r

HUGHES - FIRST FOR TRAINING

HUGHES

ATC SIMULATION & TRAINING HUGHES (UK) LTD

Training Division York Road, Burgess Hill

West Sussex RH15 9TI England

Telephone: 01444 873000 Fax: 0 1444 2393 19

In today's air traffic control training environment, one simulator clearly stands out from the rest - FIRST from Hughes ATC Simulation & Training.

FIRST systems are consistently chosen by leading ATC authorities. They need a system that can match today's pace of change in procedures, equipment and training programmes. They know that FIRST will meet their demands.

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For a start, it's an extremely powerful, full scope simulator. Brilliantly designed on modular 'building-block' principles, it can be easily upgraded and expanded. Using our experience and intimate understanding of the ATC training field, we have enhanced the successful FIRST concept and developed comprehensive solutions. 0 For example, FIRST also offers full scale networking capabilities with a wide range of options for radar displays, operator interfaces and complementary ATC equipment. A FIRST network can be configured and re-configured to suit different exercises. Each workstation can be used in different modes, giving the utmost flexibility. 0 A number of attractive options are available for tower and ramp controller training: • Full 3-D, panoramic visual systems with advanced simulation features give high realism. • Comprehensive training is covered with photographic-quality scenes, special visual

effects and automated traffic movement facilities. • Integrated radar-tower-ground controller tean1 training can be practised. • Stylised 2-D colour graphics displays give cost-efficient aerodrome procedure training. 0 FIRSf is in service at military units delivering training across the range of Air Defence, ATC and PAR. 0 Furtl1ermore, by virtue of its power and fidelity, FIRST is used for operational simulation and experimentation. Use it to evaluate new airspace designs and procedures, or to prototype and test your system's own workstations.

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JOURNAL OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

United Kingdom. March 1996

PUBLISHER IFATCA. International Federa tion of Air Traffi c Contro llers· Associations. See bottom of page 2 for contact address.

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

EDITOR TerTy Crowhurst 29 Heritage Lawn. Langshott. Harley. Surrey. RH6 9XH. United Kingdom. Tel. +44 lO) 1293 784040 Fax +44 (0) 1293 77 1944 CompuServe:Te rry Crowhurst. 100743.3372 Internet: I00743.3372@co mpuserve.com

COPY TYPING Dona Crowhurst

ADVERTISING AND SALES OFFICE Ron Mahendran U Stanford Way. Broadbr idge Heath. Horsham West Sussex. RH 12 3LH. United Kingdom. Tel & Fax +44 lO) 1403 256 798 ~

ACCOUNTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS Tim MacKay "Dunadry" . Minshull Lane. Wet1enhall. Winsford. Che~hire. CW7 -mU. United Kingdom. Tel +44 tm 1270 528363 -Fax +-14 (Ol 1270 528478

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

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

THE CONTRO LLER/MAR CH 1996

Vo lum e 35 N° I

IN THIS ISSUE FOREWORD

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

EUROPEAN REGIO NAL MEETI NG A R e po11 from Bled

ASI A PACIFI C CONFERE NCE A R e port from Hon g K o n g

I CELAND A n Update from the Last Iss ue

AS IA PACIFIC REGIO NAL MEETING A R eport from Auckland

GR EEK A IR TRAFF IC CON TROL A Pilot s Vi ewpo int

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

A VIATION SAFETY IFATCA Comments

IFATCA '96 Tu ni s Airport , Ga teway to Conference

FREE FLI G HT IFATCA E xec uti ves Repor t

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

RESULTS OF E ND OF YEAR COMPETITION

Advert isers in this issue

3

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Ale nia. Crim p. GB Airwa ys . Hughes. No rco nt ro l. Omn ili fe. Schmi d Te leco m. Tuni sair.

P hotographs T . Crow hurst. P. Doma gala. A.Ta ylor. P. Schellin g. G . Melc hert. G. Chao

Cove r Ba lloo ns over Sw itzer land - See Pag e 16

Charli e Ca1·toon Ke n T ull y

Proof Readers Lucy Leveson. Han-y Col e

ISSUES APPEAR END OF MARCH, JUNE, SEPTEMBER, DECEMBER. C ONTRIBUTORS ARE EXPRESSING TH EIR PERSONAL POINTS OF VIEW AND O PINIONS, WHI CH M AY NOT NECESSARILY C OINCIDE WI TH T HOSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF A IR TR AFFIC C ONTROLLERS' A SSOCIATIONS. IF A T CA. IFATCA DO ES N OT ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR STATEMENTS M ADE AND OPIN IONS EXPRESSED, IT A CCEPTS RE SPONSIBILITY FOR PUBLISHING THESE CO NTRIBUTIONS. CO NTRIBUTIONS AR E W ELCOME AS AR E C OMMENTS AND C RITICISM. NO PAYMENT C AN BE M ADE FOR M ANUSCRIPTS SUBMITIED FOR PUBLICATION IN THE CONTROLLER. TH E E DITOR R ESERVES T HE R IGHT TO M AKE ANY ED ITORIAL CHANGES IN MANUSCRIPTS, W HICH HE BELIEVES WI LL IMPROVE THE M ATERIAL WITH OUT A LTERING TH E INTENDED M EANING. WR ITI EN PERMISSION BY TH E E DITOR IS NECESSARY FOR REPRINTING ANY PA RT OF THIS JOURNAL.

Everyone's flock ing to Tunis.

T he 1996 ATC Con ference will be held in Tunis and British Airways would like to fly you there.

We offer a hug e ran ge of servic es into London with onward connec tion s to Tunis

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

For further information ple ase ask your tr ave l agent

or call your local British Airways offic e .

BRITISH AIRWAYS 7

O perated by th e independent ca rri er G B Airwa ys Ltd

_ ___ _ ____ __ ____ _ ___ _ FORE WORD __________ ______ --- -

ADMINISTRATION 0 Neil VIDLER. Deputy President

The success of any organisation depends in large

measure on how it is ad mini stered . In this regard IFATCA is no except ion. Ind ee d . because of it s ve ry nature. this is certain. In compa r ison wi th. for exa mple. the techni cal and profe ssiona l facets of th e Fede rat io n. administration is not the most glamorous side of our orga nisatio n but it certainly is essential. Yes. IFATCA exists to provide technical and professional input at various forums on behalf of the world' s air traffic co ntroll ers. but unless the organ isation is ad mini stered correctly and efficiently it wouldn't have the ability to provide that input nor would it retain the respect that the other facets engender.

Administration is no small part of IFATCA. From the current budge t. fo r ex ampl e. takin g into account th e Secre taria t. Conference costs and the Executive Board· s interna l travel and honoraria. administration takes up approximatel y -1-Sllc of our cu ~b

and this is without considering the administrative component of the various Standing Com mitt ees. Suc h a large proportion of our expenditur e mu st be viewed very se riously and con tinua lly monitored to ensure that it is being spent wisely and that our prime technical and professional functions are not suffering as a result.

In 1990 we restructured the Federation. in part to make our admini strat ion more e ff ic ient. For the 1995 co nference. an cxtcnsi ve n.:view of how we arc opera ting was um.lenaken. That 1"1.:vicw and the restructure have received Directo1< apprm·al but we canno t re'1 eas). Mor e stil l need s to be don e . Th e 1996 conference will sec an admin istrati\'c brie fing for Direc tors to increa se their kno wledge o f hm, IFATC A work s. Ver) soon IFATC A will mo\'e into a nc\\' era with the adn'nl of a permanent office. This will bring about great cha nges in the wa) we du business and at the same time it will mean an even greater financial out lay. We ha, ·e lo ensure that ;,uch increased ex penditur e, impro\'e our l1,·crall performance and are not simpl) tn pa) for another" a) or doing things.

That I FA TC A has come th i, far without ha Ying a permanent Secretariat is 1H1thing ;,hort of amazing and i, beyond belief or 111tb t other similar organi sations. But WL' lrn, e. and ,~e ha,e done it efficient I) . thanb main!) to ,o mc ,·er) dedicated and hard ,,·rnl ing o ff ice rs . all o f whom ha , c worked to co ntain co:,t:, "' hilq maximising output. It i~ incredible 10 look back and di;.cll\ er that the fiN call ror a d iange in thL' way or doing thing:-. was on!) at tilL' ,eco nd annua l con ference ,, hen the then Ho1l\)ra r~ Scnetan

THE CONTROLLER /MAR CH 1996

recomm ended to the meetin g ·· .... to endeavo ur by all mean, ro employ as soon as possible a full time paid Execut ive Secret ,Jr). as the management of an international organisation such as !FA TCA is alr ea dy at thi s stag e bey ond the scope of an H o norar) Secretary"s spare time.·· Then at the 9th annu al confe rence in Montreal in 1970. the President noted that ·· it wou ld be ridiculow, to expect the Executive Secretary to extend his acti\' ity to cope with new objectives and an additional membership. The need for permanent sec retariat ass istance is acute ...... Well. we actu al!~ moved to having an Executive Secretary (and thereby to what almost amounted to a full time official ,·ia ret ired or <,emi-rerired individuals) in late 1963 but it has taken us considerabl) longer to come to finally deciding on a permanent Secretar iat. A:, al\\ a);,. cost has been the prime concern.

So how wi ll we fu nd rhi s great leap fo r controll e r-kin d·.1

Obviously. increased membership clues will help but a:, 1 indicated earlier. we must ensure that we are not financing administration at the cost of our core busine<,s. as it were. A, the Federati on grcrn ,. the demand s placed upon the aclmini:,trat ion of IFA TC A I and I include the financial a:,pect;, of that adrnini,rra tion too) ,eem to gro w more than propo rt ional ly. De,pi te rhe fact that -' e arc conrinually re,·iewing our procedure, . despite the fact that \\C arc pulling in place more streamlined methods of operating and de-,pilL' th e fact that we co nt inu ally ca ll upon o ur mernbcr,h1p to implement complementary procedures . rhere remain tou frequent Ol·ca sio n, when Me mber A;.sociation, do not help u-, ( and therefore themsch ·es) b) complying ,~ ith requ iremen t,. Each time someone doe:-. not answer a que;.tionnairc ( and therefore require, ,1 follo w-up reque;,t ). doe;. not re,pond in a Ii mcl) man ner lt l a communi cation. pul:, in a "or king paper to Con ference after the due dare or submit;, a request for a,, istance after the requ1,ire t11ne. it acid:, to the Federation·, workload and direct!) tn 1h e\ pc11J1wre Ju~t by the simple expedient of doing thing, correct I~ and 1111 11111e. YO U ca n mcas u rab l~ red uce e, er) hod;,·, ,, nrl,. load and

,i gnificantl~ contain L"lhh.

The permanent office j,, ,ore!~ needed and,, ill add to ll-1\ TC\ '

efficie1ic\. He)\\ c, er. ,,e ,~ ill find it diffirnlt to funJ 11 " 1 that 11 operate; in the ex pec ted manner an d prmlu CL'' thL' e\JlCL"lL'd ellici e11C). One certain. -,igniricant and ea,) \\ a) tu a..,..,1,t \\ llh thal i, to con win co, 1 , ia nur O \\ n imprm ed opL'ra t1n& L'll1c1enL 1c, Then the admi nistration or lh -\TCA \\Ill he ahk to cPnt11wc· \\Oiling for )ll ll as \OU ha,e come to c,pcL·t and 11,1l aga111,1 \tlll

h) nccdh:-, \ I) , 1xnding ) our hard earned S\\ 1~, ha11L·, Adm inistration nw) not bL· the lll\bl C\c 11111g face of II--\ r< ·\

(although man, or the Dirccwr, in Committee \ 111, ,11\ cd 111 the disc u,:i1 rn, ir; recent , ea r, ma) di,agrcL ' \\ 1th thal I hut 11 1,

necc;.;,ar) and thl' r eder~1tion could nnl func11t1n a~ ll d11t·, ,, 11hou1 it and li i,.e IFATC.-\·, tllher laceh . 11 1, tilL' rL· 1,11 \1ll1 l"hc permanent Pilice "ill great!) as,1,1 11- -\ T< \ , <1d1111111,11.1111111 h111

,o also mu,1 \ ou. the member, . +

_____ _ __ __ ___ __ _ __ EDITORIAL-

Editorial :l Terry Crowhurst - Editor

The Editorial of thi s edition follow s a differ ent for mal th an

usual. I was app roac hed by Huohes Aircraft of Canada lo aor:e to an interview with Mr.

e John M Belcher who is President of both Hughes Aircraft of Canada and Hughes Canada Systems Division. The purpose of the interview was to discuss the latest status of the Canadian Automated Air Traffic

Control System (CAA TS) and perhap to allay some concerns that have bee n ex presse d abo ut the proj ec t. The inter view was conducted in my home with other representatives from Hughes

Europe. Firstly. it i worth outlining a brief biography of John Belcher.

A. President of Hughes Aircraft of Canada Ltd .. he is responsible for the Ca nadi an operati ons incl udi ng co rpora te bu sines s development. government relations and international marketing. The Canadian company i. a ub. idiary of the US company based in California and include the Systems Division in Richmond. B.C.: and the Ser\'ices and Suppo11 Division with the Calgary Electronics Facility. the Information Technology Centre in Calgary and the Simulator Suppon Facility in Dartmouth. Other facilities include the Hughes Elcan Optical Technologies. in Midland and Hughes DirecTv Canada. in Missi,sauga. Ontario.

John Belcher i~ perhaps best known for hi~ work in System En!!ineering and as author of the Transport Canada Canadian Ai,; pace s ;-;tems Plan (CASP): a plan for the expenditure of over $5 billion to modernise the air traffic and air navigation ~ervice across Canada. His company biography is extensive and record~ an impre~sive history in the industry which has been recognised by signi fica nt award s which include a national awa rd for his organisation·s lmegrated Office Sy'>tems Program in Supply and

Services Canada.

It pays to advertise • in

JOURNAL OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ~ TIIE conTROUER

4

AND SO TO THE INTERVIEW:

Hhat i.\ the Cll/ T CII I .\( (1/ /I S <~(the CAA TC proj ect?

The Canadian Automated Air Traffi c Control Progra m underwe nt a rest ruc tur ing jointl y b y Hugh es Canad a/Transport Canada to add so me

::S Mr John M. Belcher new requir emen t~ and rep lace so me of

those in the original specification of 1989. Thi s was comp leted in the summer of 1995, and approved by the Canad ian Gove rnment in September 1995. The program remains esse ntiall y the same. with the schedule lengthened lo allow full national de live ry lo be completed July 1998.

What is setting CAA TS apart .fi'u111 other comparab le A TC proj ects?

CAATS provides advanced night data process ing funct ions and operator features for controlling aircra ft in both rada r and non­radar cove red airspace. A large pan of Canada has no radar coverage. especially the aircraft coming over the pole from Asia . Russ ia and the Nort h Atlanti c. In the ab se nce of radar and navigational aids the most appropriate direct route can be selected using CAATS' advanced functionality. Full e lec tronic flight data strip s in teg rated within the co mmon co nt ro lle r wo rk station provides for added safety.

CAATS is also a national system which. when com bined with the Military Automated Air Trarti c System (MAAT S). cove rs both civil and military air traflic control at nil cnroute ccntcrs. terminal centers and towers. It is a complete seamless integ ration or all Air Traffic Control functions for Canada.

What will it do f<Jr ll.\ers ,~r Canada\ air .,pace'! It supports the introduction of direct routing for aircraft through

Canada's airspace and the introduction or automati c depe ndence surveillance and computer pilot data link. Thi s will result in more aircraft gelling their requested route and reduced cos ts lo the air carriers.

