IFATCA The Controller - July 2013

THE

CONTROLLER Journal of Air Traffic Control

July 2013

4 I FATCA 2013 Conference NATIO NAL

4 ATC Global 2013

4 Judiciary Expert Training

4 In Defense of Turbo Props

INTER-

4 Fatigue in ATC

TION OF AIR TRAFF ERA IC C FED

LLERS’ ASSNS. TRO ON

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Contents

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July 2013 Volume 52 Issue 2 – ISSN 0010-8073

;/,

*65;9633,9 Journal of Air Traffic Control

July 2013

4 IFATCA 2013 CONFERENCE 1$7,2 1$/

4 ATC Global 2013 4 In Defense of Turbo Props

,17(5

4 Fatigue in ATC

7,21 2) $,5 75$)) (5$ ,& & )('

//(56· $6616 752 21

Also in this Issue: 4 Judiciary Expert Training

In this issue:

Cover photo:

© Bombardier Inc.

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA Alexis Brathwaite President and Chief Executive Officer Patrik Peters Deputy President

Duncan Auld Executive Vice-President Technical

Scott Shallies Executive Vice-President Professional

Darrell Meachum Executive Vice-President Finance

Editorial ........................................................................................ 4 Foreword from the Executive Board............................................... 5 2013 IFATCA Conference .................................................................. 6 When There’s No Pilot Onboard .......................................................... 10 Fatigue in Air Traffic Control .................................................................. 12 ICAO Language Proficiency ...................................................................... 14 Europe: Prosecutor Expert Course ............................................................ 15

Langen ACC PAM ......................................................................... 18

Eurocontrol Network Management ............................................. 19

Norwegian Association turns 40 .................................................. 21 USA: Sequestration & Furloughs .......................................................... 22

Communicating for Safety ........................................................... 23

Archie League Awards ................................................................. 25

Canyons and National Parks in VFR ............................................. 26 Return of the Turboprop .................................................................................. 29 ATC Global 2013 .............................................................................................. 30 Parent ATCOs ................................................................................................... 32 Charlie ............................................................................................................. 34

Keziah Ogutu Executive Vice-President Africa and Middle East John Redmond Executive Vice-President Americas Mike O’Neill Executive Vice-President Asia and Pacific Željko Oreški Executive Vice-President Europe

Philippe Domogala Conference Executive

Tatiana Iavorskaia Office Manager and Secretary

The editorial team has endeavored to include all owner information, or at least source information for the images used in this issue. If you believe that an image was used without permission, please contact the editor via http://www.the-controller.net

PUBLISHER IFATCA, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers‘ Associations 1255 University Street · Suite 408 Montreal, Quebec · H3B 3B6 · CANADA Phone: +1514 866 7040 Fax: +1514 866 7612 · Email: office@ifatca.org

REGIONAL EDITORS Phil Parker, Asia Pacific Serge Tchanda, Africa & Middle East COPY EDITORS Paul Robinson, Jez Pigden, Brent Cash, David Guerin Alasdair Shaw & Helena Sjöström

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Philip Marien Van Dijcklaan 31 B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium email: bm@the-controller.net

LAYOUT & PRINTING LITHO ART GmbH & Co. Druckvorlagen KG Friesenheimer Straße 6a D 68169 Mannheim GERMANY

Deputy EDITOR Philippe Domogala email: dp@the-controller.net

Tel: +49 (0)621 3 22 59 10 Fax: +49 (0)621 3 22 59 14 email: info@lithoart-ma.de

CORPORATE AFFAIRS Vacant

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this magazine are those of the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA) only when so indicated. Other views will be those of individual members or contributors concerned and will not necessarily be those of IFATCA, except where indicated. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this publication is correct, IFATCA makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the nature or accuracy of the information.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or used in any form or by any means, without the specific prior written permission of IFATCA, except where indicated (e.g. a creative commons licence).

VISIT THE IFATCA WEB SITES:

www.ifatca.org and www.the-controller.net

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Editorial

Why I Don’t Like Politicians ^ By Philip Marien, Editor

Photo: HvM

It’s been a while since there’s been an editorial in The Controller. Last minute page reshuffles, writer’s block and deadlines whizzing by are all to blame for this page to have been missing from the past few issues.

But what better issue than this one to start writing one again? There’s a good diversity of articles, from the Annual IFATCA Conference – held in Bali, Indonesia last April; a number of articles highlighting IFATCA’s policies in both technical and professional fields; a look at the issues our US colleagues were faced with following political indecision; and more.

What surprises me every time, is that for a global industry such as aviation, the problems that Air Traffic Control/Management is faced with on a daily basis are so diverse.

But while the effects for the controllers are different, the source of the problems is remarkably similar. Allow me to elaborate.

The greatest challenge ATC is faced with, probably on a global level, is political indecision or – perhaps even worse – political half-decisions. In the latter case, things are changed half-assed: rather than improving things, compromises are made that tend to make things more complicated and less efficient. At a European level for example, they’ve come up with performance targets without actually providing the means to implement these. This is left up to the ingenuity of the service providers, or at least their accountants. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the ‘solution’ is often simply a reduction in staff, while ‘maintaining the same or better performance’ – and (they won’t say this) safeguarding the income/ profit for the shareholders. While there are plenty of studies that show the detrimental effects of performance targets and KPIs on the end-user (one example: http://goo.gl/ EqWvv, but Google will find plenty more for you), ATC or at least those that govern it, have seemingly just discovered them as the next best thing to sliced bread.

In Europe, the constant mantra that we should be more like our counterparts in the USA is beginning to sound like a broken record (for those who never knew music in the pre-digital age: a scratch on a vinyl record would often cause the song to hang, repeating the same bit over and over again). Yes, the USA has less ATC centres; yes, they have fewer controllers; yes, it seems more organized compared to Europe’s chaotic airspace structure. But there’s a number of elements that are conveniently forgotten: it’s not running a mix of public, semi-privatised, corporatized, fully privatised or whatever hybrid politicians have seen fit to implement in Europe.

Regulation and service provision are with the same authority in the USA, unlike Europe where there are 27 providers and at least as many regulators. There’s one Air Force in the USA, whereas in Europe, there are also at least 30, some of which are technically still at war with their neighbours or looking for any excuse to start one… And last but not least: in the USA, ATC is not considered a milking cow to subsidize whatever pet-project politicians come up with! Air travel is for all practical purposes considered a form of public transport in the USA. Infrastructure for public transport is still heavily subsidised in the interest of the traveling public, even in Europe – so why should this be any different for infrastructure and services for air travel?

Lastly, as you’ll see from the article from our US NATCA colleagues in this issue: the US system is not without problems either…

No one, not in the least the airlines, appears to be concerned with the increasing costs of airport security. This was following events that are still fresh in everyone’s mind and that no one wants to see repeated. Perhaps it is time that airlines and politicians realise that ATC, just like airport security, is not just a burden, but that it is a valuable public service that provides a product that should not be for sale, taxed or used for profit: safety.

If this is not realised, accepted and acted on sooner rather than later, it might be too late to turn back the clock.

Despite the grim thought, I hope you nevertheless enjoy this issue. ^

ed@the-controller.net

Photo: CherryX via wikipedia

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Foreword Photo: evpeur

From the Executive Board Satisfied Controller = Safe Sky

^ by Scott Shallies, IFATCA EVP Professional In April we held our 52nd annual IFATCA conference in Bali, Indonesia. The conference was successfully organised by the local Indonesian association, IATCA, who did a great job, and we’d like to thank them for their marvellous efforts. The theme of this years conference was “Satisfied Controller = Safe Sky”. A short statement, but one that has many implications.

What do we mean by “satisfied controller”? On a simplistic level it can be seen as merely ‘pay & conditions’, which in itself is true. Controllers should be able expect to be renumerated at a level reflecting the responsibilities of the job. But for many of our Member Associations, this is sadly not the case. They face a continuing struggle to achieve appropriate recognition for their controllers. It should be recognised that the job is a profession, not just an administrative task; that we fulfil a safety critical role; that it places unique demands upon us, both professionally and socially.

This is an area of continuing work for the Federation in the professional realm, and will be one of my main focus areas for the year ahead.

But the phrase “Satisfied Controller = Safe Sky” also means much more than just the literal money and conditions aspects. It also encompasses aspects such as human factors, just culture and professionalism, to

name just a few. How can a controller be ‘satisfied’ if they are not appropriately supported in their work, physically, culturally and legally? The equipment we use must be reliable and adequate for the task.

And very importantly, controllers should be able to operate in a true ‘just culture’ environment, free from fear of prosecution for performing their duties in accordance with rules and procedures. Controllers are entitled to feel free to report incidents or safety concerns without fear of reprisals. But again, and sadly, for many of our Member Associations, this is not the case.

We continue to deal with situations where controllers are subject to legal action, or other reprisals, for simply acquitting their professional obligations. Whilst some good progress has been made in just culture in parts of Europe and other areas, there is still much work to be done in other areas. Again, this will be a focus area in the professional realm in the year ahead.

This year’s conference dealt with working papers on all of these topics; and much more! The conference is a show case where our work is presented to not only our Member Associations, but through conference observers, invited guests and press coverage, it is also presented to the wider aviation and local communities, including local ANSPs. This year, there was an extensive press conference following

Photo: evpeur

the opening ceremony where the theme of the conference was discussed in depth.

The conferences are one important vehicle through which we communicate our message and raise the profile of our concerns, especially in the local community. In cooperation with the work of IFATCA, this year’s conference did indeed help communicate the message that a ‘satisfied controller’, at all levels of it’s meaning, does equal a safe sky! ^

evpp@ifatca.org

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4 Conference

52nd IFATCA Annual Conference Bali, Indonesia

^ by Philippe Domogala, Deputy editor ce­re­mony to appease the Gods. It is said that Bali is home to more than 2000 Gods – not including the controllers and pilots present on the island…

The organising committee and local association had chosen a central theme for the Conference: ‘Satisfied controller = safe Sky’.

One of their goals was to emphasize the urgency to improve working conditions and salaries of the Indonesian controllers, which are among the lowest in the region.

4 Mr E.E. Mangindaan, Indonesia’s Minister of Transport addresses delegates during the opening of the 2013 Conference.

Photo: evpeur

The beautiful island of Bali played host to the 52nd IFATCA conference this year. Mr E.E. Mangindaan, Indonesia’s Mi­ nis­ter of Transport, opened the Conference amid a beautiful traditional Balinese dancing

The authorities apparently took this theme seriously: both the Minister and the Director General of Civil Aviation promoted the idea that, indeed, the profession should be more recognised.

With a press conference attended by more than 40 journalists, the Conference made the national news in Indonesia. It was also supported by two of the major Indonesian airlines, Garuda and Lion Air, with senior representatives of both attending.

The actual conference went extremely smooth and a lot of topics were covered, as

you’ll be able to read on the following pages.

The Organising Committee, led by I Gusta Susila, did a remarkable job in ensuring that the 400 controllers representing 75 associations had a wonderful time and enjoyed the excellent meeting facilities.

Administration (Committee A) Committee A, concerned with administrative aspects of the Federation, was chaired by Mr Paul Robinson (New Zealand). He was assisted by Mr Rifai Ahmed (Indonesia) as ViceChairman and Mr Jim Dunn (New Zealand) as Secretary. IFATCA Deputy President Mr Patrick Peters (EGATS) and EVP Finance Mr Darrell Meachum (USA) completed the head table.

The committee reviewed and accepted two new members: Brazil, where a new association was formed, and Lebanon. Unfortunately, a number of Member Associations were also proposed for termination. Without the solidarity of some of the larger Member Associations, the number of MAs facing expulsion would have been considerably higher and as a result, the number of affiliated member associations remains stable at 133.

