your tr ave l agent

or call yo ur local British Airways offic e .

BRITISHAIRWAYS

7 O p erated by th e independent

ca rri er G B Airwa ys Ltd

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FORE WORD __________

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ADMINISTRATION 0 Neil VIDLER. Deputy President

he success of any organisation depends in large measure on how it is ad mini stered . In this regard IFATCA is no e xcept ion. Ind ee d . because of it s ve ry nature. this is certain. In compa r ison wi th. for exa mple. the techni cal and profe ssiona l facets of th e Fe de rat io n. administration is not the most glamorous side of our orga nisatio n but it certainly is essential. Yes. IFATCA exists to provide technical and professional input at various forums on behalf of the world' s air traffic co ntroll ers. but unless the organ isation is ad mini stered correctly and efficiently it wouldn't have the ability to provide that input nor would it retain the respect that the other facets engender. Administration is no small part of IFATCA. From the current budge t. fo r ex ampl e. takin g into account th e Secre taria t. Confere nce costs and the Executive Board· s interna l travel and honoraria. administration takes up approximatel y -1-Sllc of our cu ~b and this is without considering the administrative component of the various Stan di ng Com mitt ee s. Suc h a large proportion of ou r e xpenditur e mu st be viewed very se riously and con tinua ll y monitored to ensure that it is being spent wisely and that our prime technical and professional functions are not suffering as a result. In 1990 we restructured the Federation. in part to make our admini stration more e ff ic ie nt. For the 1995 co nfere nce. an cxtcnsive n.:view of how we arc opera ting was um.le nak en. That 1"1. :vicw and the restructure have received Directo1< apprm ·al but we canno t re'1 eas). Mor e stil l need s to be don e . Th e 199 6 conference will sec an admin istrati\'c brie fing for Direc tors to increa se their kno wledge o f hm, IFATC A work s. Ver) soon IFATC A will mo\'e into a nc\\' era with the adn'nl of a permanent office. This will bring about great cha nges in the wa) we du business and at the same time it will mean an even greater financial out lay. We ha, ·e lo e nsure that ;,uch incr eased ex pe nditur e, impro\'e our l1,·crall performance and are not simpl) tn pa) for another" a) or doing things. That IFATC A has come th i, far without ha Ying a permanent Secretariat is 1H1 thing ;,hort of amazing and i, beyond belief or 111tb t other similar organi sations. But WL' lrn, e. and ,~e ha,e do ne it efficientI) . thanb main!) to ,o mc ,·er) dedicated and hard ,,·rnl ing o ff ice rs . all o f whom ha , c worked to co ntain co:,t:, "' hilq maximising output. It i~ incredible 10 look back and di;.cll\ er that the fiN call ror a d iange in thL'way or doing thing:-.was on!) at tilL' ,eco nd annua l con ference ,, hen the then Ho1l\)ra r~ Scnetan

THE CONTROLLER /MAR CH 199 6

recomm ended to the meetin g ··....to endeavo ur by all mean, ro employ as soon as possible a full time paid Execut ive Sec ret,Jr). as the management of an international organisation such as !FA TCA is alr ea dy at thi s stag e bey ond the scope of an H o norar) Secretary"s spare time.·· Th e n at the 9th annu al confe rence in Montreal in 1970. the President noted that ·· it wou ld be ridiculow, to expect the Executive Secretary to extend his acti\' ity to cope with new objectives and an additional membership. The need for permanent sec retariat ass istance is ac ute ...... Well. we actu al!~ moved to having an Executive Sec retary (and thereby to what almost amounted to a full time official ,·ia retired or <,emi-rerired individuals) in late 1963 but it has taken us considerabl) longer to come to finally deciding on a permanent Secretar iat. A:, al\\ a);,. cost has been the prime concern. 1 So how wi ll we fu nd rhi s great leap fo r controll e r-kin d·. Obviously. increased membership clues will help but a:, 1 indicated earlier. we must ensure that we are not financi ng administration at the cost of our core busine<,s. as it were. A, the Federati on grcrn ,. the demand s placed upon the aclmini:,tration of IFA TC A I and I include the financial a:,pect;, of that adrnini,rra tion too) ,eem to gro w more than propo rtional ly. De,pi te rhe fact that -' e arc conrinually re,·iewing our procedure, . despite the fact that \\C arc pulling in place more streamlined methods of operating and de-,pilL' th e fact that we c o nt inu ally ca ll upon o ur mernbcr,h1p to implement compleme ntary procedures . rhere remain tou frequent Ol·ca sio n, whe n Me mber A;.sociation, do not help u-, ( and therefore themsch ·es) b) complying ,~ith requ iremen t,. Each time someone doe:-.not answer a que;.tionnairc ( and therefore require, ,1 follo w-up requ e;,t ). doe;. not re,pond in a Ii mcl) man ner lt l a communi cation. pul:, in a "or king paper to Con ference after the due dare or submit;, a request for a,, istance after the requ1,ire t11ne. it acid:, to the Federation·, workload and direct!) tn 1h e\ pc11J1 wre Ju~t by the simple expedie nt of doing thing, correct I~ and 1111 11111 e. YO U ca n mcas u ra b l~ red uce e, er) hod;,·, ,, nrl,. load and ,i gnificantl~ contain L"lhh. The permanent office j,, ,ore!~ needed and,, ill add to ll- 1\ TC\ ' efficie1ic\. He)\\c, er. ,,e ,~ill find it diffirnlt to funJ 11" 1 that 11 operate; in the ex pec ted manner an d prmlu CL'' thL' e\JlCL"lL'd ellici e11C ). One certain. -,igniricant and ea,) \\ a) tu a..,..,1,t\\ llh thal i, to conwin co, 1 , ia nur O \\ n imprm ed opL'ra t1n& L'll1c1enL1c, Th e n the admi nistration or lh -\TCA \\Ill he ahk to cP nt11wc· \\ Oiling for )ll ll as \OU ha,e come to c,pcL·t and 11,1l aga111,1\tlll h) nccdh:-, \ I) , 1xnding ) our hard earned S\\ 1~, ha11L·, g face of II--\ r< ·\ Adm inistration nw) not bL·the lll\bl C\c 11111 (although man, or the Dirccwr, in Committee \ 111,,11\cd 111 the disc u,:i1 rn, ir; recent , ea r, ma) di,agrcL ' \\ 1th thal I hut 11 1, necc;.;,ar) and thl' r eder~1tioncould nnl func11t1na~ ll d11t·, ,, 11hou1 it a nd lii,.e IFATC.-\·, tllher laceh . 11 1, tilL' rL· 1,11 \1ll1 l"hc permanent Pilice "ill great!) as,1,1 11 - -\T< \ , <1d1111111,11 .111111 1 h111 ,o also mu,1 \ ou. the member, . +

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EDITORIAL-

AND SO TO THE

Editorial

INTERVIEW: Hhat i.\ the

:l Terry Crowhurst - Editor

<~(the

CAA TC proj ect?

he Editorial of thi s a edition follow s differ e nt for mal th a n usual. I was app roac hed by Huohes Aircraft of Canada lo aor:e to an interview with Mr. e John M Belcher who is Pre sid e nt of both Hu ghes Aircraft of Canada and Hughes Canada Systems Division. The purpose of the interview was to discuss the latest statu s of the Canadian Automated Air Traffic Control System (CAATS) and perhap to allay some concerns that have bee n ex pre sse d abo ut th e proj ec t. Th e inter view was conducted in my home with other representatives from Hughes Europe. Firstly. it i worth outlining a brief biography of John Belcher. A. President of Hughes Aircraft of Canada Ltd.. he is responsible for the Ca nadi an operati ons incl udi ng co rpora te bu sines s develop ment. government relations and international marketing. The Canadian company i. a ub. idiary of the US company based in California and include the Systems Division in Richmond. B.C.: and the Ser\'ices and Suppo11 Division with the Calgary Electronics Facility. the Information Technology Centre in Calgary and the Simulator Suppon Facility in Dartmouth. Other facilities include the Hughes Elcan Optical Technologies. in Midland and Hughes DirecTv Canada. in Missi,sauga. Ontario. John Belcher i~ perhaps best known for hi~ work in System En!!inee rin g and as author of the Transport Canada Ca nadian Ai,; pace s ;-;tems Plan (CASP): a plan for the expenditure of over $5 billion to modernise the air traffic and air navigation ~ervice across Canada. His company biography is extensive and record~ an impre~sive history in the industry which has been recognised by signi fica nt award s whic h in clude a national awa rd for hi s organisation· s lmegrated Office Sy'>tems Program in Supply and Services Canada.

It pays advertise

Cll/ T C II I .\( (1/ /I S

•

The Canadian Au tomat ed Air Traffi c Control Progra m underwe nt a rest ru c tur ing jointl y b y Hugh es Canad a/Transport Canada to add so me ::SMr John M. Belcher new requir emen t~ and rep lace so me of those in the original specification of 1989. Thi s was comp leted in the summer of 1995, and approved by the Canad ian Gove rnm ent in September 1995. The program remains esse ntiall y the same . with the schedule lengthened lo allow full national de li ve ry lo be completed July 1998.

What is setting CAA TS apart .fi'u111other comparab le

A TC proj ects? CAATS provides advanced night data process ing funct ions and operator features for controllin g aircra ft in both rada r and nonradar cove red airspace. A large pan of Canada has no radar coverage. especially the aircraft coming over the pole from Asia . Russ ia a nd the Nort h Atlanti c. In th e ab se nce of radar and navigational aids the most appropriate direc t rou te can be selected using CAATS' advanced functionality. Full e lec tronic flight data strip s in teg rated within the co mmon co nt ro lle r wo rk station provides for added safety. CAATS is also a national system which. when com bine d with the Military Automated Air Trarti c System (MAAT S ). cove rs both civil and military air traflic control at nil cnro ute cc ntcrs. terminal centers and towers. It is a complete seaml ess integ ration or all Air Traffic Control functions for Canada.

What will it do f<Jrll.\ers

,~r Canada\

air .,pace'!

It supports the introduction of direct routin g for aircraft throug h Canada's airspace and the introduction or aut omati c depe ndence surveillance and computer pilot data link. Thi s will result in more aircraft gelling their requested route and redu ced cos ts lo the air carriers.

Hc,sHughes well pmitio11cd i11th e .fin! pla ce to hand le a pro} (!('/ thi, Cflfllf)frxity maf.{11it11d e '!

,~r

(I/Id

Hughe!-,wa, very well po!-.itioned for C AATS due to it:- Yi year history in deve lopin g and implc111cntin g lar ge sc ale so ft wa re imen!-. ive !-,Y!-, lCJTI !-,world wide. In addition between the year, of 198'.'iand 1990 H ughc ~ was one of two prime contractor, cle, igning the FAA':- (Fede ral A, ·iation Admini,t rationJ advanced autrnnated ,y, te111 .

/, ,wt I/ugh<!\ a rdatfr< , 11,•wco111l'I' in till ' \ H hmi11e,., compww l to othn 111ujo1 pfttr, ·n :'

TIIE conTROUER JOURNAL OFAIRTRAFFIC CONTROL ~

A!-,, tatecl previou!-,1) Hughe, i, nut a nL'\H·unKr: in fal'I Hughe~ ha, a 35 yea r hi "1<H) in cum plc x ,) , tL'lll' dL'' L'illpn1L'nt a nd integration.

H /wt rl'Wllff l' \ ar t' n1r1t•11th a r(l/lahl l' to ( a11adato lu111dle tl1c p m Jt't 1 ·1

/111 ~ / u,

i11

Hughe, Canada ha, a"'e mhled 11llL'grated prllduc t tcanh mad e er ur of cxpc rh from around the "' 11rld . T h 1, inc lud e, n 1stu111

T H E CO N TRO LL ER / M ARC H 1996

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EDITORIAL _ _ _ ____________

representatives. Hughes employees from throughout the company. Cana di an Hi- Tec hn o logy eng in ee rin g co mpa ni es and subcontractors with specialized expertise in ope rations. safety. tra inin g. softwa re deve lopm e nt, hum an fac to rs a nd communications.

H'hat are the .w~jiware problems? There are no software problems. Al issue was the freezing of operational/technical requirements. One of the major challenges in all complex software development projects has been and continues to be confirmation of requirements and the establishment of a solid foundation that will support all functional building blocks. This is like the a;·chitechtural design that goes into a house: the up front work to establish a blueprint for the whole prior to building the parts. Hughes took an innova ti ve app roach to deve lop ing the software for CAATS. Software development began in January of 1993 and the approach was to develop a software architecture first. The bene fit of buildin g a living prototy pe and meas urin g its performance before committing to full scale developmelll is that it red uces the risk of futur e so ftwa re pro blems. T he so ftwa re ar chit ec tur e was prove n to be sound in I 994 and full sca le developmem was subsequently started. Software Build One was completed in Summer 1995 and Build Two will be completed in Fall 1996. There are four major software builds in the CAATS program.

Do you feel Hug hes has been penalized by changes in design and specifications imposed by the custom er? The CAATS system is considerably improved today over what was procured in 1989. This will result in a modern system being delivered lo the Canadian government and a producl line available to Hughes. Hughes Aircrafl and the Canadian go vernmen1 have worked together cooperatively lo ensure that CAATS is the mosl advanced ATC system in the world. In fact. because of the architeclllral work done. CAATS will also form the basis or the Oceanic system lo be de liver ed in th e USA. a nd for new lar ge ATC bu s ine s, opportunities in the UK and around the world.

H'/wt price tag do,,, the re1·i\l'd pr<~j l'Ct a m ~rf oll01ring the l<l\ ·t 11egotiatiom ! The co ntract ,·,due ha~ im:rca~ed from Si-+20M Ca nadian lo '.ii .+78M Canadian.

It ,e,,111 , llll i1ulepende11t,tll{/r wm co11111iHioned hr the cwt omer to a,,e\\ the ,it;l((/ion ,~fthe prt~i<'l' t. · H hat 1rert ' the conclmiom ! An indepemlen1 ~tudy wa~ comp leted by lntermetric~ Inc. of Mac lea n. Virginia. In the findings Intermetrics rccog ni1ed the technical expertise that exish in Richmond B.C. and stated tha1 ··c AATS i, a nee ded rep lace ment for an aging ~y~tcm a nd provide, ~ignificant functional enhancemenh·· .

H li at al'l' tlte major dut11K<" in the nn i l 'Ontra ct :' Change~ v,c re made to accommodate the current need~ uf the sy~lem including technologirnl upgracle~. enhann~d risk management prm i~ion~ and prnject managemelll colllrol~. THE CO NTRO LLER/MAR CH 1996

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f!ow does the emerge nce of .\'Ai · Canada aff ect th e futur e of CA ATS? We view the se lli ng of the air naviga tion syste m to NA V Canada. a private corporation. to be a very pos itive benefit to CAA TS. Hughes. and the Can adian go,·e rnmen t. The bus iness orientation of a private co rporation should res ult in ong oing improvement in tools made available to air traffic controllers .

What are som e of the leadin g edge tec/1110/ogies that Hughes will introdu ce i11C-tATS? Some of the /eadi11g rec/111 0/ogies are: Electronic flight strip s which are interactive with functions the controller performs on his/her display. For exa mple. the conu·oller can reflect any changes of an aircraft"s altitude by using a Sma11 Menu connected to the altitude field of the data tag. Thi s change i~ automatically distributed to the electronic flight strip and appear ~ in the altitude field of the electronic strip. Con versely. that same change made to the electron ic flight strip is reflec ted in the data tag. In addition. everyone who will hand le this Oight downstrea m is automatically notified of this change. Computer -gem.•ra ted fh. or houndar~ e ...timate, which are hi ghl y accurat e and which a re au tom a t ically updated and distributed to all concerned wheneve r changes are made to that aircraft"s night profile. C onflict pre d icti on in non -radar air..,pa ce . Thi s co nfli ct predictio n includes warn ings abou t res tricted air space. seve re weather and. of course. other aircraft. T he qa nd -alone capa hilit ~ of th l' ,1ork-. ta ti on to cont inue ..iin computer, i, ln,t for functioning when the connection to the 111 any reaso n. Every workstat ion i~ capab le of pro ce ~~ing data internally for flights currently being hand led by tha t co ntro ller. Once the connection i~ restored. the main computer·~ databa~e~ are automatically synchronized en~uring that no information i~ lo~t. T ill' a hilih of' th e cont roll l'r to 11,t · t h1• ,\,tt•m to .t ll" H' I .. ,, hat if ' qu~stion,. The system can be probed to find out what would happen if route. altitude and speed change~. were instituted or any combination thereof. Each ~cenario could he ente red h~ the controller and be prnee"ed by the ~ystem. The controller can then \Clect the optimum route.