Hc,s Hughes well pmitio11cd i11 th e .fin! pla ce to hand le a pro} (!('/ ,~r thi, Cflfllf)frxity (I/Id

maf.{11it11de '! Hughe!-, wa, very well po!-.itioned for C AATS due to it:- Yi year

history in deve lopin g and implc111cnting lar ge scale so ftwa re imen!-.ive !-,Y!-,lCJTI!-, world wide.

In addition between the year, of 198'.'i and 1990 H ughc~ was one of two prime contractor, cle, igning the FAA':- (Federal A, ·iation Admini,t rationJ advanced autrnnated ,y, te111.

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

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

H /wt rl'Wllff l' \ ar t' n1r1t•11th a r(l/lahl l' to /111 ~ / u, i11 ( a11ada to lu111dle tl1c p m Jt't 1 ·1

Hughe, Canada ha, a"'e mhled 11llL'grated prllduct tcanh made ur of cxpcrh from around the "' 11rld . Th 1, inc lude, n 1stu111er

T HE CO NTRO LL ER /M ARC H 1996

- ----- - - - -- ------ - - EDITORIAL _ _ _ ____________ __ _ _

representatives. Hughes employees from throughout the company. Cana di an Hi- Tec hno logy eng inee rin g co mpa nies and subcontractors with specialized expertise in operations. safety. t ra inin g. softwa re deve lopm e nt, human fac to rs and communications.

H'hat are the .w~jiware problems? There are no software problems. Al issue was the freezing of

operational/technical requirements. One of the major challenges in all complex software development projects has been and continues to be confirmation of requirements and the establishment of a solid foundation that will support all functional building blocks. This is like the a;·chitechtural design that goes into a house: the up front work to establish a blueprint for the whole prior to building the parts. Hughes took an innova tive app roach to deve lop ing the software for CAATS. Software development began in January of 1993 and the approach was to develop a software architecture first. The benefit of buildin g a living prototy pe and meas urin g its performance before committing to full scale developmelll is that it red uces the risk of futur e so ftwa re pro blems. T he so ftwa re archit ec ture was prove n to be sound in I 994 and full sca le developmem was subsequently started. Software Build One was completed in Summer 1995 and Build Two will be completed in Fall 1996. There are four major software builds in the CAATS program.

Do you feel Hug hes has been penalized by changes in design and specifications imposed by the custom er?

The CAATS system is considerably improved today over what was procured in 1989. This will result in a modern system being delivered lo the Canadian government and a producl line available to Hughes.

Hughes Aircrafl and the Canadian governmen1 have worked together cooperatively lo ensure that CAATS is the mosl advanced ATC system in the world. In fact. because of the architeclllral work done. CAATS will also form the basis or the Oceanic system lo be de liver ed in the USA. and for new large ATC bu s ine s, opportunities in the UK and around the world.

H'/wt price tag do,,, the re1·i\l'd pr<~jl'Ct a m ~rf oll01ring the l<l\·t 11egotiatiom !

The co ntract ,·,due ha~ im:rca~ed from Si-+20M Canadian lo '.ii.+78M Canadian.

It ,e, ,111, llll i1ulepende11t , tll{/r wm co111111iHioned hr the cwt omer to a,,e\\ the , it;l((/ion ,~f the prt~i<'l't. · H hat 1rert ' the conclmiom !

An indepemlen1 ~tudy wa~ comp leted by lntermetric~ Inc. of Maclean. Virginia. In the findings Intermetrics rccog ni1ed the technical expertise that exish in Richmond B.C. and stated tha1 ··c AATS i, a nee ded rep lace ment for an aging ~y~tcm and provide, ~ignificant functional enhancemenh·· .

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

THE CONTRO LLER/MAR CH 1996

f!ow does the emergence of .\'Ai · Canada aff ect th e futur e of CAATS?

We view the se lli ng of the air naviga tion syste m to NA V Canada. a private corporation. to be a very pos itive benefit to CAATS. Hughes. and the Can adian go,·e rnmen t. The bus iness orientation of a private co rporation should res ult in ong oing improvement in tools made available to air traffic controllers .

What are some of the leading edge tec/1110/ogies that Hughes will introduce i11 C-tATS?

Some of the /eadi11g rec/1110/ogies are:

Electronic flight strip s which are interactive with functions the controller performs on his/her display. For exa mple. the conu·oller can reflect any changes of an aircraft"s altitude by using a Sma11 Menu connected to the altitude field of the data tag. Thi s change i~ automatically distributed to the electronic flight strip and appear ~ in the altitude field of the electronic strip. Conversely. that same change made to the electron ic flight strip is reflec ted in the data tag. In addition. everyone who will hand le this Oight downstrea m is automatically notified of this change.

Computer -gem.•ra ted fh. or houndar~ e ... timate, which are highl y accurat e and which a re au tom at ically updated and distributed to all concerned wheneve r changes are made to that aircraft" s night profile.

Conflict pre d iction in non -radar air..,pa ce . Thi s co nfli ct predictio n includes warn ings abou t res tricted air space. seve re

weather and. of course. other aircraft. T he qa nd -alone capa hilit~ of th l' ,1ork-. ta tion to cont inue

functioning when the connection to the 111..iin computer, i, ln,t for any reaso n. Every workstat ion i~ capab le of pro ce ~~ing data internally for flights currently being hand led by tha t co ntro ller. Once the connection i~ restored. the main computer·~ databa~e~ are automatically synchronized en~uring that no information i~ lo~t.

T ill' ahilih of' th e cont roll l'r to 11,t · t h1• ,\,tt•m to .t ll" H' I

.. ,, hat if ' qu~stion,. The system can be probed to find out what would happen if route. altitude and speed change~. were instituted or any combination thereof. Each ~cenario could he ente red h~ the controller and be prnee"ed by the ~ystem. The controller can then

\Clect the optimum route.

Comideri11g the dl'lti_\'\ in 1111plt•111enwtio11. ea~, ( ·. \ \ F.\ still he expected to he ·,wt e of th e art wh,·11 completed ?

Ye~. in fact the e~1abli~hmen1 of a , olid ,o ft\.\ arc archi1<:cture that i~ ope n and portab le will en~ure that the ,y,1cm ,\ ill he deli\·erccl and maintaine d on ·~1a1c of art· hard,~ arc and COTS

,ortwarc .

Hhat will (' \ \7\ dof ,,r the co11rro/ler·'

CAATS will reduce dramat1call\ the am,lun1 pf 11111c cDntrollcr,

I · . . · · t·i· I . 1· 1, c11hcr on the spcnL conrcl111att11!! d1ange~ tll a1rcratl 1g 1l p1 ll I L' phone. face-10-fac~ ur b,~ , ome other mean~ Controller, \.I ill ha,c

. . ·. ·- c·AATS II all)\,\ the L'llllll"lllle, mrne time Lo 111a1rn!!L' their trat1tL ,...., . "1 1

tu a~k ··\.\ hat tr· q: 1l:, tHrn~ and u,e the rc,ult~ to 1tnpni, L' tra!'l ,L l'lcrn. pre, cnt conrii L·h and rL·Jun· ,trL'" and thu, 111\.Tea,L' tlw

,afet~ of the mcn lil A.1r ~a\t gall,Hl <..;~, tL'ill +

------- -- -- - ---- RE GIONAL MEETI NG - ---- -- - --

6TH AFRICA MIDDLE EAS T REGIONAL MEETING

In the tuu ri~t city of Nairobi. Kenya. located in the heart of Africa. seventy delegate~ from twenty-one co untries

and three international organisations met on the 7th and 8th No , e mbe r. 1995 to del iberate a , ixteen item agenda for the 6th Africa Mid dl e Ea!>l !A FM ) Reg ional Meeting.

The meeting. which wa, the first chaired h~ Mr. Oli\t.:r Farirayi. the new EVPAFM. 11 a, aho allende d b) Mr. Chr is Stock. If- ATC A EVP Tec hnical and Mr . Terry Crowh ur,1. the E:ditor of ·The Controller". L"nfonu natel). Chris and Terr) mi~scd the Open ing Ceremon ) and the ,ta rt o r the fir,t wo rking ,c , s ion bec ause the) were unable to obt ain ,c at, on an ea rl ier , cheduled !light to Nairobi. Howc 1er. they m,11wgcd to arri1e direct rrom an m ·ernight 1°11ght Ill time lor the main bUSlllCSS or the meeting. However. in their initial ah, ence. the prc, e ncc of Mc,, r, . Art hur Ki tao .

\ lhl' rl Ta) lo r. Koo li Kha leel. Ela nd \ ,Juk11mhwc and M, . Monica G11·indi . all \ I 'V1 \upport Team a nd Ta ,k 1-orce

llll' lllhl·r, . prm 1dcd the needed , uppon for thl' ( ·11a1n11a11.

f"lic llll't't111g al, o attracted a con..,iderahle

6

0 Albeit Taylor

number of aviation dignitaries in the sub­region . Mr. Willi ams Moro so. Ken ya·s Ass ista nt Mini ~ter o r Tr ansport an d Communication. opened the meet ing on behalf of the sector Minister. His address to uch ed on th e challe nges fac ing the av iat ion indu str y in the lig ht of the C SI A TM evolution and the desire of his mini stry to t ramfor m civil av iation in Kenya into a self-financing autonomous organisation.

Mr. E. M. Nj ogu. Chairman of Kenya Air Traffi c Co ntro ller, As ,o ci at io n ( KATCAJ . in h is addres s. spoke abo ut unatt rac tive working co nd itions which hal'e cau~ed 30c;f of the Kenyan A TCO s to resign over the past live year, . to do other jo bs which offered better rewards.

Oli1er Farira yi in his opening addre, s talked about the C S/ATM co ncept and the evolving technological advancement i 11 the aviation industry. He enumerated ~ome of the ~hortcoming~ 111 the ATC , ctup, in the reg ion ancl enco uraged ci1·il a1 iation admi ni ,t rato r, to find , o lut ions to the reg iom· co mmu nication pro b le m,. He prom i, ed to e n~ure that l r ATCA pa rt ic ipate , c ffect i1 c l) in a ll re le 1 an t

aviat1on related prog rammes in the region a nd to make the ncc e ,,ar y inpu ts that would help reduce the enormous prob lems be ing e nco untered by ma ny AFM ATC units.

Terry Crowh urst the n ga, ·e a report on the acti1·itie, u r the Execu ti\'e Board since the las t An nual Co nferen ce . Both !CA O and IAT A mad e pr e, e nta ti on , o n CNS /A TM and en t rea ted A fr ica n ATC j1l"O\'i dc r , tatc, to exp e d ite ac t io n to imp ro , ·c l·o mmu ni cat io n in the reg ion . A lbe rt Ta y lo r ga \ C a p rc, c nt at in n o n ··Factor, Influencing the Marh· t ValUL' o f the Air Traff ic Co ntro lle r in A i"ril·a ... He reco mm ended am ong ot her al·t io ns the folloll' ing:

- ATC training in the .'\FM rcgilln nceLb l tl he de- local isi.:d

-ATC tra inin g. inq i1ut io 11, , ho uld he aff iliated to in, titut ion, or higher learning. Prol"c,sional ethic, ,llll uld he dL'\elopcd for the praclicc o r air traffic contro l.

- Mubil it~ llf ATC<>, need , tll increa,e in order to enha nce· thL' 111arh·t 1·a lue of ATCO, in the rcg iPn.

Chri, St1ll·k al, o rna(k a pr,' , t'lllalilln on C . SI AT M 1~ i l h , pc L" i a I em p ha, i, o n

THE CONT RO LLER/MAR CH 1996

--- -------- ------ REGIONAL MEETING - --- - - - -- - -------

Aut o mati c Depend ent Sur ve ill ance (A DS ). He inf o rm ed the mee ting o f pertinent questions which air traffic services provider States should as k be for e th ey ac quir e new CN S/A TM equipment. He also explained the diff erences betwee n the conventional A TC radar and A DS. C hri s in fo rm e d th e mee tin g of a tec hni ca l document being prepared by IFATCA which he anticipates will pr ov ide adequ ate · t· Mee 1i11g w ill, the Mi11i.1"1er of Tra11spon in ormation o n man y

The two-day meeting wa s so exh austive tha t the organisers were unable to organise any off icial to u r to the nu merou s place s of int e rest. However. the Kenya Ai r Tra ff ic Co ntro ller s who unde r took the difficult task of ho sti ng the 6th A FM Regiona l Mee ting. after th e withdrawal of Ma uri t ius . pr oYed themse lve s a worthy replacement host.

technical issues of interest to the controller. Th e mee tin g agre ed to aboli sh

unn ecessa ry di sc uss ion o n Memb er Assoc iations· activity reports al futur e meetings. In the past these reports have served as a basis for discussions but were read out verbatim despite their circulation before the event. Directors considered this was a waste o f valu abl e time and un anim o us ly agr ee d that the exi st ing form at o f co nduc ti ng AFM reg iona l meetings was unproductive. In the future. on ly spec ific items of interes t from the

reports will be raised. thus leaving time to adopt IFA TCA ' s co nference form at to conduct business on more important issues in the regional meet ing.

The mee tin g ag reed to in stitut e a reg ional awa rd to honour dese rving ind ividu a l Memb e r Assoc iatio ns and

After the meet ing was concluded. the member s of the Execut i \'e Board accompan ied repre se ntati \'es of KA TCA and the Task Force to meet the Ken yan Minister of Tran sport to discuss problems pertine nt to the Ken yan Association and the countries· controllers.

int ernation al organisat ions which make s ignifi ca nt co ntr ibuti ons towa rds the development of the industry.

Senegal was selected as the venue for the 7th AFM regional meeting to be held in 1996.

With the support of Kenya Airways . East Afr ica n Ai rl ines . Ca ltex A\ ·ia ti o n. Directorat e of C ivil A\ ·iation and many others. KA TCA end eared their guesb with special Kenyan hosp ita lity.

Come-go-with -me to Senega l '97! +

IFATCA 40th Anniversary Story It ha s bee n dec ided to prese nt an hi stori ca l pe rspec tive of IFATC A in bo ok form for

the Fe deration 's 40th An ni ve rsa ry. in 2001 . Inf orm ation is now be ing co llected for thi s ta sk . Cont ributio ns of a his to rical

natur e . photog raph s . inte res tin g/ hum oro us anec dotes. reco llections/reflection!->. suppl eme ntar y papers e tc. ar e in vited.

If yo u ca n co ntribut e in any way. please cont ac t or sen d re lev ant mat eria l (not ph o tog raph s in th e initia l instance) and info rmation to :

Neil Vidler. IFATCA Derut y Preside nt P.O. Box 127 ROC KDA LE NSW 22 16 . Austra lia Phone : +61 2 543 23 17 ( home )

+61 2 556 6671 (off ice) Fax : +6 12 54 1 0705 (off ice)

or

Bernhard Ruet hy Buerenstr. 23 CH-3312 FRJ\UB RUNNEN Sw itzerland Phon e: +-1-1 3 I 76 7 823:'i Fax: +-1-1 .1, I 76 7 8235

A ny co11trihuti o11, 110 matt er '1 0111 large or .rnw/1, will be appreciated.

THE CONTRO LLER/MARCH 1996 7

--- --- -------- --- REGIONAL MEETING _ ______ __ __ ___ _ _ _

EUROPEAN REGIONAL MEE TING 0 GUnter Melchert, Executive Vice President Europe

Las t yea r·s European Reg iona l Meeting was held in Bled, Slovenia from 6 to 7 October 1995. Bled is a

small. picture sque village located some 20km north of Brnik . the airp ort of Ljubljana. Slovenia's capital.

