IFATCA The Controller - 2nd Quarter 1993

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JOURNAL OFAIRTRAFFIC CONTROL

United Kingdom, June, 1993

Volume 32 N° 2

PUBLISHER

IFATCA, International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations, P.O.Box I96 CH-1215Geneva I5 Airport, Switzerland EXECUTIVEBOARD OF IFATCA

CharlesStuart President and Chief Executive Officer Neil Vidler Deputy President Abou EI Seoud EI Karimy Executive Vice-President Africa/Middle East Samuel Lampkin Executive Vice-President Americas David Moores Executive Vice-President Asia/Pacific Preben Falkman-Lauridsen Executive Vice-President Europe Sture Ericsson Executive Vice-President Finance Bert Ruitenberg Executive Vice-President Professional Chris Stock Executive Vice-President Technical Edge Green Executive Secretary Terry Crowhurst Editor

IN THIS ISSUE lFATCA SPEAKS AT ATC

93

5

EVP Europe delivers the speech

IFATCA AND HUM AN F ACTORS

10

REPORT BY E VP PROFESSIO NAL

13

IFATC A

93

16

Speeches and Committee Reports

BLOCKED FREQUE NCIES

26

Report from Maastricht

SPE CIAL F EATURE

28

Patrick Schelling assesses the Aircon PC-ATC System

EDITOR

Terry Crowhurst 29 Heritage Lawn, Langshott, Harley, Surrey, RH6 9XH, United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0) 293 784040 - Fax +44 (0) 293 771944 COPY TYPING

Dona Crowhurst ADVERTISINGAND SALES OFFICE

Ron Mahendran 13 Stanford Way, Broadbridge Heath. Horsharn.

West Sussex. RH 12 3LH, United Kingdom.

Tel & Fax +44 (0) 403 256 798 ACCOUNTSAND SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tim MacKay '·Dunadry", Minshull Lane,Wertenhall. Winsford.

Cheshire,CW7 4DU, United Kingdom.

Tel & Fax +44 ({))270 73363

Advertisers in this issue Alenia, Air Nav Com. Denro, H.A.N.D.. Hughes. lBM, Schmid Telecom.

Siemens Plessey Systerns. Thomson-CSF. Wesson.

Photos T. Crowhurst, P. Schelling. C. Stuart, Thornson-CSF. Cover the Aircon-PC-ATC System Display - See article on page 28 Charlie Cartoon Ken Tully Additional Cartoons by Yanan-Del are reproduced. with the kind permission of the publishers. from the book Say When. Details and copies of the book may be obtained from the publishers at rhe following address: Martin Leeuwis, P.O. Box 580. 3740 AN BAARN, Holland, Fax - +31 2154 13294 Special Price (Including postage) DFL 27.50

CONTRIBUTINGEDITOR

Patrick Schelling Ch. Sur le Moulin, 1261 Le Yaud. Switzerland.

Tel +41 (0) 22366 2684 Fax +41 (0) 22366 4305 PRINTING

Mercury Press Unit 8, Astra Business Centre. Bonehurst Road.

Salfords. Surrey. RH I 5TL. United Kingdorn.

Tel +44 (Ot 293 774549 Fax +44 (0) 293 820335

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

ISSUES AP PEAR END OF M ARCH. J UNE, S EPTEMBER, D ECEMBER. CONTRIB UTORS AR E E XPRESS ING T HEIR P ERSONAL POINTS OF V IEW AND O PINIONS, WHI CH M AY N OT N ECESSARILY CO INCIDE W ITH TH OSE OF T HE INTERNAT IONAL FED ERAT ION OF A IR T RAF FIC C ONTRO LLERS ' A SSOCIATIONS IFAT C A . IFATCA D OES N OT A SSUME R ESPONSIBI LITY F OR S TATEMENTS M ADE AND OP IN IONS E XPRESSED, IT A CCEPTS R ESPONSIBILITY FOR PUB LISHING T HESE C ONTRIBUTIONS. CONTR IBUTIONS A RE W ELCOME AS AR E C OMMENTS AND C RITICISM. N o PAYMENT C AN BE M ADE F OR M ANUSCR IPTS S UBMITIED FOR PU BLICATION IN T HE CON TROLLER T HE EDITOR R ESERVES T HE RI GHT TO MAK E A NY E DITORIAL C HANGES IN M ANUSCRIPTS. W HICH HE B ELIEVES WIL L IMPROVE THE M ATERIAL WI THOUT AL TERING T HE INTENDED M EANING. WR ITIEN P ERMISSION BY T HE E DITOR IS NE CESSARY F OR R EPRINTING A NY PART OF T HIS J OURNAL