Comideri11g the dl'lti_\'\ in 1111 plt•111e nwtio11. ea~, ( ·.\ \ F.\ still he exp ected to he ·,wt e of th e art wh ,·11compl eted ? Ye~. in fact the e~1abli~hmen1 of a , olid ,o ft\.\arc archi1< :cture that i~ ope n and portab le will en~ure that the ,y,1cm ,\ ill he deli\·erccl and maintaine d on ·~1a1c of art· hard, ~arc and COTS ,ortwarc .

Hhat will (' \ \7\ dof ,,r the co11rro/ler·' CAATS will reduce dramat1call\ the am,lun1 pf 111 11c cDntrollcr, · att11!! . d1ange~ tll a1.rcratl · · t·i1g · I1l p1.ll 1·I 1,L' c11hcr on the spcnLI conrcl111 phone. face-10-fac~ ur b,~ , ome other mean~ Controller, \.I ill ha,c . time . ·. trat1tL ·- c·,...., AATS the L'llllll"lllle, 1 Lo 111a1rn !!L'their . "1 II all)\,\ mrne tu a~k ··\.\hat tr· q: 1l:, tHrn~ and u,e the rc,ult~ to 1tnpni, L' tra!'l,L l'lcrn. pre, cnt conrii L·h and rL·Jun· ,trL'" and thu, 111\.Tea,L' tlw ,afet~ of the mcn lil A.1r ~a\t gall,Hl <..;~ , tL'ill +

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RE GIONA L MEETI NG -

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6TH AFRICA MIDDLE EAS T REGIONAL MEETING 0 Albeit Taylor

n the tuu ri~t city of Nairobi. Kenya. located in the heart of Africa. seve nty delegate~ fro m twenty-o ne co untries and three internatio nal organisations met o n the 7th and 8th No , e mbe r. 1995 to del iberate a , ixteen item agenda for the 6th Africa Mid dl e Ea!>l !A FM ) Reg ional Meeting. The meeting. which wa, the first chaired h~ Mr. Oli\t.:r Farirayi. the new EVPAFM. 11a, aho allende d b) Mr. Chr is Stock. If- ATC A EV P Tec hni cal and Mr . Terry Crowh ur, 1. the E:dito r of ·The Controller". L"nfonu natel). Chris and Terr) mi~scd the Open ing Ce remon ) and the ,ta rt o r the fir,t wo rking ,c , s ion bec ause the) were unable t o obt ain ,c at, o n an ea rl ier , cheduled !light to Nairobi. Howc 1er. they m,11w gcd to arri 1e direct rrom an m ·ernight 1°11ght Ill time lor the main bUSlllCSS o r the mee ting. However. in their initial ah, ence. t he prc, e ncc of Mc,, r, . Art hur Ki tao . \ l hl' rl Ta) lo r. Ko o li Kha leel. Ela nd \ ,Juk11mhwc and M, . Monica G11·indi . all \ I 'V1 \upport Team a nd Ta ,k 1-orce llll'lllhl·r, . prm 1dcd the needed , uppo n for thl' ( ·11a1n11a11. f"lic llll't't111gal, o attracted a con..,iderahle

number of aviation dignitaries in the subaviat1on related prog rammes in the region regi on . M r. Willi ams Moro so. Ken ya·s a nd to m ake the ncc e ,,ar y in pu ts t hat wou ld help red uce the enormous prob lems Ass i sta nt M ini ~ter o r Tr ans po rt an d Co mmunicati on. opened the meet ing on be ing e nco u ntered by ma ny AFM ATC behalf of the sector Minister. His address units. to uch ed on th e challe ng es fac ing the Terry Crowh urst the n ga, ·e a report o n av iat io n indu str y in t he lig ht of the the acti1·itie, u r the Execu ti\'e Board since C SIATM evolution and the desire of his the las t An nual Co nfe ren ce . Both !CA O mini stry to t ramfor m ci vil av iatio n in and IAT A m ad e p r e, e nta ti on , o n Kenya into a self-financing autonomous CNS /A TM and en t rea ted A fr ica n AT C organisation. j1l"O\'i dc r , t at c, to exp e d it e ac t io n to Mr. E. M. Nj og u. Chairman of Kenya imp ro ,·c l·o m mu ni cat io n in the reg io n . A ir Traffi c Co ntro ller, As ,o ci at io n A lbe rt T a y lo r ga \ C a p rc, c nt at in n o n ··Factor, Influenci ng the Marh· t ValUL' o f ( KATCAJ . in h is addres s. s pok e abo ut unatt rac tive wo rking co nd itions which the Air T raffic Co ntro lle r in A i"ril·a... He hal'e cau~ed 30c;f of the Kenyan ATCO s to reco mm ended am o ng ot her al·tio ns the resign over the past live year, . to do other folloll' ing: jo bs which offered better rewards. - ATC trai ning in the .'\F M rcgilln nceLb Oli1er Farira yi in his opening addre, s l tl he de- local isi.: d talked about the C S/ATM co ncept and -ATC tra inin g. in q i1ut io 11, , ho ul d he the evolving technological advancement i11 aff iliated to in, titut ion, or higher learning. the aviation industry. He enumerated ~ome Prol"c,s io nal ethic, ,llll uld he dL'\elopcd for of the ~hortcoming~ 111the ATC , ctup , in the praclicc o r air traffic contro l. the reg ion ancl enco urag ed ci1·il a1 iation - Mubil it~ llf ATC<>, need , tll incr ea,e admi ni ,t rato r, to find , o lut io ns to the in order to enha nce· thL' 111arh·t 1·a lue of reg iom· co mmu n icatio n pro b le m,. He ATCO, in the rcg iPn. Chri, St1ll·k al, o rna(k a pr,' , t'lllalilln on prom i, ed to e n ~ure that l r AT CA pa rt ic ipate , c ffect i1 c l) in a ll re le 1 an t C . SI AT M 1~ i l h , pc L"i a I em p h a, i, o n

THE CONT RO LL ER/M AR C H 1996

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A ut o ma ti c De pend e nt Sur ve ill ance (A DS ). H e inf o rm e d th e mee ting o f pertinent questions which air traffic services provider States sh o uld as k b e for e th ey ac quir e new CN S/A TM equipment. He also explained the diff erences be twee n the conventional ATC radar and A DS. C hri s in fo rm e d th e mee tin g of a tec hni ca l doc ument being prepared by IFATC A which he anticipates w ill pr ov ide adequ ate ·in t·o rmation g w ill, on man y Mee 1i11 technical issues of interest to the co ntroller. Th e mee tin g agre e d to aboli sh unn ecessa ry di sc uss ion o n Memb e r Assoc iations· acti v ity report s al futur e meetings. In the past these reports have served as a basis for discussions but were read out verbatim despite their circulation before the event. Directors considered this w as a waste o f valu abl e time a nd un a nim o us ly agr ee d that the e xi st in g fo rm at o f co n duc ti ng A FM reg io na l meetings was unproductive. In the future. on ly spec ific ite ms of int eres t from the

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th e Mi11i.1"1e r of Tra11spon

reports will be raised. thus leaving time to adopt IFA TC A ' s co nference form at to conduct business on more important issues in the regional meet ing. The mee tin g ag ree d to in stitut e a reg ional awa rd to hono ur d e se r ving in d iv idu a l Memb e r Assoc iati o ns and int ernation al orga nisat ions which make s ignifi ca nt co ntr ibuti ons towa rds the development of the industry. Senegal was selected as the venue for the 7th AFM reg ional meeting to be held in 1996.

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T he two-day meeting wa s so exh austive tha t the organisers were unable to organise any off icial to u r to the nu merou s place s of int e rest. H owever. th e Kenya Ai r Tra ff ic Co ntro ller s w h o unde r took the difficult task of ho sti ng the 6th A FM Regiona l Mee ting. after th e withdrawal of Ma u ri tius . pr oYed themse lve s a worthy rep lacement host. After the meet ing was concluded. the me m ber s of the Execut i \'e B oard accompan ied repre se ntati \'es of KA TCA and the Task Force to meet the Ken yan Minister of Tran sport to discuss problems pertine nt to the Ken ya n Association and the countries· controllers. With the support of Kenya A irways . East Afr ica n Ai rl in es . Ca ltex A\ ·ia ti o n. Directorat e o f C ivil A\ ·iation and many others. KA TCA end eared their guesb with special Kenyan hosp ita lity. Com e-go -with -me to Senega l '97! +

IFATCA 40th Anniversary Story It ha s bee n dec ided to pr ese nt an hi stori ca l pe rspec tive of IFAT C A in bo ok form for the Fe de ra tio n 's 40th An ni ve rsa ry. in 2001 . Inf orm ation is now be ing co llec ted fo r thi s ta sk . Cont ributio ns of a his to rical natur e . photog raph s . inte res tin g/ hum oro us anec dotes. reco llections/reflection!->. s uppl e me ntar y pape rs e tc. ar e in vited. If yo u ca n co ntribut e in a ny wa y. please cont ac t or sen d re lev ant mat e ria l (not ph o tog raph s in th e initia l insta nce) a nd info rma tion to : Ne il Vidler. IFATCA Derut y Preside nt P.O. Box 127 ROC KDA LE NSW 22 16 . Austra lia Phone : +61 2 543 23 17 ( ho me ) +61 2 556 6671 (off ice) Fax : +6 12 54 1 0 705 (off ice) A ny co11tr ihuti o11, 110 matt er

THE CO NTRO LLER/MARCH 1996

'1 0111

Bernhard Ruet hy Buerenstr. 23 CH-3312 FRJ\UB RUNNEN Sw itzerland Phon e: +-1-13 I 76 7 823:'i Fax: +-1-1.1,I 76 7 8235

large or .rnw/1, will be appreciated.

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EUROPEAN REGIONAL MEE TING 0 GUnterMelchert, Executive Vice President Europe

as t yea r路s European Reg iona l Meeting was held in Bled, Slovenia from 6 to 7 October 1995. Bled is a small. picture sque village located some 20km north of Brnik . the airp ort of Ljubljana. Slovenia's capital. Together with John Redmond, IFATCA EVP Fin ance, we flew (with thanks to Austrian Airlines and Tyrolean Airways) on Friday morning from Vie nna to Klagenfurt. the capital of Austria's most southern province of Carinthia. Klagenfurt is located some 80km north of Bled on the northern side of the Julian Alps and the Karawanken Mountains. At the airport we were picked up by a mem be r of the organisi ng committe e. The one hour car ride took us through the ma rve llo us scenery of th e Juli an A lps on what promised to be a fair and sunny day. We arrived in Bled after a short but pleasant journey at around JOo 路 c lock. Upon our arrival we met almost all the members of the Organising Committee. Matjaz. Milos, Simo. Andras. and all the other Slovenian colleagues who had worked hard to make our stay memorable. The Golf Hotel was an ideal venue for the Regional Meeting. It was located close to the lake- shore. For tho se who we re lucky enough to have a room with a lakefront view it was extremely tempting not to att e nd the meet ing but ju st enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the Lake of Bled. the little island with its romantic old church in the frame of the Julian Alps background. All this while the waters of Lake Bled were reflecting the blue skies over Slovenia. Whil e the mar vel lous scenery overwhelming ly fascinated all those who had already arrived. many more delegates were due to arrive in the afternoon. By the evening it was clear that some one hundred people would attend thi~ year路s meeting. As usual the unofficial opening was held at the co nference hotel with the traditional Meet the Delegates Reception. Well known faces as well as many new colleagues were seen in the basement bar. The meeting itself started on Saturday. October 7 in the morning. Our Slovenian colleague~ had invited a number of guests

per spect ive . Her pres e nta tion was ex tremely in for mative and outline d, in brief, future development of the role of the a ir tra ff ic co ntroll e r in a hig hl y sop hi sticated a nd adva nced tec hn ical environment. From the many questions she had to answer one could see that the issue of the controller's role in the future is of extreme interest to the controller of today. I must emphasise . though. that Miss Stoner is one of tho se perso ns w ho in dee d recognises the need fo r co -opera ti on between planning and opera tional peop le which is not necessarily a fact everywhere. The seco nd pr ese nt ation . on Sunda y morning. was given by Mr. Chris Clark who is the c ha ir man of th e HRT. the Hum an Reso ur ces Team in EUROCONTROL. Mr. Clark explained to of honour. Amongst them was Mr. Bojan the audi e nce what in fac t is meant by Jeras, Deputy Director of Adria Airways. Human Resou rces in Air Traffic Control the flag carrier of the young State, which and why this field is of utmost importance was one of the ma in spon so rs of the to the EATCHIP deve lopment. He further meeting. Mr. Peter Marn. Deputy Director gave a brief overv iew on the interrelation of Ljubljana Airport and Mr. Igor Umek. between two peop le and the possible Minister of Transport of the Republic of problems whic h may be enco untered by Sloven ia. Mr. Umek gave his openi ng simple mistakes made during the process of addre ss in the Slovenian languag e and any kind of commun icat ion w ith eac h declared the meeting officially open. other. He also asked for controller input to During the short break after the official the work of the HRT. as all the aspects of openi ng ce re mony . me mb ers of the the EATC HI P Prog ramme wo uld have Slove nia n ATCA a nd my se lf had the strong implication on the futur e work of chance for an exchange of views with Mr. controllers and therefore it should be in the Umek. The reaf ter the working sessio n inte re st of eve ry co nt ro l !e r to have started. con tro lle rs v iews incorpo ra te d in the The roll call showed an attendance of 3 1 developments of EATCHIP. MAs prese nt. which was qu ite good The third presentation was given by Mr. considering that Europe has 39 MAs in its Jo hn Pe n wa rn e. He ad of the Ce ntr a l region . We had quite a full age nda and Executive Unit West of EUROCONT ROL. consequently 1expected the meeting to run As we al l knew. the wo rk of the CFMU until Sunday evening which finally proved and its impli ca tio n~ on the work of the to be a good estimate. As usual there were operat iona l controlle r ha~ some tim es a number of administrational agenda items caused prob lem~. a~ the ~ystem of Flow to deal with. Again this year. we had some Control was not alway~ work ing fm their outstanding highlights in the meeting. On benefit. Mr. Penwarn e tlrnugh. during hi~ Sunday morning three presentations were prese ntat ion. e mpha~i~ed tha t the peo ple delivered. The first one was given by Miss working in the Central Flow Management Colleen Stoner from the EUROCONTROL Unit in Haren see their rnle a~ ~upportive to controller~ in Europe. not the least because Directora te or EA TCH IP Deve lopment. Miss Stone r dea lt with th e ge nera l ot the aforemen tion ed problem~ . which included ~ector ovcrlnalb and a I\)\\ . degree probl e ms or the European Air T raffi c Management Sy~tem from a controll er' ~ of tlexibility. Needle~~ to ~ a ~ that there wa:-THE CONTROL L ER/MA RCH 1996