Together with John Redmond, IFATCA EVP Finance, we flew (with thanks to Austrian Airlines and Tyrolean Airways) on Friday morning from Vie nna to Klagenfurt. the capital of Austria's most southern province of Carinthia. Klagenfurt is located some 80km north of Bled on the northern side of the Julian Alps and the Karawanken Mountains. At the airport we were picked up by a mem ber of the organisi ng committee. The one hour car ride took us through the ma rve llous scenery of th e Juli an Alps on what promised to be a fair and sunny day. We arrived in Bled after a short but pleasant journey at around JO o · c lock. Upon our arrival we met almost all the members of the Organising Committee. Matjaz. Milos, Simo. Andras. and all the other Slovenian colleagues who had worked hard to make our stay memorable.

The Golf Hotel was an ideal venue for the Regional Meeting. It was located close to the lake- shore. For tho se who were lucky enough to have a room with a lake­front view it was extremely tempting not to att end the meet ing but ju st enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the Lake of Bled. the little island with its romantic old church in the frame of the Julian Alps background. All this while the waters of Lake Bled were reflecting the blue skies over Slovenia.

Whil e the mar vel lous scenery overwhelming ly fascinated all those who had already arrived. many more delegates were due to arrive in the afternoon. By the evening it was clear that some one hundred people would attend thi~ year·s meeting. As usual the unofficial opening was held at the conference hotel with the traditional Meet the Delegates Reception. Well known faces as well as many new colleagues were seen in the basement bar.

The meeting itself started on Saturday. October 7 in the morning. Our Slovenian colleague~ had invited a number of guests

8

of honour. Amongst them was Mr. Bojan Jeras, Deputy Director of Adria Airways. the flag carrier of the young State, which was one of the main spon so rs of the meeting. Mr. Peter Marn. Deputy Director of Ljubljana Airport and Mr. Igor Umek. Minister of Transport of the Republic of Sloven ia. Mr. Umek gave his openi ng addre ss in the Slovenian languag e and declared the meeting officially open.

During the short break after the official openi ng ce remony . me mbers of the Slove nian ATCA and myse lf had the chance for an exchange of views with Mr. Umek. Thereaf ter the working sessio n started.

The roll call showed an attendance of 31 MAs prese nt. which was qu ite good considering that Europe has 39 MAs in its region . We had quite a full age nda and consequently 1 expected the meeting to run until Sunday evening which finally proved to be a good estimate. As usual there were a number of administrational agenda items to deal with. Again this year. we had some outstanding highlights in the meeting. On Sunday morning three presentations were delivered. The first one was given by Miss Colleen Stoner from the EUROCONTROL Directora te or EA TCH IP Deve lopment. Miss Stone r dea lt with th e ge nera l probl ems or the European Air Traffi c Management S y~tem from a controll er' ~

per spect ive . Her pres enta tion was ex tremely in for mative and outlined, in brief, future development of the role of the a ir tra ff ic co ntroll er in a hig hl y sop hi sticated and adva nced tec hn ical environment. From the many questions she had to answer one could see that the issue of the controller's role in the future is of extreme interest to the controller of today. I must emphasise . though. that Miss Stoner is one of tho se perso ns who in dee d recognises the need fo r co -opera ti on between planning and opera tional peop le which is not necessarily a fact everywhere.

The seco nd prese nt ation . on Sunda y morning. was given by Mr. Chris Clark who is the c ha ir man of th e HRT. the Hum an Reso ur ces Team in EUROCONTROL. Mr. Clark explained to the audi ence what in fac t is meant by Human Resou rces in Air Traffic Control and why this field is of utmost importance to the EATCHIP development. He further gave a brief overv iew on the interrelation between two peop le and the possible problems whic h may be enco untered by simple mistakes made during the process of any kind of commun icat ion with eac h other. He also asked for controller input to the work of the HRT. as all the aspects of the EATC HIP Prog ramme wo uld have strong implication on the futur e work of controllers and therefore it should be in the inte re st of eve ry co nt ro l !e r to have con tro lle rs v iews incorpo ra te d in the developments of EATCHIP.

The third presentation was given by Mr. Jo hn Pe nwa rn e. He ad of the Ce ntr al Executive Unit West of EUROCONT ROL. As we al l knew. the work of the CFMU and its impli ca tion~ on the work of the operat iona l controlle r ha~ some tim es caused prob lem~. a~ the ~ystem of Flow Control was not alway~ work ing fm their benefit. Mr. Penwarn e tlrnugh. during hi~ presentat ion. empha~i~ed tha t the people working in the Central Flow Management Unit in Haren see their rnle a~ ~upportive to controller~ in Europe. not the least because ot the aforemen tioned problem~ . which included ~ector ovcrlnalb and a I\)\\ . degree of tlexibility. Needle~~ to ~a ~ that there wa:--

THE CONTROL LER/MA RCH 1996

__ __ _ _______ __ __ _ REGIONAL MEETING __ __ ___ __ _ ____ _ _ _

the next Reg ional Meeting taking place in Vienna in NoYember 1996.

Th at br ings me to the last decision of the meeting which was the confirm at ion of this

a good deal of discussion after the presentation which revealed a lack o r co mmun ica tion be tween ope rati o nal peop le and the CFMU . A matter of discuss ion was if controller Associations had the right to add ress CFMU directly without involving their administrations. This was denied by Mr. Penwarne. as the CFMU being part of EUROCONT ROL co uld dea l wit h Stat e repre se ntati ves only . It was howeve r agreed th at the co mmun icat ion link s be twe en CFMU an<l controllers should be intensified. Concluding. I can say

yea r · s \'Cnue. As proposed already in Warsaw. Vienna was confirmed as the ,·em1e of the Europea n Reg ional Meet ing 1996. Althou gh no candidate for the 1997 meeting could be announced at the Bled Meeting we do have two candidate~ for 1997 at the t ime this report goes to the printing house.

Organising Cm11111i11ee - from le.ft to right: top row: Ma,jau Sar/ah. Andr ej Bohinc. Gora:d Ursic. Grega Ja11/111ba : bo110111 rml'.· Mil01i Filimo11m'ic. Jo:ica Kotnik. Simo Petro 1·ic. Bob Opacic.

The meeting was closed at 1700 hours on Sunda y afternoon and I think that it was the first time that we really exhausted the availahle timeframe.

that by means of these presentations we could stimulat e so me d iscuss ion and exchange of views between controllers and rep rese nt at ives of EUROCON TR OL which in fact should prove to be beneficial for controllers.

After the presentation. which took a bit lon ger th an exp ec ted. the mee tin g continued with the completion of MAs· reports . Besides the usua l prob lems in Europe amongst which lack of staff versus an extreme increase of traffic numbers is certainly the most ticklish. the situation of controllers in Iceland attracted a great deal of attention. Almost a hundred controllers -equal to some 95% of the island's control staff manpower - had quit their jobs at the beginning of October 1995. The reason given was the need to work extreme hours of ove rtim e and the gove rnm ent' s negligence to negotiate improvements in the overall working contract of con-trollers. The Icelandic controllers are a part of the c ivil service and conseq uently have no right to impose indus tria l action. The situati on caused the meeting 10 take a decision on issuing a press release to inform the tr a, ·elling publi c of the probl ems in thi s porti on or the North Atlantic airspace with regard to the sarety nf !light from the first or January. the day on which the walk-o ut s were clue to become effective. In addition. the meeting decided to send letters or concern to the CAA and the Government of Iceland to pres, for a reasonab le resolution. in the light of possible safety implications. in case Iceland had no operational controller~ le ft by the beg innin g of the yea r. The Exeru ti, e Boa rd furth er indicat ed it s willingnes, to help I CEA TC A b) stepping

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

int o ta lks with the CAA and the Government on the issue of professional problems such as the issue of excessive overtime. In fact Preben Lauriclssen. our President. and myself visited Iceland mid­December for talks with the CAA. There was also good media coverage organised for our meeting and I can say that by the very end of December last year a solution was found which allowed both parties to continue their future co-operation in a hopefully better way than in the past.

Th e re mainder of the mee tin g saw reports on ODT. ANT. APDSG. EANPG. APATSI. EU and on the general ~ituation regarding A TFM in Europe given by Tord Gustavsson. Jean-Pierre Lesueur. Catharina de Dec ker. Edd y Gerit s. Phi lippe Domaga la and myse lf. As usual these report s were ve ry infor mati, ,e and comprehensive. However. delegates felt that the meeting in its current format would not fulfi l the fut ure requi reme nts of European me mbership. As a lready announced in The Controller. my proposal to change the format was agreed. In the future the meeting will he more pol icy o rientat ed wit h the fir~! of the 2-clay mee ting rese r\'e d fo r aclmini stra ti, ·e proceedings and where MA reports will only be accepted in writing well in acl\'ance or the beginning or the RM. This action should give all MAs the chance to ha,·e them read before the meeting. Only reall) necess ary issues wil l be allowed to be addressed at the meeting thus saving time for real business like re,·iewing IFATCA policies as they rellcct the needs of Europe. This change will he disrnssed in detail at the next RM during the annual conkrenn ' in Tuni~ and "'ill he efkL·ti,L' from

On behalf of a ll MAs present and on John Redmoncl·s and my behalf I would once again like to than k our hosts . the Slove ni an Air Tr affic Controller~ Association for their efforts to make us feel at home in the village of Bled. in Slovenia.

orthern

We had such a warm we lcome and a good time that many of the de legate~ regretted not having planned for a longer stay. On top of that the weather wa~ a~ nice a~ it could have been and I did not hear one complaint about an ythi ng. which proves that e\'eryone was highly satisfied.

Personally I would like to exp re,, m~ gratitude to all the organiser~ who after the encl of the RM had organised far ilitie~ for holding a European Support Team Meeting on Monda). In addition to that I wi~h the SLOVENIAN A TC A all the best for the further de\'elnpment of their state-of-the-an A TC system. +

READ ABOUT IT FIRST IN

JOURNALOFAJRTRAFFICCONTROL , ~ TIIE conTROllER

9

______________ IFATCA PAPER----------

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

The ATC Asia Pacific conference was held in Hong Kong from 29 to 30 November, 1995. At short notice, the

IF A TCA Executive Vice President for the Asia Pacific region, George Chao, was invited to make a presentation on civiUmilitary air traffic control co-ordination in the area. The speech attracted much interesting discussion on what is often a sensitive topic in both this region and others. This an extract of the speech as given by George Chao.

Civil/Military Co-ordination We heard from previous distinguished

speakers on the progress that has been made in some of the countries in improving civil/military co-ordination. The achievements they have made will certainly set a good example to other countries in achieving the same goal. However. looking from a regional perspective. has the problem really been resolved - I am afraid the answer is NO. Recently we have heard much discussion especially from the United States on the concept of Free Flight - but will the airspace user really gain any benefits from Free Flight if the sky is still cluttered with restricted and reserved airspace? While a lot of the states in the Asia Pacific region are actively pursuing the implementation of CNS/ATM plan. will the air traffic management lead to more flexible and economic use of airspace if the military is still reluctant to relinquish some of the airspace for civil use? The presentation focuses on some of the co-ordination problems which still exist between civil and military in the region.

Lack of communication and consultation between civil and military

We are all aware that there are conflicting demands on the use of airspace between civil and military. The civil operators demand safeguard of their aircraft by rigid application of separation standards whilst the military authorities require the fullest amount of tactical freedom and flexibility in the conduct of their flight operations. Without adequate co­ordination. misunderstanding as a result of lack of knowledge of each other· s intention will naturally occur. In some States co-ordination is effected through a national civil/military co­ordinating committee. At the operational level. it is common practice for military personnel to he altached lo civil ATC units for close co­ordination. Unfonunately. in some States. the

10

military has total operational freedom without the need for consultation and co-ordination with the civil authorities. The civil organisation is sometimes equally at fault for not taking the initiative to make their requirements known to the military. This will naturally have a significant impact on civil air operations in tenns of safety and efficiency.

Rules and Standards In a number of States, it is commonly known

that the civil and military adopt different rules and standards. To quote a few example; different separation standards, incompatible flight level systems, different R/f tenninology and abbreviations. Needless to say, problems will occur in the integration of civil and military traffic. The solution is, of course, to involve military organisation in the design of ATC procedures, attendance of regional A TC co­ordination meetings and to train both civil and military controllers to a common standard. This brings us to the next problem area which is the aspect of A TC training.

Training Traditionally. training of air traffic controllers

is done separately. While the civilian air traffic control courses are based on ICAO standards and recommendations. the military air traffic control courses focus on mainly military regulations and procedures. Although it is recognized that specialized military air traffic control training is necessary. nevertheless. general operating procedure should be based on the same principles. ICAO provisions should be taken into full account when relevant. However. it is gratifying to note that the provision of a common air traffic control course for civil and military controllers is already being practiced in some States.

Airspace reservation/restriction The closure of a block of airspace or an A TS

route due to military activities is commonly being utilised in a number of States in the region. As a result, disruption of normal flow of traffic is inevitable. This has caused great problems to civil airspace users especially if the closure is at short notice and without prior notification. The ICAO has long recognised the problems and has developed standards and recommendations and regularly conducted seminars. but it is really the responsibility of the State authorities to develop necessary agreements between civil and military for the efficient use of airspace. I must say that

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

Communication System Close and effective co-ordination obviously

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

Duplication of effort in establishing installations and developing facilities

With the ever increasing air traffic. system redundancy is one of the major elements in developing any ATC system. Unfortunately. in some States, the establishment of facilities to cover the same region for both military and civil air traffic control is not for a common purpose. Installations. navigation aids and other facilities are established without joint consultation between civil and military units. Often the civil and military systems cannot be integrated due to system incompatibility.

Having highlighted all the above problems. I must emphasise that the picture is not as gloomy as one thinks. These problems are happening only within a small number of States. In fact. most of the States in the region are fully conscious of the need for close civil/military co­ordination and the military authorities are gradually giving up airspace. facilities and aerodromes for civil use. Co-ordinating committees are being set up to develop national A TS rules and procedure for application by both civil and military. We sincerely hope that. in years to come. more and more airspace will be available for both civil and military use and this is what the true meaning of Free Flight is really about. +

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

NEWS - UPDATE

ICELAND - UPDATE

As the readers of the last issue of The Controller are aware, the dispute in Iceland was resolved

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

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

0 L. Vilhjalmsson.

suggestions. At six o'clock the following morning the rest of the team were summoned and the compromise that had been reached during the night was introduced. It was made plain that the offer we had in our hands was final and we fully understood that if we hoped to get anything more, it would take us well into January, with possible dire consequences for the flying public. It was decided to accept the offer, and a meeting of the members was hastily convened that night. The deal was accepted by the members with two voting against. A sigh of relief could be heard in various quarters.

Here is basically what the government and ICEA TCA agreed to: 1. The government will establish a committee which will determine working hours for A TCOs and the need for extra workforce in the future. This committee will study papers on the subject from ILO and neighbouring countries. We will have equal representation on this committee. 2. Another body will be formed to look at the rights of ATCOs to have a say in their pay- and professional matters without them having to resort to such drastic measures as they just have. 3. An increment of approximately I 0% was agreed on, which is similar to what other civil servants have received. 4. Because of the extra cost that these measures will entail. ICEA TCA will assist in streamlining and change the watch structure now in force to make better use of the workforce.

With this in mind we expect that the increment may disappear. but we are hopeful that in the long run we will get more controllers. and our working hours will become more civilised. We have learned that politicians promises are to be taken with a pinch of salt. but we cannot but put our faith in this agreement and we will certainly do our very best to make sure that it wi II be adhered to ... time will most assured)} tell how we fare.

From time to time member associations will feel the need to resort

to drastic measures to get authorities to face up to situations which they universally seem to brush under the carpet as a matter of course. When such situations arise it is our belief that it is essential that you have at least two vital factors working for you as we did: 1. Almost unreserved unity and solidarity within the ranks. 2. Help and support of neighbouring ATC units.