CORPORATE MEMBERS OF IFATCA

ADACELPTY LTD. Canberra,Australia

IBM DEUTSCHLAND GmbH Stuttegart,Gennany

ALENIA Rome,ltaly

JEPPSESN& CO. GmbH Frankfurtam Main,Gennany

ATSAEROSPACE St. Bruno,Canada

JERRYTHOMPSON& ASSOCIATESInc. Kensington,MD, USA

AVTELPTY Hawthorn,Australia

MARCONIRADARSYSTEMSLtd. Chelmsford,UK

BRITISHAEROSPACESIMULATIONLTD. Farnborough,UK

NETWORKSYSTEMSGmbH Frankurtam Main,Gennany

BURANNC Rome,Italy

NOBELTECHSYSTEMSAB Jlirfiilla,Sweden

CAEELECTRONICSLtd. Saint-Laurant,Canada

NORCONTROLSURVEILLANCESYSTEMSA.S. ChippingSodbury,UK

CESELSA Madrid,Spain

RAYTHEONCANADALtd. Waterloo,Canada

CISETS.p.A. Rome,Italy

REDIFFUSIONSIMULATIONLtd. BurgessHill, UK

COMPUTERCOMMUNICATIONSSOFIWARE GmbH Rodedennark-Waldacker,Gennany

SCHMIDTELECOMMUNICATION Zurich,switzerland

COMPUTERRESOURCESINTERNATIONALNS Birkerod,Denmark

SIEMENSPLESSEYSYSTEMS Chessington,UK

COSSORELECTRONICSLtd. Harlow,UK

SOCIETED'ETUDES ET D'ENTREPRISESELECTRIQUES Malakoff,France

CRIMPNS Allero,Denmark

DEUTSCHEAEROSPACEAG (DASA) Ulm/Donau,Gennany DICTAPHONECORPORATION Stratford,CT, USA DIVERSIFIEDINT'L SCIENCESCORP. Lanham,MD, USA DORNIER,CommunicationSystems Konstanz,Gennany ELECTRONICSPACESYSTEMSCORP. Concorde,MA, USA HOLLANDSESIGNAALAPPARATEN B.V. Hengelo,Netherlands

SOFREAVIA Paris,France SONYCORPORATION Tokyo,Japan SWEDAVIAAB Norrkopping,Sweden TELUBAB Solna,Sweden THOMSON-CSP,DivisionSDC Meudon,France UNISYSDEUTSCHLAND GmbH Sulzbach,Gennany WESTINGHOUSEElectricCorp.

Baltimore,MD, USA

HUGHESAIRCRAFTOF CANADALIMITED Richmond,BC, Canada The InternationalFederationof Air TrafficControllers'Associationswouldlike to inviteall corporations,organisations, and institutionsinterestedin and concernedwith the maintenanceand promotionof safetyin air trafficto join their organisationas CorporateMembers.

CorporateMemberssupportthe aims of the Federationby supplyingthe Federationwith technicalinfonnationand by meansof an annualsubscription.The Federations'internationaljournal The Controlleris offeredas a platfonnfor the discussionof technicaland proceduraldevelopmentsin the field of air trafficcontrol.

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FOREWORD __

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0 Ulli Windt - Retiring Deputy President

F

riends, Thank you very much for having awarded me the Scroll of Honour at the final plenary session of IF ATCA '93 in Christchurch.

Let me assure you that I have enjoyed every single day in the Executive Board since my election into it in 1985in Athens. Having enjoyed every single day does of course, not mean that every day was an easy one. Not at all!

Being a member of the IFATCA Executive Board is a real full time job on top of our regular paid employment. To make a good job out of it there are, however, some provisos. First of all you must be keen on travelling, as the minimum time you will be away amounts to some sixty days annually. This, of course, is only possible with the consent of your employer and of your family or your partner.

Believe me, both are at times hard to convince that your pending travel is necessary.

Having settled these problems your next one is already awaiting you have to have a ticket to reach your meeting or event. A free ticket preferably, as IFATCA has only limited funds and your fellow Board member, called EVP Finance, can turn you down with a ' nono' if you are getting too expensive.

I myself was in the lucky position that I not only had the full support of my governmentbut also of our national carrier Lufthansa.

They provided me with nearly every ticket I asked for - and as a member of the Board you need quite a lot. Over the past years the attitude toward s IFATCA has changed completely. The eve r increasing recognition of our Federation as the global body representing the air traffic controller has led us to the situation where the world's leading aviation organisations are knocking at our door to ask for support, advice, and assistance resulting in an enormous increase in the number of events where IFATCA is represented.

I am proud that l have been a member of the team which has made IFATCA into what it is today.

Beside being the internation al organi sation represe nting the viewpoint of the air traffic controller in all areas of our profession, IFATCA should however, be aware of its enormous importance and capabilities in a different area; that is, it brings together people from all over the world in a friendly, peaceful manner where religion. culture. colour or creed make no difference.

In closing I wish to thank those again who made it possible that l could work for eight years in the Executive Board of IFATCA: my family, my employer, my government, Lufthansa and all the other airlines that providedme with the travel: I am very grateful.

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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EDITORIAL ____

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0 Terry Crowhurst - Editor

I

n the last issue of The Controller we acknowledged the efforts of the Swiss members of the Controller Management Group (CMG).

With this issue the production of the journal has moved to the UK and the .UK GATCO has assumed responsibility as the Member Association responsible for The Controller. Apart from myself as Editor and now also Chairman of the CMG, the new team consists of Tim MacKay and Ron Mahendran.

Tim Mackay is a radar controller and examiner at the Manchester ATCC, UK, and has been a controller for over 20 yea rs. Tim assumes the responsibilitie s of the Account s and Subscription s Manager for The Controller. Subscribers may wish to note that subscriptions will continue to be levied in Swiss Francs (CHF). Ron Mahendran takes over the responsibility of Advertising Manager for the journal. Ron is currently working for the Air Traffic Control Group of Hughes Rediffusion Simulation located near Gatwi ck Airpo11, UK. Ron is an ex-air traffic controller and is well known to the world-wide controller fraternity for his long association with the Corporate Membership of IFATCA. Welcome to the team guys, you are about to find out what you have let yourself in for!