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a good deal of discussion after the th e next Reg ional Meeting presentation which revealed a lack ta king place in Vienna in o r co mmun ica ti on be tween NoYember 1996. ope rati o nal peop le and th e Th at br ing s me to the last CFMU . A matter of di scuss ion decision of the meeting which was if controller Associations had was the confirm at ion of this th e right to add ress CFMU yea r · s \'Cnue. As proposed directly without involving their already in Warsaw. Vienna was administrations. This was denied confirmed as the ,·em1e of the by Mr. Penwarne. as the CFMU Europea n Reg ional Meet ing being part of EUROCONT ROL 1996. Althou gh no candidate co uld dea l wit h Stat e for the 1997 meeting could be repre se nt ati ves only . It was announced at the Bled Meeting howeve r agreed th at th e we do have two candidate~ for i11ee - from le.ft to rig ht: top row: Ma,jau Sar/ah. co mmun icat ion link s be twe e n Organising Cm11111 1997 at the time this rep ort Andr ej Bohinc. Gora:d Ursic. Grega Ja 11/111 ba : bo110111rml'.· Mil01i CFMU an<lcontrollers should be goes to the printing house. Filimo11m'ic. Jo:ica Kotnik. Simo Petro 1·ic. Bob Opacic. intensified. Concluding. I can say The meeting was closed at int o ta lks with the CAA and the that by means of these presentations we 1700 hours on Sunda y afternoon and I Government on the issue of professional think that it was the first time that we really could stimulat e so me d isc uss ion and exchange of views between controllers and problems such as the issue of exce ssive exhausted the availahle timeframe. rep rese nt at ives of EUROCON TR OL overtime. In fact Preben Lauriclssen. our On behalf of a ll MAs present and on which in fact should prove to be beneficial President. and myself visited Iceland mid- John Redmoncl·s and my behalf I would for controllers. December for talks with the CAA. There once again like to than k our hosts . the was also good media coverage organised After the presentation. which took a bit S love ni an Air Tr affic Controller~ for our meeting and I can say that by the lon ger th an exp ec ted. th e mee tin g Association for their efforts to make us feel very end of December last year a solution at home in the village of Bled. in orthern continued with the completion of MAs· Slovenia. reports . Besides the usua l prob lems in was found which allowed both parties to Europe amongst which lack of staff versus co ntin ue their future co-op eration in a We had such a warm we lcome and a an extreme increase of traffic numbers is hopefully better way than in the past. good ti me that many of the de legate~ Th e re mai nd e r of th e mee tin g saw certainly the most ticklish. the situation of regretted not having planned for a longer controllers in Iceland attracted a great deal reports on ODT. ANT. APDSG. EANPG. stay. On top of that the weather wa~ a~ nice APATSI. EU and on the general ~ituation a~ it could have been and I did not hear of attention. Almost a hundred controllers equal to some 95% of the island's control regarding ATFM in Europe given by Tord one complaint about an ythi ng. which staff manpower - had quit their jobs at the Gustavsson. Jean-Pierre Lesueur. Catharina proves that e\'eryone was highly satisfied. beginning of October 1995. The reason de Dec ke r. Edd y Gerit s. Phi li ppe Personally I wou ld like to exp re,, m~ given was the need to work extreme hours Domaga la and myse lf. As usual these gratitude to all the organiser~ who after the of ove rtim e and th e gove rnm e nt' s report s were ve ry infor mati, ,e and encl of the RM had organised far ilitie~ for negligence to negotiate improvements in comprehensive. However. delegates felt holding a European Support Team Meeting the overall working contract of con-trollers. that the meeting in its current format would on Monda). In addition to that I wi~h the The Icelandic controllers are a part of the not fulfi l th e fut ure requi re me nts of SLOVENIAN ATC A all the best for the European me mbership. As a lready c ivil service and conseq uentl y have no further de\'elnpment of their state-of-the-an announced in The Controller. my proposal ATC system. + right to impose indus tria l acti on. Th e situati on caused the mee ting 10 take a to change the format was agreed. In the dec ision on issuing a press release to future the meeting will he more pol icy inform the tr a, ·elling publi c of th e o rie ntat ed wit h th e fir~! of th e 2-clay probl ems in thi s porti on or the North mee ting rese r\'e d fo r aclmini stra ti, ·e Atlantic airspace with regard to the sarety proceedings and where MA reports will nf !light from the first or January. the day only be accepted in writing well in acl\'ance on which th e walk-o ut s we re clue to or the beginning or the RM. This action become effective. In addition. the meeting should give all MAs the chance to ha,·e decided to send letters or concern to the them read before the meeting. Only reall) CAA and the Government of Iceland to necess ar y issues wil l be allowed to be pres, for a reasonab le reso lution. in the addressed at the meeting thus saving time JOU RNALOFAJRTRAFFICCONTROL , ~ light of possible safety implicatio ns. in for real business like re,·iewing IFATCA case Iceland had no operational controller~ policies as they rellcct the needs of Europe. This change will he disrnssed in detail at le ft by th e beg innin g of the yea r. Th e Exeru ti, e Boa rd furth er indicat ed it s the next RM during the annual conkrenn ' willingnes, to help ICEATCA b) stepping in T un i~ and "'ill he e fkL·ti,L' from

READ ABOUT IT FIRST IN TIIE conTROllER

THE CONTROLLER/MARC H 1996

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IFATCA

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ASIA PACIFIC CONFERENCE 0 George Chao, Executive Vice President Asia Pacific

he ATC Asia Pacificconferencewas held in Hong Kong from 29 to 30 November,1995.At short notice,the IFATCA ExecutiveVicePresident for the AsiaPacificregion,GeorgeChao, was invited to make a presentationon civiUmilitaryair traffic control co-ordinationin the area. The speechattracted much interestingdiscussion on what is often a sensitivetopic in both this regionand others. This an extract of the speechas givenby GeorgeChao.

Civil/MilitaryCo-ordination We heard from previous distinguished speakerson the progressthat has been made in some of the countries in improving civil/military co-ordination.The achievements they have made will certainly set a good example to other countries in achieving the same goal. However. looking from a regional perspective. has the problem really been resolved - I am afraid the answer is NO. Recently we have heard much discussion especiallyfrom the UnitedStateson the concept of Free Flight - but will the airspaceuser really gain any benefits from Free Flight if the sky is still cluttered with restricted and reserved airspace? While a lot of the states in the Asia Pacific region are actively pursuing the implementationof CNS/ATMplan. will the air traffic management lead to more flexible and economic use of airspace if the military is still reluctant to relinquish some of the airspace for civil use? The presentationfocuses on some of the co-ordination problems which still exist betweencivil and militaryin the region.

Lack of communication and consultationbetweencivil and military We are all aware that there are conflicting demands on the use of airspace between civil and military. The civil operators demand safeguardof their aircraftby rigid applicationof separation standards whilst the military authorities require the fullest amount of tactical freedom and flexibility in the conduct of their flight operations. Without adequate coordination. misunderstandingas a result of lack of knowledge of each other路 s intention will naturally occur. In some States co-ordinationis effected through a national civil/military coordinating committee. At the operational level. it is common practice for military personnelto he altached lo civil ATC units for close coordination. Unfonunately. in some States. the 10

military has total operational freedom without the need for consultationand co-ordinationwith the civil authorities. The civil organisation is sometimes equally at fault for not taking the initiative to make their requirementsknown to the military. This will naturally have a significant impact on civil air operations in tenns of safetyand efficiency.

Rulesand Standards In a numberof States, it is commonlyknown that the civil and military adopt different rules and standards. To quote a few example; different separation standards, incompatible flight level systems, different R/f tenninology and abbreviations. Needless to say, problems will occur in the integrationof civil and military traffic. The solution is, of course, to involve military organisation in the design of ATC procedures, attendance of regional ATC coordinationmeetingsand to train both civil and militarycontrollersto a commonstandard.This brings us to the next problemarea which is the aspectof ATC training.

Training Traditionally.trainingof air trafficcontrollers is done separately.While the civilian air traffic control courses are based on ICAO standards and recommendations.the military air traffic control courses focus on mainly military regulations and procedures. Although it is recognized that specialized military air traffic control training is necessary. nevertheless. generaloperatingprocedureshouldbe based on the same principles.ICAOprovisionsshouldbe taken into full accountwhen relevant.However. it is gratifying to note that the provision of a common air traffic control course for civil and militarycontrollersis alreadybeing practicedin someStates.

Airspacereservation/restriction The closureof a blockof airspaceor an ATS route due to military activities is commonly being utilised in a number of States in the region.As a result,disruptionof normalflow of traffic is inevitable. This has caused great problemsto civil airspaceusersespeciallyif the closure is at short notice and without prior notification.The ICAO has long recognisedthe problems and has developed standards and recommendations and regularly conducted seminars.but it is reallythe responsibilityof the State authorities to develop necessary agreements between civil and military for the efficient use of airspace. I must say that

progress in this direction has been rather slow in some States in the region.

CommunicationSystem Close and effective co-ordination obviously relies on a good communication system. With the advanced technology available. one would assume that communication between civil and military ATC units would be via direct speech circuits. However. in some States. communication is still via congested public telephone lines or via poor High Frequency radios. Without reliable communication, major problems will arise in co-ordination especially in dealing with unforeseen situations such as weather deviations. sudden closure of airspace due to military activities or identification of unknown traffic. In areas where civilian ATS routes lie very close to military airspace. good and reliable communication is most vital. In some countries. permanent military personnel arc on active duty in civilian ATC centres to effect close co-ordination.Ideally. as shown in a few States. civil and military controllers should work side by side in a joint air traffic centre.

Duplicationof effort in establishinginstallations and developingfacilities With the ever increasing air traffic. system redundancy is one of the major elements in developingany ATC system. Unfortunately. in some States, the establishment of facilities to cover the same region for both military and civil air traffic control is not for a common purpose. Installations.navigation aids and other facilities are established without joint consultation betweencivil and military units. Often the civil and militarysystems cannot be integrateddue to system incompatibility. Having highlightedall the above problems. I must emphasisethat the picture is not as gloomy as one thinks. These problems are happening only within a small number of States. In fact. most of the States in the region are fully consciousof the need for close civil/militarycoordination and the military authorities are gradually giving up airspace. facilities and aerodromes for civil use. Co-ordinating committeesare being set up to develop national ATS rules and procedure for applicationby both civil and military. We sincerely hope that. in years to come. more and more airspace will be availablefor both civil and military use and this is what the true meaning of Free Flight is really about. +

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH

1996

NEWS - UPDATE

ICELAND - UPDATE 0 L. Vilhjalmsson.

s the readers of the last issue of The Controller are aware, the dispute in Iceland was resolved just before the majority of ATCOs in Iceland were to walk out of their working place for good. Here is an account of events leading to the agreement, and what the eventual outcome was. As stated in The Controller, the government took the unusual step of accepting the resignation of almost two thirds of Icelandic A TCOs, but the rest were supposed to "'hold the fort" for three months while the CAA made other arrangements. For this scenario to work the CAA relied on an old emergency plan. which it was loath to introduce to the A TCOs who were supposed to implement it. When the plan was at last unveiled, in the latter part of December (it was to commence on the first of January 1996). ICEATCA became convinced that it could never work, and that the CAA was compromising safety needlessly. The Icelandic Pilots Association became immediately sceptical and voiced their concern in the media. The CAA tried to brush this aside and stated that IFALPA had put its blessing on the scheme. The President of the Icelandic Pilots Association contested this and a few angry words were exchanged between him and the CAA in the media. This was quite helpful to ICEATCA. for it showed the public that the "professionals" i.e. pilots and ATCOs did not believe in the plan. which was being handed to them by the ··bureaucrats ... It must be stated that the members of ICEATCA feel indebted to the Pilots Association for their stance in this matter. On the night of the 29th of December. when it seemed that there was no hope of a compromise and ICEATCA was steeling itself for the new year. the Public Mediator called a few of our team to his office for a ..chat.·· The team was put in one room. and apparently a governmental team was in an other. The ..chat" lasted all night with the mediator running from one room to another with messages and

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

suggestions. At six o'clock the following morning the rest of the team were summoned and the compromise that had been reached during the night was introduced. It was made plain that the offer we had in our hands was final and we fully understood that if we hoped to get anything more, it would take us well into January, with possible dire consequences for the flying public. It was decided to accept the offer, and a meeting of the members was hastily convened that night. The deal was accepted by the members with two voting against. A sigh of relief could be heard in various quarters. Here is basically what the government and ICEA TCA agreed to: 1. The government will establish a committee which will determine working hours for ATCOs and the need for extra workforce in the future. This committee will study papers on the subject from ILO and neighbouring countries. We will have equal representation on this committee. 2. Another body will be formed to look at the rights of ATCOs to have a say in their pay- and professional matters without them having to resort to such drastic measures as they just have. 3. An increment of approximately I 0% was agreed on, which is similar to what other civil servants have received. 4. Because of the extra cost that these measures will entail. ICEA TCA will assist in streamlining and change the watch structure now in force to make better use of the workforce. With this in mind we expect that the increment may disappear. but we are hopeful that in the long run we will get more controllers. and our working hours will become more civilised. We have learned that politicians promises are to be taken with a pinch of salt. but we cannot but put our faith in this agreement and we will certainly do our very best to make sure that it wi II be adhered to ... time will most assured)} tell how we fare. From time to time member associations will feel the need to resort

to drastic measures to get authorities to face up to situations which they universally seem to brush under the carpet as a matter of course. When such situations arise it is our belief that it is essential that you have at least two vital factors working for you as we did: 1. Almost unreserved unity and solidarity within the ranks. 2. Help and support of neighbouring ATC units. In my view these two ingredients are vital, and even when you have those. the strain on the members and their families is tremendous. Other factors to bear in mind: ICEA TCA deliberately established a large delegation to the talks ( 15 ATCOs).This made it easier for the members to stay abreast of what was going on as they met a delegate almost every day at work. and you never heard the phrase ··what the hell are they up to?" ICEA TCA secured the services of a public relations firm. This is expensive. but on reflection probably necessary in this day and age. On the advise of a psychiatrist. ICEATCA held a meeting with ATCOs spouses. and that was a great success. and relieved them of many of their worries. and got them more involved. ICEATCA held numerous meetings (always well attended) to keep everyone involved and informed. We also had an open house three times a week (in December) so that the members could come together for a chat over a cup of coffee or a pint of the best and hear the latest rumours. We are certain that this work (and it was hard work) created the unity that never wavered and was imperative. We are also certain that suhtle pressure and scare tactics were put on some memhers ( it does not take too many l to thnrn in the tov.,el. but such division never materialised. We are also well av.are that politicians halt' hemg put up agamst the wall. + 11

REGION AL MEETING

ASIA PACIFIC REGIONA L MEE TING 0 Georg e Chao, Exec utive Vice President Asia Pacific

eport of the 12th Asia/Pacific Regional Meetin g held in Auckl and , New Zealand, between 29-31 October 1995. The event was hosted by ATC Council of the New Zealand Air Line Pilot' s Association (NZALPA). The venue was at the five star Regent Hotel situated in downtown Auckland. Th e hotel, with spacious meeting hall. and well equipped conference facilities, was an ideal venue for an international conference of this nature. Over 65 participants from the following organisations attended the meeting: lFATCA: Deputy President. Neil Vidler and EVP Asia/Pacific, George Chao. Mem be r Ass oc iati o ns : NZA LP A. CAO OAA . ROCA T CA. JFATCA. HKATCA.M ATCA.FA TCA. PNGA TCA . SLATCA and APCA Tahiti. Non-member Association: Thailand ATCA. Aviation Authorities: Airservices Australia. CAA New Zealand. Co rpo rate Me mbe rs : A irway s Co n sul ti ng NZ, Ai rway s Corporation NZ. CAE Electronics. Th omson Radar of Australia. Th e meet ing was chaired by Mr. George Chao. the IFATCA EVP/ASP and he was assisted by Mr. George Jensen of NZALPA. Mr. eil Vidler. Dep uty President of IFATCA. represented the lFA TCA Executive Board. After the welcomi ng speech by Mr. Pa u l Rob in son . th e c on fere nce o rga ni se r o f NZA LP A . he int rod uce d th e fo llow ing key speat ers to make the opening addre ss. Mavor. Ma11 aka11City NZ Sir Barry Cu1tis Mr. Kev in Wan.I Direcw r c!{Ch·if A 1•ia1io11NZ · Mr. Alistair Malcolm ATC Director NZALPA Mr. George Chao IFATCA £VP/ASP Following the roll call. the Chairman began the first working session. The theme of this year' s meeting was ··Adapting to the CNS/ ATM World"".The meeting focused on the development and progres~ or the CNS/ATM implementation plan in the Asia/Pacific Region. The meet ing received reports from the Executive Board. EVP As ia/Pacific. the ATC Flow Control Symposium Fukuoka. the ISPACG 8 mee ting at Go ld Coast Austra lia. !CAO ATS/AIS Subg roup meet ing. the South China Sea/ RNP Working Group Meeting Bangkok. the !CAO ATS/ AIS/SG 5 Meeting in Bangkok and !CAO 3rd South-East Asia ATS Coordination Group Meeting Ho Chi Minh City. Information paper~ were presented on the following subjects : Sat e lli te~ fo r air tra ffic con tro l. Hum an Facto rs in ATC. C. S/ATM . Free Flight. TCAS in trail climb. Regional Guidance Mate rial for RNAV operat io n~ in an RNP enviro nment and Auckland Oceanic CNS/ATM. Work ing papers were presented on the following subjects: The conduct of IFATCA South-East Asia ATC Co-ordination Meeting. A~ia/ Pacific Regional Meeting 1996. Dur ing t he mee ti ng g ue~t ~peake r~ were in vited to make pre~cntation~ on variou~ topics: Mr. B. Lang. or CAE Electronics. di~cu~sed the work of CAE in t he CNS/A T M fie ld and in part icula r the instal lat io n being undertaken in Ne\\ Zealand. Mr B. Lam. or Air~cn ice~ Australia. addressed the development and progrc~~ in ADS and the future direction~ which are likely lo hL' followed . Mr .I. Moone). or Airway~ Con~ultancy Service~ NZ. briefed

