IFATCA The Controller - 4th Quarter 1981

JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL

FEDERATION

OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS' ASSOC~ATIONS

In this issue:

4/81

Cairo Conference Technical Panel The USA Issue

BERN. SWITZERLAND

4th QUARTER 1981

VOLUME 20

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IFATCA JOURNAL OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

THE CONTROLLER Bern, Switzerland, December 1981

Volume 20 • No. 4

Publisher: International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers· Assoc,at,ons. P O.B 196. CH-1215 Geneva 15 Airport. Switzerland Officers of IFATCA: H. H. Henschler. President. Lex Hendriks. Vice- President (Technical). A. Avgoust,s. V,cePres,dent (Professional). Pat o·ooherty. Vice-President (Adm1n1strat1on). H. Wenger. Treasurer. E. Bradshaw.

Executive Secretary.

Secretariat: 6 Longlands Park. Ayr KA7 4RJ Ayrshire. Scotland. United Kingdom Tel· 0292 42114 Editor: A Avgoust,s 5 Athens Str Ay,os Ohomeuos Nicosia. Cyprus Tel· (021) 4 87 86 Publishing Company and Production Service: ·oe, Bund·. Verlag und Oruckere, AG. 300 I Bern. tfl,ngerstrasse 1. Sw11zerland.

Telephone(031) 25 66 55 Printed by: ·oer Sund". Verlag und Druckere, AG. Bern.

Switzerland

Advertising Sales Office: THE CONTROLLER. 5 Athens st . Ay,os Ohomet,os. Nicosia. Cyprus Telephone (021) 48 78 6 THE CONTROLLER. "Der Sund·. Verlag und Druckere, AG (Address as for Publishing Co ) Subscriptions and Advertising Payments to: Account No· PK 72 892-9. Swiss Credit Bank. Balexert Agency. av Louis Casa, 2 7.

CH-1 211 Geneva 28. Switzerland.

181SHotel -Amsterdam.

Venue of the special conference to consider the PATCO issue.

Subscription Rate· SFrs 8 - per annum for members of IFATCA: SFrs 20 - per annum for non-members (Postage w,11be charged extra) Contnbutors are expressrng their personal points of view and op1n,ons. wh,ch may not necessarily co1nc1de with those of the lnternauonal Federation of Air Traffic Con•

trollers" Assoc,at,ons (IFATCA) IFATCA does not assume respons1bd1tyfor statements made and op,nions expressed. ,1 does only accept respons1bil11yfor publishing these contribu11ons Contnbut1ons are welcome as are comments and cnt,c,sm No payment can be made for manuscripts sub•

m,tted for publ1cat1on ,n "The Controller' The Editor reserves the right to make any editorial changes 1n manuscripts, which he believes will improve the material with• out altenng the intended meaning Wntten perm,ss1on by the Editor 1snecessary for reprinting any part of this Journal

Cartoons: Martin Germans Photos: Archives & AA Advertizers: KLM, Pacific Western. !AL Datasaab, Ferrant,; Thomson CSF, Selenia, Philips, Corporate Members list, !FA TCA '82, Membership Benefits.

CONTENTS Editorial PATCO v FAA Cairo Technical Panel CATCA Convention A System Approach to ATC Data Communications within the ANS System Modernizing the Egyptian ATC System Hijacking-Canadian Legislation Handling of Aeronautical Information Data A Professional Visit to Malta Training in Procedural Control in Automated ATC System Letter to the Editor Transport Australia Packet Switching Network Unconsidered Aspects of the Controllers· Strike Early Retirement for CATCA

3 4 11 13 15 17 19 26 29

30 33 34 36 44 46

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Editorial

ATC Systems of Today

by Richard C.W. Weston·

The integrity of any air traffic control system is dependent upon two main factors - the controllers and their equipment.

I believe that controllers should have state-of-the-art technology which works well and is appropriate to the task in hand; adequate communications. good primary and secondary and so on. For too long. the massive investment in improved technology on the flight-deck has not been matched by comparable improvements to ground facilities. In many cases enroute and terminal environments. the ground organization still relies on the practices and procedures of the DC-3 era to establish and maintain radar identification. Simply because certain ways of doing things have stood the test of time does not mean that they are acceptable today.

As the demands upon the ATC system have changed. so must the ATC system adapt to new requirements. Let us be clear that failure to do so puts at risk not only expedition but ultimately. safety itself. Safety of the multi-million dollar jets which congest the skies is no greater than: the safety of the environment in which they fly.

The constant improvement and updating of air traffic control facilities demands a high degree of strategic planning and the constant review of such plans. The decisions taken in haste in the aftermath of an incident or accident seldom provide the best solution. The equipment must be right for the job. which implies specialist input by controllers at all stages of the specification and procurement processes.

If this sounds patently obvious. then my justification for saying it is simply the number of cases where national administrations have purchased equipment on the grounds of availability. cost, political expediency or whatever. without due regard to its suitability for· the job or for the provision of the requisite training for the controllers required to operate 1t. or for the conditions required to maintain it. The provision of more and better equipment for air traffic control can be an expensive business. and one not particularly to the politician. Certainly. it will not pull in many extra votes in these days of pressure on public expenditure. Such expenditure has to be kept in perspective and viewed against the general level of investment in the air transport industry. I will not bore you with the ICAO estimates. other than to say that they lend staunch support to the contention that for too long. air traffic control has been the Cinderella of the industry. Just looking at the figures. incidentally, reminds me of the late senator Everett Dickson. who said: •A billion dollars here. a billion dollars there. and before you know it you are talking about a lot of money.

However. whether financed directly or indirectly by the air transport industry. the provision of a safe and efficient air traffic control system demands its fair allocation of the industry's resources. Without that investment. which ever way you look at it, the users will be the losers. And any amount of investment in highly trained ATC manpower will not compensate.

This leads logically to the question of manpower. Staff shortage is a common enough cry from the controllers worldwide. even if such claims are sometimes disputed by national administrations. So. what constitutes adequate staffing? Clearly. any ATC system must be manned to cope with traffic peaks both daily and seasonal. Thus it is inevitable that at other times. there will be some slack in the system. This simple fact sometimes seems lost on administrators. for unless flow control restrictions are to flatten peaks. then air traffic control staffing requires the availability of sufficient personnel to meet worst-case situations. The tragic effects of failure to do so have been readily apparent in the past. To many observers both inside and outside the air transport business. it seems strange that in this most regulated of industries. there are no legally enforcible criteria governing controller's hours of duty. fatigue reliefs an so on.

Naturally. such factors affect fundamentally the calculation of staffing levels. I am aware that many eminent medical men have studied the physiological and psychological demands of the controller's job. and are agreed in general terms on such matters as regular fatigue breaks. adequate rest periods between shifts and so on.

However. there is still evidence. in some countries of controllers working inordinately long hours or manning a busy radar position for four hours without a break. practices which cannot be defended. In the United Kingdom. airline pilots. truck drivers and others enjoy such protection. which suggests that concerted international pressure is required. Now that the International Labour Organization has given the lead. it is to be hoped that their conclusions may stimulate action on a broad front.

Proposed limitations to a controller's hours of work. fatigue reliefs and so on are. of course. important to the preservation of his physical and mental wellbeing; and the adequacy of current practices can perhaps be judged against medical records. But let it not be forgotten. important though health considerations are. the safety of the ATC system is at stake. A tired controller may not suffer any long-term ill effects. but his mental faculties at such a time will be impaired and with them. his power of judgement. his alertness. his ability to react to the unexpected situation. or the demands of peak traffic. In short. his ability to maintain the integrity and safety of the air traffic control system.

Controllers cannot be trained overnight; neither can you buy experience. Thus. manpower planning in air traffic control must be a long-term strategy for short-term expediency is seldom practicable. and never desirable. The standards required of trainee controllers must remain high and cannot be relaxed to overcome recruitement shortfall or training difficulties. In formulating a manpower plan. due allowance must be made for failure during training. retirement due to ill health. the development of the ATC system. long-term changes in social conditions and employment. and so on. Matching the staff to the demands is a difficult task. given the inevitable constraints of orderly shift patterns and uncontrollable outs de influences. But it is an equation which must be balanced - certainly. to err is human. but in air traffic control. the golden rule must always be to err on the side of safety.

• Richard Weston. eminent Bnt1shsohc1torand av,at,on consultant. This editorial covers

extracts from a speech he gave at the 1981 CATCA Convention.

3

PATCO V FAA

by Andreas Avgoustis

This article is not meant to be an attempt to seek the truth in the dispute between the US air traffic controllers and their administration: it will not be an attempt to put the blame on any party nor will it seek to examine the dispute in depth and which side has the nght in its favour: it w,/1, however, give an account of !FA TCA·s concern to the whole issue in particular to the actions of its officers - resulting from the Federation ·s constitutional provisions and briefly report on the special conference which convened in Amsterdam (2 2 I 2 3 August) to resolve on future action. The period that has ensued between the time that US controllers struck and the Reagan admimstration's reaction until to date will naturally evolve in the article.

The strike of colleagues in the US took place when • The Controller·. issue 3 I 8 7, was already gone to press and could not therefore report on the developed situation. Publicity had indeed been extensive and the numerous press releases issued throughout covered the problem and developments thoroughly and in all perspectives. It was hoped at the time that favourable developments during the first few weeks could have made this article unneccessary. Unfortunately, developments proved beyond expectations and the situation that has been created as a result of the strike is st,JI maintained. Considenng the various statements made by the two sides on the dispute dunng these past weeks show that their views are diametrically on the opposing sides and little hope of a settlement is foreseen.

I do not intend therefore to examine the political implications or situation as created particularly in relation to the position taken by President Reagan or his national economic strategy or the financial health of the airlines whether these are domestic or international; public opinion should not be our concern nor should we touch upon the public's feelings on their conveniences and inconveniences and above all we should not be concerned as to the legality of the strike.

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By ROSS MARK in Washington

I STRIKlN(; air tr,tllic t'<mI· trofkr,, d,•lkd jail thu·.tls

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:111d hroui;-ht hav<w to II million,. o[ 1\nu'n<:,H1 Yt..•,I,•rd.tl'. ;I It trai, \"t'll<'r., illt",:-al for co11trollt-r., t<► >lrik,· bc<•:111~<• lh,•v w:::r •r ■·: f I

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fv -- down to • before the students Aug. • md shift, a . .ByOct. I, a an additional

service indefinitely.

Golden Gate, which served Lo, Angeles and 18 other Western citics, had been losing money before the strike. The resulting reduction in pas~cnger traffic increa~ed losses to $40.000 a day and forced it to close, company officials said, adding that they hoped the line could resume sernce in the future. lndustry observers. however. predicted that would be difficult.

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Jnited blamed the layoffs on T•? ;1,,1 • rl :o 'light tim.ita1iom cau~ed by the .i., ol ,iH• : 11 I ,trike a.~ well a, generally reduced

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The question that all of us should be concerned with is safety - the most fundamental objective that IFATCA thrives upon. The Federation is a professional organisation made up of dedicated controllers· associations which may or may not be trade unions.

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These are facts: public opinion was against the controllers· right from the beginning and revelled in Reagan·s show of strength: airlines most certainly have been hit and some. I am sure. could not sustain the losses and had to close down.

The world of controllers is aware of the fact that when controllers work long shifts they cannot maintain their alertness and most certainly strain is increased: controllers know that employed supervisors not currently rated and military personnel not trained to handle civil traffic enjoyed perhaps the novel opportunity of being put on the watch roster. But they know and so does the administration that this cannot be continued indefinitely without serious repercussions for both themselves and the system they are asked to operate.

Released figures show a dramatic increase in the number of system errors and near-midair collisions. This increase came despite the substantial decrease - in excess of 50 percent - in air traffic movements. According to the FAA's Facility Management and Operation Handbook. system errors are •operation errors involving aircraft being provided an air traffic service resulting in less than the applicable separation minima between two or more aircraft or between aircraft and terrain or obstacles.

A near-midair collision (near miss) is an instance when a report is received by air traffic personnel from an aincrew member stating that a collision hazard existed between two or more aircraft.·

Background The US controllers are employed under a contract system which is renewed every three years after negotiations between PATCO and the Administration. This contract expired on the 5th March, 1981. and negotiations were ongoing for several months. Controllers· claims varied from salary increases. improved working conditions. second career plan. early retirement and reduction of working hours per week.

Negotiations on a new contract have in fact broken officially by the end of April. though future meetings were held at later dates only to make the two sides more determined to stick to their lines.

During the course of the negotiations PATCO had been endeavouring 6

through the House of Representatives introduce a Bill on Air Traffic Controllers (HR 1576) by which they were confident that the air traffic controllers· problems would finally be resolved.

Appearances before the House subcommittee on Compensation and Employee Benefits were made by both Robert E. Poli. PATCO president. and Drew Lewis. secretary of transportation. Poli addressing the subcommittee said that 'for years the primary focus has been directed to the system· s mechanical and technical aspects. Despite the attention devoted to those elements the air traffic control system is founded on the decision-making capability of a human being - the air traffic controller. It is long past time that the controller workforce receives the attention it so desperately deseNes. • The Administration's position with regard to the proposed HR 1576 was negative from the outset. In a letter to the Subcommittee's chairwoman, Hon. Mary Rose Oakar. from the Executive Office of the President of the US. E.L. Harper. deputy director. said that 'the administration opposes HA 157 6 as a matter of principle. Rather than singling out one group for preferred treatment. the generic issues raised in HR 157 6 should be considered as a part of the comprehensive review of the federal compensation system proposed by the Administration in HR 3140 currently before this committee.

US controllers began their strike on the 3rd August. 13 000 out of the 1 5 000 membres of PATCO have gone on strike in support of their claims. In the US there are about 3 5 OOO· professional air traffic controllers, working in hundreds of towers. approach control offices. area control centres. radar units. etc. throughout the vastness of the United States.

PA TCO executive vice-president, Robert Meyer (in shirt). next to Edward Bradshaw. !FA TCA executive secretary, briefing the Executive Board of PATCO's position.

IFATCA's involvement PATCO is a full member of IFATCA and naturally its members· problems are also the concern of the mother Federation. IFATCA could not turn its back to the problem. The Executive Board had to act spontaneously and always in accordance with the mandates deriving from the Federation's constitution.

The Federation's president. H. Harri Henschler. called upon the member-associations to take action as laid down in Resolution A5/73 and as amended at subsequent annual conferences by the directors. Positive action has been taken by a number of associations.

Such action had been, however. misconstrued by a number of administrations which exercised pressure on their controllers to cease any further action.

The Board at their emergency meeting held in Amsterdam on the 13th and 14th August decided that a new or renewed mandate was essential and as a result called for a Special Conference which took place in the Ibis Hotel. Amsterdam. on the 2 2/23 August. 1 981.

The Special Conference Despite the short notice given to member-associations (some members could not receive the call on time to • This figure cannot be verified. It is. however. menr,oned m the "Journal the Lawyers and Pilots Bar Assoc,a/lon· (Spr,ng 1981 ,ssue),

make the necessary arrangements) attendance was satisfactory as it met the required quorum. 32 out of a total of 61 member-associations attended the meeting with all the European associations being present. PATCO was represented by the executive vice-president.

Robert Meyer. who spent some considerable time to explain what the controllers in his country were aiming at and how negotiations with the Administration failed to bring about an employment agreement.

Observers from international trade unions and national trade unions were also present. This was found to be necessary because of the fact that their respective controllers· organisations could not commit their members to industrial action which was beyond the powers vested by their constitutions.

The Conference attracted the worldwide attention of the press and television media with more than 100 reporters and correspondents moving about fishing information. In the course of the Conference Bob Meyer released reports on near-misses that have taken place during the first ten days of the strike and also released internal letters (documents) of the Airline Pilots· Association of the US (ALPA) which revealed grave concern over the continued unsafe situation that exists in the US airspace as a result of the strike. These letters. which were written by ALPA's members or the association· s safety officers came in contradiction to the association's president J. J. o·oonnel public statements that the system was ·safe'. A letter by Tom Sheppard. chairman of ALl'A's ATC committee to his president o·oonnel stated: 'Since the beginning of the PATCO strike on August 3. 1981. the ATC Communications Centre has received a large number of reports. The continuous review of these by members of my committee and other pilots in the Communications Centre lead me to conclude that at least three definite trends are arising which indicate a decreasing level of safety in the present modified ATC system. These are: 1. Fatigue and improper qualifications are diminishing the quality of performance of the present controllers.

2. Military and general aviation VFR flying below FL 180 has increased above normal levels of activity.

3. Some airports with levels of activity which normally require towers are operating with the towers closed; however. there is no attendant reduction in activity level.· With regard to the training that an air traffic controller has to undergo. in response to FAA' s present wish to cut down the duration of the training. ALPA reports. in comparison to that of the air-

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line pilot. that the controller starts with a 1 7-week course at the Oklahoma Centre and then sent to a low activity facility for on the job training. •It literally takes years for a controller to work up to and qualify for a control position at a facility.· The report further states that FAA has coped with the situation due to the generally good weather. less traffic flow and excellent pilot/ FAA co-operation. 'However', it continues, 'these minimally trained controllers are faced with fatigue and the upcoming winter season weather ... •.

The deliberations of the special conference were meant to be held in close session and extremely confidential and therefore this article cannot reveal the actual decisions taken other than perhaps some of the views expressed by the directors of the different associations present at the conference.

Views as to how to react or act in support were split with some very militant views and others with moderate ideas. The provisions. however. of the constitution were always to be considered if a decision was to be taken and adopted by the Federation as a policy.

The first item of course was to confirm the policy of IFATCA in cases where the safety of air traffic was jeopardized as a result of the replacement of controllers by unqualified personnel. i.e. military and medically unfit persons.

The Conference then went on to hear the views of the directors one by one who were also invited to brief the rest of the directors as to the action taken by their national association in conformity to the President's call.

