IFATCA The Controller - 2nd quarter 2002

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The Next Issue The next issue of The Controller will be distributed at the beginning of October and will highlight the latest developments in Training for ATM.Also, we will examine the state of the art simulators now available for controller training. If you wish to be involved with this important subject, please contact the Editor.We welcome contributions on this theme. It is anticipated that there will be a lot of interest in these special issue and potential advertisers are asked to contact The Controller advertising manager, Lucy Leveson: EMAIL:

adman@ifatca.org

The Controll er is sent to over 170 countries throughtout the world and read by some 60,000 individuals including those in Controller Associations and key personnel in the airline industry and government.

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THECONTROLLER


PUBLISHER lFATCA. International Federation of Air Traffic

Controllers'Associations.

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA

HE

R

JOURNAL

0 F

AlR

TRAFFlC

CONTROL

Marc Baumgartner President and Ch ief Executive Officer

James

Ferguson

Deputy President

n Thislssue

Unit ed Kingdom, July 2002 Volu me 4 1 No 2 lSSN 0010- 8073

Juan Perez Mafia Executive Vice President Americas

Albert Taylor Executive Vice-President Afr ica/

The Voice of the Air Traffic Controller - Marc Baumgartner

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The Magic Word - Cancun - Eugenio Ortega Alvarez

Page 6

Phlllp Parker The Accompanying - Sandra Maidens

Executive Vice-President Asia/Pacific

Persons'

Programme Page 8

Nlcolas Y Lyrakldes Execut ive Vice-President Europe

Steph Simmonds Executive Vice-President Finance

Doug Churchlll Executive Vice-President Professional

Committee C Report - Cancun - Neil Vidler

Page 11

Committee B Plenary Report - Cancun Chris Stock

Page 1 2

Automatic Dependent - Greg Dunstone

Andrew Beadle

Surveillance

Broadcast

in Australia Page 1 6

Executive Vice-President Technical

ADS-B Improves - NUP II Project

Jack van Delft

Work Conditions

for Air Traffic Controllers Pag e 1 9

Exec utive Board Secretary/Confere nce Manager

EDITOR

Towards a New Controller -Pilot Task Distribution to Manage Aircraft Spacing - Eric Hoffman et al

Page 2 1

- Ninety Years of Air Traffic Control in France - Danial Casanova

Page 2 4

1911-2001 Regulation

Chris Stock, 25 Springfield Lea. South Queensferry. West Lothian, Scotland. EH30 9XD,

1 st ICAO Threat Response and Error Managemen t (TREM) Workshop - Bert Ruitenberg

Page 2 8

email: ed@ifatca.org

Unusual Airlines 1 - Wideroe - Philippe Domogala

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CMG CHAIRMAN AND ACCOUNTS

Charlie's Column

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Issues Appear End of M arch, June. September. December Contributors Are Expressing The,r Personal Points of View and Opinio ns, W hich May Not Necessanly Co1nc1de With Those of The International Federation of A,r Traffic Controllers' Assoc1at1ons. IFATCA IFATCA Does Not Assume Responsibility For Siatements Mad e and Opinions Expressed, 11Accepts Respons1b1 lity For Pubt1sh111 g These Contributions Contnbut1ons Are Welcome as Are Comments and Cnt1c1smNo Payment Can be M ade For M anuscripts Submitt ed For Publicat1on In The Controller The Editor Reseives The Right to Make Any Ed1tonal Changes ,n Manu script s. Wh ,ch he Believes W ill Improve The M aterial W ithout Allering The Intended Mean111 g W ritten Permission by The Editor ISNecessary For Repnnt1ngAny Pan of This Journal

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Foreword THE VOICE OF THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER Marc Baumgartner President and Chief Executive Officer At the Exe cutive Board meeting in October 2001 the members of the Executive Boa rd of IFATCA took a day to consider the strategy of the organisation . The EB wished to identify what are the main challenges we will face in the future ATM wor ld. These challenges have been identifi ed as manifold and that it is difficult to cover all extensively . However, th e challenges can be separated into two specific areas, internal challenges and external challenges .

Air Traffic Controllers Unions (through affiliation with ATCEUC) to take industrial action. For the first time in history our profession saw a continental industrial action, which severely disrupted air travel. The full impact of this first co-ordinated action against the European Commission's "Single European Sky" will have to be carefully analysed in the coming weeks and months . The impact on the "image" of our profession is not yet known, at least to it's full extent. For this the Member

IFA TCA has been granted official observer status at ICAO . This is a milestone in the history of the Federation. After one year of rather cautious approach towards this new status we will have to define our responsib iliti es and play a more prominent role with regard to ICAO. Technically speaking in the mid-t erm all our members will see - hopefully new t echnology emerging in the OPS rooms and Towers, be it satellite based navigation , datalink or more sophisticated radar suites. Some of th is te chnology will have a tremendous impact on the work of the ATCOs and not just in specific areas but globally. The refore it is important t hat IFATCA keeps continuing to be at the forefront of the tec hnolo gical development throughout the world. Institut iona lly speaking we all will face a treme ndous change in the future. First results of t he privatised ATC providers have shown us that it can only work if th e "market" is sound . If like last year the increase of t he traffic figures are not fo llow ing t he forecasts the privatised or commerc ialis ed ANSPs face difficult t imes. Although most of the Air Nav igat ion serv ices in t he Northern Hemisp her e are commerc ialised .we are now on ly ex periencing for t he f irst t ime what it means to hav e a mo re business like approac h in a monopolistic environment. Recent ly the fears of compet it ion in the ATM env ironment lead t he AT COs members of some European

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Associations of European Region of IFATCA will meet for a 1 day workshop in Amsterdam. IFATCA 's larg est Member Association, NATCA, has recently been presented with some initial plans for a privatisation of part of the service current the responsibility of the FAA. At the Annual Conference in Cancun the Directors were informed about the sacking of all the ATCOs in Kenya. On a fact finding mission to Nairobi, IFATCA was able to meet with the Kenyan Minister of Transport and to voice our concerns about this action which has the serious potential to disrupt air travel in this area .

This decision by the Kenyan Government has raised a lot of concern among the members of IFATCA. Hopefully, the Kenyan Government will reconsider it's position in the coming weeks, taking into account that the Travel Industry in Kenya is the thi rd largest source of revenue Another industrial action is planned by some members of IFATCA which are responsible for the airspace commonly known as the ASECNA ,in the western and central part of Africa . Again the requests of the ATCOs are based on the fact that our profession is not valued and appropriately remunerated , in this area of the world. IFATCA is trying to give assistance to these members of IFATCA. Certainly IFATCA's role is to defend it's Members through involvement in the technical and professional issues from the outset . This is being done by many of you, who act as volunteers representatives in the many working groups within ICAO,ILO, IATA, Eurocontrol, however the Executive Board Meeting in London 2001 decided to be more pro-active with regard to Member Associations problems in the countries where our profession is not acknowledged at the right level. We have to become the VOICE OF THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER around the world. This means that we will have to make special efforts in areas of the world where the problems are of a far more basic nature, like decent working conditions, including upgrade of technical equipment. IFATCA cannot achieve this on it's own and coordination with various international organisations are currently ongoing to shape a "business case" for Air Traffic Control. Further, the EB wished, as well that we continue to grow in numbers. Although we can be proud of our membership, we need to establish contacts with nonmember countries to be able to assist with our "big family" of unique professionals.

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Editorial Chris Stock Editor Conference Conference 2002 in Cancun is now a part of IFATCA history and we look forward to the next one in Buenos Aires. However it has always been the tradition of this journal to record the events of each conference and highlight the important and the offbeat aspects. This issue continues this tradition but this will probably the last time because the future content of "The Controller" was discussed in great detail and at considerable length in Committee A. The Controller Management Group submitted a working paper that considered the requirements placed on CMG by the Manual Bye-laws with specific emphasis on the finances of the journal and the impact that these have on editorial policy. The Bye-laws regarding finance place a responsibility on CMG to be self sufficient and to build up and maintain a reserve fund large enough to cover the cost of any cancellation charges in the event of cessation of publication . For various reasons, there has been a reduction in the revenue, which has caused considerable problems to CMG in meeting their obligations . The recommendation of the Working Paper was to amend the Bye-Law 8.1 .3 by removing the requirement for the journal to " reflect the administrative, technical and professional aspects of IFATCA " and replace it with "The contents of The Controller should reflect the views and concerns of the international controller community and provide a forum to all interested parties in ATM matters . To ensure that the all lFATCA aspects were not diluted or lost, it was proposed that the IFATCA Circular would be

In today's world of instantaneous communication, IFATCA will have to adopt as well to the new style of communication and make efforts that our opinion is heard and that our profession is better known and this not only in the Membe r States where big Associations are assuming this task in an exemplary way. One of the big mile- stones in civ il aviat ion

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expanded to cover these areas. After much discussion in committee , the recommendation was accepted . The crux of these changes is to maintain the financial viability of the journal and to ensure that it remains the public voice of IFATCA. To that end, any changes to the journal will be carefully considered by CMG and therefore will be introduced gradually . However, we anticipate that the majority of the internal IFATCA reports such as the regional meetings will transfer to the circular . That is not say that the regional aspects will be ignored but rather to change the focus and the emphasis towards the more public issues . What does remain paramount in "The Controller" editorial policy is that the journal is the controllers' voice and will continue to reflect their viewpoint . To this end, it remains absolutely vital that controllers continue to make their contribution to their mouthpiece through articles, letters, reports, and photographs. So keep those contributions coming in and we do want to hear your views , comments and criticisms of how your magazine is progressing .

This Issue Apart from the reports on conference, this issue devotes space to areas of ADS-B development and R & Din ATM . For many, ADS-B offers the future in ATM particularly in those areas where the provision of radar is extremely costly and diff icult . The jury is still out on its use in the dense and highly comple x airspaces but much developmental work is being carried in all areas . The use of ADS-B in the more controversial domains such as ASAS is the subject of study in IFATCA

will be the ICAO Air Navigation Conference 2003 which will be held in September 2003 in Montreal. This Ai r Navigation Conference is held every 10 years and shapes the future of Civil Aviation at a international level. IFATCA has decided to be very active and to prepare some input to this impo rtant event . At our next annual confe rence in Buenos Ai res y ou'll be mo re precisely

committees, SC1 and SC4. Working papers will be presented at the next conference .

Next Issue Continuing with our policy of devoting certain issues to specific themes, the next issue (October) will cover Training fo r ATM with an emphasis on the use of simulators . The use of simulators is widespread within aviation but in ATC , there appears to be a division of views about the reliance on simulated t raining. After all, pilots use zero time simula t ors , will ATC ever be in this position or is t he re an alternative philosophy of training fo r ATC? I invite views from all concerned in ATM training including controllers , instructors, training institutions and simulator manufacturers to make a contribution either through letters or articles.

Mid-Air Collision Just as we go to print, we have rece iv ed news of the tragic mid air coll isio n on the German-Swiss bo rde rs in whic h 71 people , including 50 child ren , have bee n killed . There has been conside rable speculation in the media abou t poss ible causes but no commen t fr om the authorities or inves t igations . W e wo uld not wish to join in any speculatio n but o ne particular cause for concern is t hat, if reports abou t bot h aircraft being equipped with TCAS are co rr ect, w hy d id the last ditch defence fa il? Ou r thoughts and suppo rt go out t o all the controllers at Zu rich ACC in wha t must be a very t raumat ic tim e.

brie f ed on t his o ngoi ng activiti es. A s y ou all can see, t here is a lot to do in the co ming years. In order to ach ieve our goals we need to work close ly together. Th e memb ers of t he Executive Board are ve ry dedi cated elected repres entatives who count on you as M embers Associations to assist them in these very ambitious tasks .