the meeting on the work of Airways Co nsulta ncy Services and discussed the privatisation of ATS services throughout the wo rld . Mr . M. Goodall. of Airways Corpora tion of NZ . spoke about the NZ experience of the introduction o f CNS/ATM into the Auckland Oceanic area. Mr. L. Wonneberger. of Thomson Radar Australia Co rpora tion, described the Thomson specialised field in providing eq uipment to ATC and the projects being undertaken. With the improved relatio nship betwee n IFATCA and !CAO. IFATCA was able to atte nd mo st of t he ATC Co-o rd in atio n Meetings in the region. The Chairman gave a detailed briefing to the members on the latest developments co ncerni ng the CNS/ ATM implementation plan. ATS route restructure in the South China Sea and reduction of separation standard s based on RINA V criteria. The Chairman advised that IFATCA played an impo rtant role in the region·s aviation deve lop ment and our effo rts in imp ro ving safety and efficiency of air transport were w idely recognised in th; region. The meeting also discussed the substantial progre ss being made in the Pacific Region to implement the CNS / A TM system. IFATCA was one of the key participants of ISPACG which was the principal group providing the esse ntial practical input. In this connection and at the request of all the participant s. a visit was conducted to the Auckland Oceanic Ce ntre to w itness the ADS trial operations over the Pacific area. Based on the procedures established by IS PACG . a draft RNP Operations Manual for the South China Sea was also developed. Th e mee tin g d isc usse d th e d raft m anu a l a nd it s co n te nt s particularly the aspects co ncerning the reduction o f se parat ion standards and the conditions go verning the reduction s. Weat her avoidance procedures were also discussed at length. I n-tra i I climb an d ·fr ee-fli ght· co ncept s ge ne rat ed a lo t of discussion. The general feeling o f the mee ting wa s that TCAS should not be used as a too l for p rov ision o f se parati o n . Th e question of liability in the event of an incident was also a major concern. On the question of ·free flight' . most of the delega tes felt that this had already occurred to the extent that any greater freedo m would j eopardise flight safety .Two working papers were presented. The Chairman noted that, following o n the success from the NEA T meeting. he proposed lo co nvene a Sout h East As ia A TS Coordination Meeting involving the States concerned. He identified the poss ible venues as e ithe r T aip ei or Ma nil a . In res po n se . ROCATCA offered lo host the meet ing. Austral ia prese nted a Wo rking Paper on the ir ab ilit y and d es ire to hos t th e 19 96 IFATCA Asia/Pacific Regiona l Mee tin g whic h wo uld pre cede their own CAOOA A Biennial Co nvention . T he \'enue and dates wou ld be Brisb an e . bet we e n 13 No v 1996 a n th e meet in g unanimously agreed to accept the CAOOAA invitation to host the 1996 meeting . On the social ~ide of the meeting. it was again a co mplete ~uccess. Spo n~o r~h ip wa ~ ge ne rou s ly prtw ided by. airline. manufacturing comp any an d con~ultancy org anisations. The participants thoro ughly enj oye d the sum ptuous lunches and dinners. particularly lunch on a harbo ur cru ise and the farewe ll dinner with a floor show of traditional folk ~ong and da nce. O verall. it was a most fruit ful and pro d ucti ,e mee ting. T he discussions on variou~ techn ica l matte r~ we re con structi,·e and useful. The Chairman. in his clo~ing remarl--~ thanked NZA LPA for their assistance and support in hosting the e\ ent. Th e dedication and enthusiasm displayed hy the organi~ing and ~upr o rting staff contrihuted to the \ Ucce~~of the meeting. +

THE CONT RO LLER /MA RC H 1996

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-----------------PILOT'S

REPORT------------

GREEK

ATC - SUMMER 1995

0 Captain R.S. Ward, Air 2000 & BALPA ATS Study Group Member

owards the end of every summer, the problems with Greek Airspace hit the headlines - 1995 was no exception. Greek airspace has been on the ICAO shortcomings list since 1980 and improvements have been regularly promised. IFALPA, at their 1995 Conference, designated the airspace as seriously deficient and unless the improvements promised by the Greek administration are forthcoming, it is probable that it will be regraded as critically deficient at the 1996Conference. Outlined is the Summer 1995 situation as sourced from various ECAC and EA TCHIP documents, airline representatives. Eurocontrol,Jane's Airport Review. BALPA Technical Section and a visit by the author to Athens. This visit was made possible by the assistance of Air 2000. Virgin Atlantic and BALPA. It included briefings from the Director ATS Division HCAA. the Greek Air Traffic Controllers' Association and the Manager and Assistant Manager of the modernisation project.

TRAFFIC Greek airspace has long been a popular destination for many of the world's charter/LT. operators. with approximately 16 regular destinationscontained within the FIR. The geographical location of the FIR/UIR at the junction between Europe. Africa. the Middle East and Asia ensures a high level of en-route traffic transiting the airspace. Athens airport also continues to grow as a leisure and business destination. Figures published by Eurocontrol place Athens airport as the 17th busiest in a league table of 40 of Europe路 s major airports. Within the Greek FIR. approximately 1400 flights operate daily ( figures from the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association) in an ATC environment classified by the EATCHIP phase I level 2 document as being of medium/high complexity. The traffic is distributed into 4.Fk Arrivals and Departures. 33<4 Overflights and 249, 14

Internal and is forecast to increase by 7.2% per annum, until the year 2000. This will lead to a 50% increase in traffic between 1993 and 2000. Due to the nature of charter operations, traffic levels peak between April and October and due to competitive scheduling by operators, individual airfields experience intense traffic peaks on a daily basis.

AIRSPACE Mountainous terrain over the entire region, with MSA' s between 4,500ft and 11,900ft, increases ATC complexity, requiring 'stepped' descents by both area and approach control. Terrain also affects the siting of radar heads to achieve optimum coverage, especially at lower levels. The FIR/UIR can be subdivided into a maximum of 7 sectors with Macedonia controlling the North and Athinai the remainingsectors.

ATC - AREA CONTROL Two ATCCs, Athinai and Macedonia. are housed in the tower building complex at Athens airport. The ATC is almost totally procedural. although in 1986 the ATCCs were equipped with an MSSR positio~ed on Mt. Himmittos, providing synth~t1c radar data on 5 displays. This radar_isfitted with manual operator input to provide code callsign conversion G/S readout and track prediction.In accordance with the HCAA NOTAM A4/19 9 0 (S March 1990) this radar can be used to provide a radar control service in the NNE area of the Athinai FIR to flights above FL210. Practical experience shows that in the past only a traffic information service has been provided but as the number of radar rated controllers increase so the use of radar to resolve conflictions is becoming more common place.Procedural Area Control relies on pilot reports and establishes separations based on VOR radials and DME. Aircraft on the same track at the same level require IO minutes longitudinal separation (approx. 80 nms). Because of this reliance on RT position

reports, the workload and RT loading can be very high for both pilot and controller alike. Each request for a change of level requires multiple transmissions by ATC to establish the position of conflicting traffic and RT loading can soon become unmanageable. During these periods the number of clipped or stepped on transmissions increase the risk of misunderstanding clearances and strict RT discipline is essential to preserve safety. It is known from individual incidents that when airmisses do occur, certain carriers are reluctant to file reports, possibly for political reasons. This action does not assist the cause of flight safety. Procedural control reduces flow rates not only for the Greek FIR but also for neighbouring FIRs equipped with area radar, all employing 30 nm radar separation or less. All these units must establish procedural separation prior to handover to Greece. Global flow rates through Greek entry/exit points can be as low as 18 per hour at all levels. As there is at present no system in place for automatic data transfer between neighbouring ATCCs all handovers are carried out manually using landlines. This is also the case for all sectors within Athinai ATCC. Within the ATCCs. controllers use hand microphones and speakers. This produces a high level of background noise that the use of headsets would greatly reduce. Headsets have been trialed but technical problems apparently preclude their use. A strip printer has recently been introduced.

ATC - AIRFIELDS Of 36 airfields listed by AERAD as having runways in excess of 5.000 ft only 3 are equipped with ILS. these being Athens. Rhodes and Thessalonika. Of these 3. only Athens can provide an approach radar control service using the only civilian PAR in the country. Rhodes and Thessalonika have VOR/DME based procedures. culminating in an ILS final approach. Heraklion and Kerkyra (Corfo). make up the 4 major peripheral airfields outside Athens and these are both equipped with

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

----------------PILOT'S

REPORT-----------------

procedural approach control and VOR/ DME procedures. Because of surrounding terrain. the procedures to both airfields have inbound courses offset from the runway QDM, with associated high Minimum Descent Altitudes (MDA). With neither airfield having any approach lighting, this makes for a demanding approach. SID's and STAR's often follow reciprocal tracks providing no procedural separation. This results in delayed climb and descent clearances and unnecessary holding as inbounds clear outbounds. A number of airfields in Greece have previously been criticised by BALPA for having the same altitude for the missed approach procedure as the minimum holding altitude over the same fix. We have been assured by HALPA that controllers keep the minimum holding altitude available in case of a missed approach, but because procedures are unclear, the potential for serious conflict is there. Airfield weather reports are broadcast on Athens Volmet (VHF), and recorded on a continuous loop tape by staff at the ATCC. The quality of transmissions falls well below that produced by the ·synthetic voice' digital recording equipment used in Northern Europe and is made worse by the level of background noise and the rate of delivery. During a dispute with neighbouring former Yugoslavian region Macedonia. many airfield names were changed. Kerkyra (Corfu) becoming Ioannis. Kapadistrious and Heraklion becoming Nikos Kazanzakis which does not aid the already difficult task of deciphering the Volmet.

MODERNISATION In 1987. after pressure from ATCOs and the HCAA. the Government. recognising the need to install an automated ATC system invited tenders for all the necessary equipment to upgrade Greek ATC in line with EATCHIP. The contract was awarded to the French company. Thomson-CSF and involved: - The phased introduction of long range radars to provide single cover for primary radar and double coverage of SSR for the entire Athens FIR. Improvements to telecommunications and navaids. - Building of a new VCR (Visual Control Room) and ATCC at Athens airport. - Provision of an ATC simulator and radar training facilities. The key elements of the programme are listed helow: THE CONTROLLER/MARCH

1996

ATARS-ATHINAITERMINAL AREA RADAR SYSTEM A new approach radar has been installed at LGA T and the new VCR has been completed, the new displays have been housed in the old approach operations room prior to completion of the new building. The radar will have been evaluated during the winter of 1995, and will have full operational capability by Summer 1996.

HERAS • HELLENIC RADAR SYSTEM One new primary long range radar and 4 new mode S compatible MSSR radar heads have been installed to provide double SSR coverage to all the FIR, except the SE sector bordering Cyprus. All but one radar head has been accepted from the contractors and the remaining radar is expected to be accepted by the end of 1995. Initially it was intended to use a military radar on Crete to cover the SE sector. This has since been discovered not to meet the needs of a civilian system. Four new terminal approach radars are planned for Corfu, Thesaloniki, Rhodes and Heraklion. These radars will be used as approach radars and also 'gap filr radars to the area radar system. It is planned to integrate the current Mt. Himittus radar into the new system at a later date.

PALLAS-RADAR DATA PROCESSING/ OPERATOR INPUT AND DISPLAY/ FLIGHT PLAN PROCESSING SYSTEM Central to this system is a computer network for radar data processing providing multiple radar mosaicing from up to 16 radar heads. an emergency processing function (~ad~r.by ~ass) and a technical support tactlrty tor system monitoring and control. This system. for incorporation into the ~e~ ATCC. ~s installed in the new buildings and 1s anticipated to be accepted by the HCAA at the end of October 1995.

VAR-VOICE COMMS/ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT AND REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM This includes an advanced digital switching centre for ground/ ground and air/ ground comms. management. new AFTN/CIDIN (common IC AO data interchange network) and support systems and 2 VHF/llHF relay stations. At present there are technical prohlt'ms \\ ith the rela~ statiom,and ant'\ aluation i, 111pro~res-.

STAFFING LEVELS At present. of 180 controllers working at the current ATCC. 80 are radar rated. A recent Eurocontrol study has indicated that 340 controllers will be required to man the new ATCC (figures supplied by Greek ATCA). The newly installed ATC simulator is enabling the HCAA to run 'in house· radar courses, removing the necessity to send controllers to Eurocontrol for training. The courses last 8 weeks and it is anticipated that 120 radar qualified controllers will be available for Summer. 1996. The apparent shortfall of 160 controllers to man the new ATCC is as yet not being addressed. In 1995 no new funds had been made available for recruitment and given the lead time of 3-5 years for controller training. a staff shortage can be anticipated.

SUMMARY All the above projects will be integrated into the now complete new A TCC ops room. This contains 15. three position work consoles equipped with colour raster scan displays and electronic information displays. It is anticipated that the entire system will have been accepted by the end of 1995 to commence a one year operational evaluation before entering service. This transitional period will be used to check the operational perfonnam.:e of all equipment. familiarise ATCOs. produce new manuals. and negotiate agreements and procedures between neighbouring ATCCs among many other tasks. After introduction of the new A TCC it is expected that a large scale review of Greek airspace organisation and route structure will be carried out based on ongoino at simulations currentlv Eurocontrol research faciiities. ... ::Greece is making great strides towards an automated A TC in a , en comprehensive contract with Thornson-CSF. The airspace. however. continues to be the 'bottleneck· of European ATC and faces personnel problems potential!\ greater than the technical problems. w~ can anticipate the airspace remainino basically a procedural environment for next 2 years with increasing traffic levels and all the attendant implications for safet~ and expedition. The end to all these problems 1sin sight hut pressure must he maintained to ensure the process continues at a reasonable pace Grateful thanks are extended to Captain Ward for his permission to reproduce this article. -+

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SOME LIKE IT HO T W HERE ATC AND BALLOONING MEET 0 Patrick Schelling. Contributing Editor

he scene is a magnifi cent alpin e valley known as the Pays d'Enhaut of the famous Gruyeres region. in the French speaking part of Switzerland. The town. a summer and winter resort is Chateau d 路 Oex. located at I OOOmete rs above sea level. The surroundin g peak s easi ly double that figu re . Enjo ying an except ional micro-climate. the valley is mostly free of fog durin g wi nt e r a nd therefore perfect ly suited for ballooning acrivities. Winter is the best season for hotair ballooni ng. si nce it require s comparatively less energy to produce the differe nce in temperature that creates the magic lift. This scene hosted again the International Hot-Air Balloon Week in January this year. It all started some 18 year ago with the partic ipation of 12 ba ll oo ns from 5 countries. Since then it has developed into a major event and this year saw 85 crews from 13 coun tries and over 80 Hot-Air Balloon~. During the week. the crews participate in about 15 compe tit ions. of whi ch the "David Niven Cup". a long distance race. is the most challenging one .. Since last year. the latter i!>officially recognised by the FAI t Federation Aeronautique lnternationaleJ as a prime eve nt in ba lloon ing. Here the measured "straight-line" distance from the take-off field in Ch,1teau d'Oex determines the winner. The e x i~tin g reco rd i~ 3 15km by a 3000m ' sized balloon. and 375km by a 500 m ' . T o reac h these ball oo n o f ..J. distance!s.mo\ t of the cruise has to be clone at heighb in the vicinity of 6000 meters' Other comr etition~ con!>ist of chasing a hare Ia designated balloon) from a grouped ta ke -o il of abo ut 50 ba ll oons , imultaneou!,,ly. The winner i~ the crew which land!,,clo!,,est to the hare. once the latter ha, ~et it!->basket on the ground and announ ce d hi~ flight term inated. Other di!,,ciplinc!,,require the participanb to throw marker!,,i1110 , et target!,,etc But pilot~ do not onl) f'I) competition!,, duri ng the \\ ed, . Tho !,,e \\ ho knm, the 1111cr<H :lirna1e often ll ') the "hllx-flight" _

Spe cial shape attra ction: the flying Orient Expre ss .'

that is to land on the same spot from which they took-off! Thi s can be done when exceptiona l wind cond iti ons ex ist. The valley down from Chiiteau d'Oex points in a weste rl y di rec ti on. Durin g morning hours. a light breeze sometim es blo ws clown the valley. even though urp er winds may blow from a westerly direction. These are th e perfect co ndit io ns for a "boxflight". The pilot takes off - drifts down the valley - then c limbs to catch the upp t:r winds. sails past the departure field and befo re lea vin g th e vall ey . the pil o t descends to seize the local winds again. It's intriguing to see a balloon land on the same sp ot he took -o ff from afte r ha vin g accomplished a two hour flight! Hot-air ballooning is an expensive sport and therefore most equipment is sponsored by firms who use the space for advertising.