Finance-Constitution & Administration Committees The work programmes of these two committees resulted in a number of changes to our processes and procedures. The Federation’s financial situation is strong, with income exceeding expenses and substantial reserves.

Concerns on some financial aspects within the European region were addressed and a review of the claims reimbursement process will form part of the work programme for the Finance Committee.

4 Delegates await the start of the plenary

Photo: evpeur

Committee A heard updates from a number of IFATCA Officers’ and accepted their reports to conference. The chairman of the committee, Mr Paul Robinson, remarked IFATCA officers, officials and representatives continue to demonstrate a high sense of professional and technical competence.

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4 Conference They helped to affirm the Federation as an important stakeholder in the international aviation community. Through involvement in SESAR, EASA, NextGen and ICAO ANC, IFATCA is now nothing less than a global player in defining the future of international Air Navigation. This view was shared by the chairmen of the other committees and highlighted in their address to the final plenary.

The Committee also recognised the dedication of the Office Manager, Ms Tatiana Iavorskaia, as second to none. She received applause from Directors for her efficient management of the office, and also for her professional and customer-care approach to her work.

4 The IFATCA Executive Board and dignitaries during the opening of the 2013 Annual Conference Photo: evpeur

Technical Committee (Committee B)

John Redmond stepped down from his role as Chairman of FIC in order to continue as EVP Americas (see box). Mr Cary Price from Trinidad & Tobago was elected as the new FIC Chair and will be assisted by volunteers from The Bahamas, Germany and the United Kingdom as FIC members 2013/14. Rob Marshall continues his term as Chair of the CAC, and will be assisted by the Netherlands, New Zealand, and EGATS.

Mr Akos van der Plaat (NL), assisted by Mr Hermanto (Indonesia) as Vice Chairman and Mr Alasdair Shaw (New Zealand) as Secretary, chaired the committee. EVP Technical, Mr Patrick Forrey, (USA) completed the head table. The Technical and Operational Committee (TOC) under the chairmanship of Ignacio Baca (Spain) did an admirable job in making some very technical working papers understandable to Directors.

IFATCA Website

Policy was adopted on User Driven Prioritization Process (UDPP). This is a new concept designed to allow airspace users to have input into the allocation of delay in capacity constrained situations. UDPP will take advantage of other new concepts such as Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) and System-Wide Information Management (SWIM). The committee agreed that dynamic slot trading processes cannot interfere with an air traffic controller’s authority to make tactical decisions to ensure safe operations.

Following some security issues with our current website hosting service, the Executive Board took action to transfer the site to a different location. This also allowed a newly designed website to be launched somewhat earlier than originally planned, and the site is now in a more secure position although still under development. The Committee recognised the dedication of Rob Marshall, who set up our original website in 1999 and who has continued to maintain it until this recent change. Rob advised that he would continue to assist with the development of the new site.

Appointments Philippe Domogala was re-appointed as Conference Executive for another two years, and Tatiana Iavorskaia will, in addition to her position as Office Manager, also act as Secretary to the Federation.

Conference Venues 2014 and beyond Spain was confirmed as the host Association for the 53rd Annual IFATCA Conference, to be held in Gran Canarias from 5 – 9 May 2014. Bulgaria was elected to host the 54th Annual Conference of IFATCA in Sofia in 2015, and expressions of interest for the 2016 Conference were received from the Bahamas and Nigeria.

A good example of this was the work-study on Mode S, a technology that has found its way to the day-to-day work of a reasonably large group of Member Associations. The downlinking of information through Mode S technology enables controllers to use information that is available from the aircraft to their benefit. The biggest safety-enhancing application is the downlinking and display to ATC of ‘selected level’. The presentation of this information assists in identifying and correcting errors, which went unnoticed in the normal read back – hear back cycle. At the same time, several MAs also identified serious technical issues and a clear need for harmonised procedures. As a result of this, Committee B decided to task the Executive Board with bringing these concerns to the attention of ICAO and to urge them to develop harmonised procedures.

IFATCA encourages the development of technologies to automate the provision of Flight Information Service. However, the committee adopted policy stating that when flight information is provided through automatic data transmission systems, clear procedures shall be established and the allocation of tasks and responsibilities shall be clearly determined.

Another interesting subject that was discussed was the re-classification of aircraft wake turbulence categories.

The study highlighted the fact that the current methodology, by which aircraft are grouped, often results in an inefficient use of runway capacity. A work-study looked

4 Traditional Balinese dance during the opening ceremony Photo: evpeur

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4 View from the head table during the plenary session

the SPO situation will be alleviated as soon as possible. Until such time, measures shall be taken to mitigate all impacts of SPO such as but not limited to: traffic regulation, work break provisions, informing neighbouring ATC units. Procedures shall be in place to implement such measures in an efficient way, not increasing the workload of the ATCO. The use of single controller shifts should be strongly discouraged by MA’s, both through their ANSP(s) and their regulator(s). When providers choose to use SPO, they must bear the responsibility for the resulting risk(s) to the system. An ATCO shall not be held liable for incidents or accidents resulting from an ANSP imposing the use of SPO. Similar wording was used to strengthen the 4-eyesprinciple (4EP).

Photo: evpp

at the various developments in this area. Amongst these is the application of a new concept in Memphis USA, which has shown up to 15% capacity increase. The biggest concern the TOC identified, and which Committee B embraced, is the fact that an increase in wake turbulence categories has a serious potential to lead to an increase in controller workload with its safety implications.

Policy was adopted, which stated that these new wake turbulence categorization concepts can only be supported provided that controller workload does not exceed acceptable levels. It is yet another proactive way of approaching new concepts, which has proven to be very effective to

changes that controllers might be faced with in the future.

The TOC work program 2013/2014 includes: Follow up on terrain clearance and airspace design; Surveillance in Oceanic airspace (ADS-C vs. Satellite ADS-B); Emergency descent procedures; Service priority and operational consequences; Fuel shortage and diversion to alternate airport; ATC to ATC Coordination; Remote and virtual towers; Review of harmonization of transition altitudes; Review of policy in regards to safety jointly with PLC; Review of policy in regards to RA downlink with PLC; Develop specific conflict features in communication failure.

Professional and Legal Committee (C) The committee was chaired by Mr Eric Risdon (Switzerland), assisted by Mr Setio Anggoro (Indonesia) as Vice Chairman and Mrs Maša Jeraj (Slovenia) as Secretary. EVP Professional, Mr Scott Shallies (Australia), made the head table complete.

The committee first heard reports of the EVP Professional and the Chairman of the Professional & Legal Committee (PLC), Jez Pigden. Reviewing the reports presented by the PLC, several policies were adopted. One such policy concerns industrial action where it was stated that agreements on minimum staffing should be ideally negotiated before conflicting times arise.

4 IFATCA PCX & CEO Alexis Brathwaite addresses the delegates at the farewell event.

Photo: evpeur

Existing policy that deals with Single Person Operations was made more explicit to help MAs cope with this undesirable situation. It now read as follows: Single Person Operations (SPO) shall be avoided. In the unlikely event of unavoidable SPO, appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure that

The committee was then presented with some very informative material on Fatigue and its Risk Management Systems and adjusted its definition of ATCO fatigue as a result. Updates were also presented on the commercialization of Air Traffic Services; on the English Language Proficiency; on mechanisms for dealing with critical incidents or accidents; and an information paper on electro-magnetic hypersensitivity.

The 2013/2014 work program for the PLC includes the following subjects: Continuation of FRMS work stream; Continuation of SPO paper; Review policy on the systemic concept of safety; Equipment incentives (service priorities – best equipped best served principle); assist TOC with the RA downlinks policy review; Written ELP (with regard to CPDLC); Effect of performance targets on ATM; Follow up with the ILO on the right to strike; Professionalism in ATC; and Just Culture – global awareness plan, and review of current policy.

Joined Technical & Professional Committees As has been customary for a number of years, a joined session of committees B & C. The agenda comprised of reports from global representatives, reports from the Regional Vice Presidents, work-studies and presentations from corporate members and international organisations. The well-attended sessions lasted one and a half days, perhaps illustrative of the increasing complexity and overlaps of technical, professional and legal issues.

Dr Ruth Stillwell, IFATCA representative to ICAO, informed the committee of the work IFATCA is doing in close cooperation with ICAO. She especially detailed our participation in the Air Navigation Commission and

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4 Conference Office Manager, Ms Tatiana Iavorskaia, will take up the post of Secretary, which until conference had been filled by Adell Humphreys (USA). The directors joined Committee A in expressing their huge appreciation for the outgoing board members.

Paul Robinson, New Zealand, was awarded the IFATCA Scroll of Honour in recognition of his outstanding service to the Federation.

4 The Organising Committee of the 2013 IFATCA Conference. what was going on at the Aerodrome Panel, underlining that the working relationship with IFATCA at the ANC level is very good.

The committee then heard the work-studies presented by TOC and PLC. One paper reviewed IFATCA policy and proposed action to develop a global unified procedure for Radio Communication Failure. Recognising that the issue is wider than equipment failures, the Federation’s strengthened its definition of the problem and policy to insist on a global procedure.

Another work item updated the committees on the developments in Civil and Military Cooperation. Given that ICAO was mandated by the ANC to develop recommendations to the Assembly this year, it was felt that this subject should remain on the work programme for both TOC and PLC. Recommendations were put forward to study and promote Resilience and a new Systemic Approach to Safety following a bright presentation from M. Tom Laursen,

4 Duncan Auld (NZ) is

the new IFATCA EVP Technical

Photo: evpeur

with input from Dr Anthony Smoker and Marc Baumgartner. TOC and PLC will report back next year with their findings on this. A workstudy on Quality Management Systems was also presented and the meeting recognised the need for the Federation to update its ‘Vision for the Human in the Future ATM system’. The committee also got an update on a joint EUROCOTNROL/IFATCA Prosecutor Expert course – see the article elsewhere in this issue.

Final Plenary The Final Plenary endorsed the decisions put forward by the committees. Amongst those were a number of newly elected IFATCA Executive Board members. Mr Duncan Auld will be replacing Mr Pat Forrey (USA) as EVP Technical; new EVP Asia-Pacific, replacing Mr D K Behera (India) is Mr Mike O’Neill (Hong Kong); and Mr John Redmond (Canada) was elected to fill the vacant post of EVP Americas for one year. Re-elected in their current functions were Mr Patrik Peters (EGATS) as Deputy President and Ms Keziah Ogutu (Kenya) as EVP Africa & Middle-East. The

4 John Redmond (Canada) 4 Mike o’Neill, the new was elected as new EVP Americas

EVP Asia-Pacific for IFATCA

Conclusion This year’s conference was again very well organised and well attended. The debates proved very interesting. Just to give one example: the long, and at times heated debate on a new approach to safety (i.e. systemic safety) lasted over 4 hours. We’ll continue this discussion during the Regional Meetings in few months, as it will be the theme of the regional meeting seminars this year. Improving the working conditions remains a priority for many of our Member Associations and thereby for the Federation itself. After the press coverage and statements of high government officials during Conference, one can hope that at least our Indonesian colleagues will be able to enjoy improved working conditions and salaries as a direct result. ^

dp@the-controller.net

4 Office Manager Tatiana 4 Paul Robinson Iavorskaia will also act as EB Secretary

received the IFATCA Scroll of Honour

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4 Technology 4 IAI Heron, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle developed by the Malat (UAV) division of Israel Aerospace Industries.

Photo: SSGT Reynaldo Ramon, USAF

When There’s No Pilot Onboard.

The Challenges of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft

^ by Ignacio Baca, Chairman IFATCA Technical and Operational Committee The subject of aircraft not needing a pilot on board is gaining more and more attention. News of the use of military drones appear often in the media while SESAR and NEXTGEN have launched projects aimed at the integration of remotely piloted aircraft in non-segregated airspace.