In my view these two ingredients are vital, and even when you have those. the strain on the members and their families is tremendous.

Other factors to bear in mind:

ICEA TCA deliberately established a large delegation to the talks ( 15 ATCOs).This made it easier for the members to stay abreast of what was going on as they met a delegate almost every day at work. and you never heard the phrase ··what the hell are they up to?"

ICEA TCA secured the services of a public relations firm. This is expensive. but on reflection probably necessary in this day and age.

On the advise of a psychiatrist. ICEATCA held a meeting with ATCOs spouses. and that was a great success. and relieved them of many of their worries. and got them more involved.

ICEATCA held numerous meetings (always well attended) to keep everyone involved and informed. We also had an open house three times a week (in December) so that the members could come together for a chat over a cup of coffee or a pint of the best and hear the latest rumours.

We are certain that this work (and it was hard work) created the unity that never wavered and was imperative. We are also certain that suhtle pressure and

scare tactics were put on some memhers ( it does not take too many l to thnrn in the tov.,el. but such division never materialised. We are also well av.are that politicians halt' hemg put up agamst the wall. +

11

REGION AL MEETING

ASIA PACIFIC REGIONA L MEE TING 0 George Chao, Executive Vice President Asia Pacific

Report of the 12th Asia/Pacific Regional Meetin g held in Auckl and , New Zealand, between 29-31 October 1995.

The event was hosted by ATC Council of the New Zealand Air Line Pilot' s Association (NZALPA). The venue was at the five star Regent Hotel situated in downtown Auckland. The hotel, with spacious meeting hall. and well equipped conference facilities, was an ideal venue for an international conference of this nature.

Over 65 participants from the following organisations attended the meeting: lFATCA: Deputy President. Neil Vidler and EVP Asia/Pacific, George Chao. Mem ber Ass oc iati ons : NZA LP A. CAO OAA . ROCA TCA. JFATCA. HKATCA.M ATCA.FA TCA. PNGATCA . SLATCA and APCA Tahiti. Non-member Association: Thailand ATCA. Aviation Authorities: Airservices Australia. CAA New Zealand. Corpo rate Me mbe rs : Airway s Consul ti ng NZ, Ai rway s Corporation NZ. CAE Electronics. Thomson Radar of Australia.

The meet ing was chaired by Mr. George Chao. the IFATCA EVP/ASP and he was assisted by Mr. George Jensen of NZALPA. Mr. eil Vidler. Deputy President of IFATCA. represented the lFATCA Executive Board. After the welcomi ng speech by Mr. Pa ul Rob in son. th e con ference orga ni se r of NZA LP A. he int roduce d th e fo llow ing key speat ers to make the opening address.

Sir Barry Cu1tis Mavor. Ma11aka11 City NZ Mr. Kev in Wan.I Direcw r c!{Ch·if A 1•ia1io11 NZ · Mr. Alistair Malcolm ATC Director NZALPA Mr. George Chao IFATCA £VP/ASP Following the roll call. the Chairman began the first working

session. The theme of this year' s meeting was ··Adapting to the CNS/ A TM World"". The meeting focused on the development and progres~ or the CNS/ A TM implementation plan in the Asia/Pacific Region.

The meet ing received reports from the Executive Board. EVP Asia/Pacific. the ATC Flow Control Symposium Fukuoka. the ISPACG 8 mee ting at Go ld Coast Austra lia. !CAO ATS/AIS Subgroup meet ing. the South China Sea/RNP Working Group Meeting Bangkok. the !CAO A TS/ AIS/SG 5 Meeting in Bangkok and !CAO 3rd South-East Asia ATS Coordination Group Meeting Ho Chi Minh City.

Information paper~ were presented on the following subjects : Sate lli te~ fo r air tra ffic con tro l. Hum an Factors in ATC.

C. S/ATM . Free Flight. TCAS in trail climb. Regional Guidance Material for RNAV operat ion~ in an RNP environment and Auckland Oceanic CNS/ATM.

Working papers were presented on the following subjects: The conduct of IFATCA South-East Asia ATC Co-ordination

Meeting. A~ia/Pacific Regional Meeting 1996. Dur ing the mee ti ng gue~t ~peake r~ were in vited to make

pre~cntation~ on variou~ topics: Mr. B. Lang. or C AE Electronics. di~cu~sed the work of CAE in

the CNS/A T M fie ld and in part icula r the instal lat ion being undertaken in Ne\\ Zealand.

Mr B. Lam. or Air~cn ice~ Australia. addressed the development and progrc~~ in ADS and the future direction~ which are likely lo hL' followed .

Mr .I. Moone). or Airway~ Con~ultancy Service~ NZ. briefed

12

the meeting on the work of Airways Consulta ncy Services and discussed the privatisation of A TS services throughout the world .

Mr. M. Goodall. of Airways Corpora tion of NZ . spoke about the NZ experience of the introduction of CNS/A TM into the Auckland Oceanic area.

Mr. L. Wonneberger. of Thomson Radar Australia Corpora tion, described the Thomson specialised field in providing equipment to ATC and the projects being undertaken.

With the improved relationship betwee n IFATCA and !CAO. IFATCA was able to attend most of the ATC Co-o rdin atio n Meetings in the region. The Chairman gave a detailed briefing to the members on the latest developments concerning the CNS/ ATM implementation plan. ATS route restructure in the South China Sea and reduction of separation standards based on RINA V criteria. The Chairman advised that IFATCA played an impo rtant role in the region·s aviation deve lop ment and our efforts in imp roving safety and efficiency of air transport were widely recognised in th; region. The meeting also discussed the substantial progre ss being made in the Pacific Region to implement the CNS / A TM system. IFATCA was one of the key participants of ISPACG which was the principal group providing the essential practical input. In this connection and at the request of all the participants. a visit was conducted to the Auckland Oceanic Centre to witness the ADS trial operations over the Pacific area.

Based on the procedures established by IS PACG . a draft RNP Operations Manual for the South China Sea was also developed. Th e mee tin g d isc usse d th e d raft m anu a l and it s co nte nt s particularly the aspects concerning the reduction of separat ion standards and the conditions go verning the reduction s. Weather avoidance procedures were also discussed at length.

I n-tra i I climb and ·free-fli ght· co ncept s ge ne rat ed a lo t of discussion. The general feeling of the mee ting was that TCAS should not be used as a tool for provision of se parati on . Th e question of liability in the event of an incident was also a major concern. On the question of ·free flight' . most of the delega tes felt that this had already occurred to the extent that any greater freedo m would jeopardise flight safety .Two working papers were presented. The Chairman noted that, following on the success from the NEAT meeting. he proposed lo convene a Sout h East As ia A TS Co­ordination Meeting involving the States concerned. He identified the poss ible venues as e ithe r Taip ei or Ma nil a . In res ponse . ROCATCA offered lo host the meet ing. Austral ia presented a Working Paper on the ir ab ilit y and des ire to hos t th e 1996 IFATCA Asia/Pacific Regiona l Mee ting which would precede their own CAOOAA Biennial Convention. The \'enue and dates would be Brisbane . betwee n 13 No v 1996 a n th e meet ing unanimously agreed to accept the CAOOAA invitation to host the 1996 meeting. On the social ~ide of the meeting. it was again a complete ~uccess. Spon~or~hip wa ~ ge ne rou s ly prtw ided by. airline. manufacturing comp any and con~ultancy organisations. The participants thoroughly enjoyed the sumptuous lunches and dinners. particularly lunch on a harbour cru ise and the farewe ll dinner with a floor show of traditional folk ~ong and dance.

Overall. it was a most fruit ful and producti ,e mee ting. The discussions on variou~ techn ica l matte r~ were con structi,·e and useful. The Chairman. in his clo~ing remarl--~ thanked NZA LPA for their assistance and support in hosting the e\ ent. The dedication and enthusiasm displayed hy the organi~ing and ~upr orting staff contrihuted to the \ Ucce~~ of the meeting. +

THE CONT ROLLER /MA RCH 1996

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

GREEK ATC - SUMMER 1995 0 Captain R.S. Ward, Air 2000 & BALPA ATS Study Group Member

Towards the end of every summer, the problems with Greek Airspace hit the headlines - 1995 was no

exception. Greek airspace has been on the ICAO shortcomings list since 1980 and improvements have been regularly promised. IFALPA, at their 1995 Conference, designated the airspace as seriously deficient and unless the improvements promised by the Greek administration are forthcoming, it is probable that it will be regraded as critically deficient at the 1996 Conference.

Outlined is the Summer 1995 situation as sourced from various ECAC and EA TCHIP documents, airline representatives. Eurocontrol, Jane's Airport Review. BALPA Technical Section and a visit by the author to Athens. This visit was made possible by the assistance of Air 2000. Virgin Atlantic and BALPA. It included briefings from the Director A TS Division HCAA. the Greek Air Traffic Controllers' Association and the Manager and Assistant Manager of the modernisation project.

TRAFFIC Greek airspace has long been a popular

destination for many of the world's charter/LT. operators. with approximately 16 regular destinations contained within the FIR. The geographical location of the FIR/UIR at the junction between Europe. Africa. the Middle East and Asia ensures a high level of en-route traffic transiting the airspace. Athens airport also continues to grow as a leisure and business destination.

Figures published by Eurocontrol place Athens airport as the 17th busiest in a league table of 40 of Europe· s major airports. Within the Greek FIR. approximately 1400 flights operate daily ( figures from the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association) in an ATC environment classified by the EA TCHIP phase I level 2 document as being of medium/high complexity. The traffic is distributed into 4.Fk Arrivals and Departures. 33<4 Overflights and 249,

14

Internal and is forecast to increase by 7 .2% per annum, until the year 2000. This will lead to a 50% increase in traffic between 1993 and 2000. Due to the nature of charter operations, traffic levels peak between April and October and due to competitive scheduling by operators, individual airfields experience intense traffic peaks on a daily basis.

AIRSPACE Mountainous terrain over the entire

region, with MSA' s between 4,500ft and 11,900ft, increases ATC complexity, requiring 'stepped' descents by both area and approach control. Terrain also affects the siting of radar heads to achieve optimum coverage, especially at lower levels.

The FIR/UIR can be subdivided into a maximum of 7 sectors with Macedonia controlling the North and Athinai the remaining sectors.

ATC - AREA CONTROL Two ATCCs, Athinai and Macedonia.

are housed in the tower building complex at Athens airport. The ATC is almost totally procedural. although in 1986 the A TCCs were equipped with an MSSR positio~ed on Mt. Himmittos, providing synth~t1c radar data on 5 displays. This radar_is fitted with manual operator input to provide code callsign conversion G/S readout and track prediction. In accordance with the HCAA NOTAM A4/19 90 (S March 1990) this radar can be used to provide a radar control service in the NNE area of the Athinai FIR to flights above FL210. Practical experience shows that in the past only a traffic information service has been provided but as the number of radar rated controllers increase so the use of radar to resolve conflictions is becoming more common place.Procedural Area Control relies on pilot reports and establishes separations based on VOR radials and DME. Aircraft on the same track at the same level require I O minutes longitudinal separation (approx. 80 nms). Because of this reliance on RT position

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

Within the A TCCs. controllers use hand microphones and speakers. This produces a high level of background noise that the use of headsets would greatly reduce. Headsets have been trialed but technical problems apparently preclude their use. A strip printer has recently been introduced.

ATC - AIRFIELDS Of 36 airfields listed by AERAD as

having runways in excess of 5.000 ft only 3 are equipped with ILS. these being Athens. Rhodes and Thessalonika. Of these 3. only Athens can provide an approach radar control service using the only civilian PAR in the country. Rhodes and Thessalonika have VOR/DME based procedures. culminating in an ILS final approach.

Heraklion and Kerkyra (Corfo). make up the 4 major peripheral airfields outside Athens and these are both equipped with

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

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

procedural approach control and VOR/ DME procedures. Because of surrounding terrain. the procedures to both airfields have inbound courses offset from the runway QDM, with associated high Minimum Descent Altitudes (MDA). With neither airfield having any approach lighting, this makes for a demanding approach. SID's and STAR's often follow reciprocal tracks providing no procedural separation. This results in delayed climb and descent clearances and unnecessary holding as inbounds clear outbounds.

A number of airfields in Greece have previously been criticised by BALPA for having the same altitude for the missed approach procedure as the minimum holding altitude over the same fix. We have been assured by HALPA that controllers keep the minimum holding altitude available in case of a missed approach, but because procedures are unclear, the potential for serious conflict is there.

Airfield weather reports are broadcast on Athens Volmet (VHF), and recorded on a continuous loop tape by staff at the A TCC.

The quality of transmissions falls well below that produced by the ·synthetic voice' digital recording equipment used in Northern Europe and is made worse by the level of background noise and the rate of delivery.

During a dispute with neighbouring former Yugoslavian region Macedonia. many airfield names were changed. Kerkyra (Corfu) becoming Ioannis. Kapadistrious and Heraklion becoming Nikos Kazanzakis which does not aid the already difficult task of deciphering the Volmet.

MODERNISATION In 1987. after pressure from ATCOs and

the HCAA. the Government. recognising the need to install an automated A TC system invited tenders for all the necessary equipment to upgrade Greek A TC in line with EA TC HIP. The contract was awarded to the French company. Thomson-CSF and involved: - The phased introduction of long range radars to provide single cover for primary radar and double coverage of SSR for the entire Athens FIR. Improvements to telecommunications and navaids. - Building of a new VCR (Visual Control Room) and A TCC at Athens airport. - Provision of an A TC simulator and radar training facilities.

The key elements of the programme are listed helow:

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

ATARS-ATHINAITERMINAL AREA RADAR SYSTEM

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

HERAS • HELLENIC RADAR SYSTEM

One new primary long range radar and 4 new mode S compatible MSSR radar heads have been installed to provide double SSR coverage to all the FIR, except the SE sector bordering Cyprus. All but one radar head has been accepted from the contractors and the remaining radar is expected to be accepted by the end of 1995. Initially it was intended to use a military radar on Crete to cover the SE sector. This has since been discovered not to meet the needs of a civilian system.

Four new terminal approach radars are planned for Corfu, Thesaloniki, Rhodes and Heraklion. These radars will be used as approach radars and also 'gap filr radars to the area radar system. It is planned to integrate the current Mt. Himittus radar into the new system at a later date.

PALLAS-RADAR DATA PROCESSING/ OPERATOR INPUT AND DISPLAY/ FLIGHT PLAN PROCESSING SYSTEM

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

VAR-VOICE COMMS/ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT AND REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM

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

STAFFING LEVELS At present. of 180 controllers working at

the current A TCC. 80 are radar rated. A recent Eurocontrol study has indicated that 340 controllers will be required to man the new ATCC (figures supplied by Greek ATCA).

The newly installed A TC simulator is enabling the HCAA to run 'in house· radar courses, removing the necessity to send controllers to Eurocontrol for training. The courses last 8 weeks and it is anticipated that 120 radar qualified controllers will be available for Summer. 1996.

The apparent shortfall of 160 controllers to man the new A TCC is as yet not being addressed. In 1995 no new funds had been made available for recruitment and given the lead time of 3-5 years for controller training. a staff shortage can be anticipated.

SUMMARY All the above projects will be integrated

into the now complete new A TCC ops room. This contains 15. three position work consoles equipped with colour raster scan displays and electronic information displays.

It is anticipated that the entire system will have been accepted by the end of 1995 to commence a one year operational evaluation before entering service. This transitional period will be used to check the operational perfonnam.:e of all equipment. familiarise A TCOs. produce new manuals. and negotiate agreements and procedures between neighbouring ATCCs among many other tasks.