I cannot let the opportunity pass without commending the New Zealand IFATCA 93 Conference Committee for their organisation of such an excellent event. Rob Irwin led a team that was second to none and provided the facilities for an excellent conference. Over 600 people managed to make it to the distant venue of Christchurch.

Combined with the superb fac ilities and an exce llent socia l programme the event became an occasion to be remembered. The workings of the conference are well reported elsewhere in this issue and the next. However. if you have never been to conference before [ would strongly advise that you consider [FATCA 94 in Ottawa Canada. There is a great deal to be gained by the interchange of controller information from all over the world and it is an idea l opportunity to share and discuss problems - it never ceases to amaze me how many ofu s have invented the same wheel' See you there.

Finally. but by no means least, during conference we sadly bid farewell to Ulli Windt as our Deputy President. Ulli became actively involved in IFATCA in 1979 when he was a delegate of the German Association. Ulli became a member of SCIV and in 1983 became Chairman of the committee. In I985 he was elected to the Executive Board as Vice Pre ident Administration prior to the name change of the position to Deputy President, in 1990.Ulli has been responsible for the supervision of work programm es of all ~dmi nistrativ e co mmitt ees of the Federation. including the admini strative management. the supervision of the Secretariat. the filing ~ystem.

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Air Truffle Control-In Focu9

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Bournemouth International Centre 20 -22 October 1993

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- Are we Serious?."

Euro "De - Nationalisation

Should the Capacity Problems of A.T,C. be addressed by A Centralised Supranational European Agency or A system totally or partially dependant on private enterprise and commercial management?

For Further Pet e r Ros e , Regi s tration Secretary E u roConvex 5 Malme s bury Road, Ringwood, H ampshir e . BH24 2QL. UK.

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Information

Contact:-

93, Tel. +44 202 472 327 (Office) Tel & F ax +44 202 870 682 (Horne)

Guild of Air Traffic Co ntro l Officers Euroc ontrol Guild of Air Traffi c Servi ces

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IFATCA ACTIVITIES _____

i\TCA SPEAKS A s in 1991, the Janes Information Group requested an IFATCA representative to speak at their ATC Conference in Maastricht. The event took place between the 16 -18th February, 1993.

The theme for this years conference was "Europe's Present ATC Crisis: Maximising the Capacity of Todays ATC Systems". The conference focussed, in particular , on possible short-term solutions to the capacity problems.

Speakers representing many sections of civil aviation were invited to attend and share their views of the problem. Airline representative s, national administrations , international organisations, airport officials and an audience of some 250 people made the 2 clays an interestin g event. The following speech was given on behalf of IFATCA by the Executive Vice President for Europe, Preben Falkman-Lauridsen.

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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ATC93 could somethin g be done , either by ourselves, by our administrations or even by the airlines, on a short te1m basis, to increase capacity or to make the gap between demand and capacity smaller ? Are there any short term solutions to Europe 's ATC crisis ? A crisis which by the way, to the controller, is not only related to capacit y and eff iciency but also very much to safety, which is and will always be our top priority.

A

SAFETY AND EFFICIEl\CYA SHARED RESPONSIBILITY The International Federation of Air Traffic Controller s' Associations (IFATCA) has been asked to present the viewpoint of the controllers of Europe on what we believe is the problem s within the European ATC system of today. Well, as stated in the folder presenting this conference, it can be summed up in a very few words: The capacity of the ATC system is not meeting the demand of our customers, the airlines! Result: Delay of air traffic givin g the ai rline s financial headaches and the controller s a physical headache.

When going into detail and analysing the causes of this pain, I do believe that most of the se cause s have been found in all the studies and eva luations made by several organisation s over the past 5-6 years. In particular in the European Air Traffic Control Harmoni sation and Integra tion Programm e (EATCHIP ) Phase I - the Appraisal and Evaluation phase. EATCHIP Phase I describes a European ATC system full of ¡'holes" . Holes in radar-co verage , holes in communication lines. holes in the use of the airspac e, holes in the ATC systems and how these integrate with each other and finally holes in the manpower needed to run the system. All problem s which to us controllers have been known for years. But what the magnitude of it all was. as was revealed in 1991. I do be!ieve came

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SHORT TERM PROBLEMS A\'D POSSIBLE SOLUTIO:\S The task of ATC is to handle air traffic in a

0 EVP EUROPEPreben Falkman-Lauridsen

as a sad surprise to both controllers and their administrationsaround Europe.

It must be said that IFATCA , although endorsing EATCHIP, was sceptical when we in 1990 saw the ECAC Strateg y - and in particular the timeframe in which solutions were to be found and impl eme nted. We knew what was to come was a breathtaking task, and we had our doubts as to whether the political and financial commitment to the programme would be there on the clay.

EATCHIP has now moved into the second phase, the programme development phase.

IFATCA believes that the approach to the problem, made by ECAC, is the only correct one. ATC is evolutionary and must develop as such. Integration and harmonisation are key words and so is the cooperation with the people working in the system. We cannot close clown toclays system and then open a new one in 5-10 years. Bridges will have to be built and milestones passed. We must have all European States with us in order not to create new bottlenecks. And finally . we must be realistic, to create a harmonised and integrated ATC system involving around 30 countries does take time. It is as simple as that' Therefore we will probably see 2 - 3 years go by without major benefits. capacity-wise. becom ing vis ibl e to the use rs and the operators of the system.