Directors were reminded of the ILO conclusions on problems concerning the air traffic controllers. To this. the conference referred to in the final resolution and drew the attention of the FAA to Conclusion No. 8 which has been accepted by the 14 participating government representatives at the meeting. Conclusion 8 of the ILO reads: •The settlement of disputes should be sought as may be appropnate to national conditions. through negot1at10n between the parties or through independent and impartial machinery, such as mediation. conciliation and arbitration. established in such a manner as to ensure the confidence of the parties involved. Where A TCO's are employed by the Government. their civtf servant statuts should not preclude them from hav-

US concern of special conference.

H. Kennon of the US Consulate Economics affairs (on the right) having a chat with /FA TCA president H. H. Henschler.

8

Ing access to the following procedures: in particular. the settlement of disputes arising in connection with the determination of terms and conditions of employment should be sought through negotiation between the parties. or through independent and impartial machinery, such as mediation. conc1/Jation and voluntary arbitration. with a view to making it unnecessary for the organisations representing A TCO's to have recourse to industrial action.·

Closing

Deliberations continued late the first day of the special Conference and were carried on the whole of the second day with proposals as to future action.

Safety of air traffic was at stake in the US, the Conference resolved. and early return to normal air traffic control system should be the ultimate aim. In fact, the sooner the better.

The directors resolved that both sides should be brought together once again and start afresh. Controllers had to man their watches once again and flights should be ensured the safest service. This could only be achieved if the trained controllers were returned to their jobs. Their replacement could not under any circumstances replace the standard of safety offered then.

The Conference authorised the Executive Board to offer the Federation· s good offices to mediate in the dispute and take advantage of the offer by the secretary of transportation. Drew Lewis. to visit the FAA and discuss matters of safety that are of concern to the Federation.

The Conference. however. were determined to seek a solution of the problem the soonest and were conscious

Directors from Belgium, Greece and Ireland.

that blackmailing and threats of industrial action could perhaps deteriorate the issue and limit the chances of getting the two sides on the negotiating table. Directors were confident that the FAA administration would take the opportunity offered by IFATCA to restart negotiations with PATCO and that its offer for mediation will be respected.

Alternative action was also being considered but could not be revealed to the world. despite the fact that the press were at the time anxiously waiting for headlines.

Follow up

The Executive Board directed its efforts. immediately after the special conference. towards Washington. A meeting was set up between the Executive Board of IFATCA and the FAA administration officials on the 8th and 9th September. to discuss the •impact of the US air traffic controllers· strike on avia'tion safety in the country·.

The meeting was attended on behalf of IFATCA by the president. H. Harri Henschler. vice-presidents Pat o·ooherty and Lex Hendriks. with former CATCA president Jim Livingston as advisor and on behalf of the FAA by administrator Lynn Helms.

In a press statement made by the IFATCA delegation at the conclusion of the talks it was revealed that Mr. Helms was warned that 'the only way to restore the United States ATC systems to a safer operation is the immediate return of all of the striking controllers as quickly as possible. Failing such action on their part. IFATCA executive officers must report to their 61 member-countries that the US airspace continues to be unsafe'.

The Executive Board met also with the secretary for transportation. Mr. Drew Lewis. on the 10th September and discussed with him the situation along the same lines. Regrettably. as this issue goes to press. nothing tangible could be foreseen in the near future as a result of these contacts. Punitive action continued to be taken by the Administration against the controllers with more than 100 criminal suits brought before the courts against individual controllers and a greater number of lawsuits against the organisation's officers.

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(Editor· s note: See also article on page 44)

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The Cairo Conference Technical Panel

From left: Mr. Walter Vonk (PT!). Mr. Peter Jorgensen (Selenia). Mr. Daniel Oudin (vice-president technical /FA TCA) and Mr. Roger Kahane. technical panelists.

by Andreas Avgoustis It has been the practice so far to publish the proceedings of the IFATCA Annual Conference Technical Panel in the last quarter issue of 'The Controller·.

This practice is maintained also in this issue and readers will find on other pages (as indicated later) the presentations given by the various speakers.

As anticipated. Cairo's Technical Panel attracted a larger number of air traffic controllers. corporate members representatives. ICAO experts and observers from national and international organisations.

The Technical Panel was chaired, ex officio. by the outgoing IFATCA vicepresident technical. Mr. Daniel Oudin. with panelists Mr. Walter Vonk. of Philips Telecommunicatie Industries BV. Mr. Frank Fischer. of ANSA Advisory Group Air Navigation Services Inc .. Mr. Roger Kahane. of THOMSON-CSF and Mr. Peter Jorgensen, corporate members coordinator. of SELENIA. Other corporate members representatives who participated in the Panel as technical experts to answer questions were: Messrs Nigel Ross. of Cossor Electronics. James Rudd. of Cardion Electronics. Haakan Westermark. of Datasaab. John Sherwin with Robert

Harrison, of Ferranti. David Butler. of Goodwood Data Systems. Noel Howes. of International Aeradio Ltd.. David Zenzen. of Lockheed Aircraft Services.

William Thomson. of RACAL Thermionics. Lawrence Gulhane. of Mitre Corporation and Yoram Avni. of Elta Electronics Industries.

Panel Presentations Panel speakers were permitted a total of six minutes each to elaborate on their subject and the remaining time of the two-hour session was devoted to questions and answers.

First Panel speaker was Frank Fischer. of ANSA Advisory Group Air Navigation Services Inc., who spoke on 'Aeronautical Information Data Subsystems· (AIDS).

The principle that lies behind the concept of AIDS is the creation of information data banks by which users. i.e. airspace users. air navigation services and other aviation users. will be able to retrieve necessary information immediately and reliably to achieve their objectives. viz. safety, efficiency and regularity of air navigation.

Mr. Fischer drew the attention of his audience to the present day require-

ments of a common aeronautical information data handling system aiming at the fulfilment of the operational requirements of general user groups. 'Some countries.· Mr. Fischer said. •have already started similar developments. like. Canada with OIDS. Lockheed with JETPLAN. the US FAA with MAPS and AWANS. etc.·.

(Mr. Fischer·s presentation will be found on page 29 of this issue.)

Next was Walter Vonk's of Philips Telecommunicatie Industries BV. presentation of •Efficient Communications v Uncontrolled Automation·.

Mr. Vonk began with a description of the various types of existing data communication networks used in civil aviation activites and continued by highlighting some of the essential differences that exist between a modern integrated communication system and the piecemeal approach of other systems. Mr. Vonk concluded by discussing how such a system could be updated to present day standards.

With regard to present day communication systems. Mr. Vonk gave details on the SITA network and how the system functions and entered into comparison of traffic carried by the world's air navigation communication networks 11

which, apparently, is much less than that carried by the SITA network.

(Mr. Vonk's presentation will be found on page 17 of this issue.)

THOMSON-CSF huge contractproject of modernization of the Egyptian Air Traffic Services facilities and services was the subject-matter of Roger Kahane's presentation.

The contract, worth 300 million francs, won by THOMSON-CSF is anticipated to be completed by mid-1 983 and covers several fields of operations such as: 1. the creation of the Cairo Air Navigation Centre (CANC), which will cover a built-up area of about 7000 sq. m. intended to house equipment for the operation of the Cairo Flight Information Region (FIR}, an automatic message switching system of the AFTN, the electrical system and maintenance workshops: 2. the Cairo Air Traffic Control Centre: supply and install en-route station (LP 23 K Klystron Radar with on site automatic tracking) together with TA 10 K Approach Radar operated on an A/RCA T 500 computerized system: 3. modermzing of the aeronautical communications network by supplying seven integrated multifrequency VHF and UHF transmit-receive stations, i.e in all, 40 VHF transmitters 25 UHF transmitters with an equal number of receivers together with antennas and power supply: Technical panel audience. Front row, from left: Mr. Dirk Fnjhng (Philips Telecommunicatie lndustne), Mr. Vasilis Hakiamis and Mr. Stavros Mouzalas of the Greek A TCA.

12

4. navigation aids: the whole navigation aids network will cover the supply by Thomson-CSF of I 2 VORs at various sites 9 of which will be coupled up with DME 72 I R. (Mr Kahane·s presentation will be found on page I 9 of this issue.)

Fmal speaker panelist was Peter Jorgensen, /FA TCA·s Corporate Members' Coordinator, of Selenia, who spoke on 'A System Approach to ATC'.

Mr. Frank Fischer (ANSA) making his presentation to the technical panel.

Mr. Jorgensen' s elaborate presentation concentrated on the complexities that an ATC system may inherit. He said that ·any ATC system, whether big or small, presents a number of very complex choices to be made. The selection of the optimum solution to a single problem is often complicated by

the fact that several distinctly different disciplines must collaborate.· (Mr. Jorgensen·s presentation will be found on page 1 5 of this issue.)

The CATCA Convention May 1981

Question and Answer

by P. O'Doherty. !FA TCA vice-president

The one hour or more made available for the question and answer part of the Technical Panel session was taken mainly by the issue of 'the use of D/F in Radar' and its usefulness in non radar-covered countries.

It was determined that, despite the fact that the controller's requirements is always the guiding factor as to what is best for his functions. the D/F is the best back-up system in radar.

Mr. Dave Olsen. IATA Africa Representative. said that in Africa where facilities are unsatisfactory. the D/F. where available. bears very well. Mr. Olsen stressed the need for communications facilities in the Africa region and reminded his audience that ICAO estimated a cost of $ 300 million to cover satisfactorily the continent with communication facilities.

Another question generally directed to the manufacturers was the lack of skilled personnel to maintain equipment where this was available and also the supply of spare parts.

Bidding Speaking on behalf of the manufacturers. Mr. Peter Jorgensen said that this was not the problem of a certain area alone. 'Civil Aviation authorities·.

Mr. Jorgensen said. •are asked to include in the tenders sufficient spqres for the maintenance of the equipment to be purchased. Unfortunately bidding for aviation equipment is done in the same way as in building constructions·.

Regarding the training of personnel.

Mr. Jorgensen suggested that trained personnel. when they return home. they seek employment abroad where there is better pay. Solution of this problem should be the responsibility of ICAO and IATA to impress upon the governments the requirements of aviation.

Considerable discussion also ensued on the question of information data to be available to the controller and how such information should be retrieved and displayed. The panel discussion ended with the feeling that air traffic controllers associations should pursue their views to the governments when there is a need for change in their system facility.

The Convention was opened by the Convention director. who welcomed all participants. There were over 150 people present at this and all other open sessions. For the benefit of those who haven't been to CATCA Convention there were almost 100 voting delegates. the Executive Board and the regional directors as the main participants.

Observers included PATCO and Australia as well as president Henschler and myself from IFATCA. Various Canadian agencies in the aviation area were also represented. The normal opening remarks were made and then the auditors were appointed and their remuneration set for the coming year. The Convention was then placed in the capable hands of Jim Livingston. who was the Convention chairman for the remainder of the meeting. Enc Staples. the secretary/treasurer. then read the roll call of delegates just less than 100 in all.

Last year's minutes were adopted and the meeting then received the various reports from the Executive Board and the regional directors. Legal Counsel also submitted a report. as did the managing director. CATCA president. Bill Robertson. presented a very comprehensive report covering items as diverse as the CATCA Journal.

Dental Plan. IFATCA 80 and the Commission of Inquiry into aviation safety.

Full-time vice-president Jack Butt reported on his activities since taking office in December ·so.This covered grievances. adjudications and appeals. national joint committees and public relations. He had dealt with 1 20 grievances in the 5 months - a lot for such a relatively enlightened country in the aviation sphere.

Local Problems

Part-time vice-president Bram Tilroe reported on his IFATCA duties (SC VI and Liaison). CATCA/CALPA Liaison. National Safety Committee. PATCO Liaison and numerous other committee activities. Jim Livingston (past president) made his parting report to the Convention and assured the delegates of his continued interest in the activities of CATCA. The regional directors. 10 all told. made individual reports on their regions with emphasis on the local problems. Some such problems were repeated again and again across the country particularly where equipment. new and old. was concerned. Staffing and salary problems were also high on the priority list.

Legal counsel. John Nelligan. reported on 23 separate items. not including the current large scale problems in the Montreal area.

Not all the news conveyed was bad of course. and one item from the IFATCA view

point stood out in that the director ATS. on foot of the ILO report approached CATCA in order to-form a Joint Technical Committee. I would think that this has not happened elsewhere to our knowledge.

Saturday saw further business sessions. mainly dealing with resolutions on Byelaws.

The discussion was most interesting to me in VP administration in that it gave me an insight into the CATCA procedures and operations. and clarified for me a lot of the CATCA input into IFATCA. One surprising factor was the very large proportion of the delegates who spoke to the items - a much higher percentage than we are used to.

However. as in IFATCA. there are a number of people who speak to more subjects than usual and their extra input is. of course. a very valued part of the debate.

•Representative Voting· was a major topic of discussion and a system was eventually arrived at after approximately six hours of actual debate and numerous adjournments and lobbying. Not being fully aware of the Byelaws being amended. the debate was sometimes not easy to follow but my understanding of the outcome was that each branch (at least 15 members) will have one delegate for each 30. or part of 30 members and each delegate will have 1 vote for each 8 members. or part of 8 members. It seems very complicated and I look forward to seeing it operate. Representative voting after all is a subject which is always just under the surface of IFATCA conferences. Financial matters also took up some time but there was no adverse reaction to the recent increase in IFATCA subscriptions.

The CATCA dues were discussed in closed session. I gather that the dues are now a fixed percentage of salary but there is an actual increase in the dollar value of the income to the association. The budget this year exceeds the Can $ 1 000 000 mark for the first time. Salaries and expenses for the Executive Board were increased. substantially with very little acrimony.

On the final day IFATCA president H.H. Henschler made a brief. for him. speech. He praised CATCA's contribution to the IFATCA effort and exhorted CATCA delegates to keep up the good work - they are a model for all others to follow. D.C.B. Stuart. Australia. spoke also - he was a fraternal delegate. At the farewell the guest speaker was Richard Weston. He emphasised a number of items very dear to the hearts of controllers everywhere. Bob Meyer. PATCO. spoke at the dinner. Delivery of his speech was. in my view deliberately, low key. but its content left no one in any doubt as to the commitment of PATCO in their current negotiations. The speech was excellent and received a well deserved standing ovation from the delegates.

13

Detail of microminiaturized RF inductor deposited on alumina using etch-sputtering.

(Electron microscope)

-

Centerphoto: Output poweramplifi{!r module, used in SIR SSR

solid- state ssr The SIR-SELENIA SOLID-STATE Secondary Surveillance Radar is now in operation in a number of countries.

The radar is fully solid state, including the output stages, and includes a number of innovations aimed to reduce problems of reflections and fruit.