After introduction of the new A TCC it is expected that a large scale review of Greek airspace organisation and route structure will be carried out based on simulations currentlv ongoino at

Eurocontrol research faciiities. ... ::-Greece is making great strides towards

an automated A TC in a , en comprehensive contract with Thornson-­CSF. The airspace. however. continues to be the 'bottleneck· of European A TC and faces personnel problems potential!\ greater than the technical problems. w~ can anticipate the airspace remainino basically a procedural environment for th; next 2 years with increasing traffic levels and all the attendant implications for safet~ and expedition.

The end to all these problems 1s in sight hut pressure must he maintained to ensure the process continues at a reasonable pace

Grateful thanks are extended to Captain Ward for his permission to reproduce this article. -+

___ _ _____ _ _______ SPECIAL FEATURE -- --- - --- -- -- - - ---

SOME LIKE IT HO T W HERE ATC AND BALLOONING MEET

The scene is a magnifi cent alpin e valley known as the Pays d'Enhaut of the famous Gruyeres region. in

the French speaking part of Switzerland. The town. a summer and winter resort is Chateau d · Oex. located at I OOO meters above sea level. The surroundin g peak s easi ly double that figure . Enjo ying an except ional micro-climate. the valley is mostly free of fog durin g wi nter and therefore perfect ly suited for ballooning acrivities. Winter is the best season for hot­air ballooni ng. si nce it require s comparatively less energy to produce the differe nce in temperature that creates the magic lift.

This scene hosted again the International Hot-Air Balloon Week in January this year. It all started some 18 year ago with the partic ipation of 12 ba lloons from 5 countries. Since then it has developed into a major event and this year saw 85 crews from 13 coun tries and over 80 Hot-Air Balloon~.

During the week. the crews participate in about 15 compe tit ions. of which the "David Niven Cup". a long distance race. is the most challenging one .. Since last year. the latter i!> officially recognised by the FAI t Federation Aeronautique lnternationaleJ as a prime eve nt in ba lloon ing. Here the measured "straight-line" distance from the take-off field in Ch,1teau d'Oex determines the winner.

The ex i~tin g reco rd i~ 3 15km by a 3000m ' sized balloon. and 375km by a ball oo n o f ..J.500 m' . To reac h these distance!s. mo\ t of the cruise has to be clone at heighb in the vicinity of 6000 meters'

Other comr etition~ con!>ist of chasing a hare I a designated balloon) from a grouped ta ke -o il of abo ut 50 ba lloons , imultaneou!,,ly. The winner i~ the crew which land!,, clo!,,est to the hare. once the latter ha, ~et it!-> basket on the ground and announ ced hi~ flight term inated. Other di!,,ciplinc!,, require the participanb to throw marker!,, i 1110 , et target!,, etc

But pilot~ do not onl) f'I) competition!,, duri ng the \\ ed, . Tho !,,e \\ ho knm, the

0 Patrick Schelling. Contributing Editor

Special shape attra ction: the flying Orient Express .'

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

Hot-air ballooning is an expensive sport and therefore most equipment is sponsored by firms who use the space for advertising.

1111cr<H:lirna1e often ll ') the "hllx-flight" _ 1\ ho 111 50 hal/01111.1 ar e i1(/lated J;,,. a 11u1ss take -off.

The most spectacular sponsored balloon s are the special-shaped ones. as it seems that there is no limit to creat ivity. One good example is the Orient-Express Locomotive owned by a Swiss Tra vel Agent. Its 45 meter s long and 30 meters hig h. The volume is 40001113 ! The envelope weighs 320kg and the ··ship''. sorry train. can carry one pilot and two passengers.

Since the creation of the event. air traffic controllers have played a major role within the organisation of the Chateau d'O ex Int ernational Hot-Air Balloon Week. Originally called upon to assure the co­ordination (with ATC) during long distance flight s. the controll e rs. beca use of their unique communication and co-ord ination abiliti es . took up other ta sks cruc ial to assure smooth and safe flights.

As the event takes place within the core area (in terms of traffic density) of Europe (28N M E SPR YOR) and just a few hundr ed kilome tres from major airp orts like Geneva. Lyon. Milano and Zurich. it is essential that co-ordination with A TC units is done by profess ionals. These are staff from the Geneva Area Co ntrol Ce nt re (sw issco ntrol ). as the eve nt is locat ed within Geneva CTA (FIR).

On long distance flights. hot-air balloons seek best winds at altitud e. and it is not uncommon that gro ups of ballo ons find themselves in terminal airspace at between

16 THE CO NTROLL ER/MARCH 1996

\ l

i? ,, '

' Main g roup of ha/loons durin g co 111petit io11.

say FL 150 and FL220! A real nightmare for controllers and (airline) pilots alike. Howeve r. partic ipation in long-d istance flights is limited since it requires special skills and equipment. and therefore only small groups are drifting at any given time.

Fortunately. the balloons are required to carr y a working tran sponder (they are checked by co mmi ssioners before each take-off) when flying wit hin co ntro lled airspace. which helps to inform the (airline) pilots of their respective positions.

As a pilot remarked after encountering a group of balloons during a competition some years ago .. "isolated balloons are no problem to avoid. if they are pointed out in advance. However. flying into a group can be dangerous. since they (the balloons) are prac ticall y stat ionary while avo idin g manoeuvres are a bit difficult for a jet at high speed' I would rath er have the controller keeping aircraft well clear or the group - even if I have to travel an extra few miles··. he concluded.

In addition to the civil traffic. there are the different military shooting and combat areas to be considered by the competitors. These areas are detailed to the crews during dai ly brie fings . as are particularit ies of mo unt ain fl ying and the ir assoc iated eme rge ncy pro ce dure s. Wea th er phenomena. like upper winds. significant weat her. ri sk of ava lanche s. e tc. are disse min ated by spec ialists durin g the briefings.

Over the years. special co-o rdina tion procedures have been developed to ensure

THE CO NTROLLER/MARC H 1996

~

qui ck reac tion if an emerge ncy should arise . Two or three controllers occupy a fu lly equipp ed Co -o rdin ation and Communications Centre which is located on the departure field.

During ··operations". the controller plays a crucial role using his abilities in what he does best: to co-ordinate. Communications are ac hieve d pr imari ly using VHF channels. On take-off the pilot announces his departure time and his intentions. As in ATC. each flight' s registration is noted on a paper strip. On conclusion of the flight. the crew announces its landin g. which permits screening of missing flights. All communications are on Flight Information principles. that is. no clearances are issued.

Each hot-air balloon is followed by its Retrieve Crew. Usually its a 4-wheel drive vehicle equipped with a VHF radio. towing a trailer. The crew on the grou nd keep~ (visual and radio) contact with the balloon in the air in order to be as close as possible when the hot-a ir balloon lands. Often. balloons ·j ump .. valleys while the Retrieve crew has to go the long way round to catch up. Often contact is lost sporadica lly and that· s when the Co-ordination Centre take:-­ovc r. Th e con tro ller~ lia ise with the respective partie, o\'er a spec i a I hot-Ii ne and collect the information about position,. Usually they succeed in getting the crew~ together again.

Sho uld an emerge nc y ar ise. the co ntro llers co -ordin ate with local and reg iona l pol ice Th ey ha, e acce,s to a he licop ter. on ale rt d ur ing the e ,ent.

Although beautiful. the area can become hos ti le when wind s r ise . Th e rough topograph y demands caref ul planning of the landing sites since slope:-. are steep and partially covered by trees or. at altitude. by big rocks. Pilots tend to aim for landing spots close to roads to ease acces:-. by the retrieve crews and their equ ipment. High­powe r lin es and ca ble car s aero~ , the va lley~ kee p the ball oon piloh al e rt' So metimes bas kets and enve lop e, are retrieve d by he lico pter. since landin g, close to road~ are not alway, possible .

Fortunate ly only few incident , ha ve occ urred si nce th e begi nnin g of thi, int e rn ationa l event. Ove r the yea r ,. part icipa t ing controller, adapt ed the proced ure:-. to inc rea,e safety and ha,e shown that they can be engag ed for ta,"-, other than ·ju st .. keeping aeroplane , apart'

For tho~c who happen to he in that region during January - don·1 mi,, it - it, a colourful even, taking place each year. +

; - ~

• r .....

17

AVIATION SAFETY

ESTABLISHMENT OF A SINGLE EUROPEAN ORGANISATION RESPONSIBLE FOR AVIATION SAFETY

E response to the document regarding the establishment of a ingle European Authority for

aviation safety dated 15 December 1995, IF A TCA welcomes the opportunity to make comments. IF A TCA totally supports the principle of the establishment of a Community authority with competence in the field for civil aviation safety. However, we note the institutional and economic difficulties associated with such an Authority and as such, we do not feel competent to make specific observations on its constituency other than those related to the safety regulation of Air Traffic Management (ATM).

Although the Working Paper speaks about a Community authority for civil aviation with competence in the field of aviation safety. IFATCA notes the emphasis placed on air worthiness certification for aeronautical products which is right and proper. but also notes the total absence of any discussion concerning the safety regulation of European A TM which. in view of the enormous investment of the EA TCHIP programme amongst others. is a glaring omission.

DISCUSSION IF A TCA policy on the safety regulation

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

18

0 IFATCA Comments, 22 January 1996

These factors are demonstrably reasonable and legitimate but can induce a major conflict of interest with safety regulation if both services are the responsibility of the same body.

Safety regulation, as agreed in ICAO, is the responsibility of the national authority. What we are experiencing in Europe is the move towards the harmonisation and integration of the national air traffic services. It seems entirely logical and appropriate that a parallel process develops independently for the safety regulatory elements of A TM. The areas that IFA TCA would expect safety regulation to encompass are:

+ Establishment of common European safety standards

+ Validation and certification of new equipment

+ Approval of modifications and additions to existing equipment

+ Validation and approval of new A TC procedures

+ A TM personnel licensing

+ Audit and inspection of A TS units

+ Establishment and maintenance of incident database

+ Investigation of incidents/AirProx

The above is not comprehensive but rather representative of the safety regulation process.

Turning to the role of a single European authority. the recent report on Improving European A TM performance: institutional models commissioned by the ECAC Study Group INST AR identified the possibility of establishing a Safety Committee in the preferred Common Performance model. IFATCA would support this type of high level structure which would determine the common standards required for the regulation of A TM systems. procedures, and personnel. Also. we note the work being undertaken by SO I O - Safety Domain of the EATCHIP Work

Programme which relates to the harmonisation of safety policy and implementation between ECAC states and secondly, to implement safety policy within all other EA TCHIP domains.

The responsibility for this high level safety committee could be placed within the remit of a formalised Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) which would oversee the common professional organisations such as Eurocontrol.

The principle of subsidiarity lends itself well to safety regulation in that it ensures that national authorities retain their responsibilities for ATM safety as determined by ICAO: at the same time adhering to the European safety standards as agreed by the single European authority.

CONCLUSION In summary, IFATCA believes that:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

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

IFATCA CONFERENCE

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

Co\·er ing an a rea of abo ut 800 hec tares . Tun is-Ca rth age Inter­national Airport. formerly called El

Aouina and first used in 1944 for j oint military and civilian aircraft operations. got it~ prese nt name from its prox imit y to Tuni~ (6 Kms to the ~outh eas t). the modern cap ita l tow n of Tuni s ia. and Carthage (9 Kms to the east). the old but not le~~ famo u~ ca pi ta l or the Pun ic civili~a tion. Af ter the daw n of the Independence. the airport was transferred overnig ht to the Tunisian Civil Aviation Authority who took up the challenge for its admin i~tration. ensuring the contro l and \afety or air traflic navigation. In 1970. the operation of the airport together with that of the othe r two inte rnational ai rports ( Mona~tir-Hahih Bourguiba and Dje rba-1arzi~ l. which had heen bui lt to handle mainl ) charter flight:-, carry ing the eve r 111crea~i11g l'lo~ of touri~t~ \ i~iting the ca, 1crn and ,outh ea~te rn resort\. ~ a~

20

handed over to OPAT (T he Tun isian Airport s and Air Traffic Contro l Authority). This organisation was created with the intention of providing Tunisian int e rnati onal ai rport s with suffic ie nt autonomy to ensure maximum flexibility in adopting new procedures and cominuously ad aptin g fac il it ies to cat e r for the developing needs of air navigation in the country. Since then. three new international airport s have bee n bui lt (S fax-Thyna . Tozeur-Nefta and 7th November-Tabarka) bringing the total number to six.

By 1971 the a irpo rt termin a l was handlin g ove r one million passe nger~. Extensions to the terminal were carried out in 1977. 1978 and 1984 to brin g its capaci ty up to 3.5 milli on passe ngers . T raffic grow th i~ alr ead y ca lling ror capacities of 4.5 million by the year 1998 and 7.5 million by the year 2000. A project i~ underway to meet forecast traffic by the turn or the 21 st century.

The airport has a large freight terminal. bu ilt in 1976. whic h hand led in 1994 74.9% of the overall air tonnage in Tunisia. A rece nt addit io n to Tuni s- Carth age Intern ati on a l Airp ort is a pres identia l section built in June 1994 and inaugurated on the occasion of the 1994 Organisation of the African Union Summit Meeting.

Takeoff and landing facilities at Tunis­Carthage International Airport include two concrete runways () I /19 (3200111 x .+Sm) and 11/29 (284 0111 x 45m ). T iley are equi pped with a ca tego ry II I LS. a Thomson VOR type 5 11 B and a Thom~on DME type 720 . Th e renewa l of these navaids. which have been operational since 1980. is expected for 1997.

About 40 airline~. including the national carrier Tuni\ Air. operate many types of ai rc ra ft to and fro m Tun i~-Ca rth age Interna tional Airport. with des tinations mainly to mo~t large cities in North Africa. Europe and the Middle East. The airport i~

THE CONT ROLLER/MARCH 1996

the largest airport in the country and the undi sp uted gateway to the principal Tunisian world famous towns in the north and the north east (Tunis. Bizerta, Nabeul. Hammamet. etc .). 2.828.355 passenger s. using chiefly scheduled flights (71.25% of total traffic). went through its terminal in 1994. where particular auention is paid to the pro vision of high standard services which includes a duty free shop open to departing as well as arriving passengers.

The airport operates in conjunction with the Air Navigation Centre located close by and which consists mainly of the ACC and the Commun icat ions Ce nt re. A new AERMAC type AFTN switching facility was put into service. in 1993. to link the Communications Centre to the rest of the

IFATCA '96

wor ld. Th e sys tem employs advanced Tunis Carthage ACC de sign to hand le an eve r expandin g message load and is capable of processing up to 80.000 messages daily.

Fu rth ermore . present e fforts to

modernise facilities include the renewal of the existing primary radar. which was put into se rvice in 1973. with the implementation of a dual channel S Band air surveillance radar (ASR9 ) having a range of 60 NM and offerin g improved detection of low level aircraft by the means of a Moving Target Detector (MTD).

A monopu lse seco ndar y survei llance

The Cm1fere11C'e Faci/irr

THE CONTRO LLER/MARCH 1996

radar is also expected to be operational shortly. This radar which has a range of 200 NM will help ensure the contro l of enroute traffic within Tunis FIR as well as the approach traffic to Tunis Carthage and Monastir-Habib Bourguiba internation al airports.

Both the primar y and the seco ndary surveillan ce rada rs supply traffi c data which are processed by a radar processing system (RDP), a flight data processing system (FOP) and a display processing system. The FOP provides for automatic flight progress strip output and receipt of AFTN message using state- of -the-an technology. The whole system wi II be as sisted by new sa te ll ite vo ice communication fac ilities which will be operationa l in the very near future and which will supplement the existing VHF voice communication system coverage of Tunis FIR. providing enhanced safety and reliability.