So in the short term. we. the air traff ic controllers will have to live with only minor c han ges: c han ge s within our natio nal borders. and changes which our neighbours may not feel as beneficial to them - capacitywise. Or do we¡7 We should defin itely ask the question -

safe, effic ient and orderl y way. When demand is bigger than capacity, Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) is implemented.

You ensure that the ATC system is not being over lo aded , by inse rtin g a pre -tactical planning of the traffic streams.

It is with concern that IFATCA witnessed several points of the European ATC system being overloaded during the Summer of 1992. Traffic figures of 20-25 % higher than the capacity figures given as a maximum for a given piece of airspace were seen. This is not only a problem, but also a safety issue' It is a situation which every controller in the world during basic training is taught must not happen. You must never go above your 90 % capac ity level. Alwa ys have spare capac ity 111 case of un fo resee n circ umstance s. Th e re ma y be a sy stem failure. an air craft need ing pa rt ic ul a r attention or assistanc e . that dem ands the reserve capacity.

The ATFM system is expected to protect against too much traffic. and should in effect secure that the 10% extra will be available when Murphy"s Law hit s . Thi s wa s not always the case in 1992. fFATCA strongl y urg es all pa rti es involved in ATFM in Europ e to tak e approp riate acti on. so that ove rload s are avo ided. We rec omm e nd a fa s t. centrali sation of Flow Mana ge me nt in Europe. 52 different restrictions were too much for the present system to handl e in 1992. We urge all ATC units to review their capacity figures. and this is 1101 only meant in a downward way. It may very we ll be poss ible for some uni ts in the opp os ite direction.When you change your airspace str uctu re . yo ur equi pme nt. o r yo ur manpower resources are looking brighter. your capacity is naturally affected.

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We urge all administrations in Europe to involve operational controllers in the process of establishing these capacity figures. Those are the people who really know when it hurts or when a few more could be managed. We urge controll ers and pilots to adhere to a given slot time. A mistrust in the system or even worse, a failure to comply with the rules of the system is of no good to anyone of us. And finally IFATCA recommends that all personnel involved in ATFM have a comprehensive knowledge of ATC. To be able to full y exploit the abiliti es of the system you must also know the system! ] NfRASTRUCTUREOF AIRPORTS.

Moving into the tactical phases of ATC, which begins and ends at the airport, and here looking at problems and possible short term solution s, you in particular see the importance of a joint cooperation between the partners in the game. Authorities, ATC and airlines are again often facing a high demand/insufficient capacity problem, and can only solve it together.

However, in this the first and final phase of a flight, ATC is, in my opinion , not the larges t ca pac ity co nstraint . Here it is a question of insufficient amounts of concrete, insuffi c ie nt numb er of parkin g stands, res tri cted poss ibiliti es of grow th and a grow ing demand for environmental protection, that is the problem. We as controllers know what we should like to have, but a wish is not always enough. The solutions to these problems are I believe better commented on by other speakers than me.

Of cour se ATC al so has mea ns of improving its capacity around the airports, but this often requires new solutions, such as parallel runways, better access to and from runways etc. New procedures can then, after prop er eva luati on and trainin g, be introduced. Examples of an increase in the capacity of major European airports have been seen in the past few years, because of an improved infrastructure in and around the a irp ort s, but aga in, only when all prequisites have been fulfilled.

l ISE OF

THE AIRSPACE.

Having then left the ground and become airborne, we are now in an environment where ATC must secure a 5 NM/ 1000 ft separation between aircraft - at least' (In so me areas of Europe we still co unt separation in minutes).

So - do not compare separation on the ground with that in the sky. A bigger buffer is needed in the air. simply because of the

THE CO NTROLLER /JUNE 1993

IFATCA ACTIVITIES _________

speed with which air cra ft opera te, and without an ATC possibility of freezing a critical situation. We do have our holding point s in the air , but of ten these cause additional work and therefore decrease the overall capacity. The aim is therefore for any controller to continuously move his traffic.

This gives him the highest capacity and at the same time, makes it easier to maintain a high level of safety. With this introduction to your flight, and keeping in mind that no chan ge of our separati on standard s are foreseen in the short term, we can conclude that a higher capac ity cann ot be found through these means.

The only element left then is the airspace itself, its amount and availability. And here, I believe we face the ATC problem which is unique to Europe, and cannot be compared to other regions of the world. Europe today consists of around 40 sovereign States and around the same numb er of milit ary air forces. Adelto this the high number of major airports closely spaced in Europe and finally the number of airlines with Europe as their home base . In an environm ent whe re integration is a key word, these facts are bound to cause major constraints. And so they do!

Th e controll e r sees thi s probl em of complexity each and every day during his work. He faces it during his communication with exterior and interior partners, be this military or civil, he faces it when parts of his piece of air space are being occ upie d by military exercises and he faces it when he wants to circumnavigate a problem area but can not because there is no right to do so. He sees the problem on his radar but can not avoid it! He faces a "no space available'' or "keep out" situation .

Add to this that 50 % of the aircraft flying around in Europe are e ither climbing or descending does not make his task easier.

Anyone with a knowledge of the noble art of Air Traffic Control knows this.

With these facts presented to him anyway. and asking the operational controller for a possible solution. he will often be able to give you one. His suggestion may include the invo lvement of c ivil aviat ion administrations. military author ities and adjac e nt States . He may suggest a new sectorisation. a new route structure or a delegation of airspace or ATS. But be sure. he will have an opinion on how to improve his service.