The equipment has built-in test equipment and an extremely high MTBF.

~~~ c==----

INDUSTRIE ELETTRONICHE ASSOCIATE S.p.A. CIVIL RADAR AND SYSTEMS DIVISION Via Tiburtina Km 12.400, 00131 ROME, ITALY Telex 613690 SELROM I, Phone 06-43601

SELENIA IS EXPERIENCE IN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

A System Approach To ATC

by Peter A. Jorgensen

The concept of Distributed Processing has now been in use for some years. and it may be appropriate to reflect. and see if distributed intelligence really did fulfill the expectations we had when we decided to apply that system philosophy.

Distributed processing was selected as the most cost effective way to produce complex ATC systems. while maintaining a high degree of modularity and system overview. The advent of new powerful microprocessors has allowed a still higher degree of modularity than originally expected. and may even lead to an industry standard for electrical interface between products from different manufacturers.

Any ATC system. whether big or small. presents a number of very complex choices to be made. The selection of the optimum solution to a single problem is often complicate-cl by the fact that several distinctly different disciplines must collaborate. Different points of view may be expressed by controllers and pilots. by controllers and engineers. etc. These are wellknown facts. But also between engineers of different discipline we have problems of language to overcome. For example. radar engineers tend to speak in terms of statistics. or probabilities. whereas computer engineers expect precise. deterministic functions.

It takes admittedly years of experience to overcome these problems and find all the small pieces which put together. complete the huge puzzle which constitutes an efficient Air Traffic Control System.

A main advantage. not immediately apparent. with distributed processing is that you are forced to very clearly define and allocate the various functions to be performed due to the spatial distribution and the need for clear-cut interfaces. The problems of 'language·. mentioned above. therefore come into the searchlight at a very early stage of the system design phase. You will thus

solve problems where and when they originate and do not have to live with disturbances which. in previous systems. may have been thought of as necessary evils. A very good example is radar data extraction. plot tracking. and data transmission.

A modern radar to-day has built-in data extractors which make full use of all available radar information. including the status of the radar; and in some cases even plot tracking with automatic initialization may be performed by the radar itself. or at least at the radar site.

The result of this is that the data transmission lines are no longer loaded with a high amount of false alarms. and that the system computers are not burdened with data tracking and false echoes.

Experience has shown that in many cases a central computer at the operations site may even not be required in smaller systems. in which the power of the built-in display computers is exploited fully.

Another example is the development which has taken place in the display system. Not only has the quality of the display improved considerably in

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Computer print-out of non-tracked radar plots (Built-in radar extractor).

terms of flicker-free presentation and high display brightness. but also the collaboration between system designers. and controller has brought us some very encouraging results in cost-effectiveness.

Selenia has taken a very active part in the human engineering aspect of the system. especially with regard to the man-machine interface. The fact that each display now includes its own minicomputer has given a very high degree of flexibility to the design engineer. allowing the introduction of new. very effective software package, not only for solving problems relating directly to the control of aircraft. but also with regards to fast. automatic system reconfiguration in case of failure. making ·computer outage· a problem of the past. It is obvious that the workload. on a central processing system. using an essentially general purpose computer to make all the calculations for a system creates bottlenecks. which easily result in computer system failures. socalled computer outage.

Furthermore. the amount of computer power available has opened new possibilities for flight data programs.

When we presented some of our new operations software some years ago, it was pointed out that it may now become too easy for the controller to perform his task. and a risk of a 'boredom factor· may well have to be foreseen under light workloads. with the result of absentmindedness. A constant workload might be desirable. On the other hand, to complicate the work of the controller just for the sake of complications seems not to be the right way to go.

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viding better service to the customer. the aircraft.

To do any serious work with these problems. however. a very close collaboration between airlines. pilots. air traffic controllers. ATC officials. and system designers whether from industry or governmental organizations is required.

A possible way is to develop a larger amount of Standard Arrivals than usual. and use STARs instead of vectoring.

These STARs will be stored in the computing system. and a program will then continuously check which STAR is available at any given time for the single aircraft for his optimum speed and descent characteristics. while maintaining standard separation and thus minimum conflict possibilities. This may give the controller means of issuing clearances. especially vertical clearances. more suitable to modern aircraft. e.g. a clearance from cruising level to I LS interception. The pilot could then select an aircraft trim for a continouns descent. It is obvious that the controller will continue to perform his task of separating aircraft. but the need for his intervention would be reduced.

The probability of success need therefore not to be 100% or more. as required by air safety programs. Already 80% probability of success. by which I mean the number of times an aircraft may perform its approach by own navigation without further intervention by the controller for separation. would mean an enormous saving in fuel. and a Continues on page 2 3

Display with built-in minicomputer.

At the same time. the cost of fuel has risen to the sky (no pun intended).

Furthermore. you hear more and more often about pilots complaining about awkward clearances. especially during the descent and approach phases. making the effectiveness of modern aircraft flight management systems an illusion.

The obvious way to improve on these problems is to use the computing power available. The built-in computer in the display. being totally dedicated to a single sector. may solve some of the tactical problems presented to the controller. This is especially true in the T.M.A. part of the flight. Until today we have dedicated ourselves to the safety aspect of AT C.. separating aircraft and tactical programs available are generally in the form of safety nets. such as conflict alerts and height warnings. though also automatic sequencing is coming up. But other problems. hereto solved instinctively by the controller may more effectively be handled by the computer. at the same time pro16

Data Communications within the Air Navigation Services System by: W J A. Vonk Philip's Telecommunicatie lndustrie Corporate Member of lfatca

For reasons of organisation. economy and above all safety of Civil Aviation an enormous amount of information is exchanged every day over various data communication networks. I will describe two of those networks. to highlight some of the essential differences between a modern integrated communication system and the deficiencies of another and finally explain why, and how, the latter should be upgraded to present day standards.

Figure 1 is a graphical representation of the SITA (Societe lnternationale des Telecommunications Aeronautique) communications network. SITA is used and owned by 240 airlines throughout the world for exchanging information about passenger and cargo handling.

The size of this network is impressive: for instance. it consists of 1 2 000 stations in 800 cities in 1 5 2 countries which in total use 16 000 teleprinters and 5000 VDU's. 1700 people are employed to operate the system which costs annually $ 100 million.

The system uses land-lines. radio links and satellites for communications Figure 1 The SITA Network

which can vary in speed from one to 150 words per second. 1 980 saw 450 million messages as well as 2500 million request/replies sent over the network. The data switched by the network normally comprised the following: passenger facilities cargo facilities seat and cargo reservations passenger lists lost luggage information Despite its extreme complexity. the average reply time to a request. regardless of origin or destination. is 3 seconds. But then, SITA was the world first packet switching network for which Philips Telecommunications was the main supplier of hardware and know- how.

Let us now have a look at the network. that supports the Air Navigation Services System. Compared to the SITA network the AFTN (Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network) is not so advanced. It is considerably slower, is not suited for request/ reply traffic and does not support the distribution of large portions of information.

Due to these deficiencies it only carries a small part of the total amount of infor-

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mation exchange within the ANS system. This can be illustrated by considering the enormous variety of data types handled within the system. We found about 1 7 5 different data types distributed over six Aeronautical Information Data categories (see fig. 2). Many of these data types are exchanged by mail, telephone or, if speed is required, dedicated lines. In fact only 35 of these data types are distributed through AFTN. We feel that this system is hardly able to meet today·s requirements.

Apart from growing air-traffic, meaning growing information flow. and faster aircraft asking for faster communications, there are other important reasons to upgrade the AFTN. There is an increasing demand within the ANS system for more efficient methods of access to Aeronautical Information data. Modern display and data-communication technology can without any doubt meet this demand, as long as the requested data is available within the ANS data processing system. Today this would mean that. say, Notam Class II information, as received by mail. would have to be brought into the system manually, while Notam Class I information can be put in automatically through direct connection of the data processing system with AFTN. An upgraded AFTN could in addition easily take care of distribution of Class II Notams and even AIP updates.

An upgraded network would also be suited for request/reply traffic. This would mean that requested information, which is not available locally in the data processing system can be automatically accessed at another system via request/reply traffic over the network. It is obvious that all ANS units would benefit from facilities of this kind.

Also current developments in the field of ATC. like automatic coordination of flight progress between ACC's and air/ 17

ground datalinks will heavily depend on fast and reliable data-communication facilities.

Definition and realisation of an upgraded AFTN is not so much a problem of investment - spending on ATC equipment is over $ 1000 million yearly - as well of a) getting autonomous civil aviation authorities to talk the same language. both technically and administratively. and b) the lac,· of universally accepted user specifications.

Since 196 7 there has been an !CAO panel working on the definition of a better ANS communications system. codenamed CIDIN. Common !CAO Data Interchange Network. In fig. 3 we can see a projected implementation plan. In the first years of its existence this panel made· considerable progress. Unfortunately. in our view. time has been wasted more recently by concentrating on unimportant side issues such as the fine tuning of link protocols. Obviously further delays in the definition of CIDIN are in nobody's interest. An efficient way to speed up the process is to exert. as end users of such an advanced network. continual pressure on the panel. this could be done constructively by putting forward the user demands for information access (as airline pilots via IFAPLA have already done) and the consequent data-communication requirements.

We. along with another corporate member. ANSA. presented during the IFATCA conference in Cairo a working paper which contains proposals concerning this vital area of user-specifica-

Figure 2

Notam information Class I Snowtam Airac

ANS system internal information Emergency procedures Letters of agreement Hi-jack procedures Fuel jettison areas

AFTN messages Distress message Accident message Flight plan Departure message

Meteorological messages Metar Sigmet Current air pressure (QNH/QFE)

Al P information Regulations Routes Reporting points Zones Areas

Technical Status message Nav-aid status data

Aeronautical data type categories

tions. It was decided that these will be discussed by Standing Committee 1 during this year's sessions.

At that time we also gave an impression of the Aeronautical data-pro-

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Figure 3 18

Typical example of AFTN development in the Eighties (CIDIN)

cessing system. That we are currently developing. A colour-graphic terminal to access stored Aeronautical Information was demonstrated and especially its use for ATC/FIS purposes. Through operation of carefully selected functionkeys all necessary information such as: NOTAMS Airport Data Airspace and route data Status data Local regulations Flow control data Weather data were presented fast and accurately with the assistance of colour and graphic displays.

Although a system like this could be implemented using only AFTN communications. it will be clear that upgrading AFTN to Cl DIN will increase its efficiency and possibilities enormously.

The speedy realisation of CIDIN is mandatory to meet the Air Navigation System· s demand for more efficient data-communications.

As explained. this demand is not merely a consequence of the growth of current AFTN traffic. but above all stemming from the need for fast and efficient access· to aeronautical information datatypes which are today hardly accessible or only via elaborate and time-consuming means.

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Mock-up of the Cairo air navigation centre. contract the largest of which will be Cairo Air Navigation (CANC} located at Heliopolis Airport.

Modernizing the Egyptian A.T.C. System

2. Improved Radar Detection Network

by Roger Kahane

1 . Introduction

Over the past few years the Egyptian Civil Aviation Organization has been studying a project to modernize the national air traffic control operation.

This project calls for the progressive implementation of a number of systems and services through successive phases. The first phase was launched a few months ago with the placing of a contract. the salient technical and operational aspects which will now be outlined.

The improvements to be implemented within the frame of this contract will directly benefit all the parties involved in air transportation: consumers. carriers and passengers and those who make it work. air traffic controllers and pilots.

These improvements affect the air traffic control system at several levels: Modernization of the radar detection network

Modernization of the radar data processing and display Modernization of the flight plan processing and display Modernization tion networks: -

of the communica-

Air ground Domestic point to point International point to point

These networks include the telephony and telegraphy links HF. VHF and UHF radio communications and microwaves links.

Extension of the navigation aids Modernization of the means used for training controllers.

These equipments must be installed at various locations throughout the country in buildings which either exist already or are to be erected. In all. five building complexes have to be constructed within the scope of the phase I

This improvement involves the installation of two radar stations and a VHF/OF station.

The first radar station. intended for en-route surveillance. incorporates a high power Klystron-driven primary radar with a range in excess of 200 nautical miles. coupled with an SSR. Radarsignals are output in two formats: Analog video and synthetic data obtained by extraction (primary radar and SSR) and re-combination of the primary and secondary plots.

This station is to be installed at the CANC building. that is to say close to the new Airport control tower.

The second station. which also uses a Klystron radar but of lower power. has a range of 60 nautical miles. This station is also fitted with SSR. and meets the requirements of Cairo TMA control.

Its location is close to a runway. and about 1 . 5 km from the CANC. Furthermore. reinforcement of the detection network also involves the implementation of a VHF-OF installed in a shelter close to the approach radar.

19

3. Improved Radar Data Processing and Display

3. 1 After ground clutter suppression. plot extraction and plot recombination by equipment located with the radars. the radar data processing functions are: Multi-radar tracking. based initially on the information provided by the two new radars. but capable of taking in information from 6 different radars in the future.

SSR code-to-callsign correllation. through dialogue with the flight plan computers.

Determination of track speed.

Establishment of the air traffic situation picture. in generalized system coordinates. including production of the Video map.

Execution of orders received from keyboards at the control positions.

System surveillance. with automatic switchover to the standby computer in the event of a malfunction.

3. 2 The radar data are required to be displayed at 3 specific locations: In the CANC at 7 ops room consoles (2 TMA consoles; 4 en-route consoles; 1 standby console). as well as on a technical monitor display.

In the IFR room at the new control tower. at 3 consoles (departures; intermediate approach. final approach).

In the tower cab. on two TV bright displays (scan-converted radar picture) as well as on a TV display used as a technical monitor in the equipment room.

The CANC and IFR room displays are all the same type: autonomous viewing units with 21-inch diameter CRT's on which can be displayed the raw radar picture from either of the two radars. together with the bright. synthetic multi-radar picture.

Each controller has a selection keyboard. ari alphanumeric keyboard. a function keyboard an a rolling ball designation unit at his disposal.

The local terminals consist of insertion and sending positions. manual message correction positions. supervision or monitoring positions. and special positions.

The heart of this message switching system is a dual-computer complex with 48 k.words of memory capacity.

Auxiliary bulk storage is provided by 8 Megabit disks. The main transmission speeds used are 50-. 7 5-. 100 and 200 bauds.

4.2 Flight plan processing Automatic flight plan processing is provided by means of dual Solar 1 665 computers. each equiped with 1 28 k.words of memory. These computers are thus identical to those employed for radar data processing.

The processing functions are: AFTN message reception Manual correction of these messages. where necessary.

Manual input or modifications of flight plans by the controllers or by the flight plan section operators.

Automatic flight plan activation 1 5 minutes prior to reaching the entry reporting point.

Code to callsign correlation Flight plan updating according to radar data Feeding of display data to the consoles Automatic strip printing Management and storage of repetitive flight plans Flight plan recording for legal and statistical requirements.

5.3 Flight plan display The flight plans are displayed: a) On the strip printers and digitatrons used by the controllers: In the CANC ops room: 2 TMA positions 4 en-route positions 1 standby positions In the new tower's IFR room: departure position intermediate approach position In the new tower cab: 2 control positions b) On the VDU's provided for the five flight plan section operators.

4. Improved Flight Plan Processing and Display

The improvements in this area are the following:

5. Improved Communications Network

4. 7 AFTN message switching An automatic message switching center installed in the CANC is linked to about 40 subscriber centers located in Cairo and at Egyptian airports. and it distributes the AFTN messages to 13 local terminals. It is also connected to the flight plan processing computer center. It is designed to handle 550 messages per peak hours.

The CANC operations depend on communications: With aircraft in flight Within the CANC With Airport services: departments With offices in town (airlines. etc ..... ) - With domestic airports - With neighbouring A.T.C. organisms.

20

Depending on the parties. these communications transit via telephone or telegraph lines by HF-VHF or UHF radio. and by microwaves links.

5. 7 Air ground comms This service is provided by HF. VHF or UHF radio.

HF comms use the K 17 tra nsm ission center (three 6-kW ISB transmitters) and receivers located at the K 1 5 center. These two centers are connected to the CANC through microwaves links. A microwave link between K 1 5 and K 1 7 centers closes the triangle.

The VHF and UHF comms. facilities are located at several places around Cairo. and at four provincial centers in Asiyut. Marsa Matruh. Alexandria and Luxor.

In the vicinity of Cairo. the principal transmission-reception center is in Abu Rawash. which is linked to the CANC through microwaves links. A secondary back-up station is installed at the CANC. Furthermore. the new control tower has its own separate back-up equipment.

With respect to air/ground communications from or to the CANC. the routing of the modulation signals from the controller is as follows: At the control position: a selection panel enables selection of the HF, VHF or UHF channel. level control. and connections to the foot-presser microphone. head-set. loudspeaker. etc.

The central equipment: performs the allocation to each telephone line arriving from a control position of a limited number of frequency channels. In the first phase this modular equipment allows allocation of 14 VHF or UHF channels to 21 control positions. and 1 2 HF channels to the 4 HF control positions.

The modulation signals are then routed by microwaves links to and from: Abu Rawash station. for VHF and UHF communications.

K 1 7 HF transmission station and K 15 HF reception station.

The VHF transmitters are .crystalcontrolled 50 watt units. while the UHF transmitters. also crystal-controlled. are 100 watt units.

Transmitters operating in the same frequency band are grouped together to operate into a common antenna by means through multicouplers; some of the antennas already in place in Egypt are reutilized.

In case of a failure of the main electrical power. the equipment is powered independently by generating sets and batteries.

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aircat The safety and the economics of air transportation require that the air traffic control system keep pace with current aircraft capabilities and traffic volumes.