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Conference 2002 THE MAGIC WORD - CANCUN Eugenio Ortega Alvarez

The dream began a few years ago . All of us were excited when the President of IFATCA closed the 40 th Convention in Geneva 2001, saying ' See you in Cancun¡ . It was a fact. The 41 st Convention would be held in Cancun. The organising committee were elected at the National Convention held in Tijuana 2000 and would be Victor Cervantes (President of ACT AM). Javier Camarena (I nternational Affairs) and Marco Santana, the backbone of the enthusiastic controllers, whose only objective from t hen on was the Convention in Cancun . At t he beginning of 2002, there was no turn ing back and like a game of Chinese Checkers, we were advancing to reach the other side and form a perfect tr iangle. With over 50 controllers who brought enthusiasm and ideas on ALL activities. The se volunteers sacrificed t hei r holidays, economical permits and lieu days to work in every sphere, to ensure t hat the convention ran smoot hly. We all worked really hard to obtain

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sponsors. In February, the Technical Secretary and myself flew to Maastricht, Holland to attend the ATC forum. Here, once again, we would approach the corporate members of IFATCA. Our purpose was to remind them that their assistance for Cancun 2002 was needed and to get further sponsors. The result was not favourable ....... Only three helped us. I would like to thank Frequentis, Thales and Raytheon for their sponsorship. Further sponsorship came from the Mexican Secretary of Transportation and

Communication, SENEAM (Servicios a la Navegacion en el Espacio Aereo Mexicano) and the union . Our company SENEAM also gave permission to ten controllers and myself to work full time for IFATCA. Once we had everything ready to go at the ACTAM Head Office in Mexico City, we were leaving for Cancun and found that we had so much equipment, we were overweight. Some airlines helped and others refused. From this we learnt how expensive a kilo was! I would like to make a special mention to the directors of Magni charter airlines, who gave us a powerful 737, free of charge. This was used to bring the Mexican controllers and their families safely to Cancun. They even had a raffle on board for a bottle of whisky. What guys! I arrived in Cancun one week before the start of the convention. As soon as I arrived, I found the smiling faces of my colleagues who were helping with

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Conference 2002 transportation to the hotels. Even though the official transportation days were Saturday and Sunday, we made a big effort to transport the early arrivals. Obviously we could only transport those who had advised their flights and flight times.

took more than 500 photographs , which you will be able view in approximately 1 month on the ACTAM web page www .actam .org .mx

On my arrival at the Melia Cancun Hotel, I found many friends from all over the world. Unfortunately I did not have time to chat to them, as the meetings were beginning and so was the hard work. The organising committee met with the Executive Board of IFATCA, who work like a well-oiled machine . Everyone knows what to do! Due to this, we did not have any trouble working together, two well oiled machines making one. My link was managing all the meeting rooms during the convention. My team was Leo Luna, Gerardo Hernandez and Cesar Jimenez, who were the vicechairmen of committees A, B and C respectively. They were assisted by Jair Garrido and Napoleon Matresitos . They did an excellent job, although they were tempted at times to throw me into the ocean, weighted with rocks! On the day of the opening , controllers worldwide took photographs of the two Mayan Indians who were at the entrance . Whilst the delegates were awaiting for the ceremony to begin, they watched a slide

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show of all the towers , tracons and centres throughout Mexico . In the background Huapango (Mexican classical music) was playing, then suddenly, darkness ......... ....... .

At the closing ceremony , the director of SENEAM was impressed on seeing that even with all the support he gave us , many more controllers were there helping . The result was a simple applause . However, fo r thos e of us in the Organising Comm ittee and the many volunteers, the applause filled us with pride , as it was the appreciation from the hands of worldwide controllers . The agreements which were reached during the convention are now a part of aviatio n history .

The spotlights then lit up the two Mayan Indians , doing the shout of war. This was used in the past to bring the communities together , to discuss important aspects, just like we were about to begin . With this, the opening ceremony began with the Mexican National Anthem and the saluting of the Mexican flag . This was a huge multi-media show, like never before.

In Cancun 2002 , we created a new approach on how to make a conference , by adding, insomnia, hunger, hospitalit y, soul and happiness . Our goal , to ensu re that every delegate felt at home . Th is is what makes us different from the rest of the world.

Then the show began . A week full of hard wo rk, dedication, good food and smiling faces . For me, I got used to rushing around, eating little and running purely on andrenal in and of course , always with my camera ! Taking pictures of everyone, all day and night . In total I

Mi casa es tu casa , see you in Bue nos Aires 2003

It was a real pleasure to meet you all.

Radar contact terminated , con tact the future now .

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Conference 2002 THE ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME Sa ndra Maidens,

PERSONS'

Canada

It' s har d to believe that in Mayan, Cancun walls. One structure is so perfectly aligned mea ns "sna ke 's nest" . It should mean with the sun, that early in the morn ing on "paradise" or "idyllic setting " because that both the spring and fall equinoxes, the better des cribes this thriving tourist light shines through a small opening to de stinati on that was a fishing village only create a starburst effect. It begs the 30 short years ago. A lot has changed question, how were they able to calculate since then. Cancun now boasts a and build so exactly all those many years populati on of 500 ,000 with over 150 ago? hote ls , numerous discos, restaurants and tourist attractions sp read along miles of Observatory at Chicken ltza white, silky sand . Afte r lunch on the first day of the conference, we went on our tour of Cancun . Luis, our guide, pointed out the Statue of Heroes in the centre of the city, a few restaurants that he would recommend, some famous (infamous) discos and what seemed to be the world's largest flag . W e spent about an hour shopping for local crafts at the Mercado 28 (Market 28) and then headed to the

newestshoppingarea in t he city, La Isla, a beaut iful mall on the edge of t he lagoon . On our way there, we went past the Bull Ring where every Wednesday at 3:30 a bullfight is staged just in fun for the tourists. No animals are harmed and everyone comes back to "fight" another day . Tuesday was a hot, sunny day that saw us off to explore th e ruins of Tulum, about an hour's drive away . This massive walled Mayan city, located on the coast , dates from approximately 900 A.D. Sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea is El Castillo (the Cast le), t hought by some to be an early lighthouse t hat guided the many can oes t hat trave lled to Tulum to trade goods . The re is also t he Te mple of t he Desce nding God whose carved outline can be seen over t he doorway and the Temp le of t he Frescoes where some of t he or ig ina l co lour still rema ins on t he inte rior

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We then headed to Xel-Ha for the afternoon to cool down in the refreshing natural pools and protected inlet. Set in the middle of a tropical forest , Xel-Ha is where the fresh underground water mingles with the cooler seawater. Here you had your choice of snorkelling or SCUBA diving to see the colourful salt-water fish, swimming with the dolphins, relaxing in a hammock, testing

your balance on the floating bridge, or walking to the lighthouse and following a brain coral path to the beach . The afternoon passed all too quickly. On Wednesday, the bus departed for Xcaret at noon. Xcaret is another tropical paradise where you can stroll along leafcovered paths, look at the many native birds, visit the butterfly pavilion, the orchid farm or the coral reef aquarium. If you are so inclined, you can ride a horse through the jungle or view the area from the rotating Scenic Tower . We chose to see Xcaret from underneath! Donning our snorkelling gear, we swam the length of the underground river (1650 ft .) that flowed about 17 feet below the surface, to look at the fossilized coral formations . As we emerged from the darkness and got closer to the ocean and the mangrove forest where we exited, brightly coloured

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INSTRUMENTS

FOR

PROFESSIONALS

h as a sin gle-mind ed co mmitm ent to bu ildin g ultra-pr ec ise and ultr a- reliabl e w ri st in strum ent s int end ed fo r th e m os t d em andin g p rofess ion als. Our ob sess ion is qualit y. Our goa l is p er form anc e . D ay af ter d ay, we co n s is tentl y enh an ce th e s turdin ess and fun cti on alit y of our ch ro n og raph s. A nd we s ubmit a ll our m ove m ent s to th e m erciless tes tin g pro ce dur es of th e Sw iss Offi cia l Ch ro n om e ter Tes tin g In s titut e (CO SC) . On e s impl y d oes n o t beco m e an aviati on suppli er b y chan ce . B REITLING

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Conference 2002

tropica l fish came to have a look at us . But t he best was yet to come . Just after dinner, we took the path to El Gran Tlachco , an impressive outdoor t heat re , fo r the spectacular evening show. Along t he way to the theatre, warriors in paint and feathers greeted us . The pe rformance started with a game of socce r - Mayan st yle -where the players bounced t he ball off th e ir hip s into a ring or key hole mounted on the wall. This was fo llowed by Mayan hoc key , where the p layers chased a flaming ball with sticks and tri ed to sco re on each other' s nets (no ha ir on the ir leg s!!). Then came the story of t he conque ring of the Mayan people by t he Spani sh and finally their "Ch ristianization" by the church . Act two involved th e colo urful and lively ex plo rat ion of all t he reg ions of Mex ico in mus ic, costu me and dance . Over 200 perform e rs too k part in this gala perfor man ce. As we filed ont o ou r bus es, we we re st ill talking abou t wh at a fabulous show it had bee n - definitely a day to re me mb er.

pyramid to replicate the body of a snake slithering downward until the stone serpent's head at the foot of the steps is engulfed in light . This certainly stands as an everlasting tribute to their precise architectural and astronomical abilities. Some of the more intrepid (or is that foolhardy?) among us decided to climb to the top of the pyramid in the scorching mid-day sun . There are 91 steps on each side (two sides can still be climbed) and with the step at the top the total is 365, coinciding with the number of days in the year . Going up was the easy part compared to coming down . With an approximate 60-degree angle and short , steep steps , everyone used various means to get safely back to the ground . It's surprising that more tourists aren 't injured during their descent . Another fascinating structure is the Observatory that very closely resembles the ones we build today . The Mayan observatory had small holes in the roof so

that the night sky could be studied and charted . The Ball Court is also an engineering marvel. Not only was it constructed for the ancient soccer games but wherever you stand between the two walls, you can hear what is being said from one end to the other. The sides are decor ated with carved scene s from the early games. These carvings show that th e game was not just a sport ing event but part of a religious ceremony as well. There is some debate over who got beheaded after winning one of these games - the losers or the captain of the winning team - a more fitting tribute to the gods . Sacrifices also took place at the Sacred Cenote (waterhole), where young maidens (no relation) were bathed and anointed and then thrown into the well to please the water god . After such an intense and very hot t rip back in time, it was nice to relax, have a drink , enjoy a buffet lunch and cool off at the nearby Mayaland Hotel. This was my second trip to Cancun and I found it just as enjoyable and as fascinating as my first visit there 15 years ago. I'm sure I'll be back again some day. Many thanks to Victor Cervantes, our gracious host, and to Eugenio Ortego, who was in charge of the Accompanying Persons Program . You both did an outstanding job - congratulations. See you in Buenos Aires!!

The nex t day, we had to be up bright and early for ou r 8: 00 de part ure fo r Chichen ltza, t he mo st fa mou s of all of th e Mayan arc hae olog ical sites . It was est ablished in 445 B.C. and inhabi ted unt il around 1200 A.O. w he n it was curiously aband o ned . Anot her mystery is how t he ancie nt Mayans were able to co nstru ct t he mighty 75-foot Temp le of Kuku lcan so that on t he verna l and aut umnal eq uinoxes , light and shadows descend t he steps of t he

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Conference 2002 Committee

C Report - Cancun

Neil Vidler, Chairman Committee Professional committee delegates managed to drag themselves away from the beautiful delights of Cancun's sun, sand, surf and other temptations to be present for the commencement of Committee C deliberations on Monday afternoon 1 sth April in the very impressive Melia hotel. Despite some organisational hiccups - it is difficult to work without tables! - we got under way almost on time with a very large attendance . As on each of the other work sessions, we had no problem establishing a quorum. The chairman proposed that we devote the first afternoon just to consideration of the many reports . Since the lack of tables would not hinder such consideration, this was readily agreed to. First to his feet was EVPP, who delivered his normal comprehensive report . Noting the high degree of involvement in all areas, Mr Churchill laid particular emphasis on Human Factors . He also advised that the EB has considered creating a perm anent liaison to ICAO in Montreal but, for the time being at least , has decided to remain with the Office Manager providing this service . EVPP also made an entreaty for more representatives to attend meetings on IFATCA's behalf. The present difficult labour situation in Kenya was highlighted . HF Specialist Bert Ruitenberg again detailed a busy year. There followed the comprehensive reports on the EATMP HRT, MPSG , HFTF, TSG and LWG involvements . As always, IFATCA professional involvement in Europe remains extremely high to the satisfaction of both IFATCA and the European civil aviation authorities . These reports were followed by the various liaison officer reports . This past year was the first under which IFATCA operated with the amalgam at ed SC4 fo llowi ng t he dec ision in Marra kech to consolidate the old SC4 and SC?. New Chai rman Geert M aesen reported on an extensive programme and thanked the committe e membe rs fo r thei r hard wo rk and the high standard of pap ers. T he fi rst SC4 WP was a revi ew of ATC Separation M onitor ing Tool. Del egates

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C

closely examined the current provisional policy and accepted its retention . However , following the referral from the combined committee B+C (see below), delegates revisited the subject and agreed that ASMT "must be part of a safety management system and shall not be used by management as a punitive tool " , that "ASMT shall be preceded by the introduction of STCA" (except for aerodrome control) and that " implementation of ASMT must be

preceded by a clear statement in which its goals are defined" . This combined committee B+C was a first and clearly demonstrated how intertwined technical and professional matters have become . The need for combined discussions was emphasised and had obvious benefits in widening t he discussions and saving time. Free flight received anoth er comprehensive airing with valuable input by Euro co ntrol's M r Skoniezki w ho commented that Eurocontro l is not pushing to implement free fli ght. The committee's bi gg est discussions fo r 2002 came via the agenda it em on th e Role / Selection of Assessors . Afte r conside rable discussion and seve ral proposals and amendm ents, th e import ance of check controll ers w as emph asised and it was agree d tha t specialist t raining w as nec essary and t hat minimum experienc e lev els and stand ards shou ld be set. Che ck contro llers also should not be exe mpt fr om per iodi c refr esher t raining and assessme nts as pe r jou rn ey man con tro ller req uirements.