Aircraft industries are pushing for such an integration sooner rather than later. ICAO has addressed this subject by the creation of a Study Group de­ dicated to unmanned aircraft and by issuing amendment 43

to their Annex 2. An ICAO manual on the subject is expected by the end of this year.

Naturally, IFATCA has closely followed this topic: the Technical and Operations Committee(TOC) has presented work studies on the subject three times in the last 8 years. The matter was first introduced at the Melbourne conference in 2005; it was present again in Dubrovnik in 2009 and was the subject of an outstanding presentation by Oliviero Barsanti, on behalf of the TOC, at the Conference held in Bali in April this year.

Different denominations exist for these kinds of aircraft. Depending on the context, they may be referred to as an Unmanned Aerial

4 CBP Air and Marine officers control and watch images taken by Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) of the CBP. This surveillance provides information concerning illegal activities taking place in remote areas to Border Patrol agents.

Photo: Gerald Nino, CBP, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security

Vehicle (UAV), Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), etc. These names cover a wide-range of devices from very small – intended to work in the line of sight of its operator – to aircraft like the Global Hawk – the size of a small jet, able to climb up to 60,000 ft and with a range of 7,500 nautical miles.

Remotely piloted aircraft have been used by the military for years but there are many proposals for civil applications. These include environmental research; communications; crop spraying; cartography; fire fighting; law enforcement and more.

The potential use of RPAS has created many expectations but there are also concern among the general public. One such concern is how privacy can be assured in an environment where RPAs with cameras would be virtually omnipresent. Another major concern is of course safety. As air traffic controllers, our main interest is the operational consequences of the introduction of such aircraft in the airspace under our responsibility.

The first question that arises is: what are the differences between a conventional aircraft and UAS? It is obvious that the latter does not carry a pilot on board but quite often, equipment has to be sacrificed to minimize weight and power limitations. The Global Hawk for example is currently not RVSM capable, thereby requiring increased vertical separation above certain flight levels. While these problems may seem trivial and easy

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4 Technology to solve, they illustrate the kind of requirements, equipment in this case, that RPAS must comply with before they are able to share airspace with other conventional users.

Other requirements may be the need to respond to ATC instructions in the same way and within the same time frame as the pilot of a manned aircraft. In fact, UAS operations need to be transparent to ATS providers and thereby controllers.

Among the difficulties to solve before UAS may operate in non-segregated airspace are two fundamental issues deserving more detail: the ‘Command and Control’ and ‘Detect and Avoid concepts.‘ ‘Command and Control’, often abbreviated as C2 or C&C has been defined by Amendment 43 to ICAO Annex 2 as The data link between the remotely piloted aircraft and the remote pilot station for the purposes of managing the flight. Nowadays an aircraft can be considered as a closed system with the flight controls inside the plane. Anyone intending to control it has to be physically in-

4 One of the many projects underway

for UAS: Google intends to build huge wireless networks across Africa and Asia, using high-altitude balloons and blimps.

Photo: Isafmedia / CC BY 2.0

side it. A UAS on the other hand is an open system: it is theoretically possible to take control by intercepting the communication between the pilot and the aircraft. This creates a need to guarantee secure communication for command purposes. Even without intercepting the link between pilot and aircraft the possibility to hijack a UAS was demonstrated by Professor Todd Humphreys of the University of Texas: he managed to conduct an experiment whereby a small drone was sent off course by spoofing the GPS signals it relied on for navigation.

The ‘Detect and Avoid’ concept has also been introduced in the Amendment 43 to ICAO Annex 2. It is defined as the capability to see, sense or detect conflicting traffic or other hazards and take the appropriate action. Detect and avoid in other words must

4 This BAE Systems’ Jetstream 31 will trial a range of new technologies to be

developed under the ASTRAEA programme, including what is believed to be the world’s first autonomous weather avoidance system, ‘sense and avoid’ technologies and an autonomous emergency landing system.

Photo: Ian Busby via JetPhotos.net

substitute the capability of the pilot to perform an evasive manoeuvre based on eyesight. The manoeuvre may be autonomous or can be initiated by the remote pilot. If the latter is the case the C2 issue arises again because the system must ensure secure and fast communication to allow an evasive action.

Therefore an autonomous system seems more appropriate but the problem is not an easy one because it deals with complex situations and rules: for example, an aircraft detecting a risk of collision must give way depending of the geometry of the encounter (general rule is to give preference to an aircraft on the right hand side) and the type of aircraft involved (power-driven heavier-thanair must give way always to airships, gliders and balloons).

Even for UAVs intended to operate in class A airspaces where all the potential intruders would be cooperative – because they are supposed to be equipped with transponders and TCAS – the question is not easily solved: TCAS is not an option because the need is to emulate the pilot’s eyesight which is present jointly with TCAS in a conventional aircraft. Relying solely on TCAS would then be equivalent to removing a safety net. In addition any detection system must also be independent of the equipment linked to surveillance to avoid the possibility that the sep-

aration and anti-collision layers of safety both fail due to the same reason. These kinds of problems are so complex that the FAA has acknowledged that some of the Annex 2 requirements can possibly never be fully met by a UAS. From an air traffic controller’s perspective, the need is to handle a UAS as any other aircraft. The solution of problems like those described above must not lead to mixed mode operations in which, for example, a greater separation is required for a UAS due to a slow Command and Control satellite link. The three studies made by TOC so far on the subject lead to a clear conclusion: UAS must operate according to ICAO rules, complying with ICAO requirements and must work in a way that allows them to be handled like any other aircraft by air traffic control. This is reflected in our Technical and Professional Manual. ^

toc.chair@ifatca.org

Operational Use of Unmanned Aircraft IFATCA Policy from the Technical and Professional Manual All Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) operations in non-segregated airspace must be in full compliance with ICAO requirements.

Air Traffic Controllers must not be expected to handle a UAS in a different way from any other aircraft for which they are providing service.

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Fatigue in Air Traffic Control ICAO Fatigue Risk Management Task Force

^ by Scott Shallies, IFATCA EVP Professional ICAO is launching a task force to examine the topic of Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) in Air Traffic Control. IFATCA will be re­ presented on this task force.

The topic was examined by IFATCA’s Professional and Legal Committee (PLC) last year. Below is an extract from the PLC working paper presented to the 52nd Annual IFATCA conference in Bali, Indonesia, in April 2013. This excellent paper, authored by Hennie Groep-Kaster of The Netherlands, forms a good basis of IFATCA’s contribution to the ICAO Task Force.

Recently, fatigue issues have become a hot topic in aviation.

At the moment, conclusions from numerous studies in the field of fatigue, fatigue risks and fatigue management are already available as well as the associated literature. These studies were conducted on fatigue issues in general, in other sectors and in the transport sector; all the studies relate to the assessment of the issue and the determination of the actions to be taken.

Fatigue Risk Management System Require­ ments. Although this is intended for flight and cabin crew members, a lot of the information could well be applicable for personnel providing ATC services.

There is compelling evidence that fatigue compromises safety, and that fatigue and its causes need to be managed carefully (Williamson et al, 2009). The basic goal for managing fatigue is safety, as fatigue is a hazard that must be managed comprehensively. Safety management is about safety of the individual and safety of the overall system operation. Fatigue management in ATC, for all the complexities, can be seen as simply as respect for the known basic human performance limitations. Without a holistic approach, fatigue will degrade individual performance and pose a threat to safety.

Fatigue Definition There are many definitions of fatigue to be found. We looked for a definition that is most tangible, to the point and specific for the aviation industry. This lead us to base ourselves on the same definition as ICAO for fatigue: ‘A physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting

from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase, or workload (mental and/or physical activity) that can impair a crew member’s alertness and ability to safely operate an aircraft or perform safety related duties.’

(ICAO FRMS Manual for Regulators, Doc 9966, 2011) When we look at this definition, we see that the state of fatigue is determined by physiology and has effects on both mental as physical performance. The state is determined by sleep loss, extended wakefulness, the circadian phase (explained below under causes of fatigue) and workload. It mentions that the ability to perform safety related duties is impaired.

The definition does not relate to the personal (subjective) effects of these variables and the definition relates to aircraft crew. For this reason, we submit the following definition: Fatigue: A physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase, or workload (mental and/or physical activity), affecting the subjective state, that can impair an air traffic controller’s alertness and ability to perform safety related duties.’

ICAO has stressed the importance of a FRMS by publishing the Fatigue Risk Management Systems Manual for Regulators (Doc 9966) in 2011. This manual provides guidance on the development, implementation, approval and monitoring of a FRMS. ICAO Annex 6, Part I added Appendix 8 in December 2011.

This Appendix describes the

Photo: © Martin Novak | Dreamstime.com

Photo: © Gilles Decruyenaere | Dreamstime.com

The aim of an effective FRMS is to reduce the potential negative impact of fatigue on safety. In the past rest (sleep) was identified as the principle means to mitigate fatigue.

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4 Professional However in 24/7 operations involving human operators and shift work, fatigue will always be a potential safety risk. Therefore, in addition to measures that aim to reduce fatigue related risks, a specific fatigue mitigation strategy needs to be employed to minimise the extent and cause of degraded human performance during operational duties. Finally, there must be mitigation strategies in place to form a final line of defence so that human errors posing a potential threat to safety result from fatigue-degraded human performance, the errors would be captured or otherwise prevented from resulting in an incident, accident or other occurrence (Canada tripartite steering committee on ATC fatigue, 2001).

Awareness of fatigue related risks resulting from fatigue is ever growing at this point in time; ATM service providers and aviation organizations alike acknowledge the need to mitigate risk that threaten air traffic safety.

ICAO SARPS ICAO has issued SARPs for flight and cabin crew on the issue of fatigue management in Annex 6, Part I, chapter 4, 4.10.6 (ICAO FRMS Manual for Regulators, Doc 9966, 2011, ICAO FRMS Implementation Guide for Operators, 2011), including particular standards that enable the effective regulation of FRMS. These are, in turn, supported

by Annex 6 Appendix 8, which details the requirements for a FRMS. The SARPs empha-

Photo: © Miroslav Beneda | Dreamstime.com

sise that regulations should be established for the purpose of managing fatigue. These regulations shall be based upon scientific principles and knowledge, with the aim of ensuring that flight and cabin crew members are performing at an adequate level of alertness.

The SARPs take into account the necessary opportunity to sleep for flight and cabin crew members and to comment on the quality of sleep obtained. The recommendations made however focus on the issues as befall pilots and flight crew, and therefore do not address the issues ATCOs might have. Short breaks are not a typical instrument to be applied on flight and cabin crew, while they can be a viable method to reduce fatigue for ATCO’s.

Photo: © U96 | Dreamstime.com

The SARPs leave out a maximum shift length recommendation. As the SARPs are solely aimed at flight and cabin crew, this is understandable as a shift is dictated by the length of the flight. Instead, recommendations are based on the regulation of flight time duty periods and rest period limitations. This automatically has repercussions on the recommended applied rostering/scheduling. While the SARPs are comprehensive, they do not provide guidance to ANSP’s on how to implement a roster that reduces fatigue risks.

The SARPs introduce the joint responsibility of both operator and personnel, in the same manner as is advised upon in the previous paragraph. The SARPs refer to recommended training of personnel and the necessary commitment of all staff, from management to flight and cabin crew, to reduce fatigue related risks. The SARPs even suggest a required accountability of personnel when these rules are not followed. Although accountability can be a way of enforcing regulation to be followed, the enforcing thereof in this subject could be very difficult. The re-

quirement to make attendance mandatory to fatigue related training programs however is a valuable one, which can be incorporated in the FRMS-model for ANSPs. Finally, the outcome based FRMS is incorporated in the SARPs, by ensuring that output, results and deviations from regulations are reported upon and used for further refinement of the regulations, by the operator.