Over the last twenty years THOMSON-CSF has designed, built and installed more than 100 ATC systems to meet the most varied needs, from an individual airport to a complete nationwide network. Building on this experience, AIRCAT is a family of modular systems integrating the detection, transmission, processing and display equipment and software developped in-house.

There is an AIRCAT system for every requirement: from purely manual operation of a single radar in a daylight environment to coverage of a vast area using several radars, with automatic multi-radar tracking,

flight plan processing, conflict detection, computer-aided decisionmaking, software management of communication links, etc.

The SIMCAT digital air traffic simulators, which derive directly from the AIRCAT systems, are powerful tools fc,r training air traffic controllers and for studying new flight and control procedures.

~ THOMSON·CSF DIVISION DRS.TVT 40, rue Grange-Dame-Rose - BP 34 92360 MEUDON-LA-FORl=T-(F)-Tl=L. (1)630.23.80

In all, 40 VHF transmitters, 25 UHF transmitters and the same numbers of receivers are installed in 7 separate centers.

5. 2 Links with the national airports Apart from the links with some national airports which will later on be provided through microwave links, the links covered by this contract are through HF radio communications.

In Cairo K 1 7 transmission center and K 15 reception center, two 6-kW ISB HF transmitters and two antennae. one of the log-periodic type and the other of the broadband dipole type. together with their associated receivers. allow communications with the 1 2 national airports.

Two 1-kW HF transmitters and associated receivers are installed in each of these airports. The antennae types. depending on the distance of the station from Cairo are: Either broadband dipole antennae for the short range links (stations in Port Said. Alexandria. St. Catherine.

El Dabaa, Oarum and Marsa Matruh).

Or log-periodic antennae for the long range links (Abu Simbel. Ghar-

the triangle are different ( 1 6 to 38 telephone channels plus 11 telegraphy channels).

dakka. Aswan. Luxor. Asyut and New Valley).

5.3 International links These links. emanating from Cairo (K15 and K17 stations) use 6 kw ISB HF transmitters.

Seven circuits will be installed or modernized and taking account of reutilization of existing equipment and antennae. the equipment to be supplied is a total of 6 _transmitters. 1 4 receivers and 2transmission antennae.

5. 4 Microwave links The purpose of the microwave links is to interconnect the CANC through telephony and telegraphy circuits to a number of locations.

Some of these locations being not far away are connected directly to the CANC by a single hop link. This is the case for: Abu Rawash VHF-UHF transmission-reception center. where a VHF link carries 21 telephone channels.

Kl 5 and Kl 7 HF transmission and reception centers, which are interlinked and linked to the CANC by means of a triangular network in which the capacities of each leg of

On the other hand. Asyut. Luxor and Aswan airports will be linked to the CANC in two stages.

For the first stage. corresponding to the first phase of implementation of the Egyptian ATC system. these airports are connected to the post offices of their corresponding towns by VHF links. single-hop for Aswan and Luxor. two hops at Asyut.

Later on. each of these post offices will be linked to the CANC through a high capacity connection using either microwave links or cable. During the first phase the airport-to-post office links will carry only a relatively small number of telephone channels (1 0.3 and 8 channels respectively for Asyut, Luxor and Aswan).

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Telephone links A dedicated security telephone network specific to the CANC provides access for 65 telephone sets to 35 external lines.

6. Met. Information Display 6. 1 A closed circuit television (CCTV) system is planed for the CANC. to display information of a general nature. and met. information in particular.

The pictures may be produced by camera. or by 4 data input units provided for the technical supervisor. the ATC room supervisor. the met office supervisor and the flight information office supervisor. These pictures are dispatched to 18 positions fitted with monitors and picture selection keyboards. These positions comprise the 7 control consoles of the CANC ops room, the 3 HF airground comms. positions. 1 position in the IFR room. two positions in the cab of the new control tower. I Volmet position and 4 positions available as backup or for technical supervision.

Each operator or controller may select any picture among 8 available. and each picture contains up to 24 lines with up to 64 characters per line.

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6. 2 Volmet information is also broadcast from K1 7 transmission centre by two 6-kW transmitters. This broadcast is monitored at K1 5 reception centre. and also at Marsa Matruh and Asyut centres .

7. Extension of Navigation Aids In this respect. 12 VOR's and 6 DME's will be installed. the DME's being co-located with some of the VOR's.

At present. the precise location of these navaids has not been established although the general areas are decided.

8. Modernized Controller Training Aids Practical training of controllers will be provided by an ATC simulator with three pilot units. each unit being capable of handling 8 aircraft. The heart of the simulator is a solar 1 6-6 5 computer. identical to the four computers used for radar data and flight plan processing. The configuration of the peripherals is very similar.

However, this computer is not duplicated.

The student controller positions are in fact operational control positions which are employed during low traffic periods.

A language laboratory is also included.

9. Civil Works A large part of the phase 1 contract is devoted to erecting and converting buildings.

Practically all the equipment to be installed outside the Cairo region will be located in existing buildings except for two buildings to be erected in Marsa Matruh and Asyut.

On the other hand, the building works around Cairo are considerable: apart from two small buildings to be constructed in Abu Rawash and Heliopolis (approach radar station), the major construction project is the CANC. This project which is currently under way is located on a 5, 5 hectare site within the precincts of Heliopolis Airport. about 800 metres from the new control tower.

It includes 6 main buildings. parking facilities and a shelter to house the VHF and UHF comms. equipment.

The major buildings are: 1. A 3-level central block containing At basement level: an airconditioning substation, and an emergency back-up ops room.

At ground floor level, a technical room for the radar data processing and the flight plan processing equipment.

On the top floor. an ops room.

2. A maintenance wing building. where the en-route radars (primary and secondary) as well as the plot extractors are installed. with the specific airconditioning plant. and various maintenance rooms. workshops. and offices for the maintenance staff.

3. A 30 metre high radar antenna tower capped by a radome. This tower carries the en-route primary and secondary radar antenna, as well as the microwave antenna for the links to K 1 5 and K 1 7 centres and Abu Rawash centre.

4. An 'Operation wing' building. housing the flight plan section. the AFTN message switching centre. the operational services offices. and the language laboratory.

5. A 'Recreation· area.

6. An Annex building. housing: The electrical power house (transformer sub-station. standby generating sets. no-break power supplies for the computers, etc ..... ). The main air-conditioning plant. A garage.

The earthworks have been fully subcontracted to Egyptian contractors.

A model of the CANC building complex is exhibited in the technical exhibition.

10. Implementation Schedule The contract came into force at the end of the first semester of 1 980. As of May 1st 1981. while manufacture of the electronic and electrical equipment is under way in our factories. the site works have been started and the first stone ceremony will take place May 1 2th. The total building works programme should be completed during the first quarter of 1983. and all systems will be installed. commissioned and ready for operational service and handover to the customer during the second quarter of 1983.

11. Participants Under the authority of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Organization the main contractor is the DRS/T-VT division of the Thomson CSF company.

This division in addition to the management of the whole project. will provide also the supply of radars. radar and flight data processing systems. displays and Navigation Aids.

Other division of the group Thomson CSF provide the following equipment. systems or services: DFH division: microwave links DTC division: HF. VHF and VHF communication, equipment TEX division: power supply. no break power supply and energy distribution equipments.

ATC telephone system. VHF/UHF channels distribution system. closed circuit television system. recorders and consoles.

Outside the Thomson CSF group, SESA company provides the Automatic messages switching center. SAGEM the associated teletypes and Rhode & Schwarz the VHF Direction Finder.

The civil work has been sub-contracted to the French company SADC (Societe Armoricaine Ducassou et Cie) and to the Egyptian company El Nasr.

Cont. from page 16 better utilization of the airspace and airport facilities. These thoughts go a step further than traditional ATC service. in so far as the economy of the aircraft becomes a factor of relevance to the controller. The implications are that the controller and the system must have a much deeper knowledge of aircraft performance and flight profiles than common to-day. Using a system like this. the controller would be aware. with a much higher degree of accuracy. of all aircraft intentions within his airspace. and could thus be able to transmit relevant flight information such as trackmiles to go and speed brackets. within which the aircraft should keep its velocity. A suitable form for presentation on the PP! could easily be devised.

It should here be noted that an aircraft flying level. with a velocity below vclean present a fuel consumption (fuel flow) many times the consumption of the same aircraft above vciean. trimmed to an even descent with power setting on idle. A preprogrammed clearance from cruising level to !LS. with known track-miles. would allow the full use of modern flight procedures and flight management systems.

The modern ATC system with distributed intelligence. and may be even with multiprocessors. has adequate growth capability to handle such a system concept. but the reelaboration of the T.M.A.. and of the TMA strategies becomes naturally a major task. We have during the last three years been working on a set of off-line computer programs for CNR. the Italian National Research Council. The scope has been to create a software package, which is able to simulate completely a given airspace under different traffic conditions.

The programs consist of a large number of data files ·concerning the geography of the airspace. air routes. reporting points. navigation aids. radar coverage, types of aircraft. traffic load. weather. etc.. as a very complex data base. together with programs to create these files from raw data; and then a number of programs designed to optimize an airspace structure and the infrastructure required. These programs will be a valuable tool in designing new systems. especially with the suggested techniques in mind.

Therefore. taking into account not only the experience gained until now. but also future possibilities. we must conclude that the concept of distributed processing has completely fulfilled our expectation. It has proven to be not only the most cost effective way from a general system point of view. but it has also opened possibilities for new methods which may be even more important in the future.

23

WhenitSamatterofprojects Philipshasallthatmatters Take-off, approach, landing and positioning; enroute communications and navigation; passenger handling and terminal security are closely related elements within a complex system of airport facilities that cannot be considered in isolation. Which is why Paraguay's airport authority chose Philips to modernise and extend the Presidente Stroessner International Airport at Asuncion - a turnkey project involving many disciplines.

We supplied two LAR-2 long-range radar sys-

PHILIPS

terns, to provide complete radar coverage of the Paraguay flight information region as well as the approach to Ascuncion. Navigational-aids supplied included a VOR/DME, anNDB, a VHF/DF, an ILS and a T-VASIS visual approach system.

Access to the AFTN and public networks is provided by a Philips AEROPP data communication system which can easily be expanded to switch meteorolgical messages as well as flight plans and all other aeronautical information at any time in the

future. Upgrading of ground-to-air and ground-toground communications is by means of our solidstate HF and VHF radio equipment, remotely controlled via UHF links. Communications· are continuously recorded on a duplicated multi-channel voice logging system.

Terminal equipment includes Dynafluor handbaggage inspection; Dynascreen metal detection gateways; hand-held explosives detectors and a 15 camera CCTV surveillance system. We were also

AustriaVienna's international airp01t, Schwechat, has installed a T-VASIS visual approach slope indicator system, using Philips PS43 T-VASIS units, at both ends of the main mnway. T-VASIS consists of ten high-intensity light units at each side of the mnway; four at a tight-angle so that they form a wingbar. Slope deviation is indicated by the number of lights visible in the leg of a ''T" arrangement, the wingbar being continually visible. An upright ''T" indicating fly-up and an inve1ted ''T" indicating fly-down.

Thus, with the exception of gross undershoot, indicated by an all-red upright ''T", T-VASIS guidance relies on the an-angement of clear high-intensity light units rather than colour differential as used on the conventional VASI system. The information provided by a T-VASI system is therefore less effected by reduced visibility conditions.

Philips Airp01t Lighting Project Group can also advise on, and implement, specialised lighting equipment for approach, mnway, taxi-way and apron flood lighting, as well as decorative and general illumination for airp01t terminals.

responsibleforoperationaland technicalstafftraining as well as six monthsoperationalback-up.Why Philips?Firstly,we are a multi-technologycompany specialisingin manybranchesof the aviationindustry. Secondly,we are able to integratethese technologies within-houseprofessionalconsultancyservices to providea single, co-ordinatingauthorityforany type or size of projectin aviation.

Here are some more examplesof ourproject capability.

UnitedStates.The Federal Aviation Administration has selected a Philips aeronautical data communication system for the new National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN). Initially, the network will comprise two main switching nodes in Atlanta and Salt Lake City and twenty-one seconda1y concentration nodes at all major air traffic control centres throughout the U.S.A. If you want to know more, the book 'Philips in Aviation' is yours for the asking.Just send your business card or name and address to: Philips Industries C.M.S.D., Marketing Communications, VOp,Room 22,Eindhoven,Holland. "'""'"'·''''·••

Saudi Arabia.A Philips closed circuit television system, comprising 56 cameras and 37 monitors, is used for security surveillance in and around the new customs complex at Riyadh International Airpo1t. The strategically-sited cameras are linked to a master control desk in the central security room, from where each camera can be panned, tilted, zoomed and monitored remotely. An alarm system, together with appropriate signalling, has also been integrated into the master control desk. The project was supplied by Philips Direct Export Division and installed by the Philips agent in Saudi Arabia: Messrs. Rajab and Silsilah.

536

Philips workingin Aviation

HijackingCanadian Legislation (Measures to regulate aspects of air transport)

Hon. Mark MacGuigan (Secretary of State for External Affairs) moved that Bill S-7. to provide for the prohib1t1on·01 certain international air services. be read the second time and. by unanimous consent. referred to a Committee of the Whole.

He said: Madam Speaker. the objective of the bill before us Is to implement in a concrete and practica I way the government's commitment to combat aerial hijacking. a particularly prevalent form of international terrorism. The bill Is the result of the Declaration on Hijacking made at the Bonn summit in July 1978. The Prime Minister (Mr. Trudeau) was personally instrumental in the final formulation of the text of that important declaration. which was jointly issued by the seven heads of state and government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

France. Italy. Japan. the United Kingdom. the United States and Canada. The text Is not long. but to save time I will not read it.

The obligation to extradite or prosecute h11ackers has a firm basis in international law. It is. for example. an essential operative provision in the 1970 Hague Convention for the Suppression of the Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft. to which Canada and over 100 other states are parties. However. the difficulty the international community faces In cornbaiting h11ack1ng.and indeed various other forms of terrorism. is not the absence of international agreements defining offences and setting out appropriate penalties The difficulty is. rather. the reluctance of governments to face up to their obligations when it comes to taking appropriate legal action against alleged offenders. Indeed. as recent events bear witness. some governments. for pol1t1calreasons even condone. if not openly support. the activities of the wrongdoers.

It is this kind of culpability or attitude on the part of governments that the declaration is directed against. The severing of air links with the offending state. or defaulting state.

26

to use the language of the bill. Is intended to act as a kind of sanction to induce compliance with international obligations. In addition. the severing of air links can be seen. in appropriate circumstances. as a gesture whereby Canada dissociates itself from governments which are not prepared to take all necessary steps to deal with terrorists.

Clause 3 of the bill provides for determination of default by the Secretary of State for External Affairs. Such determination would be the result of close consultation with the other six governments which would each be monitoring and assessing the follow-up to any given hijacking incident. This actIvIty would be undertaken primarily by the embassies of the seven governments In the country or countries involved in the hi1ack1ng.Based on the advice of the Secretary of State for External Affairs and the Minister of Transport. the governor in council would then be in a position to determine what prohibitive action. if any. is appropriate In the circumstances. Hon. members will see in Clause 3 ( 1) of the bill the range of possibilities that are open In this regard. In exceptionally serious cases it is conceivable that all six prohibitions would be invoked.

The bill also provides for amendment or repeal of an order of prohibition as well as for penalties for air carriers which fail to comply with the order.

The government considers it desirable to enact specific legislation for implementation of the Bonn declaration even though existing powers would permit some measures of the kind of action required by the declaration. Because of the often fast-moving and unpredictable nature of hijacking incidents. the government should have available a procedure that is clearly established in advance and can be implemented on short notice.

As hon. members will see. the bill is brief and uncomplicated. It provides for drastic

measures. but we believe that in situations which often involve loss of life and the taking of innocent hostages. all the measures are called for.

The essential element to be considered here is the obligation to extradite or prosecute hijackers. We are convinced that unless governments act resolutely to deal with hijackers. such incidents of terrorism will increase. We also believe that terrorists would largely be ineffective were it not for the support or acquiescence of some governments. achieved by intimidation. The Bonn declaration has put the world on notice that the Government of Canada. and the six other governments involved. will not stand idly by while international law is flouted and terrorism condoned and encouraged.

Passage of this bill will ensure that Canada is in a position to comply fully with the terms of the Bonn declaration. The forthcoming Ottawa summit will again provide an opportunity for the seven governments to reaffirm their commitment to combatting terrorism. It is noteworthy. I believe. that the previous government in effect confirmed a decision already taken by the former liberal government that special legislation should be enacted to implement the declaration. This is therefore not a partisan issue.

The efforts of Canada alone are not enough to resolve this problem. but if all governments were to act in the same spirit. the situation would be greatly improved.

Hon. Flora MacDonald (Kingston and the Islands): Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to have this opportunity to lend my party's support to the implementation of Bill S-7. It is a bill that adresses only one part of a greater. over-all evil that has left no nation in the world untouched. The evil to which I refer is that of international terrorism.

The philosophy of violence that is a trademark of terrorists and their organizations has been. and continues to be. repugnant to any nation which adheres to a civilized. democratic and law-abiding way of life and equally towards peaceful co-existence.

Terrorism. however. is not new phenomenon to any country. There are many types and examples of terrorism that one could cite from history. but they pale into insignificance when compared to the nature or style of today·s international terrorism.

It is a phenomenon that knows no borders. respects no laws - be they domestic or international - and is marked by indiscriminate targetting. the senseless loss of lives and a total lack of morality.

Perhaps. Mr. Speaker. terrorism is a sign of our times. for we live in a world riddled with strife and violence. caused in part by political. cultural. economic and religious division. Because of these facts. it is vital to world security that the international community resists terrorism in a unified and effective approach.

The subject matter of Bill S-7 deals with the unlawful seizure of an aircraft and its passengers. a criminal act more commonly known as 'hijacking·. Hijacking acts have been committed by a variety of terrorist groups or individuals. No member in this House needs reminding that if such hijackings violence is always used and. tragically

has often resulted in the taking of innocent lives.

As the Secretary of State for External Affairs (Mr. Mac Guigan) has said Bill S-7 owes its existence to the declaration on hijacking stopped at the Bonn summit. On January 1 7. 1978 the ten nations participating in that Bonn summit issued a declaration which became known as the •Bonn Declaration on Hijacking·. That Bonn declaration was reaffirmed at the Tokyo economic summit in June. 1979.