The liab ility of controllers loo king aft er apron areas was the subject of a comprehensive paper this yea r. It was recommended that aerodrome con troll ers not be responsible for accid ents or incidents involving aircraft not unde r t heir j urisdiction and t hat , wh ere shared respons ibilities pertain, individua l dutie s and responsibil it ies must be cle arly defined. Long accepted wi t h aircrew, Team Resource Management is beco ming more and more importan t with A T Cs and , following on from last yea r' s wor k, delegates th is yea r ag reed that "TRM as a concep t sho uld be con side red in t he tr aining of controllers prior t o an appointment as a supervi so r or management pos it io n." This is not on ly conside red impo rtant by IFATCA . M r Skoni ezki commented tha t Euroc ontrol had made man y relate d recommen d atio ns and tha t a numb er of States w ere already conductin g TRM training. Th e co m mittee secretary , T on y Rusht on, put on his ot he r hat and pre sented the next age nda ite m - Language Training fo r ATCOs . This t opic fo cu sed on the diff icult ies some MA s are hav ing with secur ing refr esher tra inin g in th e Engl ish language . Polic y was passed t hat English language tr aining be part of sta nda rd refre sher t rain ing . Next, t he diff icu lties of inadequate st affin g level s w ere cons ide red with out reso luti on. In many instances, we are ou r ow n wo rst enemi es in this area throug h the extra du t ies we accept . A con sid erable time was spen t consid ering the changes to WP classifi cations . Following the Ma rr ake ch co nference decisions to alte r t he classifications , much wor k has been done in review ing all cu rr ent WPs . Paul Hee ring from the Net he rl ands pro vi ded a detai led descr iptio n of t he reason for each re-classified paper and th en fo llowe d th is up wi t h t he new list of re levant work ing pape rs, a list kept for repres entatives' ref erral and backgro und informat ion . Fin ally , 'fll\ onitor ing the Eurocontrol Perf orm ance Review Co mmission ' and 'Reg ulation in ATM ' were cons ide red and referr ed to SC4 for ongo ing moni t oring.

11


Co fe SC4 was assigned a considerable work programme for the ensuing year. The 12 'heavywe ight' items will ensure that the ele cted MAs (Australia, Canada , Dominican Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy , Netherlands , United Kingdom, Trinidad & Tobago) will be fully engaged until conference in Buenos Aires . This year, the regional EVP's provided their always interesting reports in the joint committee B+C sessio n. This avoidance of duplication of effort was appreciated by all, especially the EVPs. To conclude business, Germany introduced a late paper which discussed 'Stress & Strain in ATC. The basis for this paper was a German study and the finding s were being related to their recent round of collective bargaining .

Committee

Some of the pressure on Committee C was, this year, taken from it via the convening of a combined Committee B+C session . Occurring on the morning of Wednesday 17 th April, this meeting considered items of increasingly overlapping interests . Apart from the various reports, the 'C items referred to this committee comprised 'Review Policy on SMR', 'Transfer of Control Functions to Pilots' and 'Review of the professional Content of the Vision Document'. In each case, the associated WPs were accepted as information material. The important discussions on ASMT resulted in policy as detailed above. The committee B topic on '8 .33kHz Phraseology' also interested the 'C delegates and resulted in policy which , I am sure, is covered in the Committee B

President, Members of the Executive Board, colleagues and friends, I have pleasure in presenting the report of Committee B to this plenary. Before cont inuin g, are t here any omissions or additions to this report from the floor? The business of Committee B was conducted in an efficient and friendly manner allowing much constructive and interesting debate. The agenda contained a reduced number of re ports as these were transferred to the Joint B/ C meeting agenda however the number of work stud ies remained high w ith 13 working papers to be considered.

Dur ing the cou rse of t he Co mmittee pro ceedings , I became aware of an underlying

12

for repetition. Cancun again saw Committee

C chaired

by Neil Vidler with Executive Board representation again provided by EVPP Doug Churchill.

First time secretary

Charles 'Tony' Rushton provided excellent service and very accurate and comprehensive

minutes . Finally, the head

table was completed by ACTAM's Jiminez who, as vice-chairman,

Cesar

ensured

the efficient organisational functioning

of

the committee in a most unobtrusive manner. The committee appreciated the entire ACT AM organising committee for an excellent job in very agreeable surroundings.

B Plenary Report - Cancun

Chris Stock, Chairman

New and amended policy was recommended from 9 working papers and this included such subjects as Mode S, Controller Intervention Buffer, Safety Nets and Aviat io n Radio Spectrum Protection. Of spec ial note, 2 WPs cons id ered spec ifically military / civi l concerns: Aircraft flying with "Due Regard" and R/ T Phraseo log y in Civ il/ Military Integrat ion - w it h policy be ing recommended in the latter paper .

report. This joint session proved to be a valuable exercise worthy of consideration

Committee

B

concern about safety. 2 WPs highlighted my unease. First: the WP dealing with Environmental Issues in ATM contained a policy recommendation, which contained the phrase "appropriate levels of safety". The ensuing discussion focussed on the use and understanding of this phrase. All controllers understand that safety is paramount and that it is the primary function of the control task however the term "safety" in this context is open to subjective interpretation - we all know what we understand it to mean but our definition may not be the same as another controller . In other words, it is generic to cover a number of scenarios. Also, it can be misused to support arguments about issues such as commercial and financial

decisions. On the other hand, "appropriate level of safety" whilst appearing vague in fact implies a value being placed on safety and this is in line with current thinking about the systemic approach to safety and the management of risk . The second paper that caused concern dealt with the "The Use of Lateral Offsets". The paper proposed the deletion of current policy because expert studies indicated that the IFATCA NAT Offset policy had the potential to increase the risk of collision through a reduction of lateral separation. That policy is now recommended for deletion. However, the bigger issue for the Federation is how to deal with safety issues in the future. Let me put a hypothetical worse case scenario to you: in accordance with IFATCA policy, an MA proposes a procedure, which is accepted using that policy. A serious incident ensues and the investigation indicates that the procedure is unsafe . No safety assessment has been carried by IFATCA or by provider so where does that place the reputation of the Federation? I did say 'worse case" and therefore unlikely however I wish to highlight what I consider to be a potential weakness in our policy making areas.

' CONTROLLER


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9 -10 O ctober 2 002 The Exhibition ATC Asia Pacific 2002 will provide you with the opportunity to meet and netw ork with leading ATC/ATM suppliers th at will be displaying their core business product-s in a business-like environment in an industry that does not stand st ill'

The Conference Th.e ATC Asia Pacific 2002 Conference, 'Impr oving Traffic Flows ' - organised by Jane's Conferences This conference will exam ine how ATC service providers and aircra~ operators are working together to improve airspace management tec hniques throughout the Asia Pacific region. For more programme information and to book your delegate place. please contact Rafal Katowicz on Tel: +44 (0)208 700 3841 or visit www .conference.janes.com

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L

Conference 2002

a

Bruce Robinson, Sensis, receives CorporateMembers scroll

President Sam Lampkinpresents Neil Vidlerwith a special commemoration award in recognition of his authorshipof the /FATCA history "Under Control"

14

I[

CONTROLLER


Conference 2002 I believe the EB should address the whole issue of safety particularly in the in the light of mandating Safety Management Systems and the requirement for States to set Safety Objectives and establ ish acceptable levels of safety for the provision of ATS. My opinion is that a small task force or working group should be set up to provide guidelines to MAs, IFATCA representatives , and Standing Committees on Safety Assessment processes and other related safety issues .

believe that the safety issue is a pressing one that should not be ignored .

I apologise if this item taken too much time but the concerns arose directly from the committee business . However, I do

Finally: it would be inappropriate if I did not mention the work of SC1, which has continued to mainta in a consistently high

In clos ing, I would like to thank Andrew Beadle, EVP Technical for his support and wise comments during the committee sessions, to our very efficient and helpful Vice Chairman , Gerardo Hernandez . My heart felt thanks to our hard working secretary who managed to keep me on the right line at least most of the time, Catharina De Deecker .

standard of work . This reflects we ll not only on the individual members but also the Chairman, Dave Grace . It seems like the end of an era - a long one - and it is little sad that Dave is giving up but th e reasons are perf ectly understand able . I know that tributes will flow from other areas howeve r I wish to add my perso nal thank you for the fun, comradeship , an d ha rd wor k on our many trips togethe r. Life will not be quite the sam e agai n! Thanks, Dave, for all your efforts . That concludes my report .

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THE CONTROLLER

15


ADS AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SURVEILLANCE BROADCAST IN AUSTRALIA Greg Dunstone Project Manager, - Australian ADS-B The Austral ian FIR & Radar Coverage

........

All monopu!se LVA All 16 RPM All 2.50NM SSR S wtth SONM Pri

Appro xJmatety 5000 nm

The basic concept for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADSB) is to have aircraft automatically broadcast their position and velocity (speed and heading) one or two times every second. ADS-B data can be received on the ground or by other aircraft, and used to support a wide range of app licat ions . A number of countries around the world, including Australia, do not have comprehensive radar coverage for civil air traffic control. Australia is exa mining the potent ial of using ADS-B data to provide radar like surve illance for Air Traffic Control and is deploying a pilot system for a 3 year operational trial. Airservices Australia's radar coverage is currently limited to the eastern seaboard plus a few radars to the west and north . However, the Australian continent is dotted w ith VH F outle ts . Each of th ese outlets has a shelter, Power (some using

solar panels) and communication links back to the ATC centres.

It is currently economically impossible to provide radar surveillance over the whole of the continent . Radars are expensive to acquire and operate . They require large buildings or shelters, towers, large power supplies, standby generators, uninterruptible power supplies and high cost mechanical maintenance regimes . In addition, environmental impact assessments , roads and other infrastructure are required .

V

If Airservices Australia were to deploy ADS-B ground stations, they would be able to receive and process ADS-B reports from aircraft more than 200Nm from the ground stations. In the long term it is envisaged that some 120 ADS-B ground station sites could provide almost total coverage above 20,000 feet and coverage to lower levels in more heavily used areas. The alternative to adoption of this technology is to continue with oceanic like procedural separation procedures over much of the continental land mass, since radars are simply too expensive to deploy over the whole continent. The Australian operational trial Airservices Australia has initiated a project to conduct an operational trial of ADS-B in a region near Bundaberg Queensland . The project will install a single ADS-B ground station, equip a number of aircraft (appro ximately 17) with ADS-B avionics, and modify an operational air traffic management system (The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System - TAAATS) to process and display ADS-B tracks.

The objectives of the t rial are to :

16

Develop operational procedures and to commission an ADS-B surveillance for air traffic control in a region near Bundaberg. This system is expected to provide first hand operational air traffic control experience in the Australian environment as well as real operational benefits to aircraft operators in that area. It is planned that radar-l ike air traffic control services will be provided using a 5 nm separation standard . Appropriate ATC procedures, standards and training will be dev eloped . Learn practical real world lessons from the t rial and recommend possible options for wide-scale deployment of ADS-B in Australia . In particular Airservices wishes to understand the implications of extensive deployment . This will lower the risk of future decisions such as whether existing SSR only radars should be refurbished or replaced by ADS-B technology, and whether more radars should be installed. Provide information to the Australian aviation community regarding the strengths and weaknesses of ADS-B . ADS -B data from the ground station will be fully integrated into "The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System" (TAAATS) . ADS-B tracks will be presented to controllers on the same screen as radar, ADS-C and flight plan tracks. TAAATS will correlate ADS-B tracks with flight plans , and provide safety net features. Data collection and operational validation will occur and new radar-like separation standards will be developed before the system is used to separate aircraft . The TAAATS ATC training simulator will be updated to include ADS-B surveillance tracks and will allow controller training before commissioning. Description of pilot system equipment. Following a tender process , which did not define the ADS-B link to be used, an offer from Honeywell was accepted . Honeywell, as prime contractor for the air-ground segment, will provide a duplicated high reliability Sensis ADS-B ground station and 17 Honeywell avionics shipsets . This system is based on the SSR 1090Mh z ADS-B datalink.

I lit

CONTROLLER


ADS

Hon~II

-

A Mode S extended squitter transponder operates as the aircraft's ATC transponder, and in addition, transmits position data every 500 milliseconds to ground stat ions on the same frequency as SSR. The squitter messages also contain other useful data such the ICAO 24 bit aircraft code, velocity, flight level and data integrity indicators. The ICAO standards, ARINC standard, RTCA and Eurocae standards for Mode S extended squitter already exist . The positional data being used in the pilot deployment is being supplied from a TSO'ed GPS navigator from Honeywell. The navigator provides RAIM information to the transponder so that positional integrity information called Navigational Uncertainty Category can be calculated and transmitted to the ATC centre . The avionics installed in non TCAS aircraft is shown in the figure above. A slightly different configuration is used for Dash 8 aircraft which are equipped with TCAS. In addition some large commercial aircraft such as Boeing 757's and 747's from British Airways are already equipped and transmitting ADS-B information . Ground station The Airservices Australia ground station has been installed already. The equipment is installed in a small shelter and the antennas are mounted near the top of an existing telecommunications tower. The system w as installed and working less than 7 days after arriving in Australia. The photographs below illustrate the small size compared to radar sites .

ATC automation system changes Airservices Australia has contracted Thales ATM to modify the TAAATS ATC automation system to fully integrate ADS-B surveillance tracks . TAAATS is a paperless ATC system that serves en-route, terminal , oceanic and domestic procedural airspace. All traffic is displayed today graphically as radar, ADS or flight plan based tracks. Each of the two centres manages more than 2500 flights a day and Sydney airport handles up to 1000 flights a day .