1\ ho 11150 hal/01111.1 ar e i1(/lated

J;,,.a

The most spectacular sponsored balloon s are the special-shaped ones. as it seems that there is no limit to creat ivity. One good example is the Orient-E xpress Locomotive ow ned by a Swiss Tra vel Agent. Its 45 meter s long a nd 30 m e ters hi g h. The volume is 40001113! The envelope weighs 320kg and the 路路ship''. sorry train. can carry one pilot and two passengers. Since the creation of the event. air traffic controllers have played a major role within th e organisation of the C ha teau d'O ex Int ernational Hot-Air Balloon Week. Originally called upon to assure the coordination (with ATC) during long distance flight s. the co ntroll e rs. beca use of their unique communication and co-ord ination abiliti es . took up oth er ta sks cruc ial to assure smooth and safe flights. As the event takes place within the core area (in terms of traffic density) of Europe (28N M E S PR YOR) a nd just a few hundr ed kilome tres from major airp orts like Geneva. Lyon. Milano and Zurich. it is essential that co-ordination with ATC units is done by profess ional s. These are staff from the Geneva Area Co ntrol Ce nt re (sw issco ntrol ). as th e eve nt is locat ed within Geneva CTA (FIR). On long distance flights. hot-air balloons seek best winds at altitud e. and it is not uncommon that gro ups of ballo ons find themselves in terminal airspace at between

11u1sstake -off.

THE CO NTROLL ER/ MARCH 1996

i? \

,, '

' Main g roup of h a /loons durin g co 111p etit io11.

say FL 150 and FL220! A real nightmare for controllers and (airlin e) pilots alike. Howeve r. partic ipation in long-d istance flights is limited since it requires special skills and equipm ent. and therefore only small groups are drifting at any given time. Fortunately. the balloons are required to carr y a wo rkin g tran spo nder (they are chec ked by co mmi ssioners before each take-off) whe n flying wit hin co ntro lled airspace. which helps to inform the (airline) pilots of their respective positions. As a pilot remarked after encountering a group of balloons during a competition some years ago .. "isolated balloons are no problem to avoid. if they are pointed out in advance. However. flying into a group can be dangerous. since they (the balloons) are prac ti call y stationary while avo idin g manoeuvres are a bit difficult for a jet at hi gh speed' I wo uld rath e r have the controller keeping aircraft well clear or the group - even if I have to travel an extra few miles··. he concluded. In addition to the civil traffic. there are the different military shooting and combat areas to be considered by the competitors. These areas are detailed to the crews during dai ly brie fings . as are particularit ies of mo unt ain fl yin g and the ir ass oc iated eme rge ncy pro ce dure s. Wea th er phenomena. like upper winds. significant weat he r. ri sk of ava lanche s. e tc. are disse min ated by spec ialists durin g the briefings. Over the year s. special co-o rdina tion procedures have been developed to ensure

T HE CO NTRO LLER/MARC H 1996

qui ck reac tion if an emerge ncy should arise . Two or three controllers occup y a fu lly equipp ed Co -o rdin ation a nd Communications Centre which is located on the departure field. During ··operations". the controller plays a crucial role using his abilities in what he does best: to co-ordinate. Communications are ac hieve d pr imari ly using VHF channels. On take-off the pilot announces his departure time and his intentions. As in ATC. each flight' s registration is noted on a paper strip. On conclusion of the flight. th e crew announces its landin g. which permits screening of missing flights. All communications are on Flight Information principles. that is. no clearances are issued. Each hot-air balloon is followed by its Retrieve Crew. Usually its a 4-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a VHF radio. towing a trailer. The crew on the grou nd keep~ (visual and radio) contact with the balloon in the air in order to be as close as possible when the hot-a ir balloo n lands. Often. balloons ·j ump.. valleys while the Retrieve crew has to go the long way round to catch up. Often contact is lost sporadica lly and that· s when the Co-ordination Centre take:-ovc r. Th e con tro ller~ lia ise with the respective partie, o\'er a spec ia I hot-Iine and collect the information about position,. Usually they succeed in getting the crew~ together again. Sho uld an emerge nc y ar ise. th e co ntro llers co -ordin ate with local and reg iona l pol ice Th ey ha, e acce,s to a he licop ter. on ale rt d ur ing th e e ,ent.

Although beautiful. the area can become hos ti le whe n wind s r ise . Th e rough topograph y demands caref ul planning of the landing sites since slope:-.are steep and partially covered by trees or. at altitude. by big rocks. Pilots tend to aim for landing spots close to roads to ease acces:-.by the retrieve crews and their equ ipment. Highpowe r lin es a nd ca bl e c ar s aero~ , the va ll ey~ kee p the ball oon piloh al e rt' So metimes bas kets and e nve lop e, ar e retrieve d by he lico pter. since landin g, close to road~ are not alway, possible . Fortun ate ly only few incident , ha ve occ urred si nce th e begi nnin g of thi, int e rn ationa l e vent. Ove r the yea r ,. part icipa t in g controller, adapt e d the proced ure:-. to inc rea,e safety and ha,e shown that they can be engag ed for ta,"-, other than ·ju st.. keeping aeroplane , apart' For tho~c who happen to he in that region during January - don·1 mi,, it - it, a colourful even, taking place each year. +

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AVIATION SAFETY

ESTABLISHMENT OF A SINGLE EUROPEAN ORGANISATION RESPONSIBLE FOR AVIATION SAFETY 0 IFATCA Comments, 22 January 1996 These factors are demonstrably reasonable response to the document regarding the establishment of a and legitimate but can induce a major conflict of interest with safety regulation if ingle European Authority for aviation safety dated 15 December 1995, both services are the responsibility of the IF ATCA welcomes the opportunity to same body. Safety regulation, as agreed in ICAO, is make comments. IF ATCA totally the responsibility of the national authority. supports the principle of the What we are experiencing in Europe is the establishment of a Community authority move towards the harmonisation and with competence in the field for civil aviation safety. However, we note the integration of the national air traffic services. It seems entirely logical and institutional and economic difficulties associated with such an Authority and as appropriate that a parallel process develops such, we do not feel competent to make independently for the safety regulatory specific observations on its constituency elements of ATM. The areas that IFATCA other than those related to the safety would expect safety regulation to encompass are: regulation of Air Traffic Management (ATM). + Establishment of common European Although the Working Paper speaks safety standards about a Community authority for civil aviation with competence in the field of + Validation and certification of new equipment aviation safety. IFATCA notes the emphasis placed on air worthiness + Approval of modifications and certification for aeronautical products additions to existing equipment which is right and proper. but also notes the total absence of any discussion concerning + Validation and approval of new ATC procedures the safety regulation of European ATM which. in view of the enormous investment + ATM personnellicensing of the EA TCHIP programme amongst + Audit and inspectionof ATS units others. is a glaring omission.

DISCUSSION IFATCA policy on the safety regulation of ATM is based on the premise that the regulation and provision of air traffic services must be two distinct entities. It is no longer acceptable that one body can undertake both tasks. In the past. regulation and provision of ATS has been the preserve of the national authority - and sti 11 remains so in many countries. However the nature of the provider organisations is changing rapidly from being governmental institutions to being either privatised. corporatised. or commercialised companies. The ethos of these service companies is also changing to a more cost efficient. profit driven one. Whilst it is recognised that safety is a fundamental and overriding commitment. it hecomes subject to cost henefit analysis. 18

Establishment and maintenance of incidentdatabase

Investigationof incidents/AirProx

The above is not comprehensive but rather representative of the safety regulation process. Turning to the role of a single European authority. the recent report on Improving European ATM performance: institutional models commissionedby the ECAC Study Group INSTAR identifiedthe possibilityof establishing a Safety Committee in the preferred Common Performance model. IFATCA would support this type of high level structure which would determine the common standards required for the regulation of ATM systems. procedures, and personnel. Also. we note the work being undertaken by SO I O - Safety Domain of the EATCHIP Work

Programme which relates to the harmonisation of safety policy and implementation between ECAC states and secondly, to implement safety policy within all other EATCHIP domains. The responsibility for this high level safety committee could be placed within the remit of a formalised Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) which would oversee the common professional organisations such as Eurocontrol. The principle of subsidiarity lends itself well to safety regulation in that it ensures that national authorities retain their responsibilities for ATM safety as determined by ICAO: at the same time adhering to the European safety standards as agreed by the single European authority.

CONCLUSION In summary, IFATCA believes that:

the provision of ATM must be entirely separated from that of the regulation of ATM safety.

the establishment of single European authority responsible for air safety e.g. a formalised JAA with appropriate institutional mechanisms. is essential.

one of the responsibilities for the proposed authority would be safety regulation of ATM.

safety standards for ATM equipment. procedures. and personnel are determined by the authority for application on an European basis.

whenever possible. these standards are to be implemented by the national safety regulatory bodies.

to achieve harmonisation. and when national authorities are unable to either resource or maintain the safety regulatory standards. the single authority will undertake the responsibility for their implementation.

IFATCA welcomes the opportunity to participate in any further disrnssions on European ATM safety regulatory issues. ,t

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

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TUNIS-CARTHAGE INTERNATIONAL A IRPORT (AITC) THE GATEWAY TO THE 35TH IFATCA CONFERENCE

T1111i .1路-Carthage Airpor t Ter min al .

o\路er in g an a re a of abo ut 800 hec tares . Tun is-Ca rth age Int ernational Airport. formerly called El Aouina and first used in 1944 for j oint military and civilian aircraft operations. got it~ prese nt name from its prox imit y to Tuni~ (6 Kms to th e ~outh eas t). th e modern cap it a l tow n of Tuni s ia. a nd Carthage (9 Kms to the east). the old but not le~~ famo u~ ca pi ta l or th e Pun ic civili~a tion. Af ter th e daw n of th e Independence. the airport was transferred overnig ht to the Tunisian Civil Aviation Authority who took up the challenge for its admin i~tration. ensuring the contro l and \afety or air traflic navigation. In 1970. the operation of the airport together with that of the othe r two inte rnational ai rports ( Mona~tir-Hahih Bourguiba and Dje rba1arzi~ l. whic h had hee n bui lt to handle mainl ) charter flight:-,carry ing the eve r 111cr ea~i11g l'lo~ of to uri~t~ \ i~iting the ca, 1c rn a nd ,outh e a~te rn resort\. ~ a~

hand ed ove r to OPAT (T he Tun isian Airport s and Air Traffic C ontro l Authority). This organisation was created with the intention of providing Tu nisian int e rnati onal ai rport s with suffic ie nt autonomy to ensure maximum flexibility in adopting new procedures and cominuously ad aptin g fac il it ies to cat e r for th e developing needs of air navigation in the country. Since then. three new international airport s have bee n bui lt (S fax-Thyna . Tozeur-Nefta and 7th November-Tabarka) bringing the total number to six. By 1971 th e a irpo rt termin a l was handlin g ove r one million passe nger~. Extensions to the terminal were carried out in 1977. 1978 and 1984 to brin g its capaci ty up to 3.5 milli on passe ngers . T raffic grow th i~ alr ead y ca lling ror capacities of 4.5 million by the year 1998 and 7.5 million by the year 2000. A project i~ underway to meet forecast traffic by the turn or the 21st century.

The airport has a large freight terminal. bu ilt in 1976. whi c h hand led in 1994 74.9% of the overall air tonnage in Tunisia. A rece nt addit io n to Tuni s- Ca rth age Int ern ati on a l Airp ort is a pres ide ntia l section built in June 1994 and inaugurated on the occasion of the 1994 Organisation of the African Union Summit Meeting. Takeoff and landing facilities at Tuni sCarthage International Airport include two concrete runways () I/19 (3200111x .+Sm) a nd 11/29 (284 0111x 45m ). T iley ar e equi pped with a c a te go ry II I LS. a Thomson VOR type 5 11B and a Thom~on DME type 72 0 . Th e re newa l of th ese navaids. which have been operational since 1980. is expected for 1997. About 40 airline~. including the national carrier Tuni\ Air. ope rate many types of ai rc ra ft to and fro m Tun i~-Ca rth age Interna tional Airport. with des tinati ons mainly to mo~t large cities in North Africa. Europe and the Middle East. The airport i~

THE CONT ROLLER/MAR CH 1996

IFATCA '96 the largest airport in the country and the undi sp ut ed gateway to th e principal Tunisian world famous towns in the north and the north east (Tunis. Bizerta, Nabeul. Hammamet. etc .). 2.828.355 passenger s. using chiefly scheduled flights (71.25% of total traffic). went through its terminal in 1994. where particular auention is paid to the pro vision of high standard services which includes a duty free shop open to departing as well as arriving passengers. The airport operates in conjunction with the Air Navigation Centre located close by and which consists mainly of the ACC and the Commun icat ions Ce nt re. A new AERMAC type AFTN switching facility was put into service. in 1993. to link the Communications Centre to the rest of the wor ld. Th e sys tem employs advanced de sign to hand le an eve r expandin g message load and is capable of processing up to 80.000 messages daily. Fu rth ermore . present e fforts to

modernise facilities include the renewal of the existing primary radar. which was put into se rvice in 1973. with th e implementation of a dual channel S Band air sur veillance radar (ASR9 ) having a range of 60 NM and offerin g improved detection of low level aircraft by the means of a Moving Target Detector (MTD). A monopu lse seco ndar y survei llan ce

Tunis Carthage ACC

radar is also expected to be operational shortly. This radar which has a range of 200 NM will help ensure the contro l of enroute traffic within Tunis FIR as well as the approach traffic to Tunis Carthage and Monastir-Habib Bourguiba internation al airports. Both the primar y and the seco ndary surveillan ce rada rs suppl y traffi c data which are processed by a radar processing system (RDP), a flight data processing system (FOP) and a display processing system. The FOP provides for automatic flight progress strip output and receipt of AFTN message using state- of -the-an tec hnology. The whole system wiII be as sisted by new sa te ll ite vo ice communication fac ilities which will be operationa l in the very nea r future and which will supplement the existing VHF voice communication system coverage of Tunis FIR. providing enhanced safety and reliability. Total investment for the extension of the

airp ort ter mi nal. the upg radi ng of the pr imary radar and na\'a ids. the impl ementa tion of the new AFTN and voice communication system~ as well as that of the new SSR radar are expected to reach US$ 67 million. All the staff needed for the operation and mainten ance of these faci lit ies ( i.e . air traffic con tro l off icers . air ,rn, 路igation personnel. and air safety electronics) have been properly trained for the purpo~e of ensuring the efficient and ~mooth running of the system. +

ITPAYS TOADVERT ISE IN 庐 TIii conTROllER JOORNAL OFNA ~

CO~

THECONTROLLER

The Cm1fere11C'e Faci/irr

THE CO NTRO LLER/MARCH 1996

IS READ BY OVER 60,000 CONTROLLERS I AND AVIATION RELATEDPERSONNEL WORLDWIDE 21

FREE FLIGHT --

FREE FLIGHT :J Chris Stock. Executive Vice President Technical INTRODUCTION he concept of Free Flight is not new. In one form or another, it has been the subject of much discussion and thought for many years although more recently , terms such as user preferred trajector y or optimum flight profile have been more commonplace. Practically, controllers have contributed by the action of allowing aircraft to lea ve the fixed route structure through the means of an approval for direct routing and non standard levels. Within the past year or so, the term Free Flight was coined and being an eye catching phrase, it has caught on with the media and the aviation world. Also, it appeared to be a totally new method of air traffic management which would do away with the traditional forms of air tr affic control. Like many media friendly phrases, it is not an accurate description of the concept which maybe simple in theory but is highly complex to put into practice . In this introductor y article, it is intended to review recent events which have pr oject ed the concept of Free Flight to the forefront. Whether we like it or not , the media has succeeded in making the label stick - ju st consider the tit le of this article! We recognise that the current ATM system has its limitations and that the implementation of the !CAO FANS CNS/ATM systems will introduce a flexibility and an increase in capacity which cannot be achieved within the present fixed route structure. To achieve maximum benefit from the CNS element. changes in ATM procedures are required and these take time to ensure that the integrity and the safety of the system are not degraded. At the same time . the co st/ be ne fit anal yses of using the new CNS ind ica te that the use rs will gain major savings pro vided the in ve st me nt in the infra structure is mad e . It is the c lass ic dichotomy: under investment caused by the lack of immediate cos t be ne fit ~ becau se o f the tim e it tak es to impleme nt the necessary ATM change~ would bring the process to a full stop; on the other hand. immediate cost benefits would encourage full inves tm e nt but po ss ib ly at the ex pe ni>e of using partia ll y validated procedure~ (includin g reduced separation standards) and equipment. A balance has to be achieved and the proponents of Free Flight believe that this concept meets these conflicting pressure!>.