This declaration highlighted a problem that has confronted nations who are attempting to combat terrorism in all its forms. The problem is that certain nations which have been designated by hijackers as their final destination have in the past failed or refused to prosecute or extradite the hijackers and. In some cases. have welcomed them as heroes.

With this rather distressing conduct of certain nations the ensuing problem has been that those countries committed to combatting terrorism have been consistently frustrated and hamstrung by the action of these nations in their refusal to cooperate. refusing to abide by the principles of international law or any civilized domestic code of law.

These actions do not offer much hope for some form of peaceful global co-existence. These actions only cultivate frustration. mistrust and a sense of futility. How can law-abiding nations hope to combat terrorism effectively when the offenders know full well that they will not face prosecution or extradition by certain states? It is imperative that these criminals be given notice that they will find no safe haven through-out the world and will ultimately face full and just punishment for their criminal activities.

There is a serious responsibility placed on the nations which believe In this goal of deterring terrorism not only to support international declarations such as the ones adopted at The Hague. Montreal and Bonn. but in addition to bolster them with domestic legislation having a specific aim toward pressuring other nations into punishing terrorists who unlawfully seize aircraft. threaten innocent crew members and passengers and sometimes murder them. Bill S-7 will serve. hopefully. as a notice to those who support terrorism that Canada intends to honour its international commitments.

As stated before. the campaign against terrorism by all law-abiding nations must be founded on both a collective and individual desire to attain that goal. I believe quite sincerely. Mr. Speaker, that the debate on this piece of legislation should transcend partisan politics because passage of this bill is crucial to Canada's international reputation.

Adoption of specific legislation such as Bill S-7 will undoubtedly give clear authority to the government and. of course. greater certainty when dealing with hijacking incidents. In the case where a hijacking occurs and Canada finds a state in default of the legislation. Bill S-7 will enable the government to respond and act with greater speed. Needless to say, sir. action and. to a lesser degree. speed are two important elements required to give this commitment credibility and effectiveness.

I would like to say that the passage of such legislation is long overdue. Admittedly,

the frequency or rate of hijackings has decreased somewhat. but now is not the time for nations to become apathetic or lethargic in their efforts toward deterring terrorism or. in this case. hijacking.

Terrorism. unfortunately. will continue to be practised by a number of misguided individuals. organizations and states. It is our duty and responsibility now to stand up and be counted among those in the world who are opposed to such evil practices. It must be made clear to terrorists that no state will entertain any demands. that terrorists·s acts will be universally condemned. and in the end offenders will be brought to justice. This legislation is a move in that direction.

Some hon. Members: Hear. hear!

Hon. Stanley Knowles (Winnipeg North Centre): Mr. Speaker. I am happy on this occasion to join with the Secretary of State for External Affairs (Mr. MacGuigan) and the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands (Miss Mac Donald) in making this a piece of legislation which we are dealing with on a non-partisan basis and which we all support.

The spokesmen for my party who deal with external affairs and with air transport in particular have studied the bill very carefully.

We have dealt with it in the New Democratic Party caucus and I am authorized on behalf of my party to say that we are quite prepared today to give this bill its second reading and to deal with it in committee of the whole. and also give it third reading.

We support the statements which have been made by the minister and by the previous speaker regarding the concern we feel and must feel about terrorism. about increasing violence in the world. We are glad that the seven nations that meet in summit conferences reached the agreement set out in the Bonn communique. and we are glad we now have before us a piece of legislation that will implement that communique.

Since what the three of us are saying is that we are prepared to support this bill. there really Is no need to spin out the debate. But it did occur to me that since all of us have been referring to the Bonn communique of July 17. 1978. and since it is rather short. 11might be useful to have its actual words in the pages of Hansard. As I say. it is the one issued by the seven nations at the summit conference in Bonn on July 1 7.

197 8. and it is as follows: The Heads of State and Government. concerned about terrorism and the taking of hostages. declare that their Governments will mtenstfy their joint efforts to combat international terronsm. To this end. in cases where a country refuses extradition or prosecution of those who have hijacked an aircraft and/or do not return such aircraft. the Heads of State and Government are ;ointly resolved that thelf Governments shall take immediate action to cease all flights to that country. At the same time. the,r Governments will initiate action to halt all incoming flights from that country or from any country by the airlines of the country concerned.

I like the last sentence: They urge other governments to ;oin them this commitment.

What we have before us now is a bill to provide Canada's implementation of that

,n

commitment, and I want to say to the Secretary of State for External Affairs that I welcome the suggestion that we should have appropriate legislation on the books so that if any action is necessary there will be legislative authority for the appropriate order in council which might have to be issued.

We welcome the introduction of this legislation by this governm.ent. the same legislation the last government was ready to introduce. and I think I can say that the House Is prepared to pass it through all stages before we rise for lunch.

Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is the House ready for the question?

Some hon. Members: Question.

Mr. Deputy Speaker: Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Some hon. Members: Agreed.

Motion agreed to. bill read the second time and the House went into committee thereon. Mr. Francis in the Chair.

Clauses 2. 3 and 4 agreed to.

On Clause 5 - Offence.

Mr. Knowles. Mr. Chairman. before Clause 5 carries I should like to invite the minister to make a comment on it. It is the clause which provides for a penalty of S 25 000. It does not say whether that is a total penalty. or S 25 000 per day. or what have you.

Some of my colleagues who have studied this bill felt at one point that 11would be desirable to raise the amount of that fine. They had discussions with the Secretary of State for External Affairs. I wonder if the minister could give the reason, in the case of such a serious offence, the penalty is so low.

Mr. MacGu1gan. Mr. Chairman. the matter which is now rised by the hon. member was discussed in the other place and there. with our concurrence. the fine was raised from S 10 000 to S 25 000. It is our interpretation that this applies to each day on each offence; that, as I said in my address. in exceptionally serious cases it is conceivable that all six prohibitions could be invoked; and that there could be a number of offences committed simultaneously. each of which for each day would trigger a fine of s 25 000.

The reason for not going above that figure is not to spare the perpetrators of any acts under this legislation. but to keep it at the level of an offence punishable on summary conviction in order to simplify the procedures. I had mentioned that we do have some legislative measures already in effect which could enable us to bring such action. but they are more cumbersome. and one of the principal purposes of this legislation. as I said in my address. is that the government must have a procedure which can be implemented on short notice. The expeditious procedures here are able to be taken in part because we do not go above S 25 000. which would involve us in an indictable offence and more complicated procedures.

Clause 5 agreed to.

Clause 6 agreed to.

Clause 1 agreed to.

Bill reported. read the third time and passed.

27

Martin German's Corner

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28

Handling of Aeronautical Information Data

by Frank W. Fischer (Advisory Group- Air Navigation Services. Inc.)

There are a lot of information data available in the air navigation services system. Aeronautical information data are required by airspace users before and during flight as well as by aeronautical information service and air traffic services personnel in providing AIS and ATS to airspace users. Airspace user requirements have been formulated as operational flight information service requirements (OFIS). put forward by IFALPA and IATA and were accepted

by ICAO during the 9th ANC. Such policy on requirements of AIS and ATS personnel does not exist as yet. IFATCA should therefore begin to formulate its policy for discussion with ICAO and for consolidation with OFIS requirements.

Philips· Telecommunicatie lndustrie has therefore produced a technical working paper in cooperation with ANSA on this subject for discussion and acceptance of this conference. aiming at assisting IFATCA in formulating its policy. ICAO 9th ANC report item 8 (OFIS) requirements and recommendations are attached to our working paper.

It is now time for conceptual design of a common aeronautical information data handling system aiming at fulfilment of the operational requirements of both general user groups. Our paper shall assist you in this process. Some countries have already started similar developments. like Canada with OIDS. Lockheed with JETPLAN. the US FAA with MAPS and AWANS and other AFTN users. In order to demonstrate to you the possibilities for realization. PHILIPS has set-up an AIS preflight briefing and flight plan compilation and filing module. which can be seen in simulated operation in the exhibition area of the corporate members.

The objectives of the air navigation services system to provide services for safe. orderly and expeditious flight meet general political constraints in the form of safety matters. international commitments and defense requirements as well as commercial. private and military user requirements. These constraints and requirements mainly result in the necessity to adapt to changing user requirements. In respect to the handling of aeronautical information data among the various operational requirements for air navigation services system extension and upgrading we

must ask for take-over of routine functions by automatic data processing machinery to reduce controller workload improve controller working conditions increase safety resulting in greater system capacity greater system capability greater system efficiency Aeronautical Information Data (AID) are required by all of us. the airspace users for flight planning before flight and for operation in flight, by the AIS and ATS personnel in order to be able to provide their services to the users of our system. AID are therefore required system internally and system externally.

To the types of data, which are required before flight belong: notices to airmen air traffic services route data airport data airspace organization data navigational warnings special use airspace data weather reports and forecasts air traffic flow control restrictions fuel prices These data are required by internal and external users, civil and military operators. scheduled and non-scheduled operators, commercial and noncommercial operators. In general all of these users can be categorized into three groups: airspace user personnel and facilities air navigation services personnel and facilities other aviation personnel and facilities Among the air navigation services personnel requiring information data we find: aeronautical telecommunication operators aeronautical information service briefing personnel aeronautical technical maintenance and navigation service personnel flight information service operators flight service (AIS and FIS) operators air traffic controllers

air traffic assistant controllers flight data assistants incident and accident investigators air navigation services system planners and evaluators air navigation services instructor personnel aeronautical radio operators At present, information data, which originate from notam offices. AIS briefing offices, aerodrome operators, flow control units. weather offices and so on are still not handled in an efficient way to arrive at AIS and ATS personnel working positions in a quick. current and conclusive way. Especially the type of presentation is inefficient and insufficient, if existing at all.

Data required by AIS and ATS personnel can be categorized as: Static Data aerodrome data ATS route data including departure and arrival routes standard instrument approach and departure procedures Semi-dynamic Data notices to airmen via AFTN status of navigational aids via AFTN or remote sensoring flow control messages via AFTN Dynamic Data emergency direction finder data radar plot and track data current flight plan data including updates The subsystem to handle these data and to forward them to aircraft in flight is the personnel (training and simulation) subsystem, which constitutes the weakest part, but the most important part in the whole system, since all information data are exchanged between pilot and controller by voice radio.

Today most of the data are handled by individual subsystem data communication units, of which the aeronautical fixed telecommunication network (AFTN) is not part of. This is inefficient and the AFTN, however, could be put to much better use than is made of today. A data communication subsystem should handle all the information data and the AFTN itself should form part of it. This allows implementation of data banks for more efficient collection, sorting, combil)ation, correlation and distribution for presentation of data.

Also the operational realization of DABS/ ADS EL will require implementation of such data bases on the ground in the form of data bank as a common source of required information data to DABS Aircraft in the system. DABS foresees to exchange about 20 types of data now, but there exist about 16 7 types out of 7 categories.

Continues on page 45 29

A Professional Visit to Malta

by Andrea Luise· Background

ANACNA (Associazione Nazionale Assistenti e Controllori Navigazione Aerea) has embarked. early 7980. on an intensive project to improve its public relations. The objectives of the public relations officer's (PRO) efforts was to mcrease contacts with the airline operators, the airports and the civil aviation authorities and to improve the professional knowledge of personnel for the mutual benefit. Dozens of visits, both formal and informal, conducted during the months that ensued helped to promote what is now a well established network of information and cooperation benefitting both ANACNA members and foreign airlines and representatives of other aviation fields.

What ANACNA offers by way of knowledge is m the technical and professt0nal fields its cooperation and expertise which, admittedly, is appreciated by all. Furthermore ANACNA makes available space for articles and free advertising in its journal, 'Ass1stenza al Volo·. In return ANACNA seeks the cooperation of the airlines to discover their problems and make the controller·s views on- safety adopted by all air-. space users and related services. In assisting in the updating of the knowledge of the controller the airlines are asked to provide free or reduced air travel to ANACNA ·s members to conduct professional trips.

This very last requirement was recognised by Air Malta and made our visit to ATS facilities and civil aviation auth-

ority in Malta possible through free transportation facilities granted to ANACNA. The Visit

It was at the close of January.

1981 when a three-man delegation of the ANACNA public relations office had the opportunity - thanks to Air Malta to visit the Island's air traffic services facilities, the management of the civil aviation authority. to the Air Malta HQ and naturally meet and talk with fellow air traffic controllers.

It was meant to be a two-day trip packed with visits and meetings start·ing with Air Malta PRO, Mr. Ph. Borg, who talked to us about his company, activities and plans for the future.

Mr. Borg showed extreme interest to ANACNA's activities and to the world controllers problems. The delegation were introduced to Air Malta's traffic services manager, Mr. A. Bonnici, and Mr. A. Costa. manager operations staff.

With these officials the delegation had the opportunity to exchance technical and professional views in particular with the company's operational aspects.

Air Malta being extremely involved in operations through and into Italian airspace - the Malta FIR being contiguous to the Roma FIR - it was indeed an excellent opportunity for both sides to examine some of the problems facing each service. Particularly, the parties were concerned of allowing the use of certain airways to be used by Air Malta during the summer months.

Air Malta was established as an international airline in 1g73 after its independence from British rule and presently runs regular flights to Paris, London, Frankfurt, Tripoli, Roma, etc. Its fleet includes five B-720B plus three B737-200.

The airline employs a total of 1, 21 9 people (88 abroad) - perhaps the largest employing agency other than the civil service. In 1980 the airline has carried a total of 385,277 passengers on its scheduled flights and more than 263.000 on chartered flights, additional to its cargo activities.

Air Malta is a 98% government owned and plans to expand its services further to the Middle East and other European capitals.

Contacts

'Andrea Lu,se 1sthe ANACNAIIFA TCA ha,son officer and chief mremat,onal relatrons officer.

30

Following the deliberations and visits with the Air Malta officials, the ANACNA delegation met with officials of the Maltese Civil Aviation Authority,

namely, Mr. Sultana and Mr. Gatt. of the operations department. The two officers explained the functions of their department and showed interest in the Italian system of air traffic control and its present day status. They were impressed in particular with the cooperation that has developed between Air Malta and the Italian ATC Association.

We had the opportunity to meet also with Mr. P. Attard. the director general of the civil aviation authority. who was glad to offer his good offices for furthering cooperation between the air traffic services of the two countries.

The possibilities were discussed of granting the Maltese controllers similar facilities and opportunities for familiarization flights to Italian air traffic control facilities. We were given the impression that the first of such visits will be effected by Maltese controllers to Rome/ Chiampino ATC with future possibilities of attending air traffic control courses at the Italian academy. This was encouraged by our delegation and we promised to the officials that ANACNA will do all possible to see such visits in the future regularly. It was made clear of course that our intention could not be

to substitute the Italian civil aviation administration but only to use our experience and knowledge for the aviation world to achieve safer air navigation.

As professional controllers it was most natural to meet with our Maltese counterparts and exchange views and experiences. We visited the control tower at Luqa International Airport and the area control centre also located on the airport. We had an excellent opportunity to discuss with the controllers technical and professional problems that are inherent in the system. Malta FIR. as I said earlier. is adjacent to the

Malta ACC and approach radar

Roma FIR with a few hundred miles of a common boundary. Communications between the two units seem to be the most important shortcoming in the system.

On the professional aspect. the peculiar situation of opposite results as to the status of the air traffic controller have taken place during the years of 1979/1980.

The Italian air traffic controller has evolved from the military status to civilian following years of pursuation of the Italian authorities. The con31

•

trary change is being experienced in Malta. where air traffic control personnel were militarised to be given ranks and uniform. In the past. as is well known and when Maltese controllers were civilians they were affiliated to IFATCA. The system as established now an operational controller reaches the rank of the captain and the chief of the ATC is a major. Despite the fact that these controllers come under military discipline yet they only do ATC duties with duty rosters split over a five-day week.

Radar is available only for approach control while area control is procedural.

Their peak period traffic is mainly during the summer months when the tourist season is at its peak. 6 000 movements out of the annual 18 54 1 were conducted during the months of June.

July and August. Overflying traffic (1980 figures were 23 774) has an abrupt increase during the Moslem Haj seasons. Fortunately, for the Maltese colleagues. air traffic is not homogenous with a lot of VFR flights in addition to the scheduled I FR (including chartered) flights arriving and bringing tourists to the Island's famous holiday resorts.

Maltese controllers were indeed happy to see us in their country and their places of work. It is really a beginning that should be followed by other controllers whether Italians or Greeks whether IFATCA members or not. This will be the best avenue to expand our Federation's (IFATCA) representation throughout the world.

Needless to say that our professional contact with our neighbours was concluded with the return flight home

32

on Air Malta's 8-720 cockpiton. Thank you. Air Malta.

headset

Conclusion The ANACNA public relation office has reached through this professional trip. in addition to the various contacts established in Rome with various airline representatives. its two-fold goal: improve the knowledge of the foreign user of the Italian airspace and its peculiarities and introduce and promote the aims and objectives of ANACNA and IFATCA. Obviously to have the opportunity to visit foreign air traffic services establishments so far the better. The Air Malta management sure showed the way to other airlines which have in fact offered similar facilities to Italian

Malta, Luqa control tower

controllers to conduct similar professional visits. It is my Association's hope that professional visits to colleagues in other parts of the world will be continued and increased and in the meantime encourage similar visits from these colleagues to our establishment.

In conclusion. I must admit that this kind of cooperation creates a feeling that I am, ANACNA is part (a vital part) of the air transport world.

From left: Mr. Buccardo (ANACNA), Mr. Luise (ANACNA). Mr. Attard (director CAA), Mr. Sultana (CAA). Maltese controller in uniform, and Mr. Gatt (CAA)

Training in Procedural Control in Automated ATC Systems

by Adnan Enright

•