And that a ma jor increase in airspac e capacity is realistic within a short period of time has actually been shown by certa in

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States in Europe, who have taken on this vast task of restructuring .It has been shown that if the will to do better and to change is there. the end result may be an increase of not only 10 or 20 % bu t po ss ibl y mu ch more. The key to this improvement is to me ev ide nt: invo lve ment of operational controll ers! As ea rli er stated: we know where it hu rts and a lso have the in side knowledge to suggest a cure.

HLMAN RESOL'RCES

Focusing further on the element of human resources, it has been a fact for some years now that Europe is short of controllers. How many we are lacking is still not fully visible.

IFATCA has for some years forwarded our view po int , base d on our me mb e r associations assumptions. However, what we are still lack ing is a complete and tru e answer from our employers. EATCHIP has fo r two yea rs now tri ed to gather the information needed but without success .

Whether the issue is of less importance to certa in States compa red to other subjects remains unanswered.

Th e truth is after a ll tha t the lack of controllers has been and in some areas still is the main reason given by administrations for delays of air traffic. The !CAO surveys on FLOW regulations and their causes clearly show this.

Yet also here there are hope for the poor.

Parts of Europe today have a surplus which no doubt could be made available to those in need. IFATCA strongly urges all concerned to make the best use of thi s s urplu s. A sit uation with unempl oyed or unused controll ers in one part of Europ e and a desperate need in another part would in my opinion be hard to justify in a system based on integration and harmonisation.

Examples on how it can be arranged and to the satisfaction of all parti es concerned I may say. are already see n and should be pursued further.

Tm : SCHEDl 'LI\(; OF AIR TR -\FFIC

Before turning to the more distant future of ATC . allow me to addr ess an iss ue not directly related to the pract ica l prob lems relating to controllers . but eve n so has a major impact on our work and in particular on the subj ec t of de lays. T he iss ue : Scheduling of air traffic.

But before addre ss ing the air traffic scheduling. may I just for a moment bring your attention down to rhe ground and in particular to how we all plan when going to or from work in our private L'ill",.

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It is a well known fact that around most of and moving away from the short term and my safety, we believe that basic skills must the European capital s a conges tion of the into the grey area called the medium and be maintain ed a long with co ntroll er highways, you could also say queuing up, lon g ter m. Here we must ask ourselve s awareness. occurs eve ry morning and af te rnoon . I whether ATC will be the same in the year These polici es are clearly support ed by believe that most of us have encountered this 20 l O and whether the controller will still be others who have already made mistakes or not so amusing experience. However, some there or we will all be sacrificed on the altar learned from bitter experience. From pilots of us live with it, because we do need those of automation ? I believe that a quotation who have stated the following: "No matter extra ten minutes in bed. or because we have from a EUROCONTROL presentation on a how advanced yo ur aeroplane is - glass to leave town at the same time as all the future European ATM system is worth instruments, FMCs, FMSs etc, - don' t rely others blocking our way. BUT - there are noting: "The man will keep a human role". solely on them. Always go back to basics also some who do not want their day ruined Well, good to hear that the engineers will and CONFIRM - CONFIRM - CONFIRM!" by this conges-tion problem. And what do not convert us to robots! However, that some Or: " I learnt that the more'g izmos' installed they do? They (FMC, TCAS, plan. so that etc) the less time they avoid this you ha ve to tr affic jam! devote to th e They may take primar y job of a detour but in flyin g the aeromost cases the plane" most e fficient Or: " Avoid overthing is to de re li ance on any part at time s equipment, remwhere traffic is ember that advanles dense. ced tec hn o lo gy Parall e ls can eq uipm ent is an easily be drawn aid t o , n o t a to air traffic. To rep lace ment for , and from the prop e r cockp it major airports m a na ge me nt ." of Europ e it is Continuing with a an every da y few quotation s occurrence that from th e ATC 6 - 7 diff erent environment. Mr airlines want to De l Balzo , Exedepar t from A c utiv e D irec tor for System Operaand land at B at tions of the FAA, th e the sa me 0 EVP Europe chats to some Australianfriends, whilsten-routeto New Zealand time or within in a speech given of the planners of tomorrows ATC have the last year in Geneva sa id the fo llow ing : th e sa me block of 10 minute s . But a s idea that automation itself will save the "Never bank on a technology breakthrough everybody else also wants to be in Par is. world and significantly increase capacity, is to deliver capabilities that currently do not London, or Brussels at 9:00 am. and as the to lFATCA hi ghl y ques ti onab le if not exist. When you push the leading edge of number of slots given from A to B is only 4 doubtful. Automation will certainly be one technology, you may be the one surprised'". per hour. you are evidently facing a ·'take And he continu ed: ·'Th e c riti ca lit y of the delay or plan differently'· situation. The of th e many e lements helping us to overcome todays ATC crisis, but only if the customer involvem e nt in requir e ment s choice is the airlines. who will by the way man -m ac hine int erface is ca ref ull y definition ca nn ot be over e mph as ise d. probably then say that they fly when we System users know what they want. system considered. the passe nge rs wa nt them to. What ou r IFATCA believes that automation and new engineers and designers only think they answer will be will then of course depends ATC tools should improve and enhance the understand users needs ··. Th e titl e of his on our personal nature. Do we want to sleep speech by the way: "Lessons learned'". work of the controll er, that automation 10 minutes more or do we definitely want to should support and ass ist controll ers in Ladies and Gentl emen, I hope that the be at Bon time. From an ATC point of view. you should, if you want to avoid a ··queue executing their duties. Automation should content of my speech has underlined its title. improve performance, and reduce workload, That ATC and its key elements , safety and up" situation, ask the air lines to schedu le accordingly. Spread your demand. and avoid it should increase efficiency but at the same efficiency is not solely the responsibility of a the ru sh-ho ur s 1 Ju st as you do wh e n time also enhance safety. We believe that all few, but is a shared responsibility between this must be done with the controller as a travelling on the surface of Mother Earth. us all: that delays are not caused by one key element. The controller must remain an factor only. but by several and that solutions LOOKIM, 1,ro THI· Fl n RE OF ATC ac ti ve. rat her than a pass ive user of an can be found. + Coming finally to the encl of my speech automated ATC system. And for your - and