For further details about the ICAO task force, or for a copy of the full working paper, please contact me. ^

evpp@ifatca.org

4 Conference Executive fights fatigue during IFATCA Conference by taking a quick powernap.

Photo: evpeur

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Testing the Testers ICAO Seeks to Verify Language Proficiency Tests Are Up To STANDARD Guadalupe Cortés Obrero, ^ by IFATCA English Language Subject Matter Expert mon objective with a high level of priority for the aviation community.

THE ROLE OF ICAO

Photo: © Mtsue | Dreamstime.com

INTRODUCTION Throughout the 1990s, a series of air disasters in different parts of the world, with more than 900 fatalities in total, were found to be at least in part due to a lack of language skills of the pilots and/or air traffic controllers involved. This triggered ICAO to introduce tightened rules for pilots and air traffic controllers: they established minimum skill level requirements to reduce potential misunderstanding in radiotelephony communications to be able to better deal with unexpected events or emergencies.

English Language Proficiency requirements became a com-

As early as 1998, ICAO Resolution A3216 made it MANDATORY for Contracting States to ensure that pilots, air traffic controllers and flight crew involved in flight operations are fully “proficient” in the use of the English Language. Several other resolutions followed (A36-11, A37-10) which introduced a language assessment for aviation professionals. In March 2003, the ICAO Council adopted a comprehensive set of Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in order to strengthen language proficiency requirements for pilots and air traffic controllers involved in international operations. A special emphasis was put on the need to use standardized phraseology. In those cases where phraseology was not applicable, both pilots and air traffic controllers should demonstrate a minimum level of proficiency in plain English language (ICAO Annexes 1, 6, 10 & 11).

In October 2007, ICAO adopted Resolution A36-11 entitled “Proficiency in the English language used for radiotelephony communications”. This resolution gave States that had not complied with the language proficiency requirements until Match 5th 2008 to present their language proficiency implementation plans, including an explanation

of the interim measures to mitigate risk.

Provided such a plan was made known to all other Contracting States (through the ICAO websites), the States had three year (i.e. until March 5th 2011) to implement their plan.

In October 2010, resolution 37-10 replaced resolution 36/11. It now urged States not yet fully compliant on March 5th 2011 to post their implementation plans on the ICAO website, and to continue to provide ICAO with regular updates on their implementation plans.

ICAO’s Flight Safety Information eXchange (FSIX) website (http://legacy.icao.int/fsix/ lp.cfm) went online in October 2007. Over the following years, ICAO published several other documents and tools to help States in their implementation: Circular 318 – Language Testing Criteria for Global Harmonization; Circular 323 – Guidelines for Aviation English Training Programmes (Developed by the International Civil Aviation English Association, ICAEA); the 2nd edition of ICAO Document 9835 – Manual on the Implementation of the ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements; Rated Speech Samples training aid project started in 2010 and completed in 2011; and the launch and administration of the Aviation English Language Test service (AELTS)

TEST SERVICE Despite the fact that ICAO has guidelines for testing, there is evidence that not all testing facilities operate to these standards. While aviation language testing is a specialized professional activity and has a large market, it is currently not regulated. In order to guarantee a certain standard is met, ICAO has in-

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4 Just Culture troduced the Aviation English Language Test Service (AELTS). This aims to review Aviation English language tests and confirm that they meet the ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements. In other words, “tests are going to be tested”. The service was formally launched in October 2011 and ICAO has since evaluated a number of tests – all of which were found to conform.

The conformance process is open to all Test Service Providers (TSPs), but ICAO will not directly approach or otherwise require TSPs to submit a test for conformance. Instead ICAO will list services that were successfully evaluated on their website, thereby encouraging others to apply for these tests. To conform, tests must clearly focus on the ability of aviation professionals to communicate on non-routine situations in English and meet the ICAO LPRs. In the coming months, a new webpage will list the test programs that have received the “ICAO quality seal”.

The Aviation English Language Testing Service was developed in partnership with recognized international associations: The International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA), the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA), the International Language Testing Association (ILTA) and the International Civil Aviation English Association (ICAEA).

CONCLUSION As of May 2013, around 41% of the Contracting States were compliant with English Language Proficiency requirements.

While the majority of the 113 non-compliant States had submitted plans prior to 2013, over 30 countries have not. This proves that there is still a very long way to go.

ICAO´s Aviation English Language Testing Service provides quality assurance that tests correctly assess against required standards.

It’s quite probable that national aviation authorities will require that air traffic controllers be tested by the “approved” tests in the future, which will definitely have an impact on this industry.

Aviation English Training and Testing is ultimately about safety. It is extremely important that specialized and wellexperienced professionals prepare these tests. Furthermore, a global harmonization of evaluation criteria is a key factor and, therefore, the ICAO Aviation Language Test Service is an improvement, laying the foundation for a more regulated industry. ^

gcortesobrero@gmail.com

IFATCA/EUROCONTROL Aviation Judiciary Expert Training An eye-opener for both sides Philip Marien, Editor & Jez Pigden, IFATCA Professional & Legal ^ by Committee Chairman Since the very beginning of aviation it has been the aim to improve safety by investigating aircraft accidents and incidents. This led to the creation of Annex 13 of ICAO and the overriding philosophy that the main point of an investigation is not to apportion blame but to learn from accidents and or serious incidents.

the aviation domain. These are two distinct worlds that seldom meet. One is by nature international, dynamic and very sensitive to safety; the other is by nature national, resistant to progressive change and very sensitive to the rule of law. No wonder that when they interact, this often generates difficult and passionate discussions.

In the past two decades, IFATCA has become aware of criminal proceedings launched against Air Traffic controllers involved in operational incidents or accidents where ATC might have been a contributing factor. The issue of criminalisation of aviation accidents or incidents illustrates the delicate relationship between the propagation of aviation safety and the administration of justice in

From the Air Traffic Controllers’ point of view, the decision to prosecute an individual controller or other professional often seems harsh, especially in cases where an operational error or oversight is treated as a criminal act. Too often it seems that courts are all too happy to follow this reasoning, sentencing the operator at the front end to prison.

While the notion of just culture (JC) has evolved towards what is now a generally wellunderstood concept within the aviation world, this is not the case within the majority of the judiciary systems, including prosecutors and judges.

In order to try and bring the two closer, the idea was to engage the judiciary rather than oppose them. We should approach the judicial world, not be afraid of it and explain the aviation world.

EUROCONTROL and IFATCA teamed up to bridge the gap

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4 Just Culture between safety and administration of justice. Together, they have developed a course in which experienced operational aviation experts, controllers and/or pilots, meet and interact with prosecutors and judges. The ultimate aim is to create a pool of 30 – 40 independent ATM/aviation experts who can advise prosecutors and judges in criminal investigations.

The initiative has gained wide support, including an endorsement from the EUROCONTROL Provisional Council in December 2012.

The EUROCONTROL Director General, Frank Brenner, and IFATCA PCX and CEO, Alexis Brathwaite, wrote a joint letter to CANSO and the European ANSPs in order to inform them of this initiative and to request their support.

After two years of preparation and two pilot courses in 2012, the first IFATCA / EUROCONTROL expert training course on just culture (JC) was held in April 2013. Six people with an operational and safety background from a number of European service providers were selected to attend the course.

For the attending controllers, the 4-day course was split into two parts: on day one, they were given background on IFATCA and the rationale behind organising this course. Tom Laursen and Dr Anthony Smoker gave an overview of how just culture had evolved and presented linear vs. systemic models to investigate incidents and accidents. While most people are familiar with the linear models (e.g. the Swiss Cheese model of James Reason), newer models appear to better suit complex systems and interactions such as Air Traffic Control. Several pitfalls for investigations, such as hindsight bias and a too narrow scope of the investigation

(looking at isolated events/factors rather than a bigger picture) were highlighted and discussed.

Over the following three days, they were joined in EUROCONTROL’s Institute in Luxembourg by a number of legal professionals from Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands as well as safety and legal experts from EUROCONTROL. Using a number of presentations and case studies, both aviation professionals and judiciary staff learned to appreciate each other’s views and interpretations.

of the Ueberlingen accident in Switzerland. In a very frank and open manner, he described not only what happened to the individuals, but also to the company as well. Besides the steep learning curve, he also highlighted a number of miscalculations and miscommunications that, in hindsight, complicated the legal aftermath of the event.

A.C. (Fred) Bijlsma, LL.M. (Head of public prosecution service, Schiphol office & Dutch nationwide coordinating public prosecutor for aviation), presented the situation in his country. He explained that a Dutch prosecutor has a lot of leeway in deciding whether to prosecute or not. His overview of the interactions within the Dutch system were quite refreshing, especially since most people recall a number of high profile incidents in Holland (e.g. the Delta incident) where control staff were prosecuted for events without damage or injuries. While The Netherlands have since moved away from this approach, the fact that it’s constantly quoted back at them illustrates how fragile a just culture can be…

Photo: Paul Neering

Roderick Van Dam (chairman of the EUROCONTROL Just Culture Task Force) presented the difficulties and challenges of implementing a just culture framework in Europe due to the many different legal systems in the different countries. In addition, the changing regulatory framework within Europe presents an additional layer of complications and challenges.

Massimo Scarabello (Court Judge, Turin, Italy) Sara Panelli (Public Prosecutor, Turin, Italy) & Edmondo de Gregorio (Public Prosecutor in Civitavecchia, Italy) explained how the Italian constitution requires every suspicion of crime to be investigated and prosecuted. Depending on the outcome of

Prof Erik Hollnagel (Professor and Industrial Safety Chair at University of Southern Denmark) then explained how the traditional, linear way of describing a failure of a system. Finding a root cause or explanation provides relief (“At least now we know why it happened”). If an analysis looks for a human error, it tends to stop when it finds one. With the help of hindsight, we believe that things happen for a reason and that we can find that reason. While this may work for simple systems, it tends to quickly break down for more complex systems… Most of the time, whether an action is correct or not can only be judged by the outcome… After finding a root cause, changes will close one or two holes, but rarely address systemic issues that exist. He went on to describe ways of looking at the strengths of a system and how to re-enforce these to make it more resilient to undesired outcomes.

Dr Francis Schubert (Chief Corporate Officer of Skyguide) gave an extensive and thoroughly compelling overview of the aftermath

4 Statue of Lady Justice on the Well of Justice in Bern, Switzerland

Photo: (cc) wikimedia

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4 Just Culture examples of cases, asking the participants whether they believed prosecution was warranted or not.

The course is without a doubt an eye-opener for both controllers and judiciary. It does not aim at becoming an “assistant”-prosecutor, but to help and assist a prosecutor to understand a complex and very dynamic world, which they cannot expect to be able to fully grasp without expert advice. As such, a prosecutor will hopefully be in a better position to decide whether to prosecute or not.

4 Crown Court room inside St Georges Hall, Liverpool, UK Photo: © Kenny1 | Dreamstime.com

the investigation, a judge can be asked to dismiss or further prosecute. The information used in an investigation can come from anywhere, including the media, and has precedence over any investigation of the aviation accident board. A prosecutor in Italy works totally independently and leads the investigation, which has to be concluded within 6 months (though a judge can extend this to a maximum of 2 years).

After the preliminary investigation is over, a judge will call preliminary hearings to evaluate the probable cause and determine whether to go to trial. Italian law dictates that a person in charge should do everything to prevent harm or accident. In several high profile cases, this principle was used in the court cases against the air traffic controllers involved (Milan, Cagliari – the legal perspective of the latter case was extensively discussed during the course).

not in the public interest to do so. Factors that can have an influence are whether the sentence will be significant; whether the defendant was in position of trust or authority; whether there was any premeditation, recidivist, and/or widespread offence. Arguments that could decide against prosecution include cases where a court is likely to impose a nominal penalty; genuine mistake or misunderstandings – though ignorance of the law is no defence); the loss or harm was minor and the result of a single event; an unreasonably long delay between offence and trial; and cases that may harm international relations. Mr Weston went on to present several

While it will remain difficult to reconcile the different legal systems and in the knowledge that in some cases, prosecution is unavoidable, a prosecutor that has a more nuanced and complete picture of why things unfurled the way they did, can only benefit front-line operators such as controllers after things do go wrong…

More information on the Pro­ secutor Expert programme can be obtained from Marc Baumgartner (sesar.coord@ ifatca.org). ^

ed@the-controller.net plc.chair@ifatca.org

Photo: Paul Neering

Another important element in the Italian legal system is that it recognizes written laws alone. Court rulings, including those of the Supreme Court are only indicative, not binding as they are in other legal systems.