In those ATC systems which have turned or are turning towards automation and synthetic radar displays many young controllers have not experienced non-radar or procedural methods of control. There appears to exist a growing concern that in the event of a system fail. today's new breed of controller would be unable to revert to the procedural control of aircraft. This article sets out to review the situation and asks the following questions: (i} is it necessary for controllers totlay to undergo training in procedural control? and (ii} is it not more essential that controllers should receive adequate training and practice in ·system fail' procedures?

It is possible to classify the ATC environment or ·system· into four groups viz.

Knowledge

(i} procedural = aerodrome and nonradar approach or area control. (ii} procedural + radar = raw or unprocessed radar used to expedite the flow of air traffic. Non-radar controller is responsible for the sector and plans traffic flow on procedural separation standards. (can revert to non-radar control fairly easily} (iii) radar + procedural = processed radar. Non-radar controller exercices a planning function and regulates the flow of traffic. Coordination is generally non-radar but by agreement some radar handovers may take place. (limited possibility to revert to nonradar control) (iv) radar = all separations based on radar. Synthetic data displays, automatic correlation of aircraft and data blocks. (no possibility of reverting to non-radar control} Before going further and deciding whether or not all controllers should undertake training in procedural meth-

Obviously if the controller is using or going to use procedural methods of control then it is essential that he possesses the appropriate knowledge and skills. But if he is not going to use such methods of control we may feel that it is desirable for him to know and be skilled in such methods but is it essentia\7 To be skilled. probably not as he will never use these skills. however. to have some knowledge and understanding. then perhaps.

It is argued but not proved. that training and experience in procedural control exercises the mind in the aspect of spatial orientation. provides a sound logical basis for all control work and produces the 'best' controller. However. skills in procedural control are only profitable if employed in the correct environment and are these skills really required by today's controller working in a modern ATC radar environment? For such an environment new skills must be learnt which are equally out of place at a less sophisticated nonradar unit.

We come back to the question what happens when the radar fails?

ods of control we must find answers to the following questions: (i) What is the ATC environment (as defined above)? (ii} How often are procedural methods of control used? (iii) If the radar fails. what is the published procedure? (iv) Are these radar failure procedures regularly practised? (v} Does the controller working in a total radar environment really require skill in procedural control if he is never going to use it? (vi} Can the airspace structure support procedural methods of contro\7 (vii) Of what use is any method of control if 1tis not regularly practised?

Where a single radar provides data to the ATC unit. in the event of failure. control of air traffic reverts to the procedural controller and separation of aircraft is achieved by non-radar methods.

Where more than one radar antenna is being used it may be possible to continue controlling aircraft by utilizing the other radar(s) or revert to procedural control.

The situation becomes more critical where the ATC system relies on radar (and hence radar separation standards) and the procedural controller becomes. in reality. a planning controller who monitors the flow of traffic within a sector and ensures that the radar controller is kept informed of all coordinations made with adjacent units. The radar controller virtually has responsibility for the sector. Should the radar fail it becomes very difficult. if not impossible. to control aircraft using procedural separations because of (i} the amount of traffic. (ii) the airspace structure and (iii) the complexity of the traffic situation.

Such a radar failure will have repercussions over a vast area since the affected unit must drastically reduce the flow of traffic and adjacent units attempt to cope with a greater workload. The situation will be compounded if the controllers are either not trained in procedural control or are not familiar with the requisite back-up procedures.

The ATC unit which relies almost exclusively on the use of radar or radarderived information must have established emergency procedures to cope with failure and more important. the controllers must be familiar with these procedures. Such a unit. and one considers here the modern semi-automated ATC units. will receive information from a number of radar sites so that the loss of one radar will not be considered critical and may not even be noticed by the controller.

33

Thus. the critical factor here is not radar but computer system failure. The power supplies for the computers are usually protected by battery and diesel generator standby which provide an uninterrupted power supply in the event of a primary power failure. Should one of the computers fail back-up facilities exist to provide a continuous supply of information to the controller. For a variety of reasons though. systems can and do experience failure. The controller will not only lose his •radar· display but most. if not all his flight plan data.

Most systems. however. are designed to cope with such situations and provide alternative. but limited. information to the controller.

The situation still exists in North and Western Europe whereby we have virtually a total radar environment with almost all ATC units having some form of automation and yet. although the technical capability exists. the transfer of aircraft from one ATC unit to another is largely based on non-radar separation standards. Can procedural training be neglected whilst some forms of control are still based on non-radar separations?

It is essential that all controllers who use any form of non-radar separation between aircraft receive proper and adequate training in procedural methods of control.

Depending upon the type of ATC environment (as outlined above) a backup system and procedures must be clearly defined in case of the event of radar (or radio communication) failure.

All controllers must be trained in such procedures and should regularly practise them.

PATCO & 'Solidarity' The following are two verses from a poem by Paul McKenna of the Bay District Joint Council of Service Employees in San Francisco. The poem is entitled: •Public Workers. Stand Together'.

When the workers struck in Poland.

The papers thought that it was great.

And they praised the workers· courage For taking on the tyrant state.

But when we strike in Californ,a.

11/inoisor Tennessee.

It's a crime against the people And against democracy.

Workers in the private sector. we·re no different from you.

We work hard to feed our families.

Pay our rent. and taxes. too.

It doesn't matter who we work for.

We ·re all workers just the same.

But the rights you take for granted. we·re still fighting to obtain.

34

Letter to the Editor Flow Management (or: how bureaucrats solve problems) The (very) Wrong Solution As a regular reader of articles in our journal, 'The Controller', I sometimes wonder if the majority of us are forgetting the very main objective of our profession: 'To prevent collisions and to expedite and maintain an orderly flow of air traffic'!

The article 'When demand exceeds capacity· in issue 1 /81 by B.W. Heinz, for instance. worries me extremely.

Also in the article 'What you don't know, can hurt you· in issue 2/81, although the greater part of it is quite after my heart. Mr. F.W. Fischer tends to that bureaucratic involvement which I so strongly reject.

Flow management .... one can already predict what is going to happen: Capacity assessment! But by whom?

Certainly not by the air traffic controller.

I can assure you. Once the assessment has been made. we are lost: I expect slot-times for aircraft to be met for start-up, take-off, eta·s en-route, holding-patterns and landing-times for any ATC-facility in the western hemisphere within no time.

There will be no one in the world who is going to change that system again once it has been established ... neither the controller nor even the airlines themselves. Victims of all this will of course be the controllers. the airlines and. above all. the passengers.

The airlines are already paying a considerable amount of money for ATCservices and that amount will, no doubt. rise the same way some taxes do (sky high!).

Flow management really means: putting the cart before the horse. We, the controllers, have to put things in the right order again. For starters; the airlines themselves could do a lot to improve ATC-capacity. An airline always seems to plan its entire fleet to depart at the same time. It also expects its fleet to arrive at home-base at the same time. No problems for the controllers in some countries sofar. Problems do arise in countries with poor unreliable equipment. poor working conditions, etc. If the airlines together (their tool might be IATA) could come to the conclusion that a widely spread departureschedule (and this not only for ATC-reasons: their ground personnel would be able to work the whole shift. instead of hectic departure- and arrival peaks; efficiency, Gentlemenl) will be in their own interest. quite a lot would be gained. If only the authorities would listen to our requests: please recognize our profes-

sion and just give us what we want!

And that is not just more money; give us the tools, reliable ones, please, and airspace. Make the Military obligatory to give away airspace (the balance is still on their side). at least on a temporary basis, when they stop flying. We desperately need that extra airspace in order to make good use of modern navigation technology, i.e. INS. Omega. etc. (a good example might be the civilmilitary coordination procedures and cooperation in The Netherlands. which is unique!). I do think that with these two items only. and with the cooperation of the airlines on the revised departure-schedule, it will be possible to acchieve the following: double (to say the least) ATC-capacity and a possible drop in fuel costs for the airlines due to shorter routes and optimum climb- and descend-profiles with almost no holding en-route as well as in holding-patterns near airports. With just these requirements it will not be necessary to add another money-consuming office in air traffic control.

Why not make good use of our own Federation, IFATCA, the only international organization which can put up more experts (and most dedicated ones, I can assure you) on air traffic control problems than any single government in the world (did you check the recommendations and policies lately)?

This, however. means that every controller must do his utmost to help his federation in achieving its. and consequently also his. ultimate goal: a safe and orderly flow of air traffic.

Let us also make good use of the staff-bureaus, they are there for your convenience (and not. as so many are implied to think nowadays, the other way round)!

I do realize that I am not being very diplomatic; remember though that in air traffic control there is no room for diplomats: the lives of thousands of people are at stake and they just have the very right to demand the best they can get!

Helmut de Groot Amsterdam ACC The Netherlands

IFATCA '82

Provisional Time Schedule Saturday 1 Mai 1982 1400-1 600 Registration desk open 1nhotel Sunday 2 Mai 1982 Reg1strat1ondesk open in hotel Press-conference 1nhotel ·Meet the delegates· in hotel

0830-1 600 1600-1 700 2000-2200

Monday 3 Mai 1982 Registration desk open 1nhotel Opening Ceremony Opening Technical Exh1b1t1on Lunch Working sessions Departure to ·stedel1jk Museum· Reception by Mun1c1pal Authorities of Amsterdam

0800-09 30 1000 1 200 1300-1430 1500-1 700 1815 191 5

Tuesday 4 Mai 1982 0900- 1200 Working sessions 1230-1400 Lunch 14 15- 1700 Working sessions Evening at leisure Wednesday 5 Mai 1982 0900-1 200 Working sessions 1215-1345 Lunch 1400- 1600 Working sessions 1600-1800 Technical Panel Corporate Members 2000-.

Corporate Members Evening Thursday 6 Mai 1982 0900- 12 1 5 Working sessions 1 230-1400 Lunch 141 5-1 700 Working sessions Evening at leisure

21 st ANNUAL

CONFERENCE

MAY 3 - 8

HOLLAND

1982

Friday 7 Mai 1982 Working sessions Lunch Closing Ceremony Farewell Party

0900- 1000 1215-1345 1 500-1 700 1900-.

35

Transport Australia Packet Switching Network

by W.T. Maloney·

The Commonwealth Department of Transport is currently involved in the development of a modern packet switching network for interchange of aeronautical data. The project has involved considerable hardware and software design. in addition to the usual station design. An overview of the design philosophy is presented and the hardware and software approach to implement the network is described. The importance of international standards and their application in the national environment is discussed.

Keywords and phrases: Communication standards. computer network. packet switching. CR Categories: 3. 29.3. 5 7. 3 8 1 1. Introduction Transport Australia operates an extensive message switching network as part of the world-wide Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN). The system carries operational data associated with aircraft movements. and some 10 million messages are currently delivered annually to domestic and international addresses. Ten categories of message may be transmitted over the AFTN including: • Flight movement and control messages (flight plans. departure advice. etc.).

• Notams (Notices to Airmen).

• Meteorological message (terminal forecasts. route forecasts. etc.).

The existing network has been largely based on low speed telegraph techniques with manual procedures for supervision. To maintain a reliable service and minimise trunk requirements the Australian AFTN has involved a number of switching centres located in ma1or areas. Over the past 10 years an extensive automation program has been implemented to replace manual tape relay centres with computer or firmware based switching systems. and now 70 per cent of all channels are connected to automated centres. There are 400 connections serving some 50 departmentally staffed stations and a similar number staffed by other agencies (RAAF. Met. etc.). Distribution is extensive at location such as major airports. where over 30 terminals may be required.

2. User Facilities Although automation of AFTN facilities world-wide has significantly improved the operation of the AFTN. it has been clear in recent years that a major change in network performance would be required to meet future requirements for data interchange by the aeronautical community. The integrity and response time of the low speed network has been found inadequate to support widespread application of data processing Air Traffic Service applications. Various studies of the implementation of airground data links have indicated that. other than in spe-

36

cialised applications. widespread development depends very much on the availability of a high integrity network to access the required data.

It was also recognised that the fundamental role of AFTN as a ·store and forward· message switching network would remain important. in addition to those new facilites and capabilites a modern data network may offer.

In considering the development of data networks a broad division may be made between data interchange 'transport' functions. and application functions which use the data network as a carrier. Some of the important communication type user facilities at present available include: • Group Address: - a single address identifying a number of addresses.

• Multiple Address: - multiple individual addresses.

• Message Priority Where the communication function is provided as a front end to a host computer. a number of applications of importance to civil aviation may be considered. such as: • AIC Computers: - data exchange between processors.

• Flight Information System: - local and remote access to aeronautical files.

• Flight Briefing Service: - various types of processing accessing FIS system files.

• Flight Plan Systems: - storage and calculations associated with flight plans.

• SAR Systems: - calculations associated with Search and Rescue.

• Technical Management Systems: - centralised fault statistics. fault reporting, etc.

3. Standardisation The International Civil Aviation Organisation (!CAO) is respc•nsible for the development and uniform application

by Contracting States of international standards pertaining to civil aviation. National regulations or practices applied within a State may, of course. differ from the international case. but there are strong reasons for maintaining uniformity in the application of standards. The body entrusted by ICAO to develop technical standards for international aeronautical data interchange is the Automated Data Interchange Systems Panel (ADISP) in which Australia has maintained an active participation. Over recent years the ADISP has been developing data communication transport standards for a Common

• The author ,s with the Planning. Research and Development of Transport Australia

«Reprinted by authonty of the author. First published ,n The Australian Computer Journal. Val 13. No. 2. May 1981

ICAO Data Interchange Network (CIDIN) to serve the aeronautical community. These standards are based on packet switching techniques, which are a logical extension of the ·store and forward' principle on which the existing AFTN is based. Advantages of packet switching in a private network may be summarised as: • Economic use of network by dynamic resource allocation.

• High availabilty with efficient alternate routing and minimal transit delay.

• Ability to handle multiple users and different codes and formats.

•

The ADISP has been progressing its task at the same time as the standards work currently underway in bodies such as the ISO and CCITT.This has enabled close alignment of the ADISP standards with the approaches of other international organisations. with ICAO specific requirements and options being defined as necessary. The Panel has been concentrating on the definition of •data transport service· type functions and has adopted the layered structure now emerging as the reference architecture for data systems. Of the seven levels in this structure the first four have been considered. These are: • Level 1 - Physical Interconnection.

• Level 2 - HDLC Link Protocol.

• Level 3 - Network Control Procedures.

• Level 4 - Transport Procedures.

In Level 4, ICAO requirements for facilities such as Multiple Dissemination. User Acknowledge and Priority are specified. These functions are provided over and above any capability existing in the Network layer (Level 3). It should be noted that CCITT standards X. 25 and X. 7 5 relate to the interface specification between user equipment and packet switching networks or between packet switching networks.

The work of the Panel is concerned with formats and procedures to be used within a packet switching network. as well as the capability to interface to other private networks and public data networks.

4. Domestic Data Interchange Plan Transport Australia has been planning new AFTN facilities for some time. with the objective of satisfying a number of pressing technical and operational requirements. Consequently a five-year plan has been prepared to provide data type facilities at all stations. An important aspect of the plan is the method of evolving existing domestic procedures to achieve essential compatibility with the new ICAO standards.

Fundamental hardware and software constraints limit the extent to which existing computer installations may be upgraded. In essence. the plan provides for packet switching facilities at 3 7 locations and data facilities using upgraded character link procedures at 19 locations.

The first application of the packet switching network involves a major upgrading of the Western Australian AFTN. using a system known as Dataflash. developed within the Planning. Research and Development Branch of the Department. Installation of this system is scheduled for the latter half of 1 981 and follows delivery of equipment and associated development over the past two years. The Western Australian project involves installation of equipment at 1 2 locations including a network control centre at Perth airport. The network will support 55 terminals in various operational areas. A diagram of the proposed packet network is shown in Figure 1. Remaining low speed channels are not shown. As with other areas of the network. stations are interconnected by either Departmental or leased bearers. The aim is to provide a high degree of connectivity using physically alternate paths. and this feature will be enhanced as the network is developed over the plan period.

W~ste-rn

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1

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otherwise operating

slated speed is 2400 bps.

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5. Network Topology In determining the design philosophy and implementation approach for the network a number of interrelated factors were considered. the principal being: • Development at a time of rapidly changing technology.

• High reliability and availability requirement.

• Provision and supervision of new facilities.

• ln1ertace to existing network procedures.

• Applicability of future public packet switching service.

• Cost effectiveness.

It was concluded that an approach that combined commercially available hardware with specially developed modules. along with in-house software development of the new procedures. was most appropriate. Due to the time lag between the emergence of standards and the manufacturer's response in providing suitable equipment. special interfacing arrangements are to be expected.

The comprehensive facilities and reliability required throughout the network suggested a distributed processing approach. while the requirement to interface vastly different 37

procedures was ideally suited to a supervisory centre based on a multi-processor organisation. The Network Control Centre (NCC) design adopted is based on tightly coupled multiprocessors for the communication function, with provision for a loosely coupled data base facility. This offers a flexible and powerful processing capability to accommodate virtually any application task likely to arise on the domestic network.

The multiprocessor approach enables functionally similar tasks to be handled in individual processors, with a central processor handling common routines and AFTN application tasks. This is attractive when integrating new procedures into an existing network.

An integral part of the concept is the provision of automatic terminal controllers at each node of the network.

These provide the function of remote data terminal interface and packet exchange. Terminal controllers have considerable autonomous processing capability and satisfy the design aim of providing similar facilities at remote stations to those provided at the centre. Terminal controllers are accredited to a designated supervisory centre. As the network is expanded additional terminal controllers may be accredited to another NCC. When selecting equipment on which the network would be based, particular attention was paid to ensuring a high degree of software and hardware compatibility.

6. Network Control Centre Hardware A block diagram of the Network Control Centre is shown at Figure 2. The system is based on the Texas Instruments· 990/ 10 mini-computer. and features in the architecture of