THE T ASK FOR CE S

Two Task Force~ have given the impetus to the concept of Free Flight. T he first wa~ the JATA Air Traffic.:Management Tas k Fo rce which co mpl eted its re port in Apri l 199 5 and prese nted it~ c.:onc.:Jw,ion~ to Global Navcom 95 at Montreal in May IFATC A wa~ con~ultecl by thi~ Ta~k Force although the final report wa~ the IATA and the airline< view. At the same

----

time as this work was proceeding. the US based RTCA Inc. (a not- for-profi t corpora tion) produced a co ncept paper on Free Flight. As a result of this work, on 20 April 1995. the FAA Administrator. David Hinson asked RTCA to 路' form a new task force , led by an appropriate represe ntati ve from the civilian aviation community, to develop consensus regarding free flight implementation " . RTCA Task Force 3, as it became known. presented its report on 26 October 1995. The report is detailed coveri ng all aspects of the tra nsition from the pre se nt A TM system to that of mature free flight. Its major drawback is that it is spec ific to the United States which is ackno wledged as its primary objective. However, its authors identify a broader gaol to produce a seamless global ATM capability. Task Force 3 defines Free Flight as "a saf e and eff icient fli ght op e ratin g capabilit y und e r instrum ent fli ght rules( !FR) in which the op era tor 's hav e the fr eedom to select their path and speed in real time. Air traffic restricti ons are only imposed to ensure separation, to preclud e exceeding airport capacity , to prevent unauthoris ed fli ght through Specia l Use Air spa ce (SUA), and to ensure safety of fl ight. Restriction s are limited in exten t and du ration to correct the identified probl em. An y activi ty whi ch remo ves res tri c tions represents a move towards free fli ght "

The Task Force views the role of the controller in the future sys tem as using deci sion support sys tems wi th mu ch more functionality enabling the controller to perform a wider range of tasks producing gains in productivity. capacity. safety, effic iency and reduced workload. It also notes that the future system may pro vide e fficienc ies whi ch will enabl e th e FAA to handl e projected growth without increases in personnel. Significantly. under Operational Concepts. the report states th at 路' Th e Air Traff ic Service (ATS) pro vider is always the rulin g entit y in separation arbitration" . It goes on to say that the system must be designed with the information requirements of the ATS provider in mind. and to facilitate controllers situational awareness. they should have current information about each aircra ft' s long term (route) and short term (manoeuvring) intent. and be automatically alerted if an aircraft is deviating from its planned route. The Task Force identified two specific concepts which appear crucial to Free Flight: Dynamic Density and Adap tive Sectors. Dynamic Density is described by the "essential factors affecting conflict rate in both the en-route and terminal airspace... These factors being traffic density. complexity of flow. and separation standard s. The theory being that when the Dynamic.: Density increases. the less freedom the provider has to allow freedom of flight. More complex. but on the same lines. is the Adapti ve Sectors which suggests that the provider should manage the size and shape of the sectors to take account of routes affec ted by wind s anu wea th e r. These concep ts ha ve co ns id e rabl e implications for the role of controllers as air traffic managers. As with any concept or vision of the future. the road to its eventual fruition has many obstacles to be removed. Free Flight is no different. It is not being negative to identify where these problems lay and indeed the Task Force acknow ledges this fact and that the original concept may well be modified or changed in the light of experience and operational necessity. IFATCA has always maintained that the future system must he regarued in its totality: from gate to gate. Therefore. capac ity i~ a fum;tion of ground movement~. runway utilisation. and airspace flexibility. All area~ pre~ent oh stac.:le~ to the conce pt of free fl ight. not

THE CONTROLLER / MARC H 1996

FREE FLIGHT -

insurmountable but nevertheless significant. Lack of airport infrastructures, including extra runways, are major factors which cannot be resolved in the short term. TMA airspace presents a high traffic density situation which will need highly sophisticated automated solutions. The users such as General Aviation and the military have differ ing requirements, and depending on their attitudes may have a reluctance to invest in the system. The class ification of airspace has a particular significance for the seamless transfer from FIR to FIR and whilst it may not be a problem to countries with large continental areas. sovereignty of airspace remains a political and operational difficulty in regions such as Europe with numerous sovereign states. For controllers. the funda me ntal pr inciple is that control and se paration are ground functions. However mature free flight suggests that this function may either be shared with or delegated to the cockpit. This may be simplistic but not intended to be alarmist because it has to be objecti vely co nside red and more imp orta ntly. be answered in a similar manner. There are many things to welcome about the concept of free flight, not the least of which is that it challenges the air traffic controller fraternity to think about the fundamentals of the control task and whether or where impro vements can be made. The satellite based CNS system provides the enabling function to allow concepts of free flight to become a possible reality; also. it will become the instrument to change the role of the air traffic controller as we know it today. At the same time as the ATM system is evolving, each stage of the transition to a more flexible mode of aircraf t operation, be it free flight or something else, must be tes ted and va lid ated beca use as we beco me more accustomed to the demand for immediate user benefits. it is incumbent on all users and providers to ensure that comparable safety benefits are in place first. "On Friday 15 th Mar ch 1996, the US Federal Avia tion Adminis trator ( FAA), David Hinson announced continued progress toward implementing Free Flight which is designed to improve the safety and efficien cy of the US airspace system by allowing pilots, under certain conditions and circumstances, to choose their own routes and fi le the most efficien t and economical fl ight plans. It is the intention that the FAA and the aviation community will work together to phase in Free Flight over the nex t JOyea rs. This move has come as a result of the FAA agreeing with the objectives set out in the RTCA Task Force 3 reporr. A draft FAA action plan that will serve as a starting point fo r a joint FAA/industry plan will be pr esented at a meeting in Ap ril".

...lBert Ruitenberg. Executive Vice President Professional

In the discussion on Free Flight it is often stated that Orville W1ight was the first to experience Free Flight. Unfortunately. it is less often stated that the Wright brothers were also the first to experience Restricted Flight as soon as they built the Wright Flyer No. 2 1 There can be no doubt that Orville and Wilbur were very cautious not to have both their aircraft up in the same airspace at the same time. for fem· that they might collide and be damaged. In the days of the Wright brothers. aviation was a challenge for mankind. The ir goal was to ge t a ..machine heavier than air.. airborne and have it

THE CO NTRO LLER/MA RCH 1996

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move. self-propelled. from A to B. It was not until later. afte r considerab le improveme nts were made in the area of aircraft reliability, and safety in general. that business-orie nted peop le realised that there was a potential to earn money by offering to transport people by air from A to B. The airlines were born. Then, for one or two decade s in the middle of this century. aircraft development focused on military applications. as a result of WW2. After the war was over. much of the technology was carried over to ci vil applicati ons and more and more airline s were established. Meanwhile, the United Nations. in an attempt to co-ordinate the world-wide development of civil aviation. in 1944 established the International Civil Aviation Organisation. now more commonl y known under its acronym ICAO. One agreement that was reached then and that has a bearing on the line-of-thinking from which the Free Flight concept stems. is making it the responsibility of States to ensure safety in their respective areas of sovereign airspace. The majority of ICAO States translated this responsibility into the establishment of national Air Traffic Services. of which Air Traffic Control (ATC) usually was the largest component. Note that !CAO did not make States responsible for the creation of airlines. States were. however. given the responsibilit y to reg ulate and oversee the airlines· operations. from a safety point of view. Starting an airline is basically anybody's privilege. but the State will see to it that certain safety-standards are met. To give guidance to States. ICAO defi ned ..Stand ards and Recommended Practises" in many fields and so also for ATC. Most States have followed these SARPs and indeed have incorporated them in their national legislation. For ATC. a service whose purpose is to "prevent collisions and expedite and maintain an orderly flow of air traff ic". this means that the cr iteria. to be applied for the separationof aircraft. are legal minim a. Returning to our journey along the history of air transpo11. a quite noticeable increase in the number of airlines took place in the late 70' s and all the go·s of this century. The skie~ were getting more and more crowded. Air traffic controllers were facing the problem of having to accommodate more and more aircraft in their airspace while adhering to the prescribed legal minima for separation. And this is where a simple mathematical rule stam coming in: if for example you need IO cm. distance between successive object!>. you can' t fit in more than 11 objects in a meter. ( Or. for non-metric 01ie nted readers. 13 objects with a one-inch interval per foot.) Thi:-principle applies similarly when the measuremenh are expre:-,sed111 nautical miles. or. when the objects are moving. in number:-,per hour. For ATC this means that if the theoretical maximum capacity of a given unit is X aircraft per hour. there will be d1d(/\"s if there are more than that number of aircraft wishing to operate in that :-ector at the same time. (There are other factor:-,compounding thi:-,problem. e.g. difference~ in pertonrnmc e and speed of the aircraft. or ha v111 g to transfer traffic to an adjacelll sector with a lower capacity. but the:-,c are not relevant for the scope of this article.) So. is it fair to blame the ATC system for these delay:-,.a:-,:-,omc of the Free Flight advocates tend to cto·~ Wouldn·t it be fairer to :-.a) the delay is caused by too man) airlines wanting to operate too man) aircraft in the same airspace at the same time·' Let":-,face 11.when you visit Disneyworld you' re not going to be alone there There will of other visitors. so if you want to go i11t ll the attracttlllb at the be lot!-> same time a:-,they. you·11have to wait till it":-,your turn. Bui ~o uld you blame Disney\ employee, for that"' Yet that i~ exactly what lhe:-,eadvon llL ':-,do. The~, n.:a:son a:--11

FREE FLIGHT

- - --

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ATC is the enemy of aviation in general. and airlines in particular. and that its primary goal is to delay aircraft for as long as possible. Well. speaking for over 40.000 Air Traffic Controllers world-wide. I can assure the Free Flight advocates that there's not one of us who deliberately likes to delay an aircraft. I can at the same time assure them th at eac h and every air traff ic controller is ded ica ted to providing a safe. expeditious and orderly flow of traffic. And it's the order of these attributes that is significant: ATC will always put safety first! In the Foreword of the June 1995 issue of IFATCA' s magazine. The Controller. Mr. Preben Lauridsen (IFATCA's President and Chief Executive Officer) says the following: "(...) Allo ,r me 10 me111 io11the i111erpre1a1io11 of Free Flig/11as defl11edby 1he FAA: '"A safe a11defflcie111fligh t operating capab ly under lnstrumelll Flight Rules i11ll'hich the operator.1·have grea1er flexibility i11selecri11 g their (fl ight ) pa1h a11dspeed . A ir /raffle restric1io11s are limited i11 ex tent a11d d11ra1io11 a11dare 011/yimposed 10 e11s11re separation. to preclude exceeding ai rport capacity. a11dto preve/11 11na111 horised fl ight through spec ial use airspace" . gs. 8111is this 1101exactly what A TC is doi11g?We offer aircraft direct ro111i11 whenever 11·ecan. We a/loll' aircraft ''free speed " as often as traffic permits. The res1rictio11 .1·put 011these 11ro i11s1ructio11sare those enforced by ei1her airspace regulario11s.other traffic. or ai17iort capacity. So you could say that A TC today already. taking into co11siderotio 11limitatio11Sput 01110it. provides the operators with Free Flight. or as f 11·011ld prefer it called. Co11trolled Free Flight. What A TC needs to be pro1·ided 1rith. i11order to increase its efficiency and ot a teclmology driven proposal of Free Flight. but m1Air Traffic capacir,·. is 11 Mmwgeme111(ATM) svsrem ll'hich is based 011a flexib le use of the airspace. ffi cie11t 011an area co11cep1. as opposed to a segregmed system. a11d011s11 ai1port capacity to meet the dema11dof both the airlines and A TC."

This quote from Mr. Lauridsen contains several aspects that the unconditional advocates of Free Flight apparently seem to ignore. First aspect: the FAA definition of Free Flight ju st mentions "a greater flexibility" for the operators. which is not the same as the complete freedom proclaimed by the Free Flight suppo11ers. Second aspect: that same definition emphasises that separation still needs to be ensured. it introduces the notion of airport capacity being a limiting factor. and it recognises that there is such a thing as special use airspace . all of which are further restricting the envisaged freedom of Free Flight. Third aspect: within its limitations ATC today already provides many of the so-called benefits of Free Flight. Fourt h aspect: Air Traffi c Controllers fee l as frustrated by the restrictions of today's system as many pilots and airlines do. but contrary to the Free Flight advocates (who are looking for technology hased commercial gains just for airlines) they look for a systemic improvement to the benefit of all paities involved. Incidentally. the role of airport capacity in creating delays should not be underestimated. The accepted figure for the number of aircraft movements (i.e. take off'sor landings) that a runway can handle i~ 32 to 35 per hour. depending on the size of the aircraft. This means that if more than that number of aircraft are scheduled to land per hour. e.g. in an airline hub operation. the ones coming last will have to wait until the one~ ahead are on the ground. Free Flight is not going to change that - it may only achieve aircraft involved arriving earlier at a place where they will j ust have to wait longer for each other. The contention (heard in some of the discussions on Free Flight) tha t whe re "to assure safety . ATC co ntrollers further slow the procluctin n line to a rate that the ATC sys tem ca n manage·· constitute, an inadequate ATC system. Thb to IFATCA is anathema. II commercial motive:- are put before ~afety. thus making safety almost a negative attrihute of the aviation -;y-;tem.