Ian Weston (former Head of UK CAA Prosecution) explained that in the UK, the condition for prosecution is to have enough admissible evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against each defendant on each charge. This implies that there is no absolute requirement to prosecute, if it’s

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New air situation display for Frankfurt approach control German air navigation service provider DFS starts operation of Precision Approach Monitor Nanda Geelvink, Corporate Communications, ^ by DFS Deutsche Flug­sicher­ung GmbH operation. To accomplish this, DFS had to integrate a wide area multilateration (WAM) system developed by Thales into its air navigation services environment. This is the first operational WAM system in Germany, and was specifically developed for use in extremely busy airspace. It is one of a kind worldwide with respect to size and performance capabilities.

All Photos: DFS

More precise monitoring

4 Tower at Frankfurt airport Europe’s largest air traffic control centre is bustling with activity. The working positions at this spacious facility are arranged in circles and the lighting is dimmed. The approach controller Dominique Berger is monitoring a Lufthansa flight approaching Frankfurt Airport on his radar screen.

The approach control unit for Frankfurt Airport is located here at the DFS control centre in Langen, near Frankfurt.

In April, DFS put the new air situation display PAM, the Precision Approach Monitor, for approach and departure control at Frankfurt Airport into

The system updates the position of aircraft on the screen every second instead of every five seconds with every radar rotation as had been the case until now. This technology provides an improved and more exact display of aircraft. The resulting safety standard will be even higher. Much less time will be needed, for example, to identify and correct deviations from assigned routings.

On the screen, the symbol of a flight from Doha leaves a dotted trail of where it has been over the past few seconds like a string of pearls. “This is the decisive advantage over the previous radar display,” Dominique Berger explains. When the air traffic controller changes his display to radar mode, as it was just a few weeks ago, the picture suddenly takes on an entirely different look. The aircraft symbols all move jerkily; they only change their positions every five seconds. The longer intervals between position updates require air traffic controllers to be more careful when checking on the display whether their instructions have already been followed or not by the pilots in the extremely busy airspace around Frankfurt. Berger switches the display back to PAM. The movement of the aircraft

symbols is much smoother now. “Lufthansa 621, maintain speed 170 knots to five miles final. Contact Frankfurt Tower 119.9,” an air traffic controller issues his instructions to the approaching Airbus A 330 from Doha.

Implementation was a challenge A total of 34 sensors, evenly distributed in the area around the airport up to a distance of 128 x 80 nautical miles provide air traffic controllers with the data needed for the display.

Conventional radar systems use the two-way propagation delay of electromagnetic signals emitted from transmitters to determine the position of aircraft. The PAM system by contrast, receives the signals transmitted by the aircraft, calculates its position and displays it within one second. The lower limit for the system is about 500 feet above ground level; within the approach control area, it is about 1000 feet. The remaining area is covered from approximately 3000 feet above ground level. At the airports of Frankfurt/Main and Frankfurt-Hahn, aircraft are covered by the system down to the runways.

Beside the high traffic volume and the associated frequency congestion, the topography of the surrounding area with its many ridges was a major challenge when the system was implemented. “Compared to the previous radar technology, we now have such a precise air situation display with PAM that, for example, in the area of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, we are able to separate aircraft in a far more optimal manner,” Thomas Schade explains, who managed the project at DFS. Up until now, aircraft taking off or landing in this area had to maintain a separation distance of five nautical miles for safety reasons.

Final acceptance of PAM by DFS took place in September 2012. Detailed tests and trials followed. In the night from 9 to 10 April 2013, the system was put into operation. ^ nanda.geelvink@dfs.de

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4 Area covered by the new PAM system

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EUROCONTROL’s Network Management Adds value to Single European Sky and performance targets

^ Joe Sultana, Director Network Management In 2011 the European Commission appoint­ ed EUROCONTROL as Network Manager. ­ Tasked with improving the European airspace network performance and developing an efficient and safe route network design, the aim is to promote pan-European cooperation and defragmentation among more Europe’s ANSPs. Faced with 40 different national systems providing services from 60 centres, the task is not easy.

What’s in a name?

EUROCONTROL has provided flow management services since 1995 through its Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) in Brussels.

ANSPs, airlines and recently airports too, participate in the exchange of flight data that prevents bottlenecks and system overload on a day-to-day basis. ANSPs then use this accurate data to look at demand for each minute within every hour, to accommodate exactly the demand peaks and troughs.

In 2010, building on its wealth of experience, EUROCONTROL undertook a reform programme to adapt itself to the changing political and operational context and to prepare itself for the role of Network Manager.

in Europe aircraft fly average 42 km longer than necessary due to airspace fragmentation, causing longer flight time, delays, extra fuel burn and emissions. The Performance Review Body analysis published in 2010 of en route and terminal air navigation service costs estimated it costs users an additional € 5 billion each year.

Joe Sultana says EUROCONTROL met with mistrust at first, as ANSPs saw the Network Manager as a policeman. “More and more we are gaining their trust. We establish action plans with them and they see us as an important tool to help them achieve their targets. We need the ANSPs and the controllers to perform.”

The governance of the network function – led by the Network Manager Board (NMB) – is designed around the concept of cooperative decision making. The working model has to ensure that all interested parties are involved and decisions are taken based on the active contribution of those parties. It is a two-way process in which the stakeholders have to

4 Joe Sultana, since 01 July

2013 the Director Network Manager

ensure the measures implemented at local level are compatible with those adopted at network level.

“The biggest tool we have is competency and persuasion.

A blame culture does not help.

A policy of support and developing tangible, practical solu-

As a result the CFMU was integrated within the Network Manager, with focus on its operational capability to deliver performance and contribute to future SESAR-driven Single European Sky (SES).

“As Network Manager, we have a much wider remit,” explains Joe Sultana. “We are not just protecting ANSPs from overload, but actually working with ANSPs supporting them in their mission to deliver their capacity targets. Now we are looking at reducing delays, increasing capacity, and meeting flight efficiency targets.”

Another tasking arising from the Network Manager Implementing Rule (NMIR) and the performance IR is flight efficiency. Currently

4 The Network Management operations room in Brussels

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4 EUROPE that saw no drop in capacity, even though restrictions were proposed initially.

EUROCONTROL and NATS established a special Coordination Cell to coordinate an additional five million visitors to the UK during the Summer Olympics, and delays actually fell compared with previous years.

A similar approach was taken to manage traffic during the European football championship, when special teams in Brussels and Poland coordinated extra flights when Poland’s system upgrade was unexpectedly delayed. The reduction in delays led to continued use of the special teams even after the championship finished.

4 EUROCONTROL has developed a very precise modelling tools, that show traffic volumes, by sector, for each hour of the day.

tions is our goal. However, if we get no progress, or if the network interest is ignored, then we have access to political intervention.”

Fragile supply and demand The Network Manager’s main task remains that of balancing airspace supply and demand on a daily basis. The process starts six to nine months in advance, when flight schedules are shared and ANSPs predict the service levels they will be able to deliver.

EUROCONTROL has developed a very precise modelling tool, shared by all stakehold-

ers, that shows exact traffic volumes, by sector, for each hour of the day. “All operational options and potential solutions are explored including opening new sectors, increasing the number of controllers, dealing with civil/military coordination to make more airspace available. If this is not enough, we look at other options such as handling aircraft in neighbouring sectors,” explains Joe Sultana.

Flight efficiency Special events such as systems migration are a significant source of delays. An extensive planning and coordination of the transition plan with the Network Manager has been introduced as a standard process.

Among success stories over the last 12 months, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria introduced a completely new automation system

Future airspace design As the Commission anticipated a network comprising nine FABs responsible for European air route structure, in place of multiple ANSPs, Joe Sultana says: “We welcome FABs. We will work with FABs when they are an operational entity. If the FAB is simply another layer that prevents us reaching the control centres and the real decision makers, we will continue to go to the area centres to effect the change. If we want the performance of the network to reach less than 0.4 minute average delay per flight, we need the ANSPs to act as a FAB and to deliver more.

This is what the Commission wants and the Performance Review Board is charged to oversee that this is happening.”

Getting ready for the next term Performance Reference Period 2 (2015 – 2019) is a challenge for the Network Mana­ ger as well as for ANSPs. Both need to deliver more in a cost effective manner. The Network Strategy Plan is being updated to reflect the ATM concepts and procedures and to support technology needed to be deployed in next 5 years. Full benefit of SESAR validation activities is envisaged.

The challenge as Joe Sultana points out is to continue to make steady progress in order to be ready when traffic returns to more normal patterns of growth. “We’ve done this in a period of static or decreasing traffic, so we have had the opportunity to establish a level of trust without the pressure of rising traffic.

As soon as traffic starts to increase, the job becomes harder and exchanges will become livelier. We have to be more creative, and look at the network not just next summer, but two or three years ahead”. ^

nm.communications@eurocontrol.int

All Photos: EUROCONTROL.INT

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Norwegian Association th (NATCA) 40 anniversary ^ by Philippe Domogala, Deputy editor The first association in Norway was founded in 1948, making it one of the oldest controller associations in the world. It became a founding member of IFATCA in 1961, but it accepted membership from all ATS personnel at the time. A new association – trade union was formed in 1973: this time exclusively for Air traffic Controllers started and hence the 40th anniversary in 2013.

The celebration took place in the new Scandic Hotel, located at the old Fornebu airport. This has now closed, having been replaced by the new airport at Gardemoen.

Many active and retired members of NATCA attended the event. In the morning, a seminar discussed human factors, finding that things have not changed much in 40 years: humans are still to blame when something goes wrong! Following this was the official presentation of a special big book on the 40 years history of the association.

Finally, there was a dinner with a lot of speeches, which typically generated heated discussions that continued well into the small hours in the in the lobby bar of the hotel – in true Viking style. All the neighbouring Nordic associations (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland) were represented, as well as IFATCA.

THE OLD ONES Bjarne (Jim) Gaustad was one of the founding fathers of IFATCA. He participated in the original discussions in 1959 to create IFATCA. He started as an assistant controller in Oslo in 1946, and as a controller in 1947.

He is now 87 years old and going strong.

Olav Grønskar started working in 1939 as a dispatch officer for one of the airlines that would eventually form SAS. At the time, they had many different tasks, including aircraft handling, passport control, met briefings to pilots, etc. Of course, the number of flights was very limited back then. He remained in function during the whole of WWII and had nice stories to tell about that

4 Four former presidents of NATCA

presenting the book ‘All Under Control’ with the history of their federation.

THE BOOK “ALL UNDER CONTROL“ was written by Ottar Julsrud, a professional writer, in cooperation with Rolf Skrede, who was president of NATCA for 26 years. The book is full of photos and a delight to browse through. Unfortunately for most of us, the text is in Norwegian!

4 NATCA members wasted no time

looking through the book over a beer.

A big “Skål” to the next 40 years of NATCA, in whichever Functional Airspace Block (FAB) they will be part of: personally, Norway will

always remain Norway regardless of any FABs. ^

period! Today, he is 92 years old and also going strong. At the event, he gave a very long speech, explaining how things were done in his days.

Oivin Christiansen is the oldest Norwegian controller, now 90 years old and in full form!