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The 9 90 series provide dual input/ output systems. The Communications Register Unit (CRU) is a serial input/output port which offers a simplified method of inputing/ outputing data at moderate speed for communications or control applications. The Ti-line is the high speed asynchronous DMA bus and has a transfer capability of 50 Mb/s.

The Ti-line offers an ideal method of interconnecting multi-processing systems. For the data interchange function three processors are provided. each processor handling communication links requiring similar formats and procedures.

These line processors are each equipped with 3 2 K words of error-correcting memory. The central processor communicates with the line processors over the Ti-line, to a standard transfer procedure as described later. The central processor contains 96K memory and the operating system extends over all processors. This system can therefore be considered tightly coupled. A 2 5 M byte disc drive is connected to the central processor, which controls disc handling. The database is connected over a further Ti-line coupler to the central processor; however. this may be considered solely as a communication link. All access requests to the database will be via the data transport system. The TTY interface is provided for diagnostic work on each processor when the system is off-line and comprehensive facilities are provided for technical supervision.

On the communication link side of the system, it is necessary to provide an efficient means of interfacing large numbers of channels. This has been achieved by designing interface modules that support up to eight duplex channels for

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both HDLC links and data circuits. These then interface through the CRU to the line processor. Line terminating equipment. not shown on Figure 2. provides the external line connection and this equipment contains the input paralleling and output changeover facility for the duplicated system.

The main Dataflash equipment occupies five cabinets.

Two cabinets are required for each processing suite (main and standby). with a further cabinet for line interfacing and test equipment. Some of the in-house designed computer modules are housed in the 990/ 10 processors· themselves. while additional modules are housed in separate chassis in the line interfacing cabinet. Separate provision is made for housing modems used on leased trunks. and for a maintenance facility which contains basic interfacing. line processing and central processing test bed. Disc drives are console m. unted.

7. Automatic Terminal Controller Hardware The terminal controller is based on the Texas Instruments· 990/4 micro-computer. The 990/4 uses the TI 9900 microprocessor which operates at a clock speed of 3 MHz. It is upward compatible with the 990/ l 0 machine which has additional features such as memory mapping and extra interrupts. The unit is housed in standard six slot chassis with 1 2 K word parity memory and power supply. Terminal controllers use the same in-house designed interface and control modules as used for the centre. Provision has been made for duplication of the facility, using a manual changeover. Dataset and changeover modules are housed in a separate chassis.

Figure 4. Eight line CRU interface (asynchronous)

39

8. Special Modules A number of special modules. not commercially available. have been designed to enable the Dataflash concept to be implemented. The modules either mount in the processor chassis or in a separate interface chassis. Modules generally accommodate eight channels on a standard size card. Details are as summarised below and the UART module is briefly described: •

•

•

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Eight Line CRU Interface (asynchronous): - Provides eight data interfaces to data/telegraph circuits and up to 1 2 digital 1 /0 functions for console presentation.

Eight Line CRU Interface (synchronous): - Provides eight data link control interfaces for HDLC trunk circuits operating at up to 9600 bps.

Line Telegraph Adaptor: - Provides eight Rx/Tx interfaces for telegraph lines operation to 300 bps.

Dataset Module: - Provides standard interface control signals for eight channels in the local airport environment.

Line Switching Relay: - Switches eight output lines on Data flash/ ATC for changeover.

Control Module: - Provides watch-dog timers to monitor operation of the dual installation and miscellaneous functions.

The asynchronous data module is based on a 9900 microprocessor. The card is interrupt driven and contains a RAM buffer through which a 1 6 bit transfer word is passed to or from the line processor. The card can support eight channels and 1 2 function controls. Each channel interfaces via a UART chip (TMS 9902) to the V. 24 signals. Incoming data is assembled into a character within the chip. and an interrupt signal generated to the on-card 9 900 microprocessor. After any higher priority interrupts have been processed the 9900 reads the character from the appropriate chip and stores it in RAM. This eight bit character will then be assembled into the 16 bit Transfer Word referenced earlier with additional address information and loaded in the Output Buffer RAM. The card then generates an interrupt to the line processor which transfers the word with a 'Store CRU' instruction. Alarm conditions are handled in a similar process using the transfer word. The reverse process occurs for data and control output signals. At system initialisation each UART may be set for its correct data rate. character length and parity as determined by program held in PROM. The operation of the HDLC interface module follows that of the asynchronous module. The principal difference is the use of the synchronous TMS 9903 chip which provides flag generation. ·o· bit insertion and frame check sequence functions. This chip requires two additional interface lines (receive and transmit clock). The maximum data rate for the interface cards is determined by the on-card software. of which there are several different versions for the different types of lines (AFTN, Telex. etc.). The program occupies approximately 1 K byte (PROM) and tests indicate the card can support up to eight channels operating at 9600 bps.

Data Interchange Procedures The· Dataflash network procedures follow the standards work as closely as possible. The physical interface uses the industry-accepted V.24 standard. equipment configured for the more recent digital interface standard X. 21 not being readily available. At the link level the balanced link access protocol (LAP B) is being used. This is a particular case of the generalised High Level Data Link Control (HDLC) procedure

specified by ICAO for use on aeronautical data links. and enables link level compatibility for future X. 2 5 interfacing to the public data network.

Network connectivity is based on use of Permanent Virtual Circuits (PVCs). A virtual circuit is an association of socalled logical channels on physical circuits in a network for a period of time. In the initial implementation these will be configured between all nodes in the network and the Perth Centre. To maintain an adaptive and flexible routing structure. tables are configured to enable up to three pre-determined alternate paths (PVCs) between any two locations. Only one PVC may be active at one time for the transfer of operational traffic. Network formats and procedures are similar to those of the CCITT interface standard X.25. but operate in a symmetric mode compared to the asymmetric nature of the interface between a DTE and DCE. A PVC may be either active. available or unavailable. and may only be activated by the NCC. However. any node may cause the PVC to become unavailable (e.g., due to link failure) or restore PVC availability (following link restoration).

The state to be entered is determined by the diagnostic code included in a •Reset Request' packet. A simple flow control procedure may also be applied on the network. In addition to the non- selective mechanism existing at the link level. selective flow control on a per PVC basis is applied. This limits the number of outstanding packets between adjacent nodes to the window size and applies end to end when delivery confirmation is required. The window is based on the packet send and receive numbers contained in the packet header.

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In the case of the Australian AFTN it has been decided not to implement Transport Layer (Level 4) functions at this stage. This implies various user specific functions are handled as application tasks by processing in the NCC. Delivery confirmation is being implemented using the 'D-bit' capability of Level 3. The centralised supervision and control functions in the NCC have a twofold purpose - supervision of the several different procedures interfaced at Perth, and handling of application tasks associated with message flow over the AFTN. The NCC presents the status of all terminals/links connected to the network. The more important functions of the centre are: • • Gateway packet exchange.

• Interface to low speed AFTN network/ auto Telex.

• Interface to character procedures (existing net).

• Database access.

• Net work statuts/ diversion control.

• Pre-format entry/ modification.

• Group address/multi-address process.

• Message retrieval (AFTN regulatory requirement).

In the initial implementation the use of PVCs limits interactive operation to transactions between terminals on the network and Perth. This satisfies the primary objective of message preparation assistance to remote traffic entry, and pre-format access. The next stage of the project will introduce Switched Virtual Circuits (SVCs), providing conversational mode operation between terminals and the ability to establish X. 2 5 connections. The initial use of FVCs simplifies processing as the 'Call Establishment' and 'Clear" phases are not required.

An important application of the network is the access to aeronautical information, and provision has been made for an integrated database in the system configuration. Aeronautical databases consist of a number of subsystem files (e.g., weather. NOTAM) accessible by various keys (location, area, flight, route, etc.). The provision of these facilities replace existing manual methods. enabling efficient data collection and dissemination of aeronautical information. Standards have not yet been set by ICAO for database access formats and procedures, which are identified with the higher layers of the reference model architecture. Work is proceeding on the Australian implementation, although this facility will not be available when the network is commissioned.

10. Control Centre Software In the Dataflash centre there is a fundamental difference between the message handling procedures and the procedures for handling transit packets associated with interactive transactions. Handling of message traffic is more complex, requiring additional processing and entry into applications software. Figure 5 shows the main program modules of the system. In the Dataflash system non-interactive message traffic is required to be available for retrieval at the first switching centre (Perth) in the network. The concept adopted has been to queue message references (Transmit Control Blocks) in the output line processors and handle single message transfers to disc (rather than groups of messages). This has enabled efficient throughput to be achieved using standard moving head disc technology.

Figure 5 shows the data flow associated with an AFTN broadcast type message or an interactive transaction with the local or a remote database. A fundamental data flow aspect is the data interchange maintained between the various 990/ 10 mini-computers in the system. Two separate memory areas in each line processor are reserved for Cyclic Control Queues. These provide the means of passing high

priority control information in each direction between the line processor and central processor. Each control queue is initialised to all zeros (empty state). Two pointers are initialised to point to the same word. These are the Load Pointer, indicating the next word to be written, and the Action Pointer, indicating the next word to be read. When a new queue entry is added, the Load Pointer is incremented, and the alternate processor is interrupted. The queue is then read from the location indicated by the Action Pointer. Each word is cleared after it has been analysed and transferred to an appropriate system task queue. Reading continues until a zero entry is encountered. The queue sizes are scaled to avoid over-run (a catastrophic malfunction) under worst case conditions.

Software on the Dataflash has been written in the 990 assembly language, and developed on the development system that will remain in Transport Australia's central office for further design and expansion of network facilities. The central processor uses a commercial operating system known as DX 10, which has been developed for the 990/ 10 computers to control concurrent execution of multiple tasks in a real time environment. OX 10 permits efficient task scheduling, interrupt handling, 1 /0 processing and management of files on disc. The line processors themselves schedule their communication functions and international resource allocation under control of a small commercially available operating system, known as TX990. This runs completely independently of the central operating system.

At initialisation a portion of the memory of each line processor is mapped as part of the memory of the central processor, running under DX 10. The initialisation program also downloads the line processor memory, and each line processor then relocates its own memory. The requirement is for the central processor to have access to the Cyclic Control Queues and free chain areas of each line processor. The line processors do not have access to similar areas in the central processor, which acts as a master in the configuration.

In the packet mode, packet transit through the centre may or may not involve data interchange with the central processor, in which case a standard transaction type is identified. The simplified diagram of Figure 5 does not show the many supervisory facilities associated with traffic flow. After initial format check in the input routine, message data is examined at address process time and has to pass various checks. If this input check fails a rejection code is returned to the traffic entry point. Certain other conditions result in an entry to a Job Q routine, for supervisory action. Successful traffic entry results in a header and system number being returned. The address stripping method is used in the network, whereby user addresses are removed (stripped) if further relay responsibility does not exist. Supervisory routines are provided for address table entry/modification, including group address. The Dataflash software is being structured to enable fully automatic recovery after dual suite failure. After total failure, a hardware-triggered bootstrap firstly dumps memory to disc (crash record) for later analysis. The main program is then reloaded from disc, and the line processors downloaded. Return to normal operation is by means of a background journal recovery program, which references a secure 'window· of non-complete transactions in the system, enabling retransmission from the MCBs stored on disc.

11. Terminal Controller Software In the case of the terminal controllers, a small dedicated operating system has been written for maximum efficiency and minimum memory requirements. DX 10 has been used for program development, and programming has been at assembly level with the aid of the conditional macro assembler facilities. The operating system designed for the terminal 41

controllers is a file-oriented system and occupies approximately 2. 5 K words. Macros are used exclusively to interface the user to the system. The principle system macro is the file handler called SYSFIL. The general macro library contains an assortment of routines such as nested loops. linear and binary queue handlers. bit maps for logical channel assignments. interrupt driven delays, etc. The macro-approach simplifies writing of source programs and tends to standardise program format. The terminal controller has similar link and network procedures and device service routines (DSRs) to those at the centre. The custom designed operating system has enabled functions that at the centre are implemented over several processors to be efficiently handled in one device.

Associated with the operating system is a debug package that may be loaded as necessary. The major software modules and their interaction with the operating system are shown in Figure 6.

•

12. Training and Maintenance As with other major projects in Transport Australia. the continued satisfactory performance of field installations is of paramount importance. The Dataflash network has a broad range of maintenance requirements. with hardware and software considerations in an operational environment. It can be appreciated that the quantity of equipment involved represents a major increase of programmed systems in the field.

The Western Australian network alone has approximately 100 TI 9900 microprocessors. After a review of maintenance philosophy two senior technical staff attended the Austin training facility of TI to undertake formal hardware and software training courses. On their return they were responsible for dissemination of product information and planning and preparation of training material. A comprehensive training syllabus has been prepared covering all aspects of system hardware and software. The first course will be conducted during 1981.

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Conclusion Emerging data interchange standards are now having a major impact on aeronautical network design. In civil aviation maior advances are under way in provisioning of packet switching on the AFTN. For the first time other networks may be readily interfaced and an integrated approach to aeronautical data interchange will ensure significant improvement in the availability and value of aeronautical information. Greater application of data processing in the Air Traffic Service will be evident in the future. Australia is in the forefront of states reaping the benefits to be gained from the new technology.

14. Acknowledgements The author wishes to thank his colleagues on the Dataflash project team for their helpful comments on the preparation o-.'this article.

,__

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Figure 6. Terminal controller software modules

42

..

Biographical Note W. T. Maloney was educated at Melbourne University, completing BSc (Hons.) in Electrical Engineering in 1960.

He joined the then Department of Civil Aviation in 1961 as an Airways Engineer. initially in the VHF Communication and then the HF Communication Sub-Section. In 1973 he was promoted to Principal Engineer in charge of message switching systems. He was elected Chairman of the ICAO Automated Data Interchange Systems Panel in 1977. Mr Maloney is a member of the Institution of Engineers (Aust.) and senior member of the Institution of Radio and Electronic Engineers.

YUKON

BRITISHCOLUMBIA

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ADVr. NO C81-79-0225 7"° X 10·· 1981 MAGAZINES WEST-CAN COMMUNICATIONS, CALGARY

Unconsidered Aspects of tt1e Controllers' Strike

by Jon R. Sharpe

President Reagan, on the advice of the Federal Aviation Administration and with the concurrence of major airlines, fired striking air traffic controllers. He and the controllers gave the FAA and the airlines the opportunity to slip out from under some restrictive legislation. The FAA, created in 1958 'for the ... promotion of civil aviation ... to best foster its development and safety and to provide for the safe and efficient use of airspace .. .', was able to shift to a restrictive course. The airlines cut required but uneconomic service. 'The Golden Age of Aviation' was officially over.

A review of events within the past ten years might indicate that the FAA deliberately moved toward this policy change. There were major problems which were difficult to solve. Encouraging a controller revolt at every opportunity might have been considered the simplest solution.

When controllers approached the FAA with major problems. the FAA sent them to Congress. saying their hands were tied by budgetary restrictions.

When controllers went to Congress as directed. the FAA consistently testified against them. Instead of gains. controllers saw abolition of special retirement and retraining benefits. There were no positive strokes. Some observers feel the FAA has been striking against controllers for years.

FAA preparation for a strike was extensive. ranging from developing excessive supervisory and staff positions filled by ex-controllers able to leap into a strike-caused breach to a contingency plan mandating selective cuts in flights precoordinated with users. Unwilling to acknowledge problems raised by controllers. and thus refusing to creatively seek solutions. the FAA enhanced the inevitability of a controller strike.

Subtle but tangible losses have resulted from the firings. Constraints on the capacity of the National Airspace System had always been related directly to mechanical or physical conditions - airport acceptance rates. weather. computer capacity. or separation requirements. Now the human element has entered the picture. becoming the 44

most critical capacity limiter. This is graphically indicated by the fact that since the strike virtually all aircraft entering the air traffic control system have experienced delays. normally when pilots are ready to depart. Delay is a sure sign that system capacity has been exceeded. Through mandatory Flow Control and assigned overtime the FAA has operated the air traffic control system at continuous maximum capacity. which appears laudable until the complex nature of air traffic control is considered. Controller capacity was never reached in the past because a cushion was needed to handle unexpected system overloads caused by emergencies and equipment failures. Now there is no cushion: controllers still working report steady busy work levels continue through shifts running up to ten hours long with few if any short relief breaks away from operating positions. away from the steady pressure. The FAA does not see this as unusual treatment. for they have characterized controllers as no more stressed than bus drivers.

Being responsible for up to 24 Boeing 7 4 7 aircraft simultaneously is stress of a different order. That represents about 5.000 lives and $ 1.5 billion in property!

Not only has years of professional skill development been lost because of the firings. but also the potential to build the system back to prestrike levels. Flow Control restrictions have eliminated peak traffic situations which demanded the utmost in controller skills.

Gone are continuous operation at mini-

Editor· s Note: In issue 7181 of THE CONTROLLER. Jon R. Sharpe authored an article entitled • The EARTS Radar System Today and Tomorrow· in which he parabolically criticised the Anchorage ARTCC by paralleling it with 'Sourdough Airlines and their DC-10. • a fictitious airline company. Apparently.

Jon's article had created a •ripple' on the bureaucratic pond in Washington.

In h,s letter accompanying this article. Jon reflects: • The Controllers· stoke in the United States and its aftermath has disrupted my life as well as the lives of almost 72,000 other controllers. My situation is a bit different from most. in that I resigned from the FAA before being fired I thought'. Jon continues.