TAAATS will be modified to receive ADSB track data and display it to controllers in a radar-like manner . These modifications are considered permanent . No matter what the ADS-B system is eventually used in Australia, ADS-B ground stations will be required to output Asterix Category 21 messages and these will be processed by TAAA TS. ADS-B tracks will be displayed to operational air traffic controllers only when there is no SSR track available for a particular aircraft. A smooth transition between radar and ADS -Band / or ADS-C tracks will be provided. Controllers will be able to select or deselect ADS-B tracks for display at each position . This is an extension of the existing TAAATS display priority system . Once ADS-Bis integrated, the display hierarchy will be: if an SSR track for an aircraft is available then SSR data will be d isplayed if no SSR track exists, ADS-B track data will be disp layed if no ADS-B track data is available, and FANS1 / A ADS-C data is available, th en this will be displayed if none of the above are available then a flight plan track is displayed¡ This strategy has been chosen for ADS-B to ease the testing and commis sioning activities . The debate regarding possible impact on existing radar tr acks if multisensor fusion tracking is employed has been avoi ded . SSR & ADS-B fusion may be explored at a later date_after . experience wit h ind ependen t track systems. Th e ot he r advantage of this presenta t ion is that it clearly identifies t he source of t he data to t he contro lle r.

TriE: CONTROLLER

Controllers using TAAATS are already familiar with different track presentations which indicate the data sources and corresponding separation standards to be used. Matching the ADS-B track with the flight plan will be accomplished using the ICAO 24 bit aircraft address . The 24 bit code may already be included in fligh t plans lodged in Australia . It is entered as 6 hexadecimal characters in field 18 und er the switch CODE / eg CODE / 7C07F8 ADS-B data will be used to automatical ly update the flight plan estimates and vertical profile . The ADS-B track will be displayed with callsign and flight plan data . The TAAATS system will only use ADS-B data if the navigational uncerta int y category (NUC) which is dy namical ly computed by the avionics is better than a pre-determined value. TAAATS will then perform reasonableness chec king on posit ional data using the 24 bit code as the basis for "report to report t racking ". The positional data will also be compa red to what is reasonable from t he particular ground station, and matched against aircraft flight plan and cle ared level data . Detection logic wi ll be provided to manage the case where mor e than one aircr aft is broadcasting ADS-B data on the same 24 bit code. The full range of TAAATS safety alerts w ill be provided such as short term conflict alert, mi nim um safe altitude warning, dange r area infringement warning , cleared level adherence warning, route adherence warning , missed position repo rt alerting and so on. TAAATS wi ll automatica lly monito r an ADS-B site monitor to provide on-line system end-to-end system integr ity checks . The site monito r also include s a GPS navigato r and he nce, w ill provide a degree of integrity check ing on the GPS signals at the receiver site. Trial airspace and op eration al aspects The airspace for the trial is the Burnett Basin near Bundaberg Queensland. It contains a number of regional airports including Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Maryborough. It is serviced by reg ional airlines using Dash 8, Shorts 360 and Bandierante aircraft. The Royal Flying Docto r also operates in the region usin g a Beechc raft B200 . The area has radar coverag e "o ve r the top" above 12 ,000 feet . Today , without lower lev el

17


ADS aircraft. Airbus plans to make ADS-8 extended squitter output a standard feature on all A320 / 330/340 series aircraft from 2003. Both Honeywell and ACSS have avion ics available today and Rockwell Collins will have products available shortly. Some manufacturers of General aviation Mode A / C transponders are interested in manufacturing Mode A / C transponders with the addition of ADS-B out capability . These developments suggest widespread use of "ADS-Bout" for ATC surve illance may soon be practicable .

surve illance coverage there are operational limitations such as Delays and difficulties in the issuing of airways clearances until radar detection of aircraft is achieved. Restrictions to the vertical climb profile of op erator s leaving Bundab erg and Hervey Bay until position is determined by radar . Delays in allocating an arrival time and position into the landing sequence in Brisbane until aircraft are positively id entified on radar . The use of procedura l separation standards (time or distance) between aircraft outside radar coverage. The inability to observe aircraft before entry into con trolled airspace requires considerable buffers and sometimes leads to the late detection of future separation problems. Many of these limitations are expected to be removed or redu ced in impact if

surveillance can be provided at lower flight levels in this region. Significant safety benefits will also result. Above 12,000' some aircraft will be within both radar and ADS-B coverage. This will allow data collection and confidence building prior to operational use. During the trial it is envisaged that the ADS-B equipment will be "invisible" to the pilot . It is expected that the avionics will simply broadcast position and integrity data . No cockpit displays will be provided . However, the air traffic controller will be able to provide clearances earlier, reduce holding and provide additional safety alert capabilities . Avionics Developments SSR transponder manufacturers are starting to incorporate extended squitter capabilities as standard making ADS_B output relatively simple if a suitable navigation system is installed on the

Radar

Tracks

,·~· ,. ..'

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I'

)',f

'

C ,I 4•1, II•

ADS- C tracks

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With safety net alerts Allow ADS-B track on/off by ATC No degradation of independent surveill ance

1 Ill ...

;,

nlff ',.,.,

- -

18

Avionics kits are expected to be installed in aircraft at the end of 2003 following TSO certification of the Honeywell avionics .

........... a ., Ill~ tl•

Flight Plan tracks

Project Progress In late May 2002, the ADS-B ground station was installed and started delivering ADS-B data to the Brisbane ATC building . Aircraft at an altitude of 10,000 feet have been observed by this ground station at a range exceeding 150 Nm . This occurred less than 7 days after the equipment arrived in the country . Early in June 2002, factory testing of the TAAA TS changes takes place. It is expected that the system will be technically and op erati onally ready to deliver ATC radar like services early in 2003 .

Conclusion The Australian ADS -B pilot operational deployment may pave the way for possible widescale ADS-B deployment across the country . The system is expected to be used operationally to separate aircraft after appropriate ATC procedures are ver ified . The benefits of such deployment will be numerous including impro ve d ATC service to regional Australia, bette r ATC service to Australian airlines, improved safety, diminished search and rescue costs, and increased co-operative surveillance data to defence organisations and reduced costs .

ul M& II•

ADS- B tracks

Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI) Whilst there is considerable value in the display of traffic information to pilots there are additional costs and issues to address which could slow down ADS-8 deployment . Airservices envisages getting aircraft to squitter their position first, and to study air-to-air surveillance as a later activity.

~

-- -

-

Additional details about the ADS -8 trial and TAAATS can be obtained at www .airservices .gov .au

THE CONTROLLER


' J

ADS ADS-B IMPROVES WORKING CONDITIONS FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS NUP II Project The datalink technology used in ADS -B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast) will provide air traffic controllers with better working conditions . Using ADS-B provides air traffic controllers with continuous access to air traffic information every second ofduring the flight. "No doubt that ADS-B will reduce the work load of the air traffic controllers, but the system will need time to attain the same level of confidence that controllers have in the radar," predicts S0ren Peter Rasmussen, Head of Procedure, Copenhagen Information (COIF) at NAVIAIR, the Danish Air Navigation Services.

controllers , personnel especially trained to provide FIS, includ ing FIS by means of radar , and who are holding an air traffic controller licence limited to practising FIS.

"ADS-B w ill enable us to have an updated general view of the helicopter traffic situation second by second t hereby giving the pilots the most precise informat ion

Since 1995, NAVIAIR has been a part of the NUP project , formerly the NEAN project . NUP is an abbreviation of the North European ADS-B Network Update Programme . In 2001 , the programme entered Phase II validation and pre -op erational introduction . One of the first operational domains introducing th e ADS-B in Europe will be the helicopte r offshore operat ion in the North Sea. Today helicopters, going back and forth to the production platforms and drilling rigs, are flying too low to be fully detected by rad ar. In this case ADS-B will be a majo r progress . " Especially in areas where we cann ot see th e hel icopters on the radar, ADS B will be a great help. In stead of waiting for voice communication, we w ill be abl e t o get information about the helicopte rs' position whenever we feel the need fo r it and without disturbing the pilot, " says S0ren Peter Rasmussen from Cop enhagen Informa t ion .

Partners: One of the cornersto nes in NUP Phase I was the collaborati ve appro· ach that involved part ners from industry, airlines, ATC and airports . NUP Phase II will continue to foll ow this path . The cohesion betw een the partners is the safety work, which is necessary for the end-to-end valld a· tio n of the app licatio ns and supp er· ting technica l platform . Partners in NUP Phase II are geographically widespread · from Iceland In the no rth to France in the south - and represent a wide spectrum of air· space users, traffic types and densi· tie s.

Objective:

Cope nhagen Info rmation is responsibl e fo r the Flight Info rmatio n Serv ice (FIS) t o th e off -shore helicopt er t raffi c in the Danish part of th e North Sea. The helicopter pilo t s are serv iced by so called info rmation

THE CONTROLLER

..The NUP Phase II programme shall establi sh a European ADS-B network based o n global standards supper· tin g certified application s and equ· ipment i n synergy with the European ATM concepts providing benerits to ATM stakeholders"

The netwo rk i ncludes both air and ground com ponents i n vario us fo rms, includi ng integrat ion into ATC syste ms and aircraft architecture.

Deliverables: The mai n deliverables from the NUP Phase II programme will be the defi · nitlo n and valid ation of a number of ADS·B based applicatio ns, used in all phases of flig ht. This valid ation w ill includ e the support ing technical systems used o nboard aircraft and helicopters as well as on the ground. Moreover, safety and certificatio n analyses and cost-b enefit assessment material wil l be made available to aid European decision makers towards implementat ion. When the programme is completed an extensive vali datio n lnfrastruct u· re wi ll be available In many places across Europe. This infrastructure will comprise over 30 ADS·B ground stati ons and more tha n 30 ADS·B equipped aircraft and helicopters as well as several types of ATC integra· tions of ADS·B. The NUP Phase II programme is based on the use of the VDL Mode 4 techno logy as the ADS·B enable r. NUP Phase II will provide a major stepping-stone for the introduction of ADS·B Into the European ATM system . From 2003 and onw ards ADS·B ls expected to contrlbut e slg· nlficantly to ATM efficiency (and safety) .

19


.ADS and giving better information will undoubtedlfully improve safety for everybody. That is the most important argument, I think, when we discuss implementation of ADS-B," says Rasmussen, who has worked with air navigation service for more than 20 years.

Rasmussen believes. Before an ATM concept based on ADS-B can be validated and certified, new routines in case of system failure must be developed and proved to be as effective and safe as today's highly standardised safety procedures.

Voice communicationsirreplaceable Even though much information can be transmitted automatically by ADS-B, Rasmussen still believes in the necessity of voice communication between the aircraft and the Flight Information Centre at Copenhagen ACC. "I do not think that ADS-B can replace all voice communications. It will still be necessary, for instance in connection with identification after take off, and most certainly we will use voice communication for non-routine and emergency messages. But during the en-route flight ADS-B can probably minimise voice communication regarding position reports and weather conditions, which actually implies a considerable reduction of the work- load for the pilot as well as for the information controller by providing some of the essential information automatically to both of them," he states. The offshore part of the NUP project will have the first helicopters testing the ADSB based ATM concept in 2003 - or at the latest in the beginning of 2004. For safety reasons the ADS-B information will be only a supplement to normal procedures during the test phase. "We can only accept ADS-B if it turns out to be at least as good as today's radar and voice communication. First of all, this is a matter of safety. As information controllers we will have to be one hundred percent certain of the information we get from the datalink system. The information sent by ADS-B must prove itself to be just as reliable and resilient as radar information - or preferably even better to win our confidence," the experienced controller says. Trusting the ADS-B technology and the presentation to the users can be one of the biggest hurdles for the air traffic controllers to overcome. "Radar has been our most important work tool for about 50 years and every single air traffic controller knows that he can trust the radar. It will take years before controllers will have obtained the same confidence working with ADS-B,"

20

More freedom to pilots Since the NUP project entered Pphase II last year, the Danish consultancy, lntegra Consult A/S, from Odense, Denmark, has been responsible for the project management on behalf of NAVIAIR. One of many activities is searching for the necessary equipment such as aircraft transponders, ground stations and the CDTDls (Cockpit Display of Traffic Informations). All oaf the mentioned equipment is essential in order to make transmission of ADS-B data such as flight informations by satellite VHF possible. One of the elements in the Danish part of the NUP II programme is to equip the helicopters operating on and off the production platforms and drilling rigs in the North Sea with an ADS-B display (CDTDI). Thanks to this cockpit display, the pilots will be able to receive and share data information with the information controllers. This will give the pilot a higher degree of flight disposition freedom and not to forget a much better opportunity af for situational awareness. "Depending on the features chosen, the ADS-B equipment in the cockpit could provide the pilot with the same picture of the air situation as the controller, and he can act on that if a situation occurs. But still, the pilot needs to have his picture confirmed by the information controller because the pilot can only see other aircraft transmitting their position using ADS-B technology. All other aircraft will not figure on the ADS-B display," Rasmussen explains. However, in future the possibility to transmit even radar data to the pilots' CDTDI could be an option. In the beginning of the test phase from 2003, the radar information will have the highest priority and the ADS-B generated information will only be compared with the radar data in order to check the validity and resilience of the ADS-B system.

educated to work safely with the system," Rasmussen assures. If everything turns out well with the North Sea off-shore project and the other projects within the NUP programme, this certification should be realised in 2005, and a complete operational introduction of ADS-B as a new validated and certified ATM concept in Europe can be carried out. By that time there should be more than 30 ground stations and the first 30 ADS-B equipped aircraft and helicopters will be flying all over Europe as a start.