He joined the Royal air force (RAF) in the UK in 1944 to fly Sunderland bombers towards the end of World War II. He left the RAF in 1946 to become one of the first five Norwegian controllers, when the RAF handed over

ATC to the Norwegians. The whole FIR was controller by these five people, who were based in Fornebu airport near Oslo. Providing a 24-hour service, there were as many controllers as there were navigation aids in the country! Oivin continued a controller for most of his career but eventually retired as Director of Air Traffic Services.

Bjarne (Jim) Gaustad

Oivin Christiansen

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Olav Grønskar

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Sequestration and Furloughs How Automatic Budget Cuts Disrupted U.S. Air Travel

^ by Doug Church, NATCA Director of Communications

4 NATCA campaign warned about the effects of sequestration

Photo: NATCA

4 NATCA President Paul

Rinaldi highlighted the vital importance of aviation to the American economy.

Photo: NATCA

In 2011, on the verge of a US sovereign default, legislators passed a Budget Control Act: in exchange for raising the USA’s debt ceiling, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts needed to be agreed to by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, a ‘super committee’, by 2013. If no such agreement were reached, automatic indiscriminate cuts would go into effect for all federal government budgets – a so-called sequestration – for the next 10 years. A sudden budget cut would lead to furloughs for federal employees. Derived from the Dutch word “verlof” (vacation), furlough is a term for temporary unpaid leave of employees due to special needs of a company. This may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) last December first warned about the very negative effects that sequestration would have on the National Airspace System (NAS). In a follow-up report issued on Feb. 27, NATCA specifically warned that short-staffing air traffic control facilities by furloughing controllers would dramatically curtail the efficiency of the system and create flight delays that would impact travelers across the country. That day, NATCA President Paul Rinaldi delivered a major speech to the U.S. aviation community at the Washington Aero Club, where he reminded them that aviation is an economic engine; $1.3 trillion (U.S. dollars) in Gross Domestic Product each year, contributing 10 million jobs.

Rinaldi made it clear that keeping the airspace safe and efficient was the top priority of controllers and “we will do everything in our power to maintain it moving forward,” he said. “But the inescapable fact is this – continued budget uncertainty is not good for the long-term safety of the system.”

4 NATCA Executive VP Trish Gilbert during one of the many interviews following the furloughs.

Photo: NATCA

On April 19, NATCA joined a coalition of aviation organizations, including pilots, airlines, general and business aviation and flight attendants, in writing to the White House chief of staff to urge that the FAA be given the

funding flexibility to avert the furloughs of controllers.

But on Sunday, April 21, the scheduled furloughs began; one day for each controller every two weeks. Major hub airport towers and FAA radar facilities were the first to feel the effects, including Los Angeles International (LAX), which saw the worst of the delays on the night of the 21st when a backlog of flights pushed some arrivals into the early morning hours of April 22.

A long line of U.S. and some international media outlets, from the national television networks and news services to local press, contacted NATCA and reported on the disruptions to travel that cascaded throughout the week. Rinaldi and NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert led a group of NATCA representatives that did interviews to speak out against the furloughs and the negative resulting effects.

The disruption to the system was enormous.

According to FAA figures, the system experienced 13,694 delays during the week of furloughs, compared with 5,103 delays during the same week in 2012.

On April 25 and 26, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed legislation – the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013 – which gave the Federal Aviation Administration the flexibility it needed to end the furloughs of its employees, including the country’s 14,800 air traffic controllers, caused by the across-the-board budget cuts called sequestration. The action brought to an end a very unpleasant week for the air travelling public, the airline companies and the air traffic controllers themselves.

The Challenges Ahead More than 400 NATCA members came to Washington, D.C., from May 19 – 22 for the annual NATCA in Washington legislative conference, where they met with members of Congress to advocate for the importance of passing an appropriations bill that would

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4 USA provide stable funding for the FAA in fiscal year 2014, which begins October 1.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta spoke to the group on May 20 and outlined the many challenges that lay ahead. That starts with the realization that although furloughs have been canceled, sequestration continues.

“This fix is a Band-Aid,” Huerta said. “ It does not address the long-term challenges that we have with the sequester. It only deals with how we manage to the end of the fiscal year (ending on Sept. 30).”

The FAA still has to cut $384 million before Sept. 30. That means continued cuts to staffing, hiring, the FAA training academy, awards, contracts, training and travel, in addition to postponing technological and pro-

4 NATCA’s New York TRACON

representative Dean Iacopelli on a national news show

Photo: nbcnews (screenshot)

cedural deployments. If an appropriations bill to adequately fund the FAA is not passed

by Oct. 1, it is possible that sequestration cuts will once again mandate indiscriminate, across-the-board cuts.

4 NATCA’s Los Angeles airport

representative Mike Foote explaining the impact of furloughs

Photo: CBS News (screenshot)

and a solution is needed that adequately funds the agency and addresses the needs of the traveling public. ^

dchurch@natcadc.org

NATCA’s position has and continues to be that sequestration is bad policy for the FAA,

NATCA’s Communicating For Safety Successful National Conference on Safety Draws Huge Crowd Doug Church, NATCA Director of Communications ^ by and Joseph Cardenas, NATCA Safety Committee Across-the-board forced budget cuts, called sequestration, for U.S. government agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) went into effect on March 1. But that didn’t stop a dedicated, safety-passionate group of National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) members, other aviation safety professionals and special invited guests from gathering for the annual NATCA Communicating for Safety (CFS) conference and ninth annual Archie League Medal of Safety Awards banquet, last March 4 – 6.

Attendance topped 1,000. “I’m happy to tell you that this is our largest CFS,” said NATCA President Paul Rinaldi in his keynote remarks on March 5. “You are making a commitment to advancing the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System (NAS) and this truly shows your pride for and commitment and passion to the profession.”

It was the most comprehensive safety conference that NATCA has ever held. Experts

and panels in every major current issue were featured, including weather, modernization and new technology, professional standards, information sharing and safety reporting systems, human factors, pilot/controller communications and much more.

The conference also welcomed National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman for keynote remarks.

When Hersman spoke to CFS attendees in 2010, she asked NATCA members to work on three things: runway safety, fatigue and professionalism. In her return appearance on March 5, Hersman said that three years and millions of operations later, she reported the

SAVE THE DATE: Next year’s CFS conference will be held March 24 – 26, 2014 in Las Vegas.

Registration opens Sept. 1, 2013.

Photo: NATCA

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4 Over 1100 people, including more than 800 controllers attended the NATCA CFS 2013 event in Las Vegas

Photo: NATCA

good news that two of those three issues – fatigue and professionalism – had been removed from the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of advocacy priorities.

Both Rinaldi and Hersman focused on the budget cuts in their remarks, and implored conference attendees to continue their laser-like focus on professionalism and safety.

Said Hersman: “Today, especially as we face these fiscal challenges, I want to focus on something that comes from within – your dedication to excellence.”

Rinaldi said that a robust aviation system is the American way of life and the system NATCA members know and

4 NATCA Safety Team

love is built on layers of redundancies.

Sequestration, he said, peels away those layers. Worse, the impacts of sequestration also create a distraction the workforce can’t control. But, in helping NATCA and the FAA kick off a new campaign called Turn Off Tune In, he said there is another distraction NATCA members can indeed control.

“No text, no call is worth your career,” he said, emphasizing that the proactive effort to eliminate distractions in the operational environment – particularly those caused by electronic devices – is of paramount importance. “Changing the culture is not easy. It takes people standing up and saying, ‘We don’t do that.’ We all depend on each other to pay attention, so turn off and tune in. It’s that simple.”

This year’s CFS focused more acutely than ever on the importance of safety and the future well-being and competitiveness of the U.S. NAS. Rinaldi, NATCA Executive Vice President Trish Gilbert and NATCA

4 National Transportation Safety Board

Chairman Deborah Hersman during her keynote speech Photo: NATCA

Safety Committee Chairman and CFS host Steve Hansen made clear a singular message: today’s political climate in the United States mandates that everyone must work harder and even more collaboratively in the face of the unfortunate and perhaps permanent budget cuts that threaten to undermine the capacity of the NAS. The timing of CFS also coincided with the completion of the rollout of the NATCAFAA Professional Standards Program (PSP).

More than 500 committee members at over 300 facilities have been officially trained on how to operate the PSP at their facility.

This milestone was marked during the professional standards panel at CFS. NATCA’s Jeff Richards, a PSP representative, said the hidden success of the program is the realization that the peer-to-peer process really works. “It’s worked for ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association) for 50 years; it’s working for us now.”

For more on CFS, please go to the event’s website at http://www.natcacfs.com. ^

Photo: NATCA

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THE ARCHIE LEAGUE SAFETY AWARDS 2013 ^ by Philippe Domogala, Deputy Editor The “Archie League Medal of Safety Awards” were established by NATCA in 2004 to honour controllers (or a team of controllers) for an exceptional achievement in the line of their duty. It is named after the first US air traffic controller, Archie W. League.

4 Archie League, the first US Air Traffic Controller

The 2013 edition honoured twelve US controllers at a banquet held during the NATCA Communicating for Safety event. Although each of the occurrences leading to an award would be worth mentioning, the one that captured my attention most happened on April 4, 2012, in St. Louis TRACON. Controller Kevin Cook was guiding a US Navy F18 to the ‘Spirit of St. Louis Airport’ in Chesterfield (KSUS) in bad weather. The aircraft missed the approach and as the pilot requested to be redirected again, he declared that he had “minimum fuel” on board. Unfortunately, the F18 missed his second approach again due to the deteriorating weather conditions.

Cook then decided to redirect the pilot to Lambert-St. Louis International (KSTL), which had reported slightly better weather.

Although the pilot agreed to land there, he was quickly forced to declare an emergency due to his fuel situation. Another controller, Steve Clark cleared the busy approach to St. Louis International for the emergency aircraft so that it could save gas and time. This was a big task, as it was during busy arrival rush for that airport.

When the pilot reported an “extreme fuel emergency” and time obviously running out, Cook decided to call an emergency airport surveillance radar (ASR) approach for the aircraft. Cook monitored and directed the aircraft on the final approach to the runway and provided a play-by-play descent onto the runway, giving left and right course guidance. The pilot eventually made a safe landing with just 6 minutes of fuel remaining.

What’s even more impressive is there are no published ASR approaches for that airport!

The final ASR approach given by Cook was completely improvised under extreme pressure. The pilot later said that if he had missed this approach at KSTL, his next request would have been to be redirected to the Mississippi River to ditch his aircraft. The tape of the R/T conversation was played to the audience.

Particularly moving during the presentation of this award was that the pilot of the F18 they helped to save was there in full uniform.

He thanked the controllers personally and offered them a large framed picture of the US$65 million jet they saved.

Photo: NATCA

4 Archie League Medal of Safety The stories of all the 2013 Honourees can be found on the NATCA website: http:// goo.gl/XBELv ^

dp@the-controller.net

4 Lt.Brandon Gasser presents a picture of his F-18 to Kevin Cook(M) and Steve Clark(R)

Photo: NATCA

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Canyons and National Parks in VFR The Grand Canyon

^ by Philippe Domogala, Deputy Editor As most people know, hiring an aircraft and Flying VFR in the US is both easy and cheap. There are no fuel taxes, no landing fees and airfields aplenty.

All photos: Patrik Peters

4 Patrik, his partner Nicole,

and Philippe in front of the old Cherokee

Henderson is the largest general aviation airport in the area. It’s packed with small private aircraft and business jets. I rented a 40-year old Cherokee from Cactus Aviation, a local flight school (FTO). Accompanying us was Mike, one of their instructors who turned out to be quite fun to fly with. IFATCA’s Patrik Peters and his partner Nicole joined us for the ride.