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THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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IFATCA'S ROLEIN THEICAOFLIGHT SAFETY AND HUMANFACTORS PROGRAMME 0 EVP Professional, Bert Ruitenberg - Based on a paper by Captain Daniel Maurino, Secretary !CAO FS/HF Study Group. uman Fact or s, a phra se that is increasingly gaining importance in the aviat ion world - as well as in ATC. As with many important subjects in aviation. !CAO is very much involved in a related programme to increase awareness on a global scale, and since it also affects ATC, it is not surprising to learn that IFATCA too is involved in this programme. This article will introduce the !CAO programme and will indicate how IFATCA is involved in it.

The start of the programme was in 1986 when !CAO established their Flight Safety and Human Factors Stud y Group . The Group were tasked to carry out the objective "to improve safety in aviation by making States more aware and more responsible of the importance of Human Factors in civil aviation through the provision of practical Human Factors material s and measure s developed on the basis of experience within States".

To that end, the Study Group identifi ed four distinct phases for the programme: the init ial phase, the awa ren ess pha se, th e educational phase and the regulatory phase.

The Initial Phase - in the initial phase the Study Group concentrated on what they wanted the (aviation) world to know about Human Factors. Suitab le theo ry-model s were ado pted to fac ilit ate a sys tems approach. (There is more than "pilot error" to safety in c ivil av iat ion. All th e components of the system can, and at some point do, impact safety.) Senior and middle management were designated as the target for the Programme.

The Awareness Phase - the awareness phas e saw the production of a series of digests (booklets) which deal with different aspects of Human Factors and how the y relate to flight safe ty . T itl es inc lud e : Fundamental Human Fac tors Co ncept s; Crew Resource Management (CRM ) and Line Oriented Flight Tra inin g (LOFT ): Training of Operational Personnel in Human Fac tors: Human Fac tors in Ai r Traff ic Control.

The EducationalPhase - The educational phase is what the Study Group considers to be the heart of the programme. It consists of a carefully scheduled series of Global

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Symposiums and Regional Seminars. Two Regional Seminars are conducted each year in three-year cycles. These 4-day seminars are of an educational nature and address the same basic Human Factors issues covered by the series of digests. At the end of each cycle a worldwide symposium is held, where rec ent pro gre ss in Human Factors is exa mined by expert s from the aviation community, and the plan of action for the next three years is re-formulated.

The RegulatoryPhase - the last phase, the reg ul ator y one, is what ICAO really is ultimately after, for !CAO is essentially a regulatory body. The Study Group recogni ses that it may be hard to achieve satisfactory regulation in the Human Factors field. Yet it is hoped to be able to develop regulations that comply with the following principles: * regulationshall not be a substitutefor good judgement * over-regulationis as dangerousas no regulations * regulateonly when the problemis well-known,and whenworkable solutionshave been identifiedand are well accepted.

And now, for some practical points, let's have a look at where IFATCA is involved in all this.

First of all, we' re members of the Study Group, which puts us close to the core of the who le pro gramm e. Then , IFATCA has helped write the digest on Human Factors in Air Traffic Co ntrol (which was mainiy written by Dr. V. David Hopkin of the UK, a leading authority in this field). And we're invo lved in the education al part too, as you' ll see!

Although we weren't officially present at the first Symposium (Leningrad, 1989) or the fir st Regional Seminar (Cameroon, 1991), we participated in the Seminars in Bangkok (1991 ), Mexico City ( 1992) and Cairo ( 1992). When I say "participated" that means: IFATCA delivered a presentation to the audience on "ATC and Automation , Human Factors from the ATCO's point of view".

So far, the presentations have been clone by the EVPP (Wim Rooseman in Bangkok the others by myself) and are, in all modesty, generally well received by the audiences.

The !FATCA presentation usually is part of a block of presentations on Human Factors in ATC (some of which are rather scientific), and from comments received from ATCOs, supervisors and ATC-managers who were in the audience it is my impression that our "voice from the work floor" gets heard very effectively.

IFATCA was also invited to speak at the 2nd Global Symposium, held in Washington D.C., just before our 1993 Conference in Christchurch. This invitation was accepted and the text of the presentation can be seen elsewhere in this issue.

To ge t even more practical , the Christchurch Conference has seen the birth of what I hope will become a tradition: on Friday, April 23rd, a Professional Panel was held during which three speakers addressed several topics pertinent to the Conference 93 Committee C proceedings.

If we look further ahead, !CAO has invited IFATCA to keep participating in the Regional Seminars, which I think we should do provided our resources (both in time and money) allow us to.