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TH E CON TROLL ER/MARC H 1996

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FREE FLIGHT-----------------

Air traffic controllers will always keep a little extra capacity available to cater for unexpected events such as an aircraft developing an emergency, requesting immediate descent, or deteriorating weather conditions warranting extensive radar vectoring,etcetera. I'm sure that if any Free Flight advocateswere on board that aircraft requiring immediate descent in a busy air traffic environmentthey would prefer to have ATC clear a path for them rather than having to rely on electronic gadgets like TCAS while finding their own way down throughthe traffic. It is IFATCA' s considered opinion, contrary to that heard in some of the discussions, that the trade off between operational flexibility and safety is still required, and will continue to be required,with safety as the undisputeddominantfactor. IFATCA currently is dedicating a lot of manpower toward the implementationof ICAO's CNS/ATMconcept, a concept in which modern technology is employed in a balanced Air Traffic environment to increase the system capacity and efficiency while maintaining a high level of safety. The implementation of CNS/ATMsystems will be evolutionary,on an ICAO-regionalbasis, and will require investmentsin equipmentfrom both the airlinesand the Air Traffic Services providers, as well as considerabletraining for ATC staff, before the system will be fully operational. This means that the airlines, who have already embarkedon programmes to invest in CNS equipment. may have to wait a few years for the ATM side to adjust to the changes before they (the airlines)will see the return on investmentthat they are so eagerlylookingfor. Yet this evolutionaryimplementationto IFATCA is preferable,by far, over the "implement Free Flight first. invest in advanced airborne equipment later" as proclaimed by some of the more radical Free Flight advocates. Although IFATCA accepts that the Free Flight discussionis not directed against the individual Air Traffic Controller but rather against an outdated United States ATC system (of which every individualcontroller is a component. by the way), IFATCA thinks the Free Flight concept approachesthe perceivedproblem from the wrong side. Instead of pushing the implementation of a new procedure,with the aim of providingair trafficcontrollerswith better tools, it would be more preferable to push the provision of better tools. with the aim to enable improvementsin procedures.This we think is a fundamentaldifference. An important factor also is the (lack of) reliabilityof the current USA ATC equipment. Since the summer of •95 there have been an alarming number of articles in the internationalmedia (and not just the aviation magazines)about power failuresor other break.downsof ATC systems in the USA. Of course there were also some articles addressing the background of these problems: qualified maintenance staff are leaving the FAA for more attractive(i.e. better paid)jobs. and those who stay with the FAA lack the knowledge.skill or proficiencyto keep the equipment working. Earlier in this article was already pointed out that controllers will always keep a little extra capacity available to cater for unexpected events. The excessive separation some pilots say they are provided with in the USA (7-9 NM on average where 5 NM is the minimum) should thereforenot be seen as a loss of capacity but as a pmdent safety-marginin a failure-prone system. Although IFATCA accepts that many of today·s proceduresare outdated (and this not only in the USA). we don't think that improved procedures will negate the physical separation

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

requirements.Going back to the simple mathematicalrule mentioned above, it says that for every conceivable capacity there is always a demand that can exceed it. Once improved procedures are in place. offeringmore capacity, that capacity is likely to be absorbed by the growthof demand until a point is reached where even more capacity is required.If traffic figures continue to grow as forecast by IATA. there will continue to be too many operators putting too many aircraft up in the same piece of sky at the same moment for the globalaviationsystemto handle,thus still generatingrestrictions. Please don't think our comments are inspired by conservatism. Air TrafficControllersare not opposed to change - as long as a safe way to do it can be found. But as already pointed out earlier. in the case of Free Flight there apparentlyis a fundamental difference with its advocatesin what the scope of the change will be and how we think such a changemay be achievedsafely. An example of change welcomed by Controllers is the global trend of corporatisationof ATC services. In many countries ATC providersfor years have felt restricted by the confines of the Civil Service system - confines that caused problems similar to the ones experiencedin the USA. By creating bodies that are less dependent. or even independent.of the Civil Service the quality of the ATC service has significantly improved to the benefit of the users (includingairlines) and providers. Examples of such countries are Portugal, Switzerland, Germany. Austria. The Netherlands (all in Europe),Australia.New Zealand (Pacific). and even some in Africa and Central America could be mentioned. In the North American region, Canada is well on the way toward corporatising their ATC. and also in the USA studiesare ongoing to the same end. One of the major benefits of corporatisedATC to airlines is that decisionsfor investmentsfor ATC (be it in equipment or training. or both) now can be made far more easily than in a governmental system where every expense has to be justified before the outlay is made. This allows the ATC providers to offer a product to their customers that meets the requirements of those customers. while adhering to safety standards as set by the national CAAs (or other regulatorybodies). Of course IFATCA also welcomes the development and introductionof automatedtools to assist the controller in his or her work. includingthe conflict probes that are envisaged as the heart of the Free Flight concept. But it should be realised that the best and most reliableconflictprobe created so far. which is available at every ATC facilityin the world. is not a technical tool but a human-being called the Air TrafficController. In conclusion.IFATCAthinks that what the Free Flight concept is lacking is the understanding and recognition of the role of the human operator in the global aviation system. The concept is highly profitdrivenand corporateoriented.with technology as the medicine to remedy (and possibly eradicate) any human shortcomings. In other words. the concept is based on the view that the human operator is the weak link in the system. This vie\\· dashes head-on with that presentedby ICAO in Human Factors Digest no. I I . In this Digest. which is endorsed by IFATC A (and IF ALPA. for that matter).the principlesof Human Centred Automation as developed by Dr. Charles Billings (NASA) are presented as guidance material for the development of future automated aviation systems. What these principlessay could be summarised by "the automated system is there to assist the humanoperator.not the other way around... IFATCA feels this applies to aircraft as well as to global Air Traffic Services. +

• JAPA'.\ Japa n ·s Min istry of Transport has manda ted installation of the Tr affic Colli sio n Avo idanc e Sys tem. TCAS II. on transport aircraft of 30 or more passenger seats and freighter a irc raft with takeoff weights of 33 .000lb s or more. Th e mandate is similar to that being developed for European airspace.

forecast of. yet agai n. a rise in traffic of 7 to 8 % over one of the most co ngested area of the world. Most co ntrollers are counti ng on Flow management to help them and they hope that the ear ly problem s encou ntered (a large part of them ca used by so me airlin es trying to by- pas s the sys tem to avoid del ays) wi ll be resolved befor e the Summ er seaso n starts.

• C HI'.\..\

GUERNSEY The States of Guernsey have awa rded a co ntract to Siemens A ir Traffic Ma nage me nt Divi s ion fo r th e su pply of a Watch ma n-S primar y radar , toget he r w it h ass oc iat ed displays and ancillary equipmen t. Thi s sale rep rese nts the first co ntract for a Watchman radar with the new solid-sta te transm itter.

China ·s airports are bursting at the seams. The Civil Aviation Author ity of China (CAAC ) has drawn up new guidelines for foreig n investment in the country. China·s air traffic is predicted to double between now and the end of the century. The CAAC a nd Stat e Plannin g Comm iss ion rece ntl y ap proved 40 major airport expa nsions and 32 new airport projects for the next 5 years.

• :\IALAYSIA The Malays ian government has awarded a contract to design a nd insta ll a ir traffi c manag e men t sys tems at Kual a Lumpur"s new airport. to Ambidji Group of Australia. The compa ny will supply communications. radar and nav iirntion aids . in partner s h ip w ith th e loca l fir m A ir ; pa ce Management Services. • El"ROPEA:\ :\E\ \"S Europe has dec ided to make TC AS mand a to ry. Th e Eurocomrol ~CAS Implementation group has proposed that an ACAS (wnh specifications only current ly met by TC AS II) be made mandatory in European airspace for all aircraft wn h more than 30 passern1:erseats or with a wei2h1 of more than 15.000 Kgs. The gro~p has proposed an implementat ion date of I January 2000. It is believed that some airlines have alread y co'.1tested tha t date. jud ged ··100 early·· to ensure complete fleet retrofit. They ar2ue that a mini mum of S years ··warnin g time· should be ._2iven to them befo re any maj or modification to their avi~ nics is requ ired. Und e r d1sc uss 1on as we ll is th e poss ibi lit y to make TCAS II mandator y for all aircraft with more than 19 seats. or more than 5. 700 Kgs. by the year 2005. The Sur vival of the fittest Airline in Europe Contest is on. In a final attempt to save Air France from further deficits. the Airline ha" decided to ..double or loose everything··. with the immin e nt intr oducti on in Par is CDG of a super ·'Hub·· A mer ic an s ty le . 5 ti me<, a day . 7 da ys a we ek. ATC proc e dure" are be ing di <,cu"sed in ord e r to tr y to accommodate thi<,Hub sy<,tem. but controllers worry that it might not all work as Air France ex pects. Even with the recen t new runway in Le Bourget (usable from CDGJ the declared capacit) of the whole is 84 movements per hour (7 aircraft per 10 minu te-. per runway) . The new Air France Huh plan', to work with 92 Movements per hour. This is well in exce"" or the declared capac ity and does not take into acc oun t th e need<, o f th e ot her air lines se rvin g C DG. Co ntroller-. are worried that. <,hould the Hub system fail. Air Fran ce . or the public. will be te mpt ed to put the blam e partiall y on air traffic control. The Euroco ntrol Central Flow Manag ement Unit (CFMU) ha" taken over the whole ECA C Area. The last two Flow Manage111 c111 Unit<,(FML\ ) of Rome and Madrid have been , uccc ," full :r tran -.ferred 10 the CFM U Building in Haren near Brll',',ek The whole project cos t 82.7 Million ECUs . T hL' uni1 llll\\ ha, ..J.78Sta ll \\ ith a yea rly bud get ol' 56 1\llill1011I-:C LI-, ( I EC LI = 1.-.J.L1S$) Des pite som e ea rly pn >hk11i.... 1l1L ' ~) , tem ,ce ms 10 \\ ork ',atisfac lorily. but the real IL''-l ~ ill be Ill manage the Summer or 1996. with the

• CZECH REPUBLIC On I Janua ry 1996, The Czech Repub lic beca me the 20t h Me mb e r State of E uroco nt ro l. The S tate has been participating in th e activitie s of the Cen tra l F low Manageme nt unit since it joined the Europea n C ivil Aviation Conference (ECAC) in 1993 . Italy. Spa in and Rom ania are expecte d to become Member States soo n. GER\IA'.\Y In 1995. Sie men s instal led six Departure Co-ordi nation Sy ste ms (DEPCOS III ) w h ich ca m e int o se r v ice at Co lo2 ne/ Bonn. Di.isse ldorf. Stutt ga rt. Be rlin-T e mp e lhof. Berli~-Schin efe ld and Berlin-Teg e l respec tive ly. Th e six sys tems s uppl e mented tho se a lr eady in st a ll ed at Fra nkfurt/Main and Mu ni ch. Th ree oth e r a ir fie ld s a t Dresden. Erfurt and Leipzig will also be equipp ed. DEPCOS III prepare and displays specific flight plannin g da ta for air traffic controllers dealing with departin g traffic. The order of flights. processi ng status and dependencies arc automa tica lly di splay ed at the appropria te work stati ons together with secondary informat ion. Some of the work that was previously carried out manu ally such as the hand ling of paper strips. the allocation or SSR co de s and the re porti ng of ac tual startup c lea rance and depa rture times - can now be carried out automatically by DEPCOS. • RUSSIA AR INC has install ed a prototype air traffi c manage me nt system at the Magadan Area Control Ce ntre in Russia ·s Far East. The wo rkstat ion 's sit uational displa y au to matica lly tracks and shows aircraft position in reg ional airspace with radar-like datab lock callouts. Information is based on aircraft ADS tran smissio ns tran sfe rred by ARIN Cs satco m and VHF datalink networks. • Fl'iL \ :\ D

The Finnish Civil Aviation Authority has exerc ised an opt ion und e r the Fi nni sh A ir Traffi c Ma na ge me nt In1eg ra1ion (FATM I) program me to acquir e an approach/ tower syste m for the Nort hern Area Co ntrol Cen tre a l Rovaniem i from Siemen s. Thi s add itional system. which will op erate as a se parat e and a uto no mo us sys tem w it hi n th e FATM I environment. co mprises fifteen controller work ing positions. It will be derived from the Siemens Controller 2000 range of pro ce:-isor~ a nd di splay s a nd w ill pro\'id e s imi lar functional ity 10 the main FATM I system which ser\'e s the Southern Flight Information Region. The syste m will co me into operati on in 199 9. aft e r the co mmi s" io n ing o r the Southern Area Co ntrol Centre al Tampere and the HelsinkiVantaa Approach. + THE CONTRO LLER/MAR CH 1996

TUN ISAIR, th e nationa l airline of Tunisia, sym bol ises the values of the coun try : hospitality. generos ity and progr ess. Its highly qual ified and motivated staff and the fleet of the very latest aircrafts put TUN ISAIR at the

forefront of progress and service.

It pays advertise

to in

e TIii

. mRNALOF~RTRAFRCCONTROL

conTROUER

The Controller is read by over 60,000 Controllers & Aviation Related Personnel in 170 coun tries all over the world . THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 1996

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AGENDA APRIL 9 - 12 3rd ICAO Global Sympo sium on Flight Safety, Auckland, New Zea land Contact - D Maurino , ICAO Fax +l 514 285 6759

12 - 13 IFATCA Executi ve Board Meeting, Tuni s, Tunisia Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 78 1941

15 - 19 IFATCA 35th Annua l Confe rence, Tunis, Tunisia Contact - Chairman IFATCA96, Phone +216 755 OOO Fax +216 782 106 20 IFATCA Executive Board Meeting, Tunis, Tunisia Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 78194 1

MAY 13 -15 Airpo rts Middle East, Exhibition & Co nference, Bahrain Internationa l Exhibition Centre Contact - Gerry Dobson Phone +44 17 1 486 195 1 Fax +44 171 935 8625 27 - 30 Air Traffic Control Assoc iation Internationa l Confere nce Sydney, Austra lia Contact - Caro l New master Phone + I 703 522 5717 Fax + J 703 527 725 J

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HU MAN FACTORS ---

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MAN AND MACHINE 0 Th e follow ing article is reprodu ced wi th grateful thanks to the Sw iss Air Navigation Services Limit ed. Swisscontro l. Th e article was produced as a brochure with the following Foreword by the Chief Executive Office r of Sw isscontrol , Mr. Paul Maxi milian Mi.iller. an and Machine: Air Traffic Control as a Soc i o- T ec hni cal System'·. The title and subject of our brochure invites us to reflect on tl._--L._ ,......___n__J the relationship between the essentia lly constant human being and rapidly advancing technology. In my many years as both a military and an airline pilot. I have come to appreciate the importance of the interface in the cockpit between the occupant and the avionics all around. The technology of the cockpit is far more advanced than that of air traffic control a state of affairs we must do our utmost to rectify as swiftly as possible. If we do not. we may face severe communications difficulties betweenATC and its customersin the skies. For all the technological advances being made. human beings will still remain lhe decision makers in the ATC world. ju st as they will in the cockpit. And even the best technological innovationwill never he used to its full potentialunless it is applied by willing and highly motivated personnel. ADAPT. the most technolog ica lly and opera tionall y demand ing project that Swisscontrol has ever undertaken. will come to fruition in the next few years. ADAPT is not unknown among the general public. Our brochure entitled ··ADAPT - Swisscontrol"s new Air Traffic Control System". explained the technical aspec ts of the innovat ions envisaged. It did not present. however. the role of people in this system of the future. So we will be focusing on this equally vital a. pect of our undertaking in the current publication. ADAPT represents a huge investment for Swisscontrol - an investmentthat can only be ju stif ied by a correspon ding leap in productivity. Still. howeversophisticated the technology. the handling of air traffic in the 21st century will need people: people who feel at home with the new ,y,te m. New \\'orking procedur es . more ell icien l air, pacc management. and - la, t but not least - a tangible increa,e in airpon capac il). are further es,entials if we are 10 continue our ATC activities smoothly and effecti,·el) in the year 2000 and beyond. I hope you enjm reading thi, brochure.

AIR T I{ \! ·T IC C 0\'11{()1.

.\S :\

SO CI O· TI ·:CI 1\IC \I. SYSTE:\ I

"The answer is yes . What was the question?""Woody Allen·s well known words get right to the heart of one of the biggest challenges of our li me . We have the technology to solve vinually any problem with which we are confronted . But what exactly are those problems in the first place? On the surface. at least. this may seem a simple question to answe r. In air traffi c control. for instance. the problem is clear: Switzerlandwill need to be able to handle a volume of nights that is set to increase by some 50 per cent in the next ten years. In attempting to do so. the people involved will be able to draw on new technological aids that will allow them to manage the availa ble airspace more effectively. The ADAPT project has been developed largely to this end. ADAPT will put virtually all of Swi lzer land· s air traffic co ntrol activities onto one single fully electronic platform - a platform that will wholly comply with European standards and norms. The gradual implementation of ADAPT is already under way. CO\ l\ ll \IC\T IO \ l\FT\\ EE\ \I\\ \ \I> \ I \C ll l\l ·.