Total investment for the extension of the

airport ter minal. the upg radi ng of the pr imary radar and na\'a ids. the implementa tion of the new AFTN and voice communication system~ as well as that of the new SSR radar are expected to

reach US$ 67 million. All the staff needed for the operation and

mainten ance of these faci lit ies ( i.e . air traffic con tro l off icers . air ,rn, ·igation personnel. and air safety electronics) have been properly trained for the purpo~e of ensuring the efficient and ~mooth running of the system. +

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21

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

FREE FLIGHT

:J Chris Stock. Executive Vice President Technical

INTRODUCTION

T he concept of Free Flight is not new. In one form or another, it has been the subject of much discussion and thought for many years although more recently , terms

such as user preferred trajector y or optimum flight profile have been more commonplace. Practically, controllers have contributed by the action of allowing aircraft to lea ve the fixed route structure through the means of an approval for direct routing and non standard levels. Within the past year or so, the term Free Flight was coined and being an eye catching phrase, it has caught on with the media and the aviation world. Also, it appeared to be a totally new method of air traffic management which would do away with the traditional forms of air tr affic control. Like many media friendly phrases, it is not an accurate description of the concept which maybe simple in theory but is highly complex to put into practice . In this introductor y article, it is intended to review recent events which have pr oject ed the concept of Free Flight to the forefront. Whether we like it or not , the media has succeeded in making the label stick - ju st consider the tit le of this article!

We recognise that the current ATM system has its limitations and that the implementation of the !CAO FANS CNS/ATM systems will introduce a flexibility and an increase in capacity which cannot be achieved within the present fixed route structure. To achieve maximum benefit from the CNS element. changes in ATM procedures are required and these take time to ensure that the integrity and the safety of the system are not degraded. At the same time . the cost/ benefit anal yses of using the new CNS ind icate that the use rs will gain major savings pro vided the invest ment in the infra structure is made . It is the c lass ic dichotomy: under investment caused by the lack of immediate cos t benefit~ because o f the tim e it tak es to implement the necessary ATM change~ would bring the process to a full stop; on the other hand. immediate cost benefits would encourage full inves tment but po ss ib ly at the ex peni>e of using partia lly validated procedure~ (includin g reduced separation standards) and equipment. A balance has to be achieved and the proponents of Free Flight believe that this concept meets these conflicting pressure!>.

THE T ASK FOR CES

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

22

time as this work was proceeding. the US based RTCA Inc. (a not- for-profi t corpora tion) produced a concept paper on Free Flight. As a result of this work, on 20 April 1995. the FAA Administrator. David Hinson asked RTCA to ·' form a new task force , led by an appropriate representative from the civilian aviation community, to develop consensus regarding free flight implementation " . RTCA Task Force 3, as it became known. presented its report on 26 October 1995. The report is detailed coveri ng all aspects of the transition from the present A TM system to that of mature free flight. Its major drawback is that it is spec ific to the United States which is acknowledged as its primary objective. However, its authors identify a broader gaol to produce a seamless global ATM capability.

Task Force 3 defines Free Flight as

"a saf e and eff icient fli ght op eratin g capabilit y und er instrum ent fli ght rules( !FR) in which the op era tor 's hav e the fr eedom to select their path and speed in real time. Air traffic restricti ons are only imposed to ensure separation, to preclud e exceeding airport capacity , to prevent unauthoris ed fli ght through Specia l Use Air spa ce (SUA), and to ensure safety of fl ight. Restriction s are limited in exten t and du ration to correct the identified probl em. Any activi ty which remo ves res tri c tions represents a move towards free fli ght "

The Task Force views the role of the controller in the future sys tem as using deci sion support sys tems wi th much more functionality enabling the controller to perform a wider range of tasks producing gains in productivity. capacity. safety, effic iency and reduced workload. It also notes that the future system may pro vide efficiencies which will enabl e the FAA to handl e projected growth without increases in personnel. Significantly. under Operational Concepts. the report states that ·' The Air Traff ic Service (ATS) provider is always the rulin g entit y in separation arbitration" . It goes on to say that the system must be designed with the information requirements of the A TS provider in mind. and to facilitate controllers situational awareness. they should have current information about each aircra ft' s long term (route) and short term (manoeuvring) intent. and be automatically alerted if an aircraft is deviating from its planned route.

The Task Force identified two specific concepts which appear crucial to Free Flight: Dynamic Density and Adaptive Sectors. Dynamic Density is described by the "essential factors affecting conflict rate in both the en-route and terminal airspace... These factors being traffic density. complexity of flow. and separation standard s. The theory being that when the Dynamic.: Density increases. the less freedom the provider has to al low freedom of flight. More complex. but on the same lines. is the Adapti ve Sectors which suggests that the provider should manage the size and shape of the sectors to take account of routes affec ted by wind s anu wea the r. These concep ts ha ve co ns id erabl e implications for the role of controllers as air traffic managers.

As with any concept or vision of the future. the road to its eventual fruition has many obstacles to be removed. Free Flight is no different. It is not being negative to identify where these problems lay and indeed the Task Force acknowledges this fact and that the original concept may well be modified or changed in the light of experience and operational necessity. IFATCA has always maintained that the future system must he regarued in its totality: from gate to gate. Therefore. capac ity i~ a fum;tion of ground movement~. runway utilisation. and airspace flexibility. All area~ pre~ent ohstac.:le~ to the concept of free fl ight. not

THE CONTROLLER /MARC H 1996

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

insurmountable but nevertheless significant. Lack of airport infrastructures, including extra runways, are major factors which cannot be resolved in the short term. TMA airspace presents a high traffic density situation which will need highly sophisticated automated solutions. The users such as General Aviation and the military have differ ing requirements, and depending on their attitudes may have a reluctance to invest in the system. The class ification of airspace has a particular significance for the seamless transfer from FIR to FIR and whilst it may not be a problem to countries with large continental areas. sovereignty of airspace remains a political and operational difficulty in regions such as Europe with numerous sovereign states. For controllers. the fundamental pr inciple is that control and separation are ground functions. However mature free flight suggests that this function may either be shared with or delegated to the cockpit. This may be simplistic but not intended to be alarmist because it has to be objecti vely co nside red and more imp orta ntly. be answered in a similar manner.

There are many things to welcome about the concept of free flight, not the least of which is that it challenges the air traffic controller fraternity to think about the fundamentals of the control task and whether or where impro vements can be made. The satellite based CNS system provides the enabling function to allow concepts of free flight to become a possible reality; also. it will become the instrument to change the role of the air traffic controller as we know it today. At the same time as the ATM system is evolving, each stage of the transition to a more flexible mode of aircraf t operation, be it free flight or something else, must be tes ted and valid ated because as we beco me more accustomed to the demand for immediate user benefits. it is incumbent on all users and providers to ensure that comparable safety benefits are in place first.

"On Friday 15 th Mar ch 1996, the US Federal Avia tion Adminis trator ( FAA), David Hinson announced continued progress toward implementing Free Flight which is designed to improve the safety and efficien cy of the US airspace system by allowing pilots, under certain conditions and circumstances, to choose their own routes and fi le the most efficient and economical fl ight plans. It is the intention that the FAA and the aviation community will work together to phase in Free Flight over the nex t JO years. This move has come as a result of the FAA agreeing with the objectives set out in the RTCA Task Force 3 reporr. A draft FAA action plan that will serve as a starting point fo r a joint FAA/industry plan will be presented at a meeting in Ap ril". +

...l Bert Ruitenberg. Executive Vice President Professional

In the discussion on Free Flight it is often stated that Orville W1ight was the first to experience Free Flight. Unfortunately. it is less often stated that the Wright brothers were also the first to experience Restricted Flight as soon as they built the Wright Flyer No. 21 There can be no doubt that Orville and Wilbur were very cautious not to have both their aircraft up in the same airspace at the same time. for fem· that they might collide and be damaged.

In the days of the Wright brothers. aviation was a challenge for mankind. Their goal was to ge t a .. machine heavier than air .. airborne and have it

THE CONTRO LLER/MARCH 1996

move. self-propelled. from A to B. It was not until later. afte r considerab le improveme nts were made in the area of aircraft ­reliability, and safety in general. that business-orie nted peop le realised that there was a potential to earn money by offering to transport people by air from A to B. The airlines were born.

Then, for one or two decade s in the middle of this century. aircraft development focused on military applications. as a result of WW2. After the war was over. much of the technology was carried over to civil applicati ons and more and more airline s were established.

Meanwhile, the United Nations. in an attempt to co-ordinate the world-wide development of civil aviation. in 1944 established the International Civil Aviation Organisation. now more commonly known under its acronym ICAO. One agreement that was reached then and that has a bearing on the line-of-thinking from which the Free Flight concept stems. is making it the responsibility of States to ensure safety in their respective areas of sovereign airspace.

The majority of ICAO States translated this responsibility into the establishment of national Air Traffic Services. of which Air Traffic Control (ATC) usually was the largest component. Note that !CAO did not make States responsible for the creation of airlines. States were. however. given the responsibilit y to reg ulate and oversee the airlines· operations. from a safety point of view. Starting an airline is basically anybody's privilege. but the State will see to it that certain safety-standards are met.

To give guidance to States. ICAO defi ned .. Stand ards and Recommended Practises" in many fields and so also for ATC. Most States have followed these SARPs and indeed have incorporated them in their national legislation. For A TC. a service whose purpose is to "prevent collisions and expedite and maintain an orderly flow of air traff ic". this means that the cr iteria. to be applied for the separation of aircraft. are legal minima.

Returning to our journey along the history of air transpo11. a quite noticeable increase in the number of airlines took place in the late 70' s and all the go·s of this century. The skie~ were getting more and more crowded. Air traffic controllers were facing the problem of having to accommodate more and more aircraft in their airspace while adhering to the prescribed legal minima for separation.

And this is where a simple mathematical rule stam coming in: if for example you need I O cm. distance between successive object!>. you can' t fit in more than 11 objects in a meter. ( Or. for non-metric 01iented readers. 13 objects with a one-inch interval per foot.) Thi:-­principle applies similarly when the measuremenh are expre:-,sed 111

nautical miles. or. when the objects are moving. in number:-, per hour. For ATC this means that if the theoretical maximum capacity of

a given unit is X aircraft per hour. there will be d1d(/\"s if there are more than that number of aircraft wishing to operate in that :--ector at the same time. (There are other factor:-, compounding thi:-, problem. e.g. difference~ in pertonrnmc e and speed of the aircraft. or hav111g to transfer traffic to an adjacelll sector with a lower capacity. but the:-,c are not relevant for the scope of this article.)

So. is it fair to blame the A TC system for these delay:-,. a:-, :-,omc of the Free Flight advocates tend to cto·~ Wouldn·t it be fairer to :-.a) the delay is caused by too man) airlines wanting to operate too man) aircraft in the same airspace at the same time·' Let":-, face 11. when you visit Disneyworld you' re not going to be alone there There will be lot!-> of other visitors. so if you want to go i11tll the attracttlllb at the same time a:-, they. you·11 have to wait till it":-, your turn. Bui ~o uld you blame Disney\ employee, for that"'

Yet that i~ exactly what lhe:-,e advon llL':-, do. The~, n.:a:son a:--11

23

FREE FLIGHT

A TC is the enemy of aviation in general. and airlines in particular. and that its primary goal is to delay aircraft for as long as possible. Well. speaking for over 40.000 Air Traffic Controllers world-wide. I can assure the Free Flight advocates that there's not one of us who deliberately likes to delay an aircraft. I can at the same time assure them that each and every air traff ic controller is ded icated to providing a safe. expeditious and orderly flow of traffic. And it's the order of these attributes that is significant: ATC will always put safety first!

In the Foreword of the June 1995 issue of IFATCA's magazine. The Controller. Mr. Preben Lauridsen (IFATCA's President and Chief Executive Officer) says the following:

"(. .. ) Allo ,r me 10 me111io11 the i111erpre1a1io11 of Free Flig/11 as defl11ed by 1he FAA: ' "A safe a11d efflcie111 fligh t operating capably under lnstrumelll Flight Rules i11 ll'hich the operator.1· have grea1er flexibility i11 selecri11g their (fl ight ) pa1h a11d speed . A ir /raffle restric1io11s are limited i11 extent a11d d11ra1io11 a11d are 011/y imposed 10 e11s11re separation. to preclude exceeding ai rport capacity. a11d to preve/11 11na111horised fl ight through spec ial use airspace" . 8111 is this 1101 exactly what A TC is doi11g? We offer aircraft direct ro111i11gs. whenever 11·e can. We a/loll' aircraft ''free speed " as often as traffic permits. The res1rictio11.1· put 011 these 11ro i11s1ructio11s are those enforced by ei1her airspace regulario11s. other traffic. or ai17iort capacity. So you could say that A TC today already. taking into co11siderotio11 limitatio11S put 01110 it. provides the operators with Free Flight. or as f 11·011ld prefer it called. Co11trolled Free Flight. What A TC needs to be pro1·ided 1rith. i11 order to increase its efficiency and capacir,·. is 11ot a teclmology driven proposal of Free Flight. but m1 Air Traffic Mmwgeme111 (ATM) svsrem ll'hich is based 011 a flexib le use of the airspace. 011 an area co11cep1. as opposed to a segregmed system. a11d 011 s11ffi cie11t ai1port capacity to meet the dema11d of both the airlines and ATC."

This quote from Mr. Lauridsen contains several aspects that the unconditional advocates of Free Flight apparently seem to ignore. First aspect: the FAA definition of Free Flight ju st mentions "a greater flexibility" for the operators. which is not the same as the complete freedom proclaimed by the Free Flight suppo11ers. Second aspect: that same definition emphasises that separation still needs to be ensured. it introduces the notion of airport capacity being a limiting factor. and it recognises that there is such a thing as special use airspace . all of which are further restricting the envisaged freedom of Free Flight. Third aspect: within its limitations ATC today already provides many of the so-called benefits of Free Flight. Fourth aspect: Air Traffi c Controllers fee l as frustrated by the restrictions of today's system as many pilots and airlines do. but contrary to the Free Flight advocates (who are looking for technology hased commercial gains just for airlines) they look for a systemic improvement to the benefit of all paities involved.

Incidentally. the role of airport capacity in creating delays should not be underestimated. The accepted figure for the number of aircraft movements (i.e. take off's or landings) that a runway can handle i~ 32 to 35 per hour. depending on the size of the aircraft. This means that if more than that number of aircraft are scheduled to land per hour. e.g. in an airline hub operation. the ones coming last will have to wait until the one~ ahead are on the ground. Free Flight is not going to change that - it may only achieve aircraft involved arriving earlier at a place where they will j ust have to wait longer for each other.

The contention (heard in some of the discussions on Free Flight) that where "to assure safety . ATC controllers further slow the procluctin n line to a rate that the ATC sys tem ca n manage·· constitute, an inadequate ATC system. Thb to IFATCA is anathema. II commercial motive:- are put before ~afety. thus making safety almost a negative attrihute of the aviation -;y-;tem.

24

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

Air traffic controllers will always keep a little extra capacity available to cater for unexpected events such as an aircraft developing an emergency, requesting immediate descent, or deteriorating weather conditions warranting extensive radar vectoring, etcetera. I'm sure that if any Free Flight advocates were on board that aircraft requiring immediate descent in a busy air traffic environment they would prefer to have ATC clear a path for them rather than having to rely on electronic gadgets like TCAS while finding their own way down through the traffic.

It is IFA TCA' s considered opinion, contrary to that heard in some of the discussions, that the trade off between operational flexibility and safety is still required, and will continue to be required, with safety as the undisputed dominant factor.