Background The NUP (North European ADS-B Network Update Programme) Phase II follows directly the NUP Phase I and NEAN projects, all of which are sponsored by the EC TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Networks) framework. The NUP project focuses on the development and validation of newnext ATM (Air Traffic Management) concepts based on ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast). It is intended that these projects will lead to certification, safety approval and operational introduction of these concepts.

Technology The NUP II programme is based on the use of the VDL (VHF Data Link) Mode 4 technology as the ADS-B enabler.

Partners The NUP Phase II project includes partners from ten European states. These partners provide a broad base for addressing various aspects of ADS-B and for the development of adequate operational and functional requirements. The NUP II partners are: Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), Lufthansa, Airbus France, Eurocontrol Exp. Center, DFS, NAVIAIR, AustroControl/Tyrolean Airways, BelgoControl, DGAC/STNA, Shetland AirportADS-B Scatsta, Finnish CAA, TERN, NATAM, Swedish CAA and A VTECH.

"For safety reasons of course, we cannot rely on ADS-B as our primary work tool until it has been properly validated and certified and until the different operators (controllers and pilots) have been properly

1 1 I!

CON1fROllER


ATM Ra D Towards a new controller-pilot task distribution to manage aircraft spacing Isabelle Grimaud, Eric Hoffman, Laurence Rognin, Karim Zeghal EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre, BP 15, 91222 Bretigny, France Background

Depending .on the type of flight and class of airspace, the controller is responsible to provide separation in order to prevent collisions (ICAO Annex 11, section 33). In this context, the task distribution between the controller and the flight crew follows a fixed scheme: the controller is in charge of conflict detection, identification of solutions, and implementation through manoeuvring instructions, while the flight crew has to execute these instructions . There is one exception to this task distribution however: the visual separation in which the controller delegates to the flight crew the implementation of a solution with respect to a designated traffic The flight crew can thus be tasked to report when the traffic is passed, or manoeuvre according to it. This procedure aims at optimising the trajectory, but also at alleviating the controller of some of his/her tasks . The procedure requires however flight crew to keep the other traffic insight, which restricts its use to daily operations under full visibility, and for aircraft close to each other. How to overcome this constraint of visual contact? Is it possible to transpose this procedure to situations in which the other traffic would be visible on a display onboard the aircraft? What are the technical means required? What could be the impact on controller and flight crew activity? What would be the benefits and what issues arise? The study introduced here aims at providing initial elements to address these issues . Principles

The key driver of the study presented here is to increase controller availability through a reorganisation of tasks between controller and flight crew. The motivation is neither to "transfer problems" nor to "give more freedom" to flight crew, but really to identify a more effective task distribution beneficial to all parties. It is expected that the increased controller availability could lead to improved safety, which in turn could enable better efficiency and / or, depending on airspace constraint, more capacity. In addition, it is expected that

rHE CO NTRO LLER

flight crew would gain in awareness and anticipation by taking an active part in the management of his/her situation with respect to the concerned aircraft . Starting with the analogy of visual separation, the proposed task distribution relies on the delegation of spacing tasks in which the flight deck is tasked to implement a solution defined by the controller. Restricting the delegation to implementation tasks (as opposed to decision making tasks) is expected to preserve controller authority and understanding of the situation ("mental picture"). The delegation of spacing is at controller initiative , who can decide to end it at any time. The flight crew however can only abort it in case of problem onboard such as a technical failure. The delegation applies to pairwise situations: one aircraft is "delegated", the other being "target" . In terms of responsibility, as opposed to visual separation which implies a transfer of separation responsibility, the delegation of spacing can be seen as the use of a new instruction [3]. Thus, the controller is responsible to issue the appropriate instruction to guarantee the spacing (and the separation), and the flight crew is responsible to follow it . The full responsibility issue (as discussed in [8]) goes beyond the scope of the study and would eventually be addressed at a regulatory level. A first formal framework for delegation was proposed in 1995 at the ICAO/ SICASP [9] . Within ICAO, work is continuing as shown in [1 ][10][11 ]. Recently, the ATM Concept Panel during its first meeting also provided a new perspective on the notion of separation provision [2]. Both IFATCA and IFALPA have issued position statements on this concept [4][5]. Illustration

Similarly to visual separation, two classes of operation are envisaged: crossing for enroute airspace, and sequencing for terminal areas. For illustration purposes , let us consider the situation of two arrival aircraft converging to a point , then following the

same route to the airport . Today, the controller must ensure that the spacing is maintained, and therefore has to continuously monitor the situation and if necessary issue heading and / or speed instructions. With delegation , the maintaining of the spacing (distance or time) through speed adjustments is transferred to the flight deck (Example 1 and Figure 1 ). However , applicabili ty conditions of the delegation shall be respected . In this example, prio r to delegating , the controller must ensure that aircraft speeds are compatible , and the spacing at the converging point is not lowe r than the desired spacing. Whereas the "land after" clearance can generally be given in final approach only (visual contac t/ traffic insight required) , the delegation of spacing can start ea rlie r, typically before descending, and whatever the meteorological conditions, thanks to the display of the target aircraft on boa rd . Seq uencing of converging aircraft: XYZ, select target 1234.

Selecting target 1234 , XYZ . The designation of the target aircraft is done through a unique identifier (here the mode A code) . After selection and iden t ification on the screen, the pilot replies: XYZ, target 1234 ident ified . The controller can then issue the del eg ation instruction: XYZ, behind target , merge to WPT to be 8 miles behind.

Merg ing to WPT to be 8 miles behind target, XYZ . The pilot has to adjust his/ her spee d to maintain the spacing at the converging point and after the point. The delegation will be ended by the controller when appropriate: XYZ, cancel delegation, 220 knots .

reduce speed

Cance lling delegation , reducing spee d 220 knots , XYZ. Example 1. A typ ical exchange between

controller (left) and p ilot (right) .

21


ATMR et D heading instructions), and to relieve the controller of maintaining these sequences (reduction of speed instructions by 60 %) (Figure 3 and 4). An ove rall reduction of 15

1. Converging situation. The delegated aircraft has to adjus t its speed to maintain the spacing with the target aircraft at the converging point . Fig ure

Figure 2. Navigation display with the

Tec hnic al mea ns The delegation of spacing requires the d ispl ay of the ta rget aircraft onboard the de legated aircraft . The Automatic Dependant Surveillance - Broadcast (ADSB) [ 6] is a surveillance mean in a preope rati onal state in which equipped aircraft tra nsm it spontaneously their position and veloci ty (and eventually the ir trajectory) . Th e Traffic Information Servic e - Broadcast (TI S-B) is an additional mean to be used when som e aircraft are not ADS-B eq uipped: position and velocity are tra ns mi tted v ia a g round station to equ ipp ed air craft . Th e tr aff ic d ata recei ve d through A DS-B or TIS-B is displayed on a scree n in t he coc kpit . This capability is den oted Co ck pi t Display of Traffic Informati on (CDTI ) [ 7]. In addition to the d isplay of t he t arge t aircr aft, assistance to mainta in spac i ng is requi red , typ ically throug h gra phi cal cu es (Figure 2) . This capab ilit y is usua lly denoted Airborne Separat ion Ass ista nc e Sy st em1 (ASAS) . Desp ite th e simil arity between t erms, it should be noted t hat ASAS is completely d ist in ct fro m the colli sio n avoidanc e system ACAS / T CA S w hich is a last resort syste m. On t he cont ro ller sid e, t he onl y mod if icat ion requ ire d t o t he cu rr ent work ing env iron ment is t he kno w ledg e of A SAS equi pages , fo r exa mp le throu g h a fie ld of the fli ght p lan . In add ition , grap hic al "mark in g" ca pabil ities on t he contro ller scree n would be usef ul as a rem inder of on-g oing de legat ions as w ell as a support of co- or d inat io n w hen transferr ing de legat ions to next sect or. Experim ental results In t he scope of assessing t he acce ptan ce from contro llers and measuring the impact on t heir act iv ity, four hu man -i n-t he-loo p experime nts were carried out (June 1999, June 2000 , November 2000 and December

22

representation of the target aircraft (same converging situation as in Figure 1). The target aircraft is represented by the white chevron . The merging configuration is highlighted by a double dashed line linking target and delegated (own-ship) via the converging point. The arc of circle in magenta indicates the required position, and the symbol represents the position on the trajectory where the spacing will be acquired. In order to limit the clutter of the screen and also to avoid request from pilots, it is suggested to display only the target aircraft. 2001 ). A total of 23 controllers from different European countries part icipated over a total dur ation of 9 weeks2 . For the last simulation , the airspace comprised four en-route sectors from Paris ACC handling south-east arrivals to Orly (LFPO) and Cha rles-De-Gaulle (LFPG) airports and the two associated initial approach sectors . The traffic simulated was derived from a real traffic . Two levels of traffic were simul ated : med ium and high with respectively 27 and 31 arrivals per hour, plu s ove r-flying traffic . To allow for compa r ison, each exerc ise was played twice : with and without delegat ion. The feedback from the controllers3 was positive : the delegation is perceived as useful and potentially lead ing to more anticipati o n and t o an overall workload reduction. To assess the impact of delegation of sequencin g operations on the control activ ity, a "g eogr aphical based " analysis of in st ructions was performed. It consisted in mappin g th e manoeuvring instructions over t he considered area, and mo re specificall y in analysing their distribution as a f unct ion of their distanc e to th e exit point (Ini t ial Approach Fix) . The results suggest t hat d eleg at ion leads to anticipate the buildin g of t he sequen ces (earli er use of

a

Figure 3. Distribution of instructions as a function of distance to IAF. Without delegation (left) and with delegation (right), medium traffic, LFPG south-east arrivals. manoeuvring instructions also observed.

(about 26 %) was

To have more insight into the impact on the monitoring activity, a similar geographical mapping of eye fixations was performed4 . In medium traffic , the global monitoring was similar without and with delegation : more fi x ations occurred around the converging point (located approximately at 120Nm from ex it point) . In high traffic, curves are opposite : with delegation , most of the fixations are concentrated over the converging point , while without delegation, they are concentrated after, near the exi t point. This suggests that with delegation in high traffic , controllers can still concentrate where the sequences need to be built, whereas without delegation, the building of sequenc es could not be anticip ated . Controlle rs were thus more in a reactive position . To summarise , with delegation, the reduction of time spent actively monitorin g the sequence maintaining (from 100Nm to transfer) seems to increase controller availability . One question ar ises : is the reduced monitoring not detrimental to safety? In other w ords, are th e del egated aircra ft st ill monito red?5 As an attemp t to answe r this

hie

CONTROLLER


ATM Ra D 25

Info rmation , DO- 24 3 , 1998 . Schub ert, F., "Pilot s or Contr ollers: W ho' s Liable in th e Free Flight Env ironment ", www .aviationtoda y. com/ repo rts/ av ionic s/ pr evi ou s/ 0202 / 0202I egal . htm . SICASP/ WG2 / WP4 89 - Airb orn e Sepa rat io n Assi stance System - The A SA S Concep t , Sy dney , M arch 1995 . SICASP6/ WP44 - Report on Age nd a Ite m 6 The ASAS Concept, Febru ary 199 7. SICASP7/ WP27 - Report on A gend a Item 6 App endi x A - ASA S Circular , Septemb er 200 0. Biog raphie s of author s Isabelle Grimaud has been wo rking fo r t he past 25 yea rs as an air traffic controlle r at A ix / Mar seille ACC. She t ook part in th e design and evaluat ion pha se of new cont roller wor king posit ions and tools, and now is invo lved in the d efinition and evaluat ion of th e delega t ion concept .

•, • Figure 4. Distribution of instructions as function of distance to IAF . Withou delegation (left) and with delegatio (right), high traffic, LFPG south-eas arrivals. question, monitoring

a "contextual " analysis of has been performed. It consists

in analysing the frequency of the monitoring of each aircraft, i.e. the interval between two consecutive fixations on a same aircraft . Initial results suggest that the frequency remains similar with or without delegation.

A first insight into the impact of delegation on the controller activity has been obtained though human-in-the-loop simulations, suggesting potential benefits . However some issues remain : what is the capability of the controller to detec t and m anag ed degraded situations with delegated aircraft? To which type of airspace the delegation could apply? In particular , could delegation be applied in approach? Beyond the controller perspective, what is the impact on the flight dec k activity , and what lev e l of assistance is needed onboard? In order to progressiv e ly address these questions, additional human - in -the-loop ex periments are planned on b oth controlle r and pilot sides .

Acknowledgements would

lik e to

re cognis e h er e t he

con t rollers and p ilots, eithe r seco nd ed by th e ir re spective or g anis ations , or o n t he ir own

years to discuss with us and to tak e part in our ex perim e nt s, allowin g us to gr adual ly build an understandin g of how limited delegation of separation tasks may be used to improve the ATM sys t em . Their willingness to make progress, their patience and their constructive criticisms were and are very much appreciated .