Last, but not least, the work in the Study Group will continue towards the objective of regulation in the Human Factors field. In thi s re spect , one small succ ess can be reported already: in th e new Ann ex I (Licensing) there will be a requirement for mos t lice nces (including ATCO s) " to demon strat e knowledge of human performan ce and limit ation s". In other words: future ATCOs should know about Human Factors in ATC. /FATCA is working/ii/¡ it on w1w hehal/1

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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EXECUTIVEBOARD MEETINGIN THE FAR EAST 0 Terry Crowhurst t the request of the Japan Federation Festival all ably arranged by our tour guide The Board conducted their bu siness at of Air Traffic Controllers (JFATC) Sheri Chen and her assistant Tina. During Narita Airport ,where the y wer e also privileged to be dinner gue sts of Ja pan the stop over we were able to meet with the Executive Board held one of Airline s (JAL ) and All Nipp on Airways government transport ministers and other their periodic meetings it Narita Airport, (ANA). Also, during the meeting the Board important aviation officials. Our thanks go Tokyo from 5 to 8 February 1993. were able to meet and dine with members of On route to Tokyo it was also possible for to all of the Association and those who the Airport Administration. At the invitation assisted in the sponsorship of our visit.

Bert Ruitenberg (EVPP) , Chris Stock Moving back to Tokyo , the Board of the Civil Aviation Bureau an interesting (EVPT) and myself to make a brief stop over journ ey was made to in Taip ei, Taiwan , to Tok y o C it y v i a t h e attend the Annual a irport co nn ect i ng General Meting of the t ra in - Th e S kyliner.

Republic of China Air The one hour j ourney Traffic Controllers' was made in a level of Association(ROCATCA) . comfo rt and c lean Neil Vidler ( then EVP liness that could set an ASP) was also schedexample to many other uled to attend but countries in the world. regrettabl y a la st In Tokyo the Board minute strike of airport was honoured to meet ground handling staff in th e Dir ector of Air Australia prevented him Tr aff ic Control from leaving in time.

Division, Mr. Shinichi The President of Odawa ra. and man y ROCATCA, Mr David other import ant govWang and all of the ernment off icials . members of the AssocThroughout the stay iation went out of their in Jap an we were way to make our visit 0 Members of the Executii e Board with the Japanese Director of Air Traffic Control Division, treated with the utmost productiv e and enjoyMr. Shinichi Odawara courte sy and hosp it able. In the absence of ality and the Executive Board all join me in EVP ASP, Chris Stock was required to Chair members were all met by Yoshiki lmawaka. thanking the Japanese organisations for their a meeting to discuss airspace problems in an air traffic controller and airspace involvement and sponsorship in making our the region. At the conclusion of business we management officer. Yoshiki also attended were able to take a quick whistle-stop tour of the meetings in Taipei as a representative of visit so productive and enjoyable.

In particular. our special thanks are extended the sights which included a visit to the view Japan. Yoshiki is based at Naha, in southern to our host Yoshiki lmawaka. for his tirne Chinese treasures, a Buddhist Temple and Japan and was "detached" to the Board as liaison officer for the duration of the visit. and total dedication to our cause. + preparation s for the New Year Lantern

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"Six hours, thirteen minutes, nine seconds, six hours, thirteen minutes, eight seconds , six hours, thirteen minutes ,.........."

.JA member of the Exerntive Board tra11 elli11 g to a Board Meeting!

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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RAINN UMANS ORAN AUTOMATE AIR TRAFFIC ext of IFATCA Presentationto the 2nd Global Symposium, in Washington D.C., April 1993, on Flight Safety and HumanFactorsgiven by Bert RuitenbergExecutiveVice-President Professional, IFATCA The first part of my presentation will be a short introduction to IFATCA, followed by a look at the relation between the Federation and ICAO' s Human Factors Programme. Next, we will arrive at th e main bod y of the pr ese nt a tion : ATC training , Automat ed workingenvironments and Human Factors. I hope to point out some interesting differences compared to pilot-training , and will use some examples to indicate the role of Human Factors in ATC training. Finally, of course, there are a number of conclusions that will be subtly brought to your attention.

The International Federation of Air Traffic Controller s' Associations was founded 32 years ago by air traffic controllers from 12 European countries and has since grown to a body with over 80 Member Assoc iation s worldwide. Among its objectives are: "the promoti on of safety, effic iency and regularit y in international air navigation", and: "to render assistance and advice in the development of safe and order ly sys tems of air traffic control". IFATCA is an independent, nongove rnment , non-politi ca l, profess ional orga ni sati on th at has ga ined uni versa l recognition from other aviat ion-re lated organisations as being "the voice of the air traffic controller". This recognition is given shape by the many invit ation s IF ATCA receives to participate in meetings, panels, working-groups etcetera, where the opinion or input from ope rati onal air tr aff ic controllers is sought.

The IFATCA repr ese ntati ves at those meetings can rely on an extensive set of THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

Federation policie s covering most of the topics that will be up for discussion, be it in the technical field (e.g. on ATC procedures, TCAS or ADS) or the professional field (e.g. on working-condition s, medical or lega l topics).

To conclude thi s brief introduction to IFATCA, you are probably wondering where

I fit in in the organisation, so I will tell you.

As the Executive Vice-President Professional I am the Exec uti ve Board member responsible for the professional matters of !FATCA. In the Board are aiso an EYP Technical, EVP Finance and EYPs for each of our four reg ions, toget her with an Executive Secretary and an Editor. To keep us all in check we have a very competent President and Chief Executive Officer, aided by a Deputy President. If all this sounds impressive - good' (It was designed to do just that).