•it would be worthless to seek to return to work for the same people who chose to show no respect for my profession.· As a short biographical note. Jon R. Sharpe served his country as an air traffic controller for over 7 7 years. initially with Air France at Nielson Air Force Base. Alaska and later with the FAA at Chicago and Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Centres (ARTCCs). He resigned from the FAA in August in protest against government handling of the controllers· strike.

mum separation. Gone are many of the complex traffic situations that demanded team efforts involving continuous decison-making. People now hired by the FAA will never experience these situations which pushed controllers to impressive accomplishments. The controller made the system work efficiently.

A quiet change in FAA philosophy will also affect the new generation. The Air Traffic Control Procedures Handbook used to describe the controller's main purpose as providing •safe and expeditious service ... • A recent revision

reads: •Give first priority to separation of aircraft as required in this handbook and to the issuance of safety advisories.· •Expeditious service· is no longer of primary importance; •by-the-book' operation is. even though in the recent past the FAA got tough with controllers who did just that.

Committing the total available staff to control duties has left no one available to train future controllers or implement necessary procedural or technical changes. Controllers will have to be redirected from control duties to adequately train new people. causing further reduction of control capability Contrary to optimistic FAA reports. it will take a minimum of two years before people hired today will become effective assets to the system. Thanks to the government hiring freeze. few trainees were already in the training process.

System users will have to accept more delays. more service reductions for years to come. The present controller staff will have to be content with few vacation days and six-day workweeks for years to come. A special feeling of being needed in a crisis may be operative in controller minds now. but that will wear thin. Little high moral purpose keeps most of them working. Fear is probably the real motivation: fear of not being able to market highly specialized skills elsewhere. fear of losing a retirement income. fear of not making oppressive credit payments. or fear of potential marital strife.

What had controllers wanted that was so repulsive to the government7 A reduced workweek had been possible for years through careful reallocation of the workforce. Technology was available to improve system weaknesses.

Changes in basic management policies could have improved employer/employee relationships. but sound management concepts had only been given lip service. Effective participation in decision-making affecting the system was not often possible for controllers. To desire anything different from standard government workforce treatment was regarded as wrong by the FAA and various political administrations.

Requests for pay commensurate with growing responsibilities went unheeded. Although FAA figures indicate a 51 % rise in controller productivity in the last ten years. controller pay (including seniority benefits) increased about 120%. Meanwhile. inflation pushed the price of a can of beans. with no increase in productivity. up 157%. Pilots were able to increase their pay by up to 245%. claiming increased productivity and responsibility as larger aircraft were introduced.

Controllers shared the responsibility but were not compensated for it To keep

pace with inflation would require a $ 6.000 raise. To be compensated for increased productivity would require S 16.500 To match what pilots have gained would require $ 50,000. This summer controllers asked for S 10.000. The government offered them s 500.

The heart of the air traffic control system has been discarded in support of a federal anti-strike law which rests on shaky constitutional and historical ground. Also finding support by this action was admittedly bad management in the FAA. A principle of bureaucracy - that those on top can survive anything - has again been proved. Artificial restraints on air traffic have relieved the FAA from having to solve many nagging system problems. But the relief is temporary. Unsolv~d problems will return to haunt future administrations. How long will it take the new generation of controllers to reach the same frustration level as the present one. and take a more devastating action against the government. having learned from history made in 1981?

Suggestions to develop a public air traffic control corporation, assessing costs fully on users. falling on deaf ears in the past. should be reconsidered. To keep air traffic control dependent on political and economic conditions is folly. Before his accession to power. President Reagan acknowledged the deplorable state of the air traffic control system. His action guarantees that this deplorable state will deepen and continue to deteriorate in the forseeable future.

Sorry. pilots. Sorry. controllers. Sorry. passengers. Sorry, country.

Cont. from page 29

A study on Aeronautical Information Data performed by ANSA contains: operational reasons of users for AID types of users of AID integration of an AID subsystem into the overall ANS system description of all types of Al D classification of Al D airspace user personnel requirements for AID ANS personnel requirements for AID other aviation personnel requirements for Al D For further information tact the

please con-

Advisory Group - Air Navigation Services. Inc. (ANSA) Kleine Wiese 6 D 8752 Westerngrund / HU Federal Republic of Germany

Italy Plans ATC Improvements Selenia and Face Standard have formed an air traffic control (ATC)consortium called Cirna to investigate ATC improvements being planned by the Italian Government. Selenia. as radar expert. is joining forces with Face Standard. an ITT subsidiary involved with ILS and navaids. to provide integrated research into new secondary radars and simulator research into revising procedures and general organisation.

A basic plan has been drawn up by the non-profit-making Ugo Bordoni Foundation. and the Government formed an ATC agency called Anav earlier this year. This replaces military organisation Safety is the prime consideration. but Selenia is also studying a national ATC data-base to improve flow control.

Selenia 1s supplying components for eight Italian Air Force ground-controlled approach systems. Selenia makes the primary and secondary radars. extractors and displays. while FIAR contributes the precision approach radar (PAR). telecommunications and installations. Selenia 1sdiscussing with the Air Force the supply of similar systems for civil ATC without PAR. Another current Selen1aproiect is national microwave links to transmit local radar information to Rome.

Italy Demilitarises its ATC After years of protest by Italian air traffic controllers about their military statuts 1n an essentiallycivilian job. the Italian Parliament has created an independent ATC Board called Anav. The organisation will be managed by a president. chairman and board.

New Socialist Transport Minister Balzamo had made Board nominations. but they met unexpected last-minute opposition from the Parliamentary Committee. The law creating Anav makes the organisation independent and self-controlling in both finance and management matters: this is a most unusual departure from Italian Governmental procedure.

Over the next three or four years. Anav will assume responsibility for ATC information services (taking gradual control from the military organisation). and emergency notification and control; staff levels will reach about 3500 in this period. Finally. the Air Force will hand over air traffic telecommunications. and most civil ATC officers will have transferred from the Service.

Parliament is considering a plan to create an independent civil aviation board. which will be called the AAC. This would be similar to the UK Civil Aviation Authority or the US Federal Aviation Administration which would take over Government responsibilites.

An IFATCA Corporate Member 45

..

Early Retirement for Canadian Controllers

The long awaited Bill C-65 which contains the provisions of early retirement for Canadian controllers has finally gone through its second and third readings before the Canadian Parliament and will become an Act as soon as it receives the Royal Assent through the Senate.

At present, the Canadian Association is involved in tripartite consultations with the Treasury Board and the Department of Transport in the drafting of the regulations pursuant to the legislation.

Hon. Donald J. Johnston (President of the Treasury Board) speaking before the Canadian Parliament said: Mr. Speaker. it is my pleasure today to propose that the Public Service Superannuation Act be amended to establish special pension arrangements for air traffic controllers. These proposals will introduce, for the first time. pension arrangements which are particular to employees in a specific occupation.

The problems of the optimum career pattern for air traffic controllers. their early retirement. and alternative career opportunities have been. as hon. members know, significant issues for many years. The new pension arrangements will facilitate the management of the controller work force and ensure fair treatment for controllers who must be removed from operational service or who have spent many years as operational controllers.

Although controllers· wages and other working conditions already recognize the unique nature of their duties, experience has shown that many operational controllers cannot cope with the demands of operational air traffic control up to the time of normal retirement.

Much like professional athletes, air traffic controllers must be in top physical and mental condition. Anything less would compromise air safety and would be clearly unacceptable. At least once a year, air traffic controllers are required to pass complete medical examinations and demonstrate technical profi46

ciency in order to continue to operate as controllers.

Controllers certainly have shorter careers than other civil servants. A number of countries. including Belgium, France and Switzerland. already offer their controllers special retirement schemes. The Americans introduced in 1972 a complete early retirement plan which we have used as a model. The proposals submitted today are part of a program put together by the Department of Transport with the assistance of the controllers· union, the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association. Their purpose is to help, through an integrated scheme, air traffic controllers to prepare for a second career through retraining or to seek a new position, allowing them to collect the whole or any part of the pension benefits to which they are entitled by way of compensation for their loss of income.

The Department of Transport now provides capability assessment services. vocational guidance and retraining courses to controllers who are retired automatically after at least 10 years of operational service. The retraining program has only been available recently.

Its effectiveness, therefore. cannot _be assessed as yet, but my colleague the Minister of Transport and the controllers themselves appear to be quite satisfied with the early results.

The pension part of the program is contained in Bill C-65. which provides for early retirement for air traffic controllers and, under special circumstances, for the payment of partial pensions while continuing work. The proposed pension arrangements will provide a means whereby controllers can be removed from air traffic control - or can voluntarily remove themselves without severe economic penalty when the state of their health or technical proficiency might affect their performance and compromise the safe and efficient movement of air traffic. Because the government agreed to the pension proposals in the early part of 1976. the new benefits will be available to any eligible controller who left operational service on or after April 1, 19 7 6. In return for these special pension features, controllers are to make an extra two per-cent contribution to the pension plan. to be matched by the government as employer.

The proposals in Bill C-65 were included as part of the pension legislation introduced in the House on October 26. 1978. However. as hon. members know. that legislation was only at report stage when Parliament was dissolved on March 26, 1979. The air traffic controller provisions had received general approval at that time. with the exception of deferred indexing of the special benefits and the requirement in certain circumstances for the extra 2 percent contribution.

( Dictaphone Introduces New Communications System -Dictaphone

Corporation has introduced a new vrnce

communIcatIons recording system designed to provide

automatic recording of up to 40 1nd1v1dualtelephone or radio messagess,multaneously.It 1s one of the first commurnca11ons recorderscontrolledby a m,croprocessor, The new system. called Ventrac. 1s tailored to organ,-

zat1onssuch as air traffic control law enforcement. public safety, transportat,on and banking. which require multi-channel recording of messages to preserve. locate and

replay the time and content of the request. A time/date encoding system with light em1tt,ngd,odes au1omat1cally records the precise time and date of the response on the tape. Multiplex engineering eliminates the need for a dedicated 11me/date track. Several formats of time/date display are available. 1nclud1ngstandard 12-hour or 24hour military time. both with minutes. and seconds in-

cluded. and month/day. or Julian consecutive dating.

The Vemrac recording system employs two magnetic

l

I

tape decks. each with a maximum of 25 hours of recording capacity. prov1d1nga full 50 hours of unattended service. All channel Safe-Scan 1sa monitoring function that instantly detects any recordmg failure. Auto-Transfer permits the automatic switching of recording to the second

deck on a pre-set schedule or 1n the event of malfunction. Visual and audible alarms mform the operator of recording interruptions.

'This advanced recording system provides high chan. nel capacity and lengthy recording capabduy for those appl,cat,ons where a venf1able voice record is essential for the protection of hie and property·. said Rudolph Grua. president of Dictaphone Products and Systems Ver1trac has sohd state electronic construction. and all circuits are modular to provide Qutck service. Other features include an advanced braking system that gives

smooth and stable performance and a simple tapethreading operation.

The new Veritrac system also offers an optional full re-

mote control capab1l1ty that permits complete system control 1nclud1ngautomatic search of recorded matenal from a remote locat,on.

Ventrac 1s available 1n 4. 8. 10. 20. 30 or 40 channel models. Pnce of the Ventrac single deck logging system starts at s 4480. Pnce of the dual deck system starts at s 6525. The optional time/date encoding system 1s s 2895 The remote control system starts at s 1090.

Addu,onal 1nformat1on 1s available from Dictaphone

Corporation.

10 580.

120

Old Post Road. Rye. New York

Veritrac, Diclaphone's new voice communications recording system with time/date generator, automa1ically records and plays back up to 40 radio and telephone transmissions simultaneously.

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EEEHH-- -

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47

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Membership

Benefits

SEE REVERSESIDE

NOT TRANSFERABLE

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATIONS

List of Hotels granting discounts to IFATCA members upon production of their valid membership card AUSTRIA Parkhotel. Graz Hotel Maria Theresia. Innsbruck Hotel Europa. Innsbruck Hotel Tyrol and Touringhaus. Innsbruck Holiday Inn. Innsbruck Hotel Tourotel. Linz Hotel Sportklause Niederau-Wildschonau. Tirol CYPRUS Amathus Beach Hotel. Limassol Appolonia Hotel. Limassol Paphos Beach Hotel. Paphos Dionyssos Hotel. Paphos

MEMBERSHIP-CARD VALID UNTIL

JUNE

1983

THE HOLDER OF THIS CARD IS AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF IFATCA

LUXEMBOURG Holiday Inn. Luxembourg Hotel Empire. Luxembourg

CANADA Seaway Hotels: Montreal. Toronto. Ottawa. Halifax. Kingston Hyatt Regency· Montreal. Vancouver. Vancouver Airport Hilton Canada: The Queen Elizabeth Montreal. Airport Hilton Montreal. Toronto Airport. Harbour Castle Hilton Toronto. Quebec Hilton.

Vancouver Hilton Hotel Loews La Cite. Montreal

MEXICO Hotel Las Hamacas. Acapulco Acapulco Imperial

DENMARK Hotel Mercur. Copenhagen Hotel Richmond. Copenhagen Hotel Du Nord Greena. Greena

NEW ZEALAND Hotel Chateaux Commodore. Christchurch Colonial Inn Motel. Christchurch Ambassador Travel Hotel. Wellington South Pacific Motor Inn. Lower Hutt The City Hotel. Dunedin Angus Inn Motor Hotel. Hastings Bungalow Tourist Hotel. Rotorua Travelodge Australia Ltd all Travelodges and Parkroyals throughout the South Pacific

ENGLAND The Churchill. London The London Ryan Hotel FIJI Fiji Mocambo Hotel. Nadi lnt'I Airport FRANCE Holiday Inns: Paris Orly Airport. Roissy Airport. Avignon. Lille Lesquin. Lille Macq en Baroeul. Lyon. Strasbourg HOLLAND Hotel Krasnapolsky. Amsterdam Hotel Ibis. Amsterdam-Airport ICELAND Loftleidir Hotel. Reykjavik IRELAND International Airport Hotel. Dublin The Gresham Hotel. Dublin Blooms Hotel. Dublin The Killarney Ryan Hotel The Limerick Ryan Hotel The Galway Ryan Hotel The Yeats Country Ryan Hotel The Westport Ryan Hotel KENYA Hotels & Lodges of African Tours and Hotels Ltd. South Coast Hotels Two Fishes & Trade Winds North Coast Hotels Mombasa Beach. Mnarani Hotel. Whispering Palms Safari Lodges Kilaguni. Ngulia. Voi. Meru Mulika.

Mountain Lodge. Marsabit. Hunters Lodge Milimani Hotel. Nairobi Grosvenor Hotel. Nairobi Sunset Hotel. Lake Victoria ~ Tea Hotel. Kericho "- Mt. Elgon Lodge \

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES Holiday Beach Hotel. Curacao NEW CALEDONIA Hotel le Nouvata. Noumea Noumea Hotel. Noumea

PERU Hotel Crillon. Lima PORTUGAL Lisboa Penta Hotel. Lisboa Balaia Penta Hotel. Albufeira. Algarve SEYCHELLES Reff Hotel. Mahe SPAIN Penta Club. Ibiza Sun Club Bungalows. Playa de! Ingles & Maspalomas SRI LANKA Hotel Lanka. Oberoi. Colombo SWITZERLAND Hotel d'Auteuil. Geneva Holiday Inn. Zurich-Airport Holiday Inn. Zurich-Regensdorf TUNISIA Hotel Les Orangers. Hammamet TOGO Hotel De la Paix. Lome USA International 6 Motel. Disneyland Anaheim Detailed information as to rates and hotel addresses are available at the IFATCA Secretariat and will be provided to interested members on request.

Corporate Members of IFATCA

AEG-Telefunken. Frankfurt a. M .. Germany AMECON Division. Litton Systems. College Park. USA ANSA. Advisory Group Air Navigation Services. Westerngrund. Germany CAE Electronics Ltd .. Montreal. Quebec. Canada Cardion Electronics. Woodbury. NY. USA Computer Sciences Europe SA. Brussels. Belgium Cossor Radar and Electronics Ltd., Harlow. England Datasaab AB, Jarfalla. Sweden Decca Software Sciences Limited. London. England Dictaphone Corporation. USA ELECMA Divisions Electronique de la SNECMA. Suresnes. France E-Systems. Montek Division. USA Ferranti Limited, Bracknell. Berks., England Goodwood Data Systems Ltd .. Ontario Canada Ground Aid Group. Esbjerg. Denmark International Aeradio Ltd .. Southall. England International Air Carrier Association. Geneva. Switzerland ITT Gilfillan. USA Jeppesen & Co. GmbH .. Frankfurt. Germany Lockheed Aircraft Service Company. Ontario. California 91761. USA Lockheed Electronics Company. Inc .. Plainfield, N.J .. USA The Marconi Radar Systems Ltd .. Chelmsford. England M.B.L.E .. Brussels. Belgium The Mitre Corporation. McLean, Virginia. USA N.V. Hollandse Signaalapparaten. Hengelo. Netherlands N.V. Philips Division ELA, Eindhoven, Netherlands Philips Telecommunicatie lndustrie B.V.. Hilversum. Netherlands The Plessey Company Limited, Weybridge. Surrey. England Racal Recorders Limited. Southampton. England Raytheon Canada Ltd . Canada Gustav A. Ring A/S. Oslo. Norway Sanders Associates. Inc .. Nashua. USA Schmid Telecommunication. Switzerland Selenia - lndustrie Elettroniche Associate S.p.A .. Rome. Italy SEL- Standard Elektrik Lorenz. Stuttgart 70. Germany Societe Artistique Franc;;aise.Paris. France Societe d'Etudes & d'Entreprises Electriques. lssy Les Moulineaux. France Sodern. Limeil Brevannes. France Sofreavia, Paris. France Software Sciences Ltd .. Farnborough. England Sperry Univac. Sulzbach/Ts .. Germany & St.Paul, Minnesota. USA TERMA Elektronik AS. Lystrup. Denmark Thomson - CSF. Paris. France Ulmer Aeronautique. Clichy. France VWK - Ryborsch GmbH. Germany Westinghouse Electric Corporation. USA

.A..

The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers· Associations would like to invite all corporations. organizations. and institutions interested in and concerned with the maintenance and promotion of safety in air traffic to join their organization as Corporate Members.

Corporate Members support the aims of the Federation by supplying the Federation with technical 1nformat1on and by means of an annual subscription. The Federation·s international Journal 'The Controller· 1s offered as a platform for the discussion of technical and procedural developments in the field of air traffic control.

/

STILL USING FIRSTGENERATION ATCEQUIPMENT? l,n,<<·dur,11 Cnntrul (no r,1d.ir)

--

.,,,,;;-,,MJ".'11

Watch supervisor, trying to decipher recently arrived

flight plan

NOTA~I,

l'rt.->parin~flight progrl'S~ :-trips (,trip rrintl'r)

METrq111rh

-

with ..,trip..,

-All'&NOTAMs

Bril•fin)-!dl' ...l with

ATC c£>ntr('in thl• old days?-01

course n~it-it's a printing offic(' in the 16th century,

No reason.

Automated Air Traffic Control systems used to be something for big airports and resourceful administrations only. Only they had the knowledge and money to specify and buy them and the skilled staff to operate and keep them running.

Not so any more. In these days of soaring aircraft operating costs you will be surprised to find that prices of modern, reliable ATC systems-probably the most efficient tool for reducing flying times-are in fact going down. And they are as easy to maintain as to operate. Reason: standardization.

.,.,

Introducing Datasaab's AIRWATCH Automated ATC systems • Datasaab's new series of AIRWATCH systems-based on many years' experience from tailor-made centres-are designed to suit all types of traffic anci environment. AIRWATCH standardization also means modularization, allowing adaptation to specific needs and ensuring system expansion at low cost as traffic grows.

AIR\NATCH ~y!-tcms r.ingc from a sin,.;le PPI system lo lar~C' centres. They lcature rtn\', synt~rtic or mix('(! rres1.:nta!ion ol PSR .rnd SSR signals from one or m,1rl' r.ular stations and numt:rm1s controll~r facilitit•s, includinJ-! lull l.1bds.

• J\IRVVATCf-1 1000 i!->an autonomous. lnw-cost radar display system with,, built-in micrD-prnccs._or. It is drsigne<l tor small ATC cc-ntrc-s and control tllWers.

r,,,

• All,WATCI-I 2000 is designed small and medium-sized centres. Dual computrrs. operating in parallel, provi<le v<:ry high reliability.

• AIRWATCl-l 3000 is designed for mcdillm tu larg,·sized ATC centrrs. Systc-m ;1rchitccture iscxtrl'mrly flcxiblc-. Ot1tstanding opNational (-----------) IC'aturr~ include tracking ot all ..........._~A-~ types of flight and mos,1ic prl'scn......_. ~ tation from multiple radar sources. ~----------

-jointly owned by the Swedish Government and Saab-Scania A!.3

For more information contact: Datasab AB, Interactive Data Systems, S-17586 Jarfalla, Sweden. Tel. Int + 46 8 362800 • Telex 17892 datsaab s