References

Conclusion

We

Figure 5. Distribution of fix ation duration as a function of distance to IAF , medium traffic (left) and high traffic (right).

t ime, t h at have

1HF CONTROLLER

accepted

over

t he

ADSP5 / WP61 - Report on Agenda Item 4 Appendi x B - Information relevant to th e use of a system t o incr ease tr affic situati onal awareness and prov id e airb orn e separati on assura nce, Octob er 1999 . ATMCP / 1-WP/ 30, Report on Age nda it em 2, Ap pendi x A , ATM Operationa l Concept Document, Octob er 2002 . EUROCONTROL / FAA coop erati ve R& D , "Principl es of operati ons for th e use of airbo rne separation assuranc e syst ems", Editi on 7 .1, 2001 . IFALPA, " The respon sibil ity for separati on", Press release, 3rd Nove mber 200 0, www .ifalpa .or g/ Press%20Release/ 01 PRL007_S eparat ion_Nov00 .pdf IFA TCA , "Tr ansf er of Cont ro l Funct ions to t he Cockpit", Press release, 16t h Octo ber 2001 , www .ifatca.org / press/ 161001 .htm . RTCA SC-186, Min imum Av iation System Per for mance Standa rd s for A uto mat ic Depende nt Surve ill ance Broadc ast (A DS-B) , DO-242. RTCA SC- 186 , Guida nce for Init ial Implementat ion of Cockp it Disp lay of Traffic

Eric Hoffm an lea ds, at t he Eurocon t rol Ex perim ental Cent re , th e A ir Grou nd Integra t ion project structur e investi gat ing in parti cular t he conc ept s and benefi ts of A SAS applic ations in th e cont ext of sev eral collaborat iv e European proj ects. Laurence Rog nin is a hum an fact ors specialist (second ed from Pacte Novat ion). She is inv olved in the evaluation of th e imp act of ASAS appl ication s on pilot and contro ller act iv ity. Karim Zeghal is involved in t he defin itio n of the delegation concepts and leads t he human-in-the loo p experiments on ASAS app licat ion s, w it h bot h cont roller and pilot pers pective s.

Not es 1 This te rm was introduced in 1995 [9 ] at a t ime where the dist inct ion bet w een separation and spaci ng was not ident if ied. 2 Three fl ight deck ex periments were also con ducte d (June 1999 , Novemb er 2000 and M ay 2002 ). A tota l of 15 airline and test pi lots part icipated over a t ot al duration of 10 days. 3 Som e w ords about t he pi lot fee dback : despit e a new t ask in t he cockp it w hich (requi res appr opriate assistance to contain wo rkloadwith po ssib le wo rkload increased if not enou gh assistance/ auto mation). pilot s st ress the posit ive aspects of getting in t he loop, und ersta ndi ng t heir situat ion w ith respect to t he target (t hro ugh goal-oriented instr uct ions), and gaining more ant icipat ion. 4 Th is was obtained t hro ugh the use of eyetra cker device s, w hich allow to record the eye-gaze posit ion on t he screen and the durat ion of each fi xation. 5 It shou ld be reminded that the contro ller is sti ll responsib le for separation prov ision.

23


ATCHistory 1911-2001 - NINETY YEARS OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL REGULATION IN FRANCE Daniel Casanova Aviati on was born wi th the twentieth century. But then came accidents (the fir st in-flight collision on 8 September 1910 in Vienna, and so on) and so the French administration published its first law regula t ing air traffic on 21 November 1911. On 24 October, 1913 a new law was enacted prohibiting zones of flight . These first administrative acts led to the birth of a new administration : The Civil Aviation Authority, called in French DNA.

with his assistants in each airport) delivered information regarding approach and landing . The radio operators transmitted these instructions in Morse, or more rarely, by phone due to the many different languages in Europe . The Q Code, created in 1920, came into use and was made obligatory in 1926. For our younger readers, the 'Q' code was a succession of three letters commencing with 'Q ' transmitted quickly in Morse .

THE BIRTH OF A NEW ADMINISTRATION The First World War greatly accelerated the development of aviation . By the end of the war there were many ex perienced pilots, and large numbers of aircraft became available so some enterprising businessmen saw an opportunity to launch commercial aviation ventures, for examp le , Lucien Bossoutrot who opened the Paris-London airline on 8 February1919 . These airlines (for airmail and passenger s) became increasingly suc cessf ul and in 1919 the French Gove rnme nt decided that it needed to reg ulat e this air traffic. On 6 June the "Organ isation Generale de l'Aeronautique (O GA)" was created, to manage both civil and military aeronautical organisation (Fra nce officially created an independent Air Force in 1933). Th e OGA included severa l servi ces : The STS (Serv ice of Telecomm unications and Systems) responsible for te lecommunication s' development The SPA (Service of the Airports) in charge of t he management and deve lopm ent of aerodromes The SNA (Service de la Navigation Aerienne) established on 17 September 1919, was in charge of air transport. It's too ear ly to speak about 'control' but we can speak about t he id ea. The SNA operated w it h two groups of peop le: "commandants d'aerodromes" (the f irst ATCOs) and radio operators. After t he First World War , the ATCOs, mainly former wart im e flying personnel , prov ided air traff ic contro l w ith the help of rad io operators. The A TC O (a d irect or

24

Each 3 letters had a specific meaning which the pilot would understand in his own language . Several 'Q' codes are, of course, still in use today for example QNH and QFE. Others that have now almost disappeared included : QFU: runway in use QGP: approach number QBG : I am above the clouds QAA: Expected time of arrival In 1921 , there were just 17 ATCOs and 67 radio operators. Assistant controllers were first appointed in 1922. The Assistants were equipped with binoculars to manage ground traffic. While on the ground aircraft displayed two flags , one to indicate t he company, the second to denote the call sign. The assistant controller's job was to provide safety on the ground. There were 16 assistant controllers in 1924 .

GROUND RADIO STATIONS Follo w ing WWI, there were only two radio stat ions : Le Bourget and Saint lnglevert .

This number increased quickly as other stations made their appearance in France (Lyon, Bordeaux, Nimes etc .) . The ATCOs, installed in towers, controlled air traffic. Their role was to provide information to pilots and to send messages (departures and arrivals) . They had to provide safety on the aerodrome. However, the level of air traffic was not very significant and only ten percent of aircraft were equipped with radiotelephony . 1 On 1 May 1926, the radio station at Le Bourget was equipped with a radiogoniometer (VDF) . Other stations followed suit . The operators could then compute aircraft positions and provide QDM to help pilots . The aircraft modulated its company's call sign for a few seconds, during which the control station and the auxiliary stations - operated . Each station received three vectors and the operator then plotted these vectors onto the map to obtain the air_craft¡s position . With radiotelephony the ATCO and the operators spoke only in French. Foreign governments or airlines could supply their own operators but, of course, Morse code ~as the solution recommended by the international community. The first en route control centres were set up in May 1935. The ATCOs provided ?nly traffic and meteorological information. French territory was divided into 10 districts (Le Bourget, Strasbourg, Tours, Dijon, Biarritz, Lyon, Toulouse, Marseille, Bastia and Ajaccio). An approach area of 30 km around some aerodromes completed th e system. So the SNA prov ided 'control ' services all the flights. The stations knew the movements and the position s for all aircraft , so the ATCOs could anticipate aircraft in pro x imity to one another It was the birth of the flight information service.

THF CONTROLLER


When aircraft arrived overhead the aerodrome , t he pilot called the ATCO via the radio operators . The aircraft would fly outbound for 3 minutes and the ATCO chose the appropriate standard arrival route and cleared in bounds for descent and landing. He also determ ined the QGP (order to land) . This manoeuvre was followed on the ground by radio-goniometry (DF). Within the approach area, the ATCO determined the type of 'STAR' or fog procedure according to the weather . On the 'STAR' the ATCO gave the track and the level. On the fog procedure there was only one

geographical reference marks such as rivers and railways . On 7 January 1922 the first in-flight collision over the French territory (at Beauvais) occurred between a DH18 and a Farman Goliath, accounting for 7 deaths. On 15 December 1924, because of the Beauvais crash, the SNA decided to create two different air-routes between Paris and London, one in each direction, to reduce the risk of head-on collision. The SNA began the construction of aeronautical guidance lights along the airroutes on 2 February 1924 . The

Datalink & Voice Forairports of all sizes

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aircraft at a time . THE DISPATCHING (FLIGHT PLANNING)

In 1938 , LE BOURGET airport was one of the most important airports in Europe along with London Croydon and Berlin Tempelhof. The SNA built a control tower and opened a control room (similar to that used on the railways). On a chart, the ATCO would draw the aircraft's route between, say, Paris and London, outward and return. Along this routing th e ATCO would write the estimated time at each mandatory point . When two such lines crossed at about the same time, the ATCO would ad vise pilots before departure and suggest a level change or a rerouting. This chart comprised a general plot showing the situation of all flights and a cop y wa s given to each pilot before departure . The air-routes followed

fHE CONTROLLER

air-routes were marked out with luminous guidance lights powered by electricity or acetylene . They were lit on request 30 min after sunset and had a range of 25 km. SNA was using both radio and light beacons . In 1932, th e guidance lights covered the whole of French territory. That same year, the radio electric beacon programme began . AERODROMES

Except for Le Bourget which had a hard runway, the aerodromes were only flat, open ground with the windsock indicating to the pilot the preferential landing direction . Every year some French cities would build a ne w aerodrome or seaplane base . THE BIRTH OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

The Second World War saw the re al birth of modern air traffic control due to the many ne w

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TermaA/S Air TrafficManagement Tel +45 87436000 Fax +45 48105550 atm-sales@terma.com www.terma.com/atm

25


ATCHistory ~

inventions developed during the war . The British, during the Battle of Britain, provided the foundations of the system by guiding the allied squadrons towards the German bombers with radar. The RAF installed control towers to manage the aerodrome traffic of Bomber Command . Soon after the war, air traffic control specialist managers defined and separated t he ACC and Tower functions. During the war, the allies had considered the future and provided the foundations of ICAO , at the Chi cago Confe rence. Air navigation made extraordinary progress dur ing the war year s w ith the development of HF, MF, VHF, UHF , Consol, Loran, Gee and Decca . For ATC , radar was the most imp ortant tool. A new application of radar was developed - that of providing approaches with the GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) . This system was based on two radars SRE (Surveillance Radar Equipment Radar) and PAR (Pr ecision Approach Radar).

each with its own Area Control Centres . The French Air Force established radar centres to cover the whole of France. VHF was adopted to communicate in radiotelephony so ATCOs could speak directly with aircrew . A large number of radio operators joined the ENAC in order to get a controller's licence . ATCOs were provided with new tools, viz .; Plotting : The controller wrote the flight data on a magnetic label. Then , using a stick, he moved the labels on a chart to represent his planes on the airway,. The

would be used as the basis for air traffic control.

The DNA modernisesATC: radio-navigationequipment - in 1950 the DNA launched a massive re-equipment programme . The programme to augment VOR with DME was implemented in 1957 . In 1957 there were just 4 VORs, increasing to 12 in 1959, with 51VORs and 27 VOR/DME by 1983. The DNA also introduced ILS and VOR approaches. In 1965 the Decca chain was closed down. Radar: On 16 December 1954 the DNA

POST WAR IN FRANCE In France the accumulated delays were considerable . After Liberation, in 1944, the Americans installed a SRE in Orly and another in lstres, the British built a w ooden tower at Toulouse-Blagnac and Allied bases were established in France . Colonel Albert Ropert , who was trained in Engla nd , reactivated civil aviation in France . Eventually he became SecretaryGeneral of ICAO. The French authorities recruited large numbers of personnel, often of military origin - co ntrollers, machine gunners or navigat ors who had trained in the United States or Great Brita in, during the war . So, by 1945 , about fifty ATCOs and 70 radio operators were emp loye d and the DNA (new name of Fre nch CAA) was esta bl ished on 18 December 1946 . The DNA created an ATCO licence and opened a sch ool for controllers in Le Bourget. Before 1948, there was no co-ordination between t he various professions concerned with t he development of air safety. On 28 August 1948 t he DNA opened ENAC (National School of the Civil Av iation ). This school provided training for all avi ation personnel : aircrew, contro ller s, airl in e dispatchers, maintenance staff etc ... At the end of t hei r course , the controllers had to tra nsfe r to an ACC (Paris, Bordeaux and A ix en Provence) or an approach un it on an aerodrome.

WORKING M ETHODS In 1949 t he re were three FIRs in France

26

charts were set on a table or fixed to a wall. The label showed the call sign and the level and an arrow indicated the direction. The arrow length was a sort of speed vector to indicate the future position after 15 minutes . The controller detected conflicts and orde red level or route changes . Flight ProgressStrips: American controllers introduced the flight progress strip to France in 1945 . The information on these strips was analysed by the controller on the sector to detect conflicts . This method of control was called 'procedural' and was used in French ACC in the years immediately after WWII, but from 1957 onwards all Area Control Centres used radar control.