Unfortunately, on that day, the cloud base was only 5000ft, which did not allow us to fly directly over the Canyon: the minimum altitude to overfly is 8000ft. On the way, we passed the Hoover dam at a mere 1000ft above ground and tried our luck, but clouds were definitively too low. So we changed our plan and opted to visit the surrounding area.

The one thing about flying in the States is that you basically can do pretty much any-

4 Cloud base preventing us to enter the canyon on first attempt

thing you want as long as you don’t violate what little rules there are. This means you can fly very low above beautiful rock formations, like the Valley of Fire and even inside some of the smaller canyons. We did just that for over an hour and it was one of the greatest flights I’ve done in a long time. The scenery is extraordinary, as is the overwhelming feeling of freedom.

If you want to fly solo though, you need to convert your license into an FAA one. Since 9/11, this takes a lot more time and effort – probably three to four months from start to finish. But even with a licence, I always prefer to take a local instructor or pilot with me: he/ she can handle the R/T and keep me out of restricted airspace. This leaves me to enjoy the flying and the scenery without too many worries.

During my last stay in Las Vegas for the NATCA Safety Conference and the subsequent IFATCA EB meeting, I got the chance to make two flights: one from Henderson (KHND), and the other one from North Las Vegas (KVGT).

The plan was to fly in and around the Grand Canyon, which is about one hour flying away.

4 The valley at the entrance of the Grand Canyon THE

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4 USA The return leg was uneventful and landing a Cherokee on a 2000 m runway was not really a challenge! A great three-hour flight in a great aircraft. Granted, it’s a bit old but like me, still in good shape...

But we did not get to see the Grand Canyon, so we had to hope for a second try in more favourable weather.

I got into contact with Westair, another FTO based at North Las Vegas airport. This is the other general aviation airfield. I was keen to try out the new Cessna 172 with the new GPS. The weather forecast was better now and our plan this time was to fly to Zion national park, a flight of about 1,5 hours.

From there, we’d head directly to the Grand Canyon, about 45 minutes to the south and head back to Vegas, another hour away. The route took us past Nellis Air Force base, with more than 39,000 km2 of airspace for flying operations. It’s home to more squadrons than any other base in the US Air Force and one of the largest single employers in southern Nevada. Fortunately, it’s closed on Sundays.

4 Flying towards the Valley of Fire State Park

We took off as planned around ten in the morning with blue skies and a fresh breeze of 20 to 30 knots. The first leg to Zion was long, with not really very much to see apart from the desert, rocks and cactuses.

But the wait was worth it: the Zion mountain range is an absolute marvel! It had snowed during the night and the white powdered snow-caps added an extra dimension.

Zion is not really that well known, but a real site to behold from the air. We didn’t see any other aircraft nearby and we could fly as low as we wanted above the park. We then headed out towards the middle of the Grand Canyon at 8000ft. The divide is spectacular, but there is a lot more traffic too: the airspace around and above the canyon is now regulated. As an aircraft you cannot go down anymore. Only helicopters do and there are a lot of them. Fortunately everyone is on the same frequency and passes traffic info to one another.

Returning towards Vegas was more complex since we were coming from the South and had to overfly the city and Mc Carran International airport, whose CTR is Class B. Initially, on first contact the controller told us to keep away from the CTR, but a few minutes later he called us with headings to vector us around his traffic to get a shorter route to the north. After seeing an MD80 on final passing 1000ft above us, the controller

4 Low level in the Valley of Fire

4 Zion National Park with snow covered tops

All photos: Patrik Peters

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4 Lake Mead, which is fed by the Colorado River and ends at the Hoover Dam

cleared us above the runway complex at 1500ft AGL. This brought us right overhead the city on a direct heading towards our airfield! A quick descent and a call to Vegas TWR got us a semi-direct clearance for an extended base leg.

I managed to touch down the

4 Flying overhead Las Vegas towards McCarran airport (on the right)

C-172 amid a rather strong cross wind, in what I would call a “safe but interesting way of putting down an aircraft on a concrete strip”.

Another fantastic flight with beautiful scenery and above all easy. I especially like the way General Aviation is viewed in the USA: as a normal user of the airspace and not, as

in many other countries, as a burden or as a restriction to commercial operations. ^

dp@the-controller.net Addresses: For Cactus Air in Henderson: http://www.cactuslv.com For Westair in North Vegas: http://www.westairaviation.com

All photos: Patrik Peters

4 Finally, the Grand Canyon itself!

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4 Aviation Trends

In Defense of Turbo Props Dr. Ruth Stilwell, ^ by ICAO ANC Representative, IFATCA When I started my career as an air traffic controller, I would dread the prospect of sequencing turbo props. The sky was filled with Beech 1900s, Brasilias, Bandeirantes, and ATR-42s. It seemed no matter what speeds were assigned, it never worked: they were always in the way of the jets, and vectors took forever to take effect. Then a little over 10 years ago, the turbo props began to disappear and were replaced with regional jets.

Coincidentally, in the US, the widespread introduction of regional jets exacerbated the “delay crisis” in 1999 and 2000. While media focused on the increased frequency when narrow body jets were replaced with regional jets, the change from turbo props to regional jets also moved operations from smaller runways to the more congested long runways at many airports, exacerbating the problem.

In a few short years, the turbo prop virtually disappeared from the regional market feeding the major carriers. Its demise was so profound that some airport planners no longer invested in runways shorter than 5,500 ft. It seemed that the regional jet had won and there was no place for the 30+ seat turbo prop.

That was then. Now we are seeing a new generation of turbo props, like the Q400 and new ATR72-600. They are bigger, faster and quieter than their predecessors and many airlines are finding that they offer the same level of passenger comfort, but are less expensive to operate than a regional jet with the same seating capacity. In fuel savings alone, these aircraft use 30%-50% less than the comparably sized regional jets and the Q400 can operate at speeds up to 360 kts.

As fuel prices increase, the value of the turbo prop on the 95 and under seat market increases as well.

Bombardier calls this “the deepest market penetration ever by turbo props.”1 For air traffic controllers, a dramatic and rapid change in fleet mix may require some rethinking of how traffic flows are managed.

The rapid influx of regional jets a dozen years ago came as a shock to the system.

The huge difference between the performance of regional jets compared to their traditional counterparts came with little training or preparation for this new aircraft type.

Not only did regional jets perform differently than traditional narrow body jets but performance characteristics vary significantly within the regional jet category.

Will we see that again as the turbo prop returns as a major player in the commercial fleet? The Piaggio already matches the performance of a jet and by contrast planes like the Eclipse Jet perform more like a turbo prop. Much of our airspace design segregates these traffic flows based on type, thereby automatically accounting for speed differences. But as we are seeing major shifts to performance-based regulation, perhaps it is time to consider performance based airspace design.

This can be an exciting opportunity for controllers to look at airspace efficiency in new ways. Just as the new generation turbo prop offers advantages to the operators, there can also be significant advantages for air traffic control: requesting less congested flight

4 Bombardier Q400 NextGen Photo: © Bombardier

4 ATR72-600 Photo: © ATR

levels (generally FL200-FL250) and able to use much shorter runways than regional jets, the new generation of turbo props might deliver a capacity enhancement in certain congested airspace. Instead of seeing the turbo props as roadblocks like I did early in my career, the new generation of turbo props could offer an opportunity for innovation in airspace design and flow management. ^

anc@ifatca.org

The growth in turbo prop manufacturing has been consistent over the last few years.

Turbo props accounted for only 11% of regional aircraft sales in 2003, but was up to 37% by 2012 and the forecasts are for even stronger growth. Bombardier, the manufacturer of both the CRJs and the Q400, forecasts that the turbo prop deliveries will comprise 48% of the 20 to 99 seat market, and of those, 95% will be for the 60-99 seat aircraft.

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1 See http://goo.gl/4m8QT

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ATC Global 2013 Going Strong Despite Stiff Competition

^ by Philip Marien, Editor For the 23rd time, despite the arctic weather, the industry was once again out in force at ATC Global 2013. With a rival event organized in Southern Europe a month earlier, most people predicted the demise of one of the oldest ATM trade shows.

But quite the opposite was true: in addition to the open and frank discussions (see below), the event continued to bring together buyers and sellers from across the globe.

Several exhibitors, such as Entry Point North (one of the largest air traffic services academies in Europe) confirmed that they’d had more contacts and inquiries at this event compared to the rival event in March. Conspicuous by their absence were Europe’s major ATS providers as well as

Photo: UBM

Eurocontrol. Several of these companies had even gone as far as explicitly forbidding their employees to attend the event.

But the absence of some of these had some interesting effects: some high level programs and projects were openly discussed and criticized, without the usual public relations and political sensitivities getting in the way. Also noticeable was that attendees came from further afield. These included representatives from Myanmar, Colombia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Vietnam, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Algeria, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Tunisia, Cuba, Bolivia, Egypt and Rwanda amongst others. And the space left by Central European companies was eagerly filled by new companies from Eastern Europe and beyond, showing off their products and proving their bigger counterparts were wrong to boycott the event.

4 Despite competition of

a rival event, ATC ­Global 2013 was well attended.

Photo: UBM

With China set to build 70 new airports by 2015, the country is already a significant buyer within the global ATM market. In recognition of their significance, ATC Global went to great lengths to bring a delegation of over 70 senior ATM professionals to ATC Global in 2013. The delegation included representatives from the CAAC ATMB, the

4 So-called one-on-one meetings put

suppliers directly in touch with interested customers.

Hong Kong CAD and all regional Chinese ATM Bureaus. Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Christine Guan, ATC Global’s China Director states, “It has been extremely important for the delegation to attend ATC Global to engage with fellow ATM professionals from across the globe and participate in key discussions on the future of the industry and the part China will play over the next few years. Having met with many companies who are doing amazing things within the ATM space, the delegation looked forward to returning home and sharing this knowledge with their team and the wider ATM community in China.”

To the disbelief of many, CANSO scheduled their World ATM event a week earlier, in Madrid, Spain. With such a direct and open challenge, it’ll be interesting to see whether ATC Global 2014 can retain its place in the small market of ATC trade shows. Having said that, at the time of writing over 70% of suppliers had already reserved their space for the 2014 Amsterdam event, which will be held from 11 – 13 March 2014. ^

ed@the-controller.net

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The Conference

Photo: BM

At Last: What People Really Think About SES, SESAR and the rest!

^ by Philippe Domogala, Deputy editor While perhaps a little less ambitious this year, due a CANSO engineered boycott by major ANSPs and large institutions like Eurocontrol and SESAR JU, the conferences were nevertheless interesting and very refreshing, to say the least.

One the sessions I attended was about evaluating Single European Sky (SES) and surprisingly, probably because the major players were absent, people spoke their minds. And contrary to the messages we’ve been hearing in the past years – "everything is on track, within budget and all is great" – we heard at last what people really thought about SES and SESAR. EU commissioner Kellas has gone on record saying that inefficiency in Europe’s ATM system ‘wastes’ some € 5 billion per year. Over a period of 10 years, that would amount to some € 50 billion, which is the equivalent of the GDP of a small European state. Some € 15 billion of that amount will be borne by the airlines.

These airlines, represented in this debate

by Sylviane Lust, Director General of the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) was extremely critical of the whole SES/ SESAR approach, stating that airlines were

being asked to carry expensive equipment that might not even be used and that delivered no direct benefits or savings. The promised Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs) were still not delivering any of the promised benefits and it wasn’t even obvious when, if ever, these would materialise.

Fabio Gamba, CEO of the European Busi­ness Aviation Association (EBAA), which claims to represent 7% of the IFR movements in Europe, was blunt in saying SES was a complete mess and confirmed that the promised benefits of FABs have yet to materialise.