ADAPT is essentially an open technical system which requires specification from it, users. ADAPT offer, technological solutions for particular need, that have to he defined by our operational services. The better and more preci,ely those needs are identif ied and expre,,ed . the better arc the chances that ADAPT, many function, and facilities will be used effectively to those end,. Thu,. the core of the ADAPT project is in the software of the system. And. a, need, and n111 di1ions change. that sof t11arc may ha,c In he modified and adapted. 100. The,e ob,e r\'atioi1, lead u, to t,1o kq que-.tion,. How can mach ine, he be,l employed to ,upporl the people they are intended i'or'.1 And hm, can we ensure that man/ machine commun ica ti on, are as cll cc ti\'e a, ca n he·1 To an,11er the se que,tio n,. we not onl) need to lnok at the efTicie11L·yof 1he , y'item and its 1echnol11gy: we al'io need to rnn, idt'r the ll'ell-heing and ,ati,faction nf 1he operating per,o nne l in

T HE CONTROLL ER/MARCH 1996

HUMAN FA CTORS __

general. and the air traffic contro ller in particular. The kind of increase in productivity needed to handle future air traffic needs can only be ac hieve d if we have the bes t poss ible combination of man and machine. Needless to say. the increase in productivity will need to be effected without the slightest compromise in safety. too. A top performancetechnical system is not enough in itself to achieve this goal. The human factors also have to be right. Job satisfaction. for instance. will have a huge effect on an operator's productivity: and good communications are a prerequisite of safe operat ions . For ev idence of th ese observations. we need look no further than the largely automated cockpits of our customers· aircra ft. whe re many of our own future working procedures have already been in practice for a number of years. So what is likely to motivate an air traffic controller? And what kind of man/machine interface do we need to create to ensure that communications are as smooth and effective as possible9

lh :cu ..\TIO\S

, BlT (_'({E-\TI\ IT\' TOO

The job of the air traffic controller is a strange and specialized one. On the one hand. controll ers are expected to apply strictly defined procedures and abide by countless regulations. Yet at the same time they are constantly confronted with new situations which demand substantial flexibility in their response. On top of all this. ATC procedures are in a state of virtually constant change. and all these modifications must be assimilated. too. Gi ven the comp lex demand s of the profession. it is hardly surprising that the personality profile of air traffic controllers is equally complex. On the one hand they are expected to be "functionaries". who can be relied upon to enforce all the necessary rules and regulations: on the other hand they have to be "c reatives ". respond ing swiftl y to changed and changing conditions. What combines the functionary with the creator is professional pride - a pride that is based on the controller' s ability to handle complex and demanding air traffic problems with elegance and skill. Indeed. much of the job satisfaction for air traffic controllers will come from complicated situations in which they find the ir know ledge and ski lls are stretched lo the limit. yet they still need to remain fully in command. By contrast. a controller's least satisfying and most frustrating experiences will be either at time~when there i~ little to do. or - at the opposite end of the spectrum-time~ when they are ,impl) overwhelmed by the volume THE CON TR O LLER/MARCH 1996

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of traffic they are asked to handle. Of course. the !alte r kind of di ssatisfaction can be compensated for in the form of salary bonuses or extra time off. But. as experience has shown. the motivationderived from these incentives is of very limited duration. Thus. sati sfaction at the workpl ace remain s the key factor in emplo yee motivation. And when it comes to workplace satisfaction. under activity through excess automation can be ju st as harm ful as overactivity through inadequate aids and support. It is only in the area between these two extremes that an employee will feel truly comfortable and content. Thi s. at least. was the finding of an exhaust ive study conducted by Sandra Michel. a French psycho logist. on Swisscontrol' s behalf. Ms. Michel, an expert in the optimum deployment of people at the workplace.is well acquainted with her subject mauer: she conducted a similar study for the French ATC authorities. \' .\RI \LILE .\l TO .\I \TIO\

\\ "ITII I'\

TIIE (.'O:\IFORT \\'( \ DO\\

Sandra Michel also suggests. on the basis of her findings. that there are fundamental differencesbetween present and would-be air traffic controllers. "The air traffic controllers of the future won·1 have known anything other than the new system.'' she explains. "They'll have a very interesting job. and will see the new system only in terms of the benefits it provides." "But for the controllers who have worked under the old system." she continues. "the question of whether they will still find the job as satisfying as before is a harder one to answer. The biggest ·gain· under the new system will be the support that the new workstation and other colleagues can offer at times of high stress - heavy traffic or tricky situations. The new system will make it easier to handle situatio ns like these. witho ut eliminating co mpletely the interest and stimulus a controller can get from a complex and unusual problemhe or she has to solve." "The problem I see is in more ·normal' opera tions.'' Michel explains. "Here the controllers may reel they are losing some of their decision making authonty. That may make the work Jess stimulating and mental!) demanding. And that can have an adverse effect on per~onal motivation." This brings us to one of the most crucial questions of all: what kind of man/machine interface do we need to create. at the new computerized workplace. to ensure that the co ntrol ler' s moti valin n is nurtur ed and maintained'1 One essential here seems to be lo leave

AGENDA JUNE 7 - 10 IFATCA Executi ve Bo ard Meeting , Prague, Czech Rep. Co ntact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 781941

4 - 6 Global Navco m ' 96 Singapore Contact - Susan Thoburn , IATA Phone + l 514 985 6386 Fax +1 514 844 6727

OCTOBER 16 - 17 IFATCA ATC Symposium , Panam a 18 - 21 IFATCA Executi ve Board Meeting, Panama Contact - Exec utive Secretar y, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 781941

NOVEMBER 1 - 2 America s Regional Meeting, Guyana deta ils to follow

9 - 10 European Regional Meeting Vienna, Austria Contact Organising Comm ittee Phone +43 J 79798 2012 Fax +43 l 79798 2006

1997 FEBRUARY TBNIFATCA Sympo sium and IFATCA Executi ve Board Meeting , Africa Contact - Executive Secretary. Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 78 1941

TCAS IN VEGAS The latest way to boost TCAS sales in the USA was introduced recently in Las Vegas . One of the largest hotels there (The MGM Grand) runs a lase r show on its premises in the evening. Rece ntly a laser bea m temporarily blinded the pilot of a 8 737 during its approach in the nearby Vegas Airport. Of course the FAA jumped in to investigate. The hotel decided to fit TCAS equipment on their roof that automatically switches off the laser when an aircraft is detected. There are so many night clubs and hotels running laser shows at ihe moment that others ~ouW follow suit. The manufacturers never dreamt of that one I'm sure. I wonder if the hotels will have to file 'T CAS Incident Forms" and send it to the FAA every time the TCAS (or the laser) gets it wrong?.. Bt:YI\G A IRCRAFT h THE (CO :\Tl ,U:\C STORY)

90s

You all know it is "in"' at the moment to lease aircraft instead of buying. and when you fly around the world, it is now common place to see metal plates on the interior of the aircraft indicating who the real owner is. Most of the time it is !LC or a well known bank. A pilot friend passed on to me recently a pilot magazine featuring an article on this topic. One of the metal plates on a large British airline Boeing 757 read: ~ 'Th is aircraft is owned by DIA Windsor Ltd and others. and is subj ect to a first priority mortgage in favour of the Sumitomo Bank Ltd as security agent for it elf and others: · As the magazine said: ··1 would not fancy being the guy who had to try and find whose door to knock on if they ever fell behind with the payments 1 It would all be blamed on ·'the others... I expect"·. DF.Fl"\l:\G Et ·ROCO'\"TROI. GLOSS .\tn

THE fREQl E:\C\ :

From our UK friends in the GATCO magazine -Tra nsmit : :ower_Co mroller: Monarch 44, the London Flow Management Unit has JUSL_in crease d the negat ive to lerance of yo ur slot by 5 mmutes.. Pilot : Errr...Roger.. (pause) Pilot: Does that mean we can depart later'l Tower: I do not know Monarch 44. he did not say... ' ! B ES'I P\Ch.Ell

\ IIH.l\~ .R

A\"S \\ 'El{S TO EDIT I<)\" ..i/95E :\D OF YE.\R

Quz

( -')

This month as promi sed th e definition of FREE FLIGHT. I know that 'free flight" is a US term and not a Eurocontrol one but I have many definitions for you. so I could not resist. Just pick the one you like most and use it with your pilot friends. it is a sure way to get the d1scuss1ongoing. Free Flight ( I ): Controlled VFR for Boeino 747's Free Flioht (?)· A n· h ·tI1out any ATC"charges · · to pay as the aircraft . . . o_ :- · 1g t w1 will p1ov1de Its own ATC service. Free_Flight (3) : A concept for future air traffic control. <lesioned by 0 Stevie · h the help of Ray Charles for the approach and . Wonder ( wit landmg phases). Next time: definition of "Quality Management'· ()\ f .RHE \RD

Pl ·11ucREL.\TIO\S I\ ATC The saying goes that \\ hen you get good public relations you can get what yo u want. Thi s is L"ertai nly co rrec t in air traffi c co ntrol. In Pittsburgh Approach. in the USA. recently the whole ATC power system reportedly collapsed for 6 minutes. No radar. 110 telepho ne lines. no frequenc ies, even the lights failed inside the buildin g. Thirty-three aircraft were in the air under radar vectoring at the time. When the system came back the heart condition of the con troll ers was only marginally better than two of the pilots who found themselves 2 miles opposite each other at the same altitude. But a course correction could be made, and the situation was sa ved. As no co llisio n occ urred , the Pittsburgh '"incident'"did not make headline news on CNN. Not only did it go unnoticed, but, after the numerous ATC system failures in Chicago centre last Summer, a special report came up from the US National and Safety Board declaring the whole ATC system in the USA as ··old. but safe". The fact that the FAA has tried to hire elderly technicians, already retired for some yea rs. to help the m fix prob lems o n some AT C equipment, which is so old, no one in current employment knows how to repa ir it, is rega rded by the public relations man as: --innovative management technique". And the same public relations people chose to remind the n ying public that the USA has the best safety record in the world, with "onl/' 200 killed annually in the USA in aircraft accidents against some 82 millions flight movements a year. So why worry about some ..minutes'" of failures of old ATC equipment ...?? Indeed. Why worry? My advice, if you ever get in trouble while controlling aircraft, forget the lawyer, get a Public Relations man instead.

I\ 1995

No. it i~ not the A330 again, this time it is a DC9 - 20 as the photo below proves..

R A D A 0 J A M 0 T I 0 N R E D I C E PHOTO I is a CANA DAIR REGIONAL JET (or C L65) from LUFT HANSA (DU-I) ( 1995) PHOT0 2 is a LOCKHEED ELECTRA (or Ll 88). from Varig. Brazil. ( 1985) PHOT03 is a Boeing 747 from JAPAN AIR LINES (JAL) (Tokyo, 1995 to suppo11 Japan Disneyland) PHOT04 is a Lockheed TRISTAR ( LI OIJ. from LTU, ( 1995) PHOTOS is a Douglas DC9 from HAWAIIAN AIR (taken Honolulu 1984)

.... 30

Fi~e entries were received of which three were totally correct. The first pri ze dra wn goe s to Mr . Jerome Mo ntess uit of Geneva To we r. Switzerland. who wins a free reg istratio n fee to the IFATC A "96 Conference. The second & third prizes go to Mrs Mynam Wildi and Mr Chri stoph Gilgen. also of Geneva To wer. and the y win a yea rs subscription to The Controller. Co11 gratulatio11s to them all.

TH E CON T ROLL ER/MARCH 1996

"I'm afraid it's quite clear sir, in the absence of any repr ese ntat iv e of the air line, your 拢23 Super-Saver-Standby ticket makes you liabl e for the 3. 7 Milli o n po un ds owed to th 路e leasing company ......... sir?"

LETTERSTo THE EDITORARE ENCOURAGED A ND APPRECIATED THE C ONT ROLLER. J OURNA L OF A IR fROL. is published quarterly by TRAFFIC C Oj',.C

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>, ~( "_!l) .\/ \ \ c\. If i( ///\/ motivation,'' Michel continues. ··the more I as scientific studies have shown; and ordering realized that motivation is a question of the strips helps create order in the mind. 100. the decis ion making auth ority with the interaction - the interac tion betwee n the At the same time. writing the details on a strip controller and not give it to the machine. The com pany or the unit and the individ ual provides a back-up, a safety net in case the system should merely provide input on which concerned. Whether motivation is high or radar system should fail. In this capacity. the a decision can be based. Controllers should be low wil l neve r depend sole ly on th e strip helps controllers come to terms with the able to choose at any time whether to make indi vidu al or so lely on the com pany. fear and anxiety that could afflict them in use of the system·s support. which would take Motivation is the meeting of the person and such emergency situations. The third function the form of suggested courses of action. or the organization at a point we call work.'' of the strip is a physiological one: it gives whether to do without. Motivation. the n. is a matter of the Motivation could also be enhanced by people somethingto scribble on. indi vidual and the organ izatio n. And It is the second function of the strip that expecting all controllers to be able to provide ultimately, all our endeavors must be aimed should be our prime concern. If the strip safe and reliable ATC services manually in at finding the ideal interaction between these disappears as a tangible entity. controllers the event of a systems failure. This would must learn to use their memory without this two components. each and every day. mean that controllers would still have to be physical prop, and to use the new worktool s an impossible goal. But at That may be trained . as at prese ni. to the hig hest of least we can try to get as close as possible to much as they used the strip. This will require standards. this ideal. And the more we can determine a certain mental adjustment from all the air In brief. the automation of ATC activities ou r own stress and wo rkload - like the traffic controllers who currently find it so should be designed to relieve the controller at comfort window for our air traffic controllers difficult to imagine a stripless ATC world. times of high workload: but it should equally the closer to this objective we are likely to Th is simpl e examp le ill ustrat es th e protect the con troller from period s of get. immen se co mplex ity of des ignin g th e inactivity. This is because. as we have already Air traffic control is a socio-technical man/machine interface - an interface that is mentioned.a human being will only feel trnly It is the product of individuals. teams system. largely detennined by the kind of work that content when operating between these two and technology. It is a triangle of individual has to pass through it. Like any complex task. ex.tremes of overload and underemployment. skill, rec ipro cal teamwo rk support. and it is a problem for which no perfect solution is w1thin what ca n be termed the ··comfort technological aids. In its best possible form. likely to exist. window''. that triangle is the key to safe and productive The new technology is based upon this \lcr m -\T IO'\ DO ES\ ' T air traffic control. Finding that form must comfort window idea. As a result. controllers now be our spec ia lists' nu mbe r one can u e the system·s various help functions to .)LSI" HA PPE\ objective. It's not just the decision making that can detennine the workloadwith which they wish motivate an employee: it' s also the processes to cope . The workload can thus be adjusted to a level that is comfortable and rewardino that lead up to that decision. The job of the air for the controll er to work with. In othe~ traffic controller is becoming more and more words. the computer should offer to help out: of a teamwork affair. Briefings, debriefings and reciprocal support are essential; new team but II hould never be too forward in doino 0 1 structure s need to be deve loped: and The Air Traffic Control Council of the New so communications between the controllers Zealand Airline Pilots Association advises \ B, I R \Cl \\ ORl\.'I 001. " respo nsible for a parti cular sec tor are that. as of mid March. their negotiations for The new technology promises to remove beco ming more and more import ant. In the renewal of their collective employment addition to the duties themselves. the working contra ct have not bee n co mpleted. After oth .er e lemen ts of the prese nt workino 0 environment. too. at least in physical terms. A environment can have a major impact on two st rikes at the e nd of 1995 . furt her p1:ime example here is the strips - the pieces motivation. The working environment is a action, in the form of bans on overtime and ol paper which are used to note all the details conglom era te of various indi vidu al train ing. wa s plann ed for Mar c h. This component s such as co mmunicati on, action was cance lled. howeve r. after the of each flight handled. Paper strip s will management. career prospects. the team. and Air ways Co rpora ti o n. the contro ll ers vanish under the new system. to reappear on the organizational hierarchy. These factors employer. threatened to cancel all annua l the computer screen. also have a huge effect on the per sonal leave and suspend some staff for the six The tran sformat ion is not without its well-being and happiness of individual air week period during which the indus trial problems. Like most technological advances. traffic controllers and. as a result. on the action plann ed to occ ur. Th e Airways the new system will mean saying farewell to a motivation they may or may not bring to their Corporation. has now signalled a desire to long. famil iar and fond ly held tradi tion. Which is probably why the United Kingdom. work. move aw ay from a nati ona l co llective But what exactly is motivation? ··The contract. and put in place location based in some ways the birthpla ce of air traffic rnntrol. has still not brought itself to abolish term ·motivation· has always seemed a bit of contracts. This is seen by the Air Traff ic a catchall to me... says Sandra Michel. ·'When Control Council as a mechanism to destroy ,tr ip:, completely in the new fully electronic I visited operations for some of my earlier the current working conditions enjo yed by ATC environment. The strip has three prime functions. as far studies. people would tell me. ·Things work New Zea land ATco·s. in the nam e of well here. the people are very motivated· or improved ·productivity" by the gaining of as Sandra Michel can determine. Firstly it is ·w e have a few prob le ms - not eno ugh increase d ·fl ex ib ility· in e mp loy me nt the place information is stored. (Needless to motivation. you see·. 1 wanted to find out co ntracts . Thos e ATco ·s who a re :,ay. thi s information co uld he stored ,o mewhcre else quite easily. and probably what they actually rnealll by that. Why is it e mploye d by pri va t ised/corporatised more effectively. too.l The second function is that some people like going to work while employers would he wise to communicate more complex: the strip is a kind of memory others dread it? Is it really a purely personal wit h their New Zea land co lleagues. and thing?" prompt Writi ng things down is a very watch with in ter e st as th is dispute ·'The more I got into the question of continues. You could be next 1 effective way of committing them 10 memory.

...

NEW ZEALA ND STOP PRESS UPDATE

THE CONTROLLER/MAR CH 1996

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