MODERNIZATION With the intro duction of jets such as the Comet on 2 May 1952, plotting became completely obsolete and was finally removed in 1954. Radar control became t he principle tool of ACCs, and computers

established its first civil radar at Orly. It was used simultaneously to provide approach and en route control. Initially radar was used to complement procedural control. From the 1960s the DNA adopted radar control procedures due to the increasing traffic - 750 flights per day in 1952, 900in1960, 2000in 1974, 5000in 1985, more than 9000 in 2001 . Spacing:with procedural control the spacing was 10 minutes (about 45 nm), with primary radar this was reduced to 20 nm, with secondary radar to 10 nm (1962) and with computer support to just 5 nm. Computers: On 28August 1959 the Ministry established CENA . This research centre, in collaboration with ATC, launched the CAUTRA programme (Coordinateur Automatique du Trafic Aerien) . CAUTRA 1 (1961-1965) automatically printed strips and recorded the data on punch cards. CAUTRA 2 (1966 -1972) improved the automatic link between French ACCs with the introduction of radar processing . CAUTRA

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C 3 (1973-1985) incorporated the new ACC (Brest) and improved the correlation between flight plans and the radar processor. The computer automated the co-ordination between sectors. Radar labels were provided with an alerting function. CAUTRA 4 (1985-2001) incorporated a fifth ACC (Reims) and improved workstations. Since 1999 a new position called ODS (Operational Display System) has been introduced into ACCs. Radar screens are in colour and incorporate automatic functions . CAUTRA 5 (2001) began the implementation of new tools to assist ATCOs.

So far as Approach Control is concerned, the installation of radar was limited initially to the main airports - Roissy, Orly, Lyon, Nice , Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and Basel. After 1984 the concept of central approach units, which managed smaller satel lite airports , was introduced. Approach Control at the satellite airports received their radar picture from the main approach . Today radar covers practically the whole country. Moreover approach control units are equipped with information processing systems for flight management.

In 1911 the French regulations started with a decree of 2 pages - today they comprise three books! But these boo ks closely follow the !CAO anne x es!

PICTURES N1: ENAC in Orly circa 1960 N2: Orly ACC Circa 1953 N3 : First radar simulator in ENAC circa 1965

Everyone reads The Controller

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l CAOWorks~_o_p _____

_

1 st ICAO Threat Response and Error Management (TREM) Workshop Bert Ruitenberg.

IFATCA Human Factors Specialist

San Salvador, El Salvado r , 30 A pri l - 1 M ay 2002 Background The w orkshop w as originally intended as a reg ional ev en t fo r Central and Latin Am erica, but it t urned out to be far more gl obal t han tha t. Among the 60 participants w ere people fr om as far away as China . M ost part icip ants were directly related to airli ne fl ig ht oper ations and / or training , but sin ce ICAO ant icipates that the TREM ph ilosoph y will be ex ported to other domai ns as w ell (e .g . ATC), IFATCA was specifi cally invited to attend the workshop too. Obj ectives

The objec t ives fo r the w orkshop were : to pr esent the state-of -the-art TREM kn ow ledge ; to fa ci litate in-hous e de velopment of TREM progra mmes fo r particip atin g airlines ; and t o tr ain th e t raine rs . It was exp lained at the beg inn ing of the w o rk sho p t hat t he TREM pro g rammes pres ente d here by selecte d ai rlines are still evo lv ing program mes. The y should not be interpreted as re cip es or pro v en t echniq ues.

skills - th e industry was trying to "fi x the wrong stuff" in their personnel. After that came a 2 nd CRM generation in which the focus was on teambuilding . The approach was rather modular and centred around concepts like Situational Awareness and Stress Management.

Berl Ruitenberg

IFATCA

"TREM" W,ORKSHOP El Salvador Apri l 30-May 1, 2002 G R U PO

TACA

Prof. Robert Helmr eich

First speaker was Prof. Robert Helmreich fr om the Un ive rsit y of Texas , USA. Prof . He lm reich has a hu ge reputation as the "father of Crew Resou rce M anagement (CRM)" and is also t he scient ifi c heart of the Line O per ation al Safety Audit (LOSA) programmes t hat airlin es are cu r rentl y starti ng to im pl ement. In LOSA specific ally t rained observers make jump seat ri des on no r ma l passenger fli g hts , durin g w hi ch t hey record (o n a speci ally desig ned set of forms) the way t he crew handl es th e eve ryday occ urre nces du rin g t hose fl ig ht s. Object ive of LOSA is to allo w org an isati ons (airlines) to learn fr om no rmal, successf ul o pe rat ion s rat her t han from abno r ma l fa ilures that lead to in cid ents or acci de nts. Prof . He lmre ich explained how T REM has nat urally evo lve d fr om ear li er CRM "ge ner ations" after incorpo rating specif ic LO SA f ind ing s. Wh en CRM w as f irst ap p li ed (t he acronym t hen stood fo r Cockp it Resource Manage ment) its focus was on individua l st y le and inte rpe rsona l

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The 3 rd generation brought a systems approach in which specific sk ills and behaviours were integrated with technical perfo r mance . The perspecti v e was broa dening and the first attempts were made to evaluate Human Factors skills in persons . Next came a CRM generation in w hich training objectives were guided by pe rf orm ance data that fo r example was obtain ed through Ad vance Qualific ation Prog ramme s (AQP) or rout ine Flight Data Reco rder analysis . CRM bec ame integrated in techn ical tr ainin g, and CRM here also be came proc edura lised (e.g . in checklists) . By thi s tim e a number of problems w ith CRM had become evident. CRM was not accept ed by all peopl e w ho wer e subj ecte d to t he tra ining . Th e pu rpo se of CRM was no t alw ays unde rsto od - some pilots t hought CRM was meant to "help crews get alo ng be tter". Furthe r mor e CRM was lacking a uni ver sal rat ionale t hat wo uld be

applicable t o ev ery culture and / or organisation . Last but not least, it was noted that individuals needed regular training in CRM skills and techniques in order to avoid slippage over time . Meanwhile a sth generation of CRM had emerged that focused on managing human error . Incident and accident analysis data was being used to tr ain people in coping with limitations of human performance . The 6th generation we now see (TREM) has a focus on CRM as a set of countermeasures against threat and error . The approach is twofold : reduction of threats and errors, and error management. TREM addresses various aspects of what scientists call "professional culture": the strong motivation in individuals to do well, and pride in their profession (positive aspects), the fact that training stresses the need fo r perfection , and the sense of personal invuln erab ility (negative aspects) . Specific LOSA findings that were taken into account when developing TREM are : under high threat or in comple x situations crew performance is better when the First Off icer is the Pilot flying and the Captain is managing the situation; the largest source of crew error is in the interaction with automated systems; 36 % of th e t hreats and 40 % of the errors occur in the descent / approach / landing ph ase. The workshop continued with present ations from three airlines who are pioneering TREM programmes in their organisat ions . Airline presentations

First speaker was Captain Robert Sumwalt of US A irways, who compared TREM to building a wall to keep threats out . In US Airways threats are defined as th ings th at increase the operational comple xity, and if not handl ed correctly can dec rease the safety margins . Capt . Sumwalt ex plai ned how crews are trained to mentally put up "red fl ags" or wa rni ng sign s w hene ver th reats appear . US Airways have developed the acro nym ABCD'SS to help thei r crews remember the following item s: A cknowled ge w e' re accid ent pro ne Barr iers - max imis e'

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lCAOWorkshop Communicate threats and intentions Distractions and interruptions - manage them! Identify the interruption Ask - what was I doing before? Decide - what action to get back on track? Standard Operating Procedures - Follow! Sensible - Is what you're doing sensible?

One final item that was highlighted from the US Air programme is aiming at enhancing pilot monitoring skills . To that end the airline in its documentation even has re-named the Pilot-Not-Flying (PNF) as the Pilot Monitoring, thus describing what this pilot does rather than what he doesn't do . Next came Captain Don Gunther of Continental Airlines . The TREM philosophy of his company is built on the concepts of "resist and resolve". Resist consists of the hardware and software that exists before the human (i.e. the pilot) enters the equation, and Resolve is what the human adds to the system. One specific target of the Continental programme was to reduce the number of

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unstabilised approaches flown. Results show that over the last 3 years some 60,000 fewer unstabilised approaches were made, so in that respect the programme can be called successful. Last speaker was Capt. Mike Bambola of Air Canada Jazz (formerly known as Air

Canada Regional). His airline uses the phrase "hazard" to describe any threat to the safe operation of a flight that originates outside the cockpit. The Air Canada Jazz programme distinguishes between Expected Hazards (i.e. the ones you have prior knowledge of, like the weather), Unexpected Hazards (i.e. unknown things that suddenly pop up), Outside Errors (e .g. ATC) and Latent Hazards. Air Canada Jazz furthermore categorises errors as Communication Error, Proficiency Error, Execution Error (e .g. of procedures) and Risk Error. (I probably would prefer to label the latter category as Judgement Error .) All these hazard types and error categories are integrated in a rather comple x model

that is used by Air Canada Jazz to analyse events and develop countermeasures. In the future the model may be used as a possible framework for CRM skill evaluation , in which the evaluation is based on the application of skills rather than on the outcome of a simulator exercise .

Discussion The workshop ended with an open discussion during which many questions were asked from the audience to the presente rs. Seve ral cultural differences between North and Latin America were discussed since many of the participants seemed to feel that these cou ld pose a challenge to the implementation of TREM programmes in the ir respect ive airlines. In the discussion I was inv ited to give my view on whether TREM cou ld be applied in ATC. My opinion is that this certain ly w ill be possible, but not in a way whe re existing airline programmes can be simply exported to ATC. I th ink that there are a number of fundamen tal diffe rences between our re spe ctive jobs that will necessitate a thorough adaptation , or perhaps even a

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e

xecutive Board Members

Executive Vice - President EUROPE Nicolas Y. Lyrakides

Nicola s is 42 year s old and was born in Nicosia , Cyprus. He has been a controller for almost 16 years , currently working as an Area Radar Controller in Nicosia ACC. He has two beautiful children Stephanie (15) and Yiannis (10) . He has attended IFATCA International and Reg io nal European conferences since 1989 , missing only a few thereafter. Since 1998 he was an IFAT CA Rep, representing t he Federation in Air Traffic Flow meetings both at ICAO and EUROCONTROL. He gained a B.Sc. degree in Mechanical Engineering followed by postgraduate studies (M. Sc .) in Air T ra nsport Management and A irp ort Plann ing & Design. Very recently, he has completed an M.B .A degree in Public Sector

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Management after getting a scholarship . He is also the President of the Cyprus ATCA . He holds a Private Pilot's Licence (PPL), Aerodrome/ Approach Control Licences and Area Radar/ Procedural Area Control Licences . He undertook training courses in RVR (Runway Visual Range) Calibration by U .K . CAA and PANS OPS - Instrument, En Route and Approach Development , International by FAA Academy in Oklahoma, U .S.A. He was part of the team working on various projects such as the New Control Tower at Larnaca Airport, New Area Control Center in Nicosia, development of the first General Aviation Airport in Cyprus, Master plans of the new Airports at Larnaca and Pafos, etc. He wrote four major projects including "A plan to improve ground handling services at Larnaca Airport" , and " Larnaca and Pafos lnt'I Airports . An airport System Approach ." He also wrote a number of special projects such as on Organisational Structure and manpower planning of airports, safety regulations in a liberalized Air Transport, Design & Planning of Airports, Human motivation, Airport operations, Aircraft specifications from the Airport perspective etc. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Transport, U.K, MCIT and a member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport , U .K., MILT.

Committees, M .As, associates, reps etc, in order all together to achieve the common mission of IFATCA which is to protect the interests of controllers' profession and promote it where it should be, at the very top as a well respected and rewarded profession . He knows that he has a lot of things to learn and that the learning curve is going to be a steep one. He also knows that he is going to face a lot of problems, but problems after all are signs of life. He will see problems as disguised opportunities . Disguised opportunit ies that will help us prove and improve ourselves to become more creative and productive. He is a good listener , he believes in friendship and team work and he will be always around when ever his services and assistance is required .

Executive Vice - President AMERICAS Juan Perez Mafia

He knows that he will have to work hard in order to do this job successfully, in order to fulfill the members expectations and in order to safeguard and promote the interests of the ATC profession . The fact that his predecessor was his very good friend Marc Baumgartner , puts an extra pressure on him . He is ready to co-operate with the rest of the Ex. Boa rd members, Standing

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AGENDA total redesign, of the programmes before they can be used in ATC. These differences comprise for example the fact that controllers are not physically involved in the operation of aircraft the way pilots are . Furthermore controllers are concerned with a multitude of aircraft operations, while pilots are concerned with one single operation (i.e . their particular flight) . Also, an ATC shift (or work period) is not a linear event like a flight from A to B is. Because of all this, there is a basic requirement to define what exactly the "Threat" is that a TREM programme for ATC is trying to address, for it will be obvious that the definitions presented above from the three presenting airlines at the workshop do not all make good candidates for ATC usage . Jn my comment during the workshop I mentioned that perhaps in ATC the "Threat" could be to the traffic flow in a sector or at an airport, or to the stability of the operation (ref. also the US Air definition), or maybe to the separation in general. (I also mentioned that this last option was the least of my favourites then already .) This issue I felt needed to be revisited at a later stage .

controller makes decisions and carries out actions for the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of traffic based on a mental picture involving all these elements . And just as with pilots, if the picture is based on a no longer existing (i.e. not updated) reality the decisions and actions will not be optimal for the " real world" and an incident or accident may be the outcome . Conclusion

What I think the airline TREM programmes are trying to achieve is making the updating of SA explicit to the crewmembers concerned . Whenever an update may be required this is called a "Threat" and the crewmembers are expected to respond to it, i.e . to consciously consider the change it may imply for their SA . I submit that this programme goal can also be used for ATC TREM programmes . It may be most effect ive if ATC TREM programmes are initially targeted at teamleaders or shift supervisors and onthe-job-training (OJT) instructors . As a second step , line controllers could be trained to think similarly during OJT. This would be similar to the airline programmes that initially are targeted at Captains .