IFATCA currently is dedicating a lot of manpower toward the implementation of ICAO's CNS/ATM concept, a concept in which modern technology is employed in a balanced Air Traffic environment to increase the system capacity and efficiency while maintaining a high level of safety. The implementation of CNS/ATM systems will be evolutionary, on an ICAO-regional basis, and will require investments in equipment from both the airlines and the Air Traffic Services providers, as well as considerable training for A TC staff, before the system will be fully operational. This means that the airlines, who have already embarked on programmes to invest in CNS equipment. may have to wait a few years for the ATM side to adjust to the changes before they (the airlines) will see the return on investment that they are so eagerly looking for. Yet this evolutionary implementation to IF A TCA is preferable, by far, over the "implement Free Flight first. invest in advanced airborne equipment later" as proclaimed by some of the more radical Free Flight advocates.

Although IFA TCA accepts that the Free Flight discussion is not directed against the individual Air Traffic Controller but rather against an outdated United States ATC system ( of which every individual controller is a component. by the way), IFATCA thinks the Free Flight concept approaches the perceived problem from the wrong side. Instead of pushing the implementation of a new procedure, with the aim of providing air traffic controllers with better tools, it would be more preferable to push the provision of better tools. with the aim to enable improvements in procedures. This we think is a fundamental difference.

An important factor also is the (lack of) reliability of the current USA A TC equipment. Since the summer of •95 there have been an alarming number of articles in the international media (and not just the aviation magazines) about power failures or other break.downs of A TC systems in the USA.

Of course there were also some articles addressing the background of these problems: qualified maintenance staff are leaving the FAA for more attractive (i.e. better paid) jobs. and those who stay with the FAA lack the knowledge. skill or proficiency to keep the equipment working. Earlier in this article was already pointed out that controllers will always keep a little extra capacity available to cater for unexpected events. The excessive separation some pilots say they are provided with in the USA (7-9 NM on average where 5 NM is the minimum) should therefore not be seen as a loss of capacity but as a pmdent safety-margin in a failure-prone system.

Although IFA TC A accepts that many of today· s procedures are outdated (and this not only in the USA). we don't think that improved procedures will negate the physical separation

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

requirements. Going back to the simple mathematical rule mentioned above, it says that for every conceivable capacity there is always a demand that can exceed it. Once improved procedures are in place. offering more capacity, that capacity is likely to be absorbed by the growth of demand until a point is reached where even more capacity is required. If traffic figures continue to grow as forecast by IA TA. there will continue to be too many operators putting too many aircraft up in the same piece of sky at the same moment for the global aviation system to handle, thus still generating restrictions.

Please don't think our comments are inspired by conservatism. Air Traffic Controllers are not opposed to change - as long as a safe way to do it can be found. But as already pointed out earlier. in the case of Free Flight there apparently is a fundamental difference with its advocates in what the scope of the change will be and how we think such a change may be achieved safely.

An example of change welcomed by Controllers is the global trend of corporatisation of A TC services. In many countries A TC providers for years have felt restricted by the confines of the Civil Service system - confines that caused problems similar to the ones experienced in the USA. By creating bodies that are less dependent. or even independent. of the Civil Service the quality of the A TC service has significantly improved to the benefit of the users (including airlines) and providers. Examples of such countries are Portugal, Switzerland, Germany. Austria. The Netherlands (all in Europe), Australia. New Zealand (Pacific). and even some in Africa and Central America could be mentioned. In the North American region, Canada is well on the way toward corporatising their A TC. and also in the USA studies are ongoing to the same end.

One of the major benefits of corporatised A TC to airlines is that decisions for investments for A TC (be it in equipment or training. or both) now can be made far more easily than in a governmental system where every expense has to be justified before the outlay is made. This allows the A TC providers to offer a product to their customers that meets the requirements of those customers. while adhering to safety standards as set by the national CAAs ( or other regulatory bodies).

Of course IFATCA also welcomes the development and introduction of automated tools to assist the controller in his or her work. including the conflict probes that are envisaged as the heart of the Free Flight concept. But it should be realised that the best and most reliable conflict probe created so far. which is available at every ATC facility in the world. is not a technical tool but a human-being called the Air Traffic Controller.

In conclusion. IFATCA thinks that what the Free Flight concept is lacking is the understanding and recognition of the role of the human operator in the global aviation system. The concept is highly profit driven and corporate oriented. with technology as the medicine to remedy (and possibly eradicate) any human shortcomings. In other words. the concept is based on the view that the human operator is the weak link in the system. This vie\\· dashes head-on with that presented by ICAO in Human Factors Digest no. I I . In this Digest. which is endorsed by IFATC A ( and IF ALPA. for that matter). the principles of Human Centred Automation as developed by Dr. Charles Billings (NASA) are presented as guidance material for the development of future automated aviation systems. What these principles say could be summarised by "the automated system is there to assist the human operator. not the other way around ...

IFATCA feels this applies to aircraft as well as to global Air Traffic Services. +

25

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

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

• :\IALAYSIA The Malays ian government has awarded a contract to design and insta ll a ir traffi c manag e men t sys tems at Kual a Lumpur"s new airport. to Ambidji Group of Australia. The compa ny will supply communications. radar and naviirntion aids . in partner sh ip with th e loca l fir m Air ; pa ce Management Services.

• El"ROPEA:\ :\E\ \"S Europe has dec ided to make TC AS mand a to ry. Th e Eurocomrol ~CAS Implementation group has proposed that an ACAS (wnh specifications only current ly met by TCAS II) be made mandatory in European airspace for all aircraft wnh more than 30 passern1:er seats or with a wei2h1 of more than 15.000 Kgs. The gro~p has proposed an implementat ion date of I January 2000. It is believed that some airlines have alread y co'.1tested tha t date. jud ged ··100 early·· to ensure complete fleet retrofit. They ar2ue that a mini mum of S years ··warning time· should be ._2iven to them before any maj or modification to their avi~ nics is requ ired. Und er d1sc uss 1on as we ll is th e poss ibi lity to make TCAS II mandator y for all aircraft with more than 19 seats. or more than 5. 700 Kgs. by the year 2005. The Survival of the fittest Airline in Europe Contest is on. In a final attempt to save Air France from further deficits. the Airline ha" decided to .. double or loose everything··. with the immin ent intr oducti on in Par is CDG of a super ·'Hub·· Amer ic an s ty le . 5 ti me<, a day . 7 da ys a we ek. ATC proc edure" are be ing di <,cu"sed in ord e r to tr y to accommodate thi<, Hub sy<,tem. but controllers worry that it might not all work as Air France expects. Even with the recen t new runway in Le Bourget (usable from CDGJ the declared capacit) of the whole is 84 movements per hour (7 aircraft per 10 minute-. per runway) . The new Air France Huh plan ', to work with 92 Movements per hour. This is well in exce"" or the declared capac ity and does not take into acc oun t th e need<, o f th e ot her air lines se rvin g C DG. Co ntroller-. are worried that. <,hould the Hub system fail. Air France . or the public. will be tempted to put the blame partially on air traffic control. The Eurocontrol Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) ha" taken over the whole ECAC Area. The last two Flow Manage111c111 Unit<, (FML\ ) of Rome and Madrid have been , uccc ," full :r tran -.ferred 10 the CFM U Building in Haren near Brll',',ek The whole project cos t 82.7 Million ECUs . ThL' uni1 llll\\ ha, ..J.78 Sta ll \\ ith a yea rly budget ol' 56 1\llill1011 I-:CLI-, ( I EC LI = 1.-.J. L1S$) Des pite some ea rly pn >hk11i.... 1 l1L' ~) , tem ,ce ms 10 \\ ork ',atisfac lori ly. but the real IL' '-l ~ ill be Ill manage the Summer or 1996. with the

26

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

GUERNSEY The States of Guernsey have awarded a contract to Siemens Air Traffic Ma nage ment Divi s ion fo r th e su pply of a Watch man-S primar y radar , toget her w ith ass oc iat ed displays and ancillary equipmen t. Thi s sale rep rese nts the first contract for a Watchman radar with the new solid-sta te transm itter.

• CZECH REPUBLIC On I Janua ry 1996, The Czech Repub lic beca me the 20th Me mb er State of Euroco nt ro l. The S tate has been participating in th e activitie s of the Cen tra l F low Manageme nt unit since it joined the Europea n Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) in 1993. Italy. Spain and Rom ania are expecte d to become Member States soon.

GER\IA'.\Y In 1995. Siemen s instal led six Departure Co-ordi nation Sy stems (DEPCOS III ) wh ich ca m e int o se rv ice at Co lo2 ne/ Bonn. Di.isse ldorf. Stutt gart. Berlin-T empelhof. Berli~-Schin efe ld and Berlin-Teg e l respec tive ly. Th e six sys tems s uppl e mented tho se a lr eady in sta ll ed at Fra nkfurt/Main and Mu ni ch. Th ree oth e r a ir fie ld s a t Dresden. Erfurt and Leipzig will also be equipp ed. DEPCOS III prepare and displays specific flight plannin g data for air traffic controllers dealing with departing traffic. The order of flights. processi ng status and dependencies arc automa tica lly di splayed at the appropria te work stati ons together with secondary informat ion. Some of the work that was previously carried out manually -such as the hand ling of paper strips. the allocation or SSR codes and the reporti ng of ac tual startup c lea rance and departure times - can now be carried out automatically by DEPCOS.

• RUSSIA ARINC has install ed a prototype air traffi c manage ment

system at the Magadan Area Control Centre in Russia ·s Far East. The workstat ion 's situational display auto matica lly tracks and shows aircraft position in regional airspace with radar-like datab lock callouts. Information is based on aircraft ADS tran smissio ns tran sfe rred by ARIN Cs satco m and VHF datalink networks.

• Fl'iL \ :\ D The Finnish Civil Aviation Authority has exerc ised an opt ion und er the Finni sh Air Traffi c Ma nage ment In1eg ra1ion (FATM I) programme to acquire an approach/ tower system for the Northern Area Co ntrol Cen tre a l Rovaniem i from Siemens. Thi s add itional system. which will operate as a se parat e and auto no mo us sys tem wit hi n th e FATM I environment. comprises fifteen controller work ing positions. It will be derived from the Siemens Controller 2000 range of pro ce:-isor~ and di splay s and w ill pro\'id e s imi lar functional ity 10 the main FATM I system which ser\'e s the Southern Flight Information Region. The system will come into operati on in 1999. aft e r the co mmi s" io n ing o r the Southern Area Co ntrol Centre al Tampere and the Helsinki­Vantaa Approach. +

THE CONTRO LLER/MARCH 1996

TUN ISAIR, th e nationa l air line of Tunisia,

symbol ises the values of the coun try : hospitality. generos ity

and progr ess. Its highly qual ified and motivated staff and

the fleet of the very latest aircrafts put TUNISAIR at the

forefront of progress and service.

It pays to advertise in

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

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 1996

. mRNALOF~RTRAFRCCONTROL e TIii conTROUER

27

-7

AGENDA

APRIL

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

28

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

15 - 19 IFATCA 35th Annua l Confe rence, Tunis, Tunisia Contact - Chairman IFATCA 96, Phone +216 755 OOO Fax +216 782 106

20 IFATCA Executive Board Meeting, Tunis, Tunisia Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 78194 1

MAY

13 -15 Airpo rts Middle East, Exhibition & Co nference, Bahrain Internationa l Exhibition Centre Contact - Gerry Dobson Phone +44 17 1 486 195 1 Fax +44 171 935 8625

27 - 30 Air Traffic Control Assoc iation Internationa l Confere nce Sydney, Austra lia Contact - Caro l Newmaster Phone + I 703 522 5717 Fax + J 703 527 725 J

_______ _ __ HU MAN FACTORS --- ----- --

MAN AND MACHINE 0 The following article is reprodu ced with grateful thanks to the Swiss Air Navigation Services Limit ed. Swisscontro l. Th e article was produced as a brochure with the following Foreword by the Chief Executive Office r of

Swisscontrol , Mr. Paul Maxi milian Mi.iller.

Man and Mac­hine: Air Traf­fic Control as a

Soc i o- T ec hni cal System'·. The title and subject of our brochure invites us to reflect on

tl._--L._ ,......___n__J the relationship between the essentia lly constant human being and rapidly advancing technology.

In my many years as both a military and an airline pilot. I have come to appreciate the importance of the interface in the cockpit between the occupant and the avionics all around. The technology of the cockpit is far more advanced than that of air traffic control -a state of affairs we must do our utmost to rectify as swiftly as possible. If we do not. we may face severe communications difficulties between A TC and its customers in the skies.

For all the technological advances being made. human beings will still remain lhe decision makers in the ATC world. just as they will in the cockpit. And even the best technological innovation will never he used to its full potential unless it is applied by willing and highly motivated personnel.

ADAPT. the most technologically and opera tionall y demand ing project that Swisscontrol has ever undertaken. will come to fruition in the next few years. ADAPT is not unknown among the general public. Our brochure entitled ··ADAPT - Swisscontrol"s new Air Traffic Control System". explained the technical aspec ts of the innovat ions envisaged. It did not present. however. the role of people in this system of the future. So we will be focusing on this equally vital a. pect of our undertaking in the current publication.

ADAPT represents a huge investment for Swisscontrol - an investment that can only be ju stif ied by a correspon ding leap in productivity.

Still. however sophisticated the technology. the handling of air traffic in the 21 st century will need people: people who feel at home with the new ,y,te m. New \\'orking procedur es . more ell icien l air, pacc management. and - la, t but not least - a tangible increa,e in airpon capac il). are further es,entials if we are 10 continue our ATC activities smoothly and effecti,·el) in the year 2000 and beyond.

I hope you enjm reading thi, brochure.

AIR T I{ \! ·T IC C 0\'11{()1. .\S :\

SO CI O· TI ·:CI 1\IC \I. SYSTE:\ I "The answer is yes . What was the

question?"" Woody Allen·s well known words get right to the heart of one of the biggest challenges of our lime. We have the technology to solve vinually any problem with which we are confronted . But what exactly are those problems in the first place?

On the surface. at least. this may seem a simple question to answe r. In air traffi c control. for instance. the problem is clear: Switzerland will need to be able to handle a volume of nights that is set to increase by some 50 per cent in the next ten years. In attempting to do so. the people involved will be able to draw on new technological aids that will allow them to manage the availa ble airspace more effectively.

The ADAPT project has been developed

largely to this end. ADAPT will put virtually

all of Swi lzer land· s air traffic control

activities onto one single fully electronic

platform - a platform that will wholly comply

with European standards and norms. The

gradual implementation of ADAPT is already

under way.

CO\ l\ ll \IC\T IO \ l\FT\\ EE\

\I\\ \ \I> \ I \C ll l\l ·.

ADAPT is essentially an open technical system which requires specification from it, users. ADAPT offer, technological solutions for particular need, that have to he defined by our operational services. The better and more preci,ely those needs are identif ied and expre,,ed . the better arc the chances that ADAPT, many function, and facilities will be used effectively to those end,. Thu,. the core of the ADAPT project is in the software of the system. And. a, need, and n111di1ions change. that sof t11arc may ha,c In he modified and adapted. 100.

The,e ob,e r\'atioi1, lead u, to t,1 o kq que-.tion,. How can mach ine, he be,l employed to ,upporl the people they are intended i'or'.1 And hm, can we ensure that man/ machine commun ica tion, are as cll cc ti\'e a, ca n he·1 To an,11 er the se que,tio n,. we not onl) need to lnok at the efTicie11L·y of 1he ,y'item and its 1echnol11gy: we al'io need to rnn, idt'r the ll'ell-heing and ,ati,faction nf 1he operating per,o nnel in

THE CONTROLL ER/MARCH 1996

HUMAN FA CTORS __ ___ _ ___ _

general. and the air traffic contro ller in particular.

The kind of increase in productivity needed to handle future air traffic needs can only be ac hieve d if we have the bes t poss ible combination of man and machine. Needless to say. the increase in productivity will need to be effected without the slightest compromise in safety. too.