Sid McGuirk from the Embry-Riddle Aero­ nautical University compared the different approach of the USA to Europe to solve the essentially similar problems. Single sky was, according to him, invented in the USA in 1903. Only in 1926 did the US government get involved in certification, issuing pilot licenses, establishing airways and eventually creating the FAA in the late 1950s. The main drive was an increased number of collisions and accidents. So the USA went from free for all to regulation. This worked because the motivation was safety, not efficiency.

The attempt to return to Free Flight in the late 1990s failed. McGuirk stated: “After the

4 Speakers during the ATC

Global Conference were extremely critical of the lack of progress of Europe’s ATM systems.

failure of Free Flight, there was one lessons Europe should have learned from the USA: never set a goal you know you cannot reach and never set a goal over which you have no control.“ That appears to be exactly what the European Commission, SES and SESAR JU have gotten themselves into…

The debates that followed were excellent in their freshness and frankness, very different from the controlled PR talk we’ve heard elsewhere. If this kind of open debate is given a chance in the future, perhaps it’s not too late to rethink the direction Europe is heading in. ^

dp@the-controller.net

Seminar discussion IFATCA’s PCX and CEO Alexis Brathwaite also attended the event in Amsterdam and participated in a panel discussion on automation. Moderator of the discussion was Philip Butterworth-Hayes, ATC Global Editor. The other participant was David Gleave, Chief Investigator at Aviation Safety Investigations.

The discussion started from a list of the top automation issues amongst aviation professionals. While the panel recognised these were genuine concerns, they also agreed that a lot of them can be avoided if the end users, both pilots and controllers, are involved in the design process from the very beginning.

In addition, participants remarked on the vital importance of training, both in the use of advanced automated systems as in the need to train for the situation in which automation is not available. Above all, it is of the utmost

importance that people understand the systems and the way in which they operate/react.

4 Philip Butterworth-Hayes(L), David Gleave (M) and Alexis Brathwaite(R) during the panel discussion.

Photo: BM

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My Parents were Air Traffic Controllers It was Amazing

^ by Scott Bryan, UK writer and journalist worked at a huge control centre in Swanwick, near Poole in Dorset, from where a large portion of the UK’s air traffic is controlled.

Now I say I’ve used their jobs in the past tense. Don’t worry: they haven’t been fired.

Nor have they died as a result of a terrible Air Traffic Control based tragedy. Imagine that.

No wait, I can’t. How does that even work?

I mean they were nowhere near planes and they worked totally different shifts.

4 Scott’s Mom & Dad Before I start this article, I feel as if I should make a clarification about my parent’s jobs. They were Air Traffic Controllers.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ARE NOT THE PEOPLE ON THE RUNWAY AT AIRPORTS HOLDING SMALL RED TENNIS RACKETS, TO SHOW THE PLANES WHERE THE TERMINAL GATE IS. My Dad’s job for a great deal of his career was communicating with pilots flying from London Heathrow to New York over the Atlantic, telling them where to go. My Mum’s job was dealing with flight delays and planning out flight routes across UK airspace, particularly for big events like the Olympics when the entire world’s population had to fly from airports all over the world into a single airport within something like 14 hours.

They met and fell in love at work. They didn’t work in the control tower. They didn’t even work at the airport. They

No, I am using the past tense as they have both just retired. They’ve had more than 60 years of experience between them, but that’s it. No more. No more day shifts. No more night shifts. No more in-depth conversations with me about the ins-and-outs of navigation and why a super Boris Island (see picture on the next page) won’t work because all the geese in the Thames Estuary would be blended into a jet engine.

I shall miss it.

In fact, I will miss more than just their conversations about work. There were many great things about having parents doing such a niche, crazy, technically demanding and mentally ridiculous job:

THEY HAD TELEPATHY We were able to go down the M4 motorway, I could point any plane in the sky and my Mum or Dad would be able to say: “Oh that’s the BA3596 heading to Copenhagen” without batting an eyelid.

THEY PROBABLY CONTROLLED YOUR FLIGHT My Dad’s job involved contacting pilots whilst they were flying the plane, telling them where they are and where they would need to go next. So essentially they would start with a ‘call sign’ directed at the aircraft so they know to respond, say “hello” and then would more or less say “up, down, left, right” to the plane and so on.

Once my Dad also was on shift whilst I was flying back from New York on a school trip, which meant that for a short period of time, he was controlling the aircraft that I took across the Atlantic. When he told me later that he had done so I was amazed, but he didn’t seem to think that it was much of a big deal.

He also controlled Concorde quite a few times whilst it was in service. Does he ever brag about it loudly to friends and family; or is there a big picture in the hallway with the words “I CONTROLLED THIS!” plastered across it?

Nah. It wasn’t that much of a thing apparently. I actually think he’s talked more about making spaghetti bolognaise – he does do a good spaghetti bolognaise – than directing the fastest passenger plane that has ever existed.

In fact, to this day I’m not sure whether him controlling aircraft was the coolest thing in the entire world, or the scariest. I mean, don’t get me wrong he was very well trained and I am not doubting his ability, but he does always need assistance with setting up a GPS before a long car journey.

THEY WERE GREAT AT PAYING UTILITY BILLS Whilst dealing with any utilities or credit card company on the phone, my parents were taught the superpower ability to throw across any personal details at lightning speed. “What’s that, you want me to spell out my name?” I would overhear them say whilst sitting in the kitchen. “It’s Golf Lima Echo November November, Bravo Romeo Yankee Alpha November.” They didn’t even notice that they were doing it. I would later bulk up the confidence and try to do the same later, but would only be able to muster “Scarlet Charlie… er…. Octagon…

Tesco Tesco. Bacon Ryan… Yacht…. erm….

Arnold…. Netherlands? ”

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4 FEATURE They also ruined movies My parents also once hired out Final Destination from the local video store, thinking that it was a comedy film. No, really.

So you can imagine, I was watching the film with my parents at the tender age of 14, terrified that in the film’s first few scenes, a plane with all of the main characters in is starting to disintegrate before blowing up in the sky.

How did my parents try to reassure me?

Photo: © Foster + Partners

4 Proposals for a new London airport in the Thames have been around since the 1970s.

London’s current mayor, Boris Johnson, has recently relaunched the idea.

THEY RUINED YOUR HOLIDAYS I’ve talked a lot about my Dad here, but don’t let this overshadow my Mum. Mum was working during the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption (no I didn’t know how to spell that I just copied and pasted it from Wikipedia). As ash cloud particles were floating in the air potentially clogging up aircraft engines, it was her department’s decision for all UK flights to be immediately grounded at the nearest airport for several consecutive days. You might remember what happened next: travel chaos ensued, millions were left stranded on holiday or in unfamiliar countries, insurance companies were left substantially out of pocket… So, that’s right Ladies and Gentlemen. The Bryan Family for a short

period had helped cause the entire airline industry to fall on to its knees. To be honest, I bet you aren’t that surprised.

What didn’t help my Mum during this very difficult time at work was my general ignorance to it all. “Why would this ash cloud stuff be that much of a concern?” I asked her, whilst eating my cereal first thing in the morning whilst she had her ‘I’m so tired I might just sleep whilst standing up’ comingback-from-nightshift face.

“Because, Scott, we wouldn’t like planes falling out the sky now would we?”

I was working in retail at the time. Seeing what she was dealing with at work I decided not to talk about my daily pains of working in a local shop to my parents for a while.

“Don’t worry Scott. The plane wouldn’t blow up technically in that way. The roof would rip off about ten, maybe fifteen seconds later the engines blowing up would only separate the plane in thirds not half…”

Great. Thanks.

THEY WORE THE HEADPHONES And finally… Why was my Mum and Dad’s job so absolutely awesome?

They wore massive headphones with the ear bits the size of dinner plates at work, thirty years before East Londoners realised that wearing these types of headphones were really quite trendy. ^ Scott has written for The Guardian and the BBC's Radio Times. Follow his blog on http://ohitsscottbryan.com

4 Big headphones – the latest fashion accessory…

Photo: (cc) DaveBleasdale via Flickr

Photo: (cc) ghostmbg3 via Flickr

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4 Charlie

Charlie’s Column

^ by Charlie Braking Action

Last February, a United Airlines B737 skidded off the runway in Cleveland, USA. Rather than on the taxiway it was aiming for, it ended up on the grass.

The R/T exchange is reported to have been “interesting”.

That reminds me of a nice remark made by a military pilot that who also ended up in the grass after a slippery landing some years ago. The controller asked the pilot afterwards about the braking action on the runway. The pilot reportedly said: “Poor on the runway, but fair to good on the grass!“

to Delhi left two (rather attractive judging by the photos) stewardesses in charge while they took a break in business class. Their nap nearly turned into a nightmare when one of the stewardesses accidentally turned off the autopilot, not only forcing the pilots to their seats, but also someone feeling uncomfortable enough to report it…

At least, that is what the newspaper said. The airline released a statement, admitting that the flight attendants “were in the cockpit for a prolonged period” and “due to a distraction, the co-pilot had touched the auto pilot disconnect button momentarily.” However, it said, “at no point of time the cockpit was left unattended by the cockpit crew.” Whichever story is true, flying for this particular airline seems like a load of fun! Flying with them as a passenger may be another matter…

OVERHEARD ON THE FREQUENCY I British Caledonian, on final in a well-known British airport: “Control, this Caledonian 125 established on...Euuhm, no, sorry. It’s Caledonian 124, I was 5 yesterday”. To which the tower controller replied: “Well, Happy Birthday to you, Caledonian 124!“ Photo: www

Indian Cockpit Discipline “Pilots suspended for handing over control to air-hostesses for a 40-minute nap break” was the (rather long) headline in an Indian newspaper last April. According the article, pilots on a flight from Bangkok

OVERHEARD ON THE FREQUENCY II A few years ago, after landing at Dublin airport for the first time, a crew gets a bit disorientated on the taxiways. Asking for help on the ground frequency, they were told: “No problem ABC 123, just follow the Chieftain to the ramp.” After some discussion between the 2 pilots, they called back for some clarification. The pilot said “Eh, ground, can you confirm whether the chieftain is the guy

4 CCAS – Cattle

Collision Avoiding System™ Photo: BAE Website

4 Look Ma: NO HANDS!

Photo: BAE Website

with the bats or is it the yellow truck with the sign on top?” To which the ground controller said: “Eh, ABC123, I actually meant the twin engine aircraft that’s now behind you.”

UAVs… again Regular readers will know that we like our UAVs here at Charlie… It seems that BAE has taken things a few steps further: last April, a Jetstream turbo prop became the first Uninhabited(?) Air Vehicle (UAV) aircraft to share the airspace with normal aircraft. The BAE website (http://goo.gl/CvJsy) features a photo of the aircraft with the title “NO HANDS!” It says that the aircraft flew 500 miles, controlled by a pilot on the ground that got instructions from UK ATC. Other than two pilots in the cockpit for take-off and landing (!), the flight was completely “uninhabited”…

Over the following months, BAE will be testing a number of innovations, including a system to make unassisted emergency landings.

The computers on board will try and find a safe landing area by “detecting and avoiding life on the ground“. The system will be able to detect houses, cows and hedges to find an area without life somewhere. One has to hope that they can also avoid graveyards – otherwise there will be some mightily confused Air Accident Investigators finding bodies everywhere after a UAV crash…

Another development will be the “world’s first autonomous weather avoidance system”, surely a controller’s dream: aircraft that decide themselves where they should be flying without bothering us for clearances. On another note, if it needs pilots on the ground, how will this be cheaper than to have them in the cockpit? ^

Charlie@the-controller.net

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11-13 MARCH 2014 AMSTERDAM RAI NETHERLANDS

SAVE THE DATE ATC GLOBAL 2014 EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE 11-13 MARCH 2014 THE INDEPENDENT VIEW OF THE SKIES

CONNECTING THE INTERNATIONAL ATM COMMUNITY FOR NEARLY 25 YEARS Organised by

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