2002 h!.!x 7- 12: ATCA International Technical Sym posium: Regaining Mo mentum. Berlin. Organized by ATCA www. atca.org 22-26 : Farnborough 2002. www .farnboroug h.com Septemb er 26-27:Human Factors and Safety in Aviation. Lund (Sweden ). Swedish Centre fo r Aviation Research and Development Tel: + 46 46 222 1255 Fax: + 46 46 222 1264 http :/ /www. fiygf orsk.lu.se/ko nferenser.asp Octobe r TBD SC1/ SC4 meeting. Hong Kong 4 - 6 . Executive Board meeting Hong Kong Contact: IFATCA Offi ce M anager, Tatia na lavorska ia Phone + 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 514 866 7612 Email: office@ifatca.org 7 - 9 Asia Pacific Regional meeting M Hotel Singapore Contact: IFATCA Offi ce Manager. Tatiana lavo rskaia Phone+ 1 514 866 7040

Progressive understanding

Since the workshop however it has occurred to me that in fact the "Threat" for ATC is similar to that for pilots after all : it is the updating of the Situational Awareness (SA) of the individuals involved that is being threatened! Pilots have a mental picture of "where they are and what is happening", and I mean this in the widest possible sense - e.g. including the phase of flight they're in, the fuel state of the aircraft, how things are in the cabin, etcetera . Based on this picture they make decisions and carry out actions for the continuation of the flight. If things develop differently from what they are expecting, their decisions and actions may not be optimally related to the "real world" - in other words they did not upd ate their picture, their SA. when necessary and so their decisions and actions are based on a no longer existing reality. An incident or accident may be the outcome. As discussed in an earlier article in The Controller (1 / 97) the SA of an Air Traffic Controller comprises elements like the Traffic Situation, Weather, Equipment, Colleague s, Navi~ational Aids , Personal Factors, etcetera . When on duty a

The challenge for Air Traffic Services Providers is to design TREM programmes that are relevant to their controller community - just like the airlines in the workshop did for their respective pilot communities . TREM programmes for ATC are currently being pioneered in Canada and Australia, and I have every reason to expect that other ATS Providers will follow their example in the future . TREM has the potential to become a pow erfu l tool fo r controllers and pilots alike in the nev er abating struggle for flight safety. TREM : Threat Response and Error Management ? Threat Recognition and Error Management? Or maybe just Threat and Error Management (TEM)? Discussions in the industry as to the "official" acronym and name for this tool are still ongoing . For this article I've arbitrarily elected to use TREM for Threat Response and Erro r Management. (Bert Ruitenb erg, May 2002.)

Fax +151486676 12 Email: office@ifatca.org 09 10 ATC Asia Pacific/ lFATCA Workshop Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore Contact: Paula Milburn, UBM Phone:+44 (0) 20 8987 7832 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8995 2788 Email:: pmilburn@ubminternational.com 22 - 24 Afr ica Middle East Regional meet ing Abuja , Nigeria Contact: IFATCA Off ice Manager, Tat ia na lavorsk a ia Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax +1 51486676 12 Email: office@ifatca.org 25 - 25 Americas Regional meeting Niagara Falls,Canada Contact: IFATCA Office Manager, Tat ia na lavo rska ia Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax + 1 514 866 7612 Email: office@ifatca.org November

1 A description of Situational Awareness in ATC can also be found in ICAO Doc. 9758 "Human Factors Guidelin es for ATM Systems" .

1 - 3 European Regional meeting LesmesosCyprus Contact: IFATCA Office Manager, Tatia na lavor ska ia Phone+ 1 514 866 7040 Fax +15148667612 Email: office@ifatca.org 15 - 17 SC3 Meeti ng London UK Contact :IFATCA Office Manager, Tatiana lavorskaia

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Airlines UNUSUAL AIRLINES 1 -WIDEROE Philippe Domogala European Editor In a new ser ies, we will look at some un usual airlines, from various parts of the w orld . Unusual in the sense of operating, diff erently from your average mainline airline. Ope rating unusual routes , or unusual ty pes, or unusual operations . The first one of this serie will be WID EROE of Norway . Norway is a very particular country . It is more than 1700 Km long and sometimes less than 100 Km wide, and only populated by 4 .5 Millions people . The vast maj or ity of the terrain is mountainous, and some of the cities and villages are located in extre mely remote and difficult to reach areas. Needless to say Av iation played a key role in connecting people in that country from an early stage . Mr Viggo Wideroe, a naval pilot since 1925, and a few other enthu siasti c fri ends me rged the ir single -

prisoner in a concentration camp . During the war the airline staff decided to support a locally designed aeroplane; the CS "Polar" (a purely Norwegian design) . The (only) plane was built illegally during the war by the Wideroe mechanics. It only first flew in 1948 . The aircraft was used in Wideroe fleet until 1962 despite crashing during an 1951 expedition to Antarctica. At the end of the war Wideroe concentrated its business around seaplanes in the Summer and ski planes in the winter. When w inning a contract in 1954 against SAS in order to replace their Junkers Ju52's floatplanes, Wideroe went to Canada to buy the best suited aircraft at the time : The DHC-3 Otter . In 20 accident free years, up to 1971, 300.000 passengers were flown on Wideroes own routes offering schedule service around some communities along the coast of Norway .

opposition . The first 4 STOL field were opened in 1968 . Over the next 10 years another 15 STOL ports followed The new project was so popular and so successful that, by 1969, the Norwegian parliament passed a motion to continue and develop the network of short runways along the coast . The airports were nicknamed "Kyllingmarker airports " ( or chicken fields airports " in honour of the resolute Minister.) The number of Twin Otters grew from one in 1968 to 14 in 1981 , the last being retired in April 2000 . In 1981, the mighty 4 engined Dash-7 with its 50 seats was introduced . From 1993 both the Twin Otters, the Dash 7s, as well the 5 Brasilia's inherited from the buying of a smaller airline were started to be replaced by various sizes of the brand new Dash-8. Some of these airports were located in sometimes very difficult places in fact they

Dash 8-100

aircraft operations and founded our airline WIDEROE , in 1934. He remained Director of the airline until 1969. They initia lly concent rated in air mail routes, charte rs, mapping, and aerial phot ograp hy , etc . They also operated Norway's first civil training school. Because t here were only a few usable airfie ld s at t he time, aircraft used skis in the win ter skis, and in the summer the same aircraft were transformed into floatplanes . Dur ing Wo rld War 2 Norway was occup ied and flying was forbidden. Viggo Wideroe helped organ ising t he escape of his former flight st ud ents to t he UK to join t he exiled government air force there. He was captured and spent most of the war as a

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The expense of building new airports in mountainous Norway slowed the introduction of ' normal' aircraft during year-round operations . However, the development of the Twin Otter in Canada with its unique short field runway perfo rmance allowed a new approach . In 1966 , Wideroe put forward a proposal for local air routes in Norway, involving the building of 19 small airports with small 800m runways spread around the country . They called it the STOL fields . (Short Take off and Landing Runways.) The Norwegian communications minister at the time, Hakon Kyllingmark (his name tra nslated litterally means "chickenfeed "), supported the idea, despite much

w ere built were roughly 800m of relatively flat ground could be found, a bit regardless of the surrounding terrain. Some missed approach procedures would make the hair of many "normal"pilots raise .... If you combine the geographical complexity to the climatic ones , you get an even more complex situation . The weather in Norway can be variable to the extreme, especially in the North of the country , (half of Norway is above the Arctic Circle .) But some airports proved to be not only difficult but dangerous as well. In the Lofoten Island of Vaeroy, the STOL runway was built at the foot of a 1000m mountain. When the wind was coming from the direction of that mountain (East ) it created powerful rotors, so that wind

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Airlines airports. And the checklists and minimas are strictly followed. What is also unusual about this airline is that they are successful and make money. This is indeed an oddity at the moment, especially since Sept 11 2001 ....

direction and speed would change dramatically all along the runway. The first incident came when a Twin otter ended up inverted after a take off and the pilots managed to recover the aircraft a few hundred feet above the water. Then another Twin Otter crashed on take off due to that rotor (60 kts windshear was reported) and finally that airport was closed . By that time 3 fatal Twin Otter accidents, as well as the loss of a Dash -7 on an localizer/DME step down approach in 1988, led Wideroe's to re-think completely its training and safety strategy . The advent of GPS / FMS equipped Dash-8 as well as JAR regulations led to change in company culture and they modify their approach to safety . This was praised by the industry and later served as a model for other airlines. If some of the airports still served by Wideroe are not easy at all (Mo I Rana for instance, or Leknes and Solvaer in the Lofoten) management ensures a well planned and documented standardised operations, where stringent airline minimas and carefully calculated missed approach procedures contribute to maximum safety. The special approach charts, made by Jeppessen are worked in collaboration with the airline. Training of the pilots involve a lot of visual flying, a major contributor in keeping the flying skills of the pilots at the top. Most of the STOL airfields are manned by

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local AFIS Staff (Flight Information) and contain a weather reporting station, even in some airports which are only visited once a day . This is another good approach to safety. Today the airline has 27 aircraft all Dash 8s From the 100 series with 37 seats to the newest 400 series with 72 seats. When I flew with the airline, (a multiple sector flight, involving 8 approaches in some inhospitable places in the small 100 serie aircraft ...) the professionalism and rigorous planning stuck in. The crews were all very aware of their surroundings and of the performance of their unusual flying machine ... because the Dash 8 is very special.: Lots of power, very steep approaches, can lose speed in a record time, powerful flaps and brakes. You can land the thing in a few hundred meters. Not quite like a Twin Otter but impressive enough . (see photo)

The keys to that success could be explained by the Synergy between the Government ( building the airports ), the loca l communities ( depending on their connection to the outside for their business ) and the airline to ensure that the need of the people are served. When this is done, passengers and profits follow. I must say that operating in such places as some of the STOL airports around Norway is definitively not what you would describe as "usual airline operations" . But in a Dash 8-100 and with a Wideroe's crew flying , one can forget , you are indeed in a very hostile ground around there ... Thanks to Capt Ulf Larsstuvold for its contribution on the historical part of the airline .

The airline operate in all kinds of weather, but surprisingly their punctuality is the best of the major airlines serving Norway . They learned to work with the weather, and without taking any risks, the pilots know how best to reach those

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C CHARLIE SPECIAL CANCUN CONFERENCE AFRICAN PROXIES During a healthy ( read difficult) debate on what the contents of THE CONTROLLER wer e supposed to be ( If you want Char lie 's column to continue you might need to tell your Rep in Committee A next year) , the African Continent decided for a united vote . But why be 15 of you present when you can do with 2 and some pro x ies. The definition "a handful of pro x ies" was taken to the letter. Well done my friends ....

NEW MEXICAN AIRPORT In the Technical exhibition, the Mexican Airport Authority had on display a very large model of a revolutionary way to alleviate congestion and delays in the congested Mexico City airport . Building bridges to carry the aircraft one by one above the city . This very innovative concept (as the photo shows) attracted many questions.

UPPER/LOWER During the debates between the Upper and Lower airspace policies, Italy and Australia sent their best experts in the field to attend the Conference . As the photo shows, Giancarlo and Brian were also discussing the size of coffee cups during the breaks.

NEW EVP EUROPE Nico las, our new EVP Europe , on hearing some Cypriot music (during the prom otio n vi deo for the next November European reg ional Meeting) could not control himself and started dancing .. (see the photo) Now y ou know one of his weaknesses, if yo u are about t o lose an argument with him, just carry a tape of Cypriot music w ith you I. ..

OVERHEARD IN THE CABIN: Stewardess after the landing : "Ladies and gentlemen, please check that you do not leave any of your belongings behind you before leaving the plane . Anything left will be dist ributed evenly among the crew. Please do not leave spouses or children ... " AIRBUS LIGHTING In a recent press release about the new A380, Airbus informs us that the new A380 will have a new colour light tec hnology system. Th e cabin will have 64 lig ht settings, from full sunshine day, to nightfall glow, including variations such as

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"Twilight radiance "or 'Sunset". These will be particularly useful (according to the Press release) during the ultra-long range flights of between 14 and 18 hours duration . 18 hours on an aircraft? Well, if you include check-in, taxi and getting your luggage back on arrival you are looking at up to 24 hours of flight experience ... . You are indeed likely to see the sunset twice . Now I understand how useful the lighting system can be. They intend to fool you into believing the flight is shorter than in fact it is ! .. Clever .... NEW REPORTING POINTS. You all have been confronted with this new wave of computer generated 5 letters points, that most States authorities seem to like so much, that they give us a few dozen more at each new AIRAC cycle ... Some of them are sometimes amusing ( in some languages at least ) The latest of the funny ones is the one close to the inbound Frankfurt from the west : PIMIS . Not so exciting at first, but you have to pronounce it to get the full effect . This point sometimes creates interesting discussions between Pilots and controllers : Control : Set course direct to PIMIS .. Pilot : I beg your pardon ? Control : Do you have PIMIS on your FMS? Pilot: Well, I do not know actually, I never checked. I did not know FMS had a gender . Another Pilot jumping in : I believe ours is female ..

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Twin Otter

If you have some interesting photographs that would fill the Picture Gallery page, please con t act th e Editor at e d@ifa tc a.org

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