A top performance technical system is not enough in itself to achieve this goal. The human factors also have to be right. Job satisfaction. for instance. will have a huge effect on an operator's productivity: and good communications are a prerequisite of safe operat ions . For ev idence of these observations. we need look no further than the largely automated cockpits of our customers· aircra ft. where many of our own future working procedures have already been in practice for a number of years.

So what is likely to motivate an air traffic controller? And what kind of man/machine interface do we need to create to ensure that communications are as smooth and effective as possible9

lh :cu .. \TIO\S , BlT (_'({E-\TI\ IT\' TOO

The job of the air traffic controller is a strange and specialized one. On the one hand. controllers are expected to apply strictly defined procedures and abide by countless regulations. Yet at the same time they are constantly confronted with new situations which demand substantial flexibility in their response. On top of all this. A TC procedures are in a state of virtually constant change. and all these modifications must be assimilated. too.

Given the comp lex demand s of the profession. it is hardly surprising that the personality profile of air traffic controllers is equally complex. On the one hand they are expected to be "functionaries". who can be relied upon to enforce all the necessary rules and regulations: on the other hand they have to be "creatives ". respond ing swiftl y to changed and changing conditions.

What combines the functionary with the creator is professional pride - a pride that is based on the controller' s ability to handle complex and demanding air traffic problems with elegance and skill. Indeed. much of the job satisfaction for air traffic controllers will come from complicated situations in which they find the ir knowledge and ski lls are stretched lo the limit. yet they still need to remain fully in command.

By contrast. a controller's least satisfying and most frustrating experiences will be either at time~ when there i~ little to do. or - at the opposite end of the spectrum-time~ when they are ,impl) overwhelmed by the volume

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

of traffic they are asked to handle. Of course. the !alte r kind of dissatisfaction can be compensated for in the form of salary bonuses or extra time off. But. as experience has shown. the motivation derived from these incentives is of very limited duration.

Thus. sati sfaction at the workplace remain s the key factor in emplo yee motivation. And when it comes to workplace satisfaction. under activity through excess automation can be ju st as harmful as overactivity through inadequate aids and support. It is only in the area between these two extremes that an employee will feel truly comfortable and content.

Thi s. at least. was the finding of an exhaust ive study conducted by Sandra Michel. a French psycho logist. on Swisscontrol' s behalf. Ms. Michel, an expert in the optimum deployment of people at the workplace. is well acquainted with her subject mauer: she conducted a similar study for the French A TC authorities.

\' .\RI \LILE .\l TO .\I \TIO\ \\ "ITII I'\

TIIE (.'O:\IFORT \\'( \ DO\\ Sandra Michel also suggests. on the basis

of her findings. that there are fundamental differences between present and would-be air traffic controllers. "The air traffic controllers of the future won ·1 have known anything other than the new system.'' she explains. "They'll have a very interesting job. and will see the new system only in terms of the benefits it provides."

"But for the controllers who have worked under the old system." she continues. "the question of whether they will still find the job as satisfying as before is a harder one to answer. The biggest ·gain· under the new system will be the support that the new workstation and other colleagues can offer at times of high stress - heavy traffic or tricky situations. The new system will make it easier to handle situatio ns like these. witho ut eliminating completely the interest and stimulus a controller can get from a complex and unusual problem he or she has to solve."

"The problem I see is in more ·normal' opera tions.'' Michel explains. "Here the controllers may reel they are losing some of their decision making authonty. That may make the work Jess stimulating and mental!) demanding. And that can have an adverse effect on per~onal motivation."

This brings us to one of the most crucial questions of all: what kind of man/machine interface do we need to create. at the new computerized workplace. to ensure that the control ler' s moti valinn is nurtur ed and mai ntai ned'1

One essential here seems to be lo leave

AGENDA

JUNE

7 - 10 IFATCA Executi ve Board Meeting , Prague, Czech Rep. Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 781941

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

OCTOBER

16 - 17 IFATCA ATC Symposium, Panam a

18 - 21 IFATCA Executi ve Board Meeting, Panama Contact - Executive Secretar y, Edge Green. Phone +44 1628 23699 Fax +44 1628 781941

NOVEMBER

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

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

1997

FEBRUARY

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

29

TCAS IN VEGAS The latest way to boost TCAS sales in the USA was introduced recently in Las Vegas . One of the largest hotels there (The MGM Grand) runs a lase r show on its premises in the evening. Recently a laser beam temporarily blinded the pilot of a 8737 during its approach in the nearby Vegas Airport. Of course the FAA jumped in to investigate. The hotel decided to fit TCAS equipment on their roof that automatically switches off the laser when an aircraft is detected. There are so many night clubs and hotels running laser shows at ihe moment that others ~ouW follow suit. The manufacturers never dreamt of that one I'm sure. I wonder if the hotels will have to file 'T CAS Incident Forms" and send it to the FAA every time the TCAS (or the laser) gets it wrong? ..

Bt:YI\G A IRCRAFT h THE 90s (CO :\Tl ,U:\C STORY)

You all know it is "in"' at the moment to lease aircraft instead of buying. and when you fly around the world, it is now common place to see metal plates on the interior of the aircraft indicating who the real owner is. Most of the time it is !LC or a well known bank. A pilot friend passed on to me recently a pilot magazine featuring an article on this topic. One of the metal plates on a large British airline Boeing 757 read: ~ 'Th is aircraft is owned by DIA Windsor Ltd and others. and is subj ect to a first priority mortgage in favour of the Sumitomo Bank Ltd as security agent for it elf and others: · As the magazine said: ··1 would not fancy being the guy who had to try and find whose door to knock on if they ever fell behind with the payments1 It would all be blamed on ·'the others ... I expect"·.

DF.Fl"\l:\G Et ·ROCO'\"TROI. GLOSS .\tn ( -') This month as promi sed the definition of FREE FLIGHT.

I know that 'free flight" is a US term and not a Eurocontrol one but I have many definitions for you. so I could not resist. Just pick the one you like most and use it with your pilot friends. it is a sure way to get the d1scuss1on going. Free Flight ( I ): Controlled VFR for Boeino 747's Free Flioht (?)· A n· h · I " · · .

. . o_ :- · 1g t w1t 1out any ATC charges to pay as the aircraft will p1ov1de Its own ATC service. Free_ Flight (3) : A concept for future air traffic control. <lesioned by Stevie W d ( · h h h 0

. on er wit t e elp of Ray Charles for the approach and landmg phases). Next time: definition of "Quality Management'·

()\ f .RHE \RD 0\ THE fREQl E:\C\ :

From our UK friends in the GATCO magazine -Tra nsmit : :ower_Comroller: Monarch 44, the London Flow Management Unit has JUSL_ increase d the negat ive to lerance of your s lot by 5 mmutes .. Pilot : Errr ... Roger.. (pause) Pilot: Does that mean we can depart later'l Tower: I do not know Monarch 44. he did not say ... ' !

B ES'I P\Ch.Ell \ IIH.l\~ .R I\ 1995 No. it i~ not the A330 again, this time it is a DC9 - 20 as the photo below proves ..

....

30

Pl ·11uc REL.\TIO\S I\ ATC The saying goes that \\ hen you get good public relations you can get what yo u want. Thi s is L"ertai nly correc t in air traffi c co ntrol. In Pittsburgh Approach. in the USA. recently the whole A TC power system reportedly collapsed for 6 minutes. No radar. 110 telephone lines. no frequenc ies, even the lights failed inside the building. Thirty-three aircraft were in the air under radar vectoring at the time. When the system came back the heart condition of the con troll ers was only marginally better than two of the pilots who found themselves 2 miles opposite each other at the same altitude. But a course correction could be made, and the situation was saved. As no coll ision occ urred , the Pittsburgh '"incident'" did not make headline news on CNN. Not only did it go unnoticed, but, after the numerous ATC system failures in Chicago centre last Summer, a special report came up from the US National and Safety Board declaring the whole ATC system in the USA as ··old. but safe". The fact that the FAA has tried to hire elderly technicians, already retired for some yea rs. to help them fix prob lems on some ATC equipment, which is so old, no one in current employment knows how to repa ir it, is rega rded by the public relations man as: --innovative management technique".

And the same public relations people chose to remind the nying public that the USA has the best safety record in the world, with "onl/' 200 killed annually in the USA in aircraft accidents against some 82 millions flight movements a year. So why worry about some .. minutes'" of failures of old ATC equipment ... ??

Indeed. Why worry? My advice, if you ever get in trouble while controlling aircraft, forget the lawyer, get a Public Relations man instead.

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

R A D A 0 J A M

0 T I 0 N R E D I C E

PHOTO I is a CANA DAIR REGIONAL JET (or CL65) from LUFT HANSA (DU-I) ( 1995)

PHOT0 2 is a LOCKHEED ELECTRA (or Ll 88). from Varig. Brazil. ( 1985)

PHOT03 is a Boeing 747 from JAPAN AIR LINES (JAL) (Tokyo, 1995 to suppo11 Japan Disneyland)

PHOT04 is a Lockheed TRISTAR ( LIOIJ. from LTU, ( 1995)

PHOTOS is a Douglas DC9 from HAWAIIAN AIR (taken Honolulu 1984)

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

Co11gratulatio11s to them all.

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

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

LETTERS To THE EDITOR ARE ENCOURAGED A ND APPRECIATED ~ ----------------------------------------------------- ----------

THE C ONTROLLER. JOURNAL OF A IR TRAFFIC COj',.CfROL. is published quarterly by the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers· Associations ((FA TCA ).

Issues appear end of March. June. September and December. Subscript ion rates are CHF 20 per annum (4 issues) plus post & packing. Postage Rates: Surface. Worldwide CHF 6.00 Europe (delivery within 14 day~) CHF 6.-lO Airmai l. Worldwide CHF I O 80.

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THE CONTRO LLER/MARCH 1996

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31

... >, ~( "_!l) .\/ \ \ c\. If i( ///\/

the decis ion making authority with the controller and not give it to the machine. The system should merely provide input on which a decision can be based. Controllers should be able to choose at any time whether to make use of the system· s support. which would take the form of suggested courses of action. or whether to do without.

Motivation could also be enhanced by expecting all controllers to be able to provide safe and reliable A TC services manually in the event of a systems failure. This would mean that controllers would still have to be trained . as at prese ni. to the hig hest of standards.

In brief. the automation of A TC activities should be designed to relieve the controller at times of high workload: but it should equally protect the con troller from period s of inactivity. This is because. as we have already mentioned. a human being will only feel trnly content when operating between these two ex.tremes of overload and underemployment. w1thin what can be termed the ··comfort window''.

The new technology is based upon this comfort window idea. As a result. controllers can u e the system· s various help functions to detennine the workload with which they wish to cope . The workload can thus be adjusted to a level that is comfortable and rewardino for the controller to work with. In othe~ words. the computer should offer to help out: but II hould never be too forward in doino so1

0

\ B, I R \Cl \\ ORl\.'I 001. "

The new technology promises to remove other e lemen ts of the prese nt workino

. 0

environment. too. at least in physical terms. A p1:ime example here is the strips - the pieces ol paper which are used to note all the details of each flight handled. Paper strip s will vanish under the new system. to reappear on the computer screen.

The tran sformat ion is not without its problems. Like most technological advances. the new system will mean saying farewell to a long. famil iar and fond ly held tradi tion. Which is probably why the United Kingdom. in some ways the birthplace of air traffic rnntrol. has still not brought itself to abolish ,tr ip:, completely in the new fully electronic A TC environment.

The strip has three prime functions. as far as Sandra Michel can determine. Firstly it is the place information is stored. (Needless to :,ay. thi s information co uld he stored ,o mewhcre else quite easi ly. and probably more effectively. too. l The second function is more complex: the strip is a kind of memory prompt Writi ng things down is a very effective way of committing them 10 memory.

32

as scientific studies have shown; and ordering the strips helps create order in the mind. 100.

At the same time. writing the details on a strip provides a back-up, a safety net in case the radar system should fail. In this capacity. the strip helps controllers come to terms with the fear and anxiety that could afflict them in such emergency situations. The third function of the strip is a physiological one: it gives people something to scribble on.

It is the second function of the strip that should be our prime concern. If the strip disappears as a tangible entity. controllers must learn to use their memory without this physical prop, and to use the new worktools much as they used the strip. This will require a certain mental adjustment from all the air traffic controllers who currently find it so difficult to imagine a stripless ATC world.

Th is simpl e examp le ill ustrat es the immen se complex ity of des igning the man/machine interface - an interface that is largely detennined by the kind of work that has to pass through it. Like any complex task. it is a problem for which no perfect solution is likely to exist.

\lcr m -\T IO'\ DOES\ ' T

.)LSI" HA PPE\ It's not just the decision making that can

motivate an employee: it' s also the processes that lead up to that decision. The job of the air traffic controller is becoming more and more of a teamwork affair. Briefings, debriefings and reciprocal support are essential; new team structure s need to be deve loped: and communications between the controllers responsible for a parti cular sec tor are becoming more and more import ant. In addition to the duties themselves. the working environment can have a major impact on motivation. The working environment is a conglom erate of various indi vidual components such as co mmunication, management. career prospects. the team. and the organizational hierarchy. These factors also have a huge effect on the per sonal well-being and happiness of individual air traffic controllers and. as a result. on the motivation they may or may not bring to their work.

But what exactly is motivation? ··The term ·motivation· has always seemed a bit of a catchall to me ... says Sandra Michel. ·'When I visited operations for some of my earlier studies. people would tell me. ·Things work well here. the people are very motivated· or ·w e have a few prob lems - not enough motivation. you see·. 1 wanted to find out what they actually rnealll by that. Why is it that some people like going to work while others dread it? Is it really a purely personal thing?"

·'The more I got into the question of

motivation,'' Michel continues. ··the more I realized that motivation is a question of interaction - the interaction betwee n the company or the unit and the individ ual concerned. Whether motivation is high or low wil l neve r depend sole ly on the indi vidual or so lely on the com pany. Motivation is the meeting of the person and the organization at a point we call work.''

Motivation. the n. is a matter of the individual and the organ izatio n. And ultimately, all our endeavors must be aimed at finding the ideal interaction between these two components. each and every day.

That may be an impossible goal. But at least we can try to get as close as possible to this ideal. And the more we can determine our own stress and workload - like the comfort window for our air traffic controllers the closer to this objective we are likely to get.

Air traffic control is a socio-technical system. It is the product of individuals. teams and technology. It is a triangle of individual skill, rec iprocal teamwo rk support. and technological aids. In its best possible form. that triangle is the key to safe and productive air traffic control. Finding that form must now be our spec ia lists' numbe r one objective.

NEW ZEALA ND STOP PRESS UPDATE The Air Traffic Control Council of the New Zealand Airline Pilots Association advises that. as of mid March. their negotiations for the renewal of their collective employment contract have not been co mpleted. After two st rikes at the e nd of 1995 . further action, in the form of bans on overtime and train ing. was planned for Mar ch. This action was cance lled. howeve r. after the Airways Co rpora ti on. the contro llers employer. threatened to cancel all annua l leave and suspend some staff for the six week period during which the indus trial action plann ed to occ ur. Th e Airways Corporation. has now signalled a desire to move away from a national co llective contract. and put in place location based contracts. This is seen by the Air Traff ic Control Council as a mechanism to destroy the current working conditions enjo yed by New Zea land ATco·s. in the name of improved ·productivity" by the gaining of increase d ·fl ex ib ility· in e mp loy me nt co ntracts . Thos e ATco ·s who are employe d by pri va t ised/corporatised employers would he wise to communicate with their New Zea land co lleagues. and watch with in ter est as th is dispute continues. You could be next 1

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1996

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