With this knowledge about IFATCA and its methods, it will be no surpri se that there exists a healthy relation between IF ATCA and ICAO; a relationship that may well be illustrated by our involvement in ICAO 's Hum an Factor s Pro gra mme. T his inciclentally brings us to the second part of my presentation . Although we (IF ATCA ) clicln' t att end the Leningrad Symposium and also weren ' t prese nt at the fir st Regional Seminar (Cameroon), IFATCA was aware of the importance of the programme and so was only too pleased to accept ICAO ' s invitation to present a paper at the Second Region al Seminar (Bangkok). From that time on, similar presentations were made at seminars in Mexico City and Cairo. and IFATCA was also involved in the drafting of the !CAO Dige st on Hum an Factors in ATC. In spired by th e ICAO Programme , IF ATCA has further more begun an internal campaign to increase awareness of the importance of zHuman Factors in Aviation in general. and in ATC in particular. To that encl, I have the honour to present a seminar-t ype paper on HF in ATC to the delegates at our annual conference.

It is felt there is a need for such a campaign . fo r in tradit ional ATC trainin g very little attention is given to subjects other than those dealing directly with ATC procedures. separation criteria or aviation-background (like meteorology and aerodynamics). To be fair to ICAO. I hasten to say that recently the licensing criteria for air traffic controllers have been reviewed. and that one of the changes is the inclusion of a requirement ¡¡to have knowledge of the human performance and limitations relevant to air traffic control". so it looks like things will get better in the future.

If you remembe r the beg innin g of my

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presentation,you will have noted that I took This is what really happened "somewhere Do you see the analogy with the Air Force you from the second part into what I called in Europe". As a result of airport-expansion, story? The big difference is that in the Air the main body of it, for we are now already there was a need for a higher control tower, Force story everyone would agree that this is lookingat ATC training. with a larger cab (or work-floor).This made not the way to do it, whereas in the real ATC But before exploring this further, I have a up for all shortcomingsof the old tower, but story it took the ATC association a lot of little anecdote about training in the Royal had one disadvantage: because of the effort to convince management that maybe Dutch Air Force that I want to share with diameter of the cab and the height of the some things could be done differently - and you. tower, it proved to be impossibleto see the even then the transition took place without In recent years the Dutch Air Force part of the airfield below the oppositeend of any simulation at all, for simple lack of a operated two different fighter-aircraft: the any control position. So, management simulator. This is in fact a common NFS and the Fl6. As the NFS was growing decided that there were going to be two occurrencewith ATC throughoutthe world. out dated, the Air Force was in a process of Ground Controllers (i.e. the controllers Let's have a closer look at ATC training in slowly phasingthem out while looking for a responsible for taxiing aircraft) working general. As with pilot training there is replacementwhen all of a sudden the Gulf- simultaneously, as opposed to the existing normally an extensive programme to bring war erupted. NATO put heavy pressure on practice of having just one Ground abinitio trainees up to licensing standards, the Dutch and it was decided that the Controller. although even here it is probably correct to Tornadowouldbe the successorof the NFS. A few internal co-ordination-procedures say that in pilot training more use is made of The Tornado's characteristicsare such that were devised (on paper), but it was expected simulators.Please don't think that air traffic it would make up for all controllers are against the use of shortcomings of the NFS; it's simulators for training! The bigger, has a better performance reason they're not used is far and endurance, larger payload, more basic: it involves money, etcetera. The only small as usual. disadvantageis that because of all When a manufacturer of this the aircraft is more difficult simulatorsbuilds a simulator for, to operate, which led the Air say, a Boeing 737 he has a wide Force to decide to use two pilots range of potential customers. in it. The task for each pilot was Every B737-operator in the tentatively worked out on paper, world can use that simulator to but could be adjusted meet his demands, give or take a operationallyif found necessary. few minor modifications.But try This couldn't be practised in a selling a simulator for Heathrow simulator, as there was none Tower to an ATC school in { . l:-,.:,-"'..-~ availableyet.

Japan! ATC simulators are by ----~ Again, under NATO-pressure,it nature very site-specific, and ~ was decided to go operational therefore expensive to buy. ...... with the Tornados immediately, Furthermore, they usually even before official test-flights require a lot of manpower to could be made by Dutch Air operate them (fake-pilots/blip Force pilots.Such test-flights drivers), including updating of weren't possible anyway since the training exercises, which various vital systems from the adds to the operating costs. For "Somewhere in Europe there was a need for those reasons there are still many NFS had to be built-in to the a higher control tower with a larger cab" ATC agencies that do not have Tornados - while the number of the simulation capabilities they operationalfighters had to remain constant. (The Air Force had ordered new that these would be modified while working require.

So what training is done in ATC after systems and instruments, but delivery the new system. As there was no towerwouldn't be before the end of the year so simulator available, there was no way of qualifying for the licence? In the more advanced countries with simulators, some they had to be installedafterwards). checking things in advance.

The Air Force however was confident that Furthermore, it was impossible to use refresher training is conducted, and regular everything would go well, starting with the the new tower to test the proceduresbefore proficiencychecks take place. But this is the exceptionrather than rule, when looking at it first missions in the Tornados. After all. the going operational, pilots were able to operate their NFSs too, Vital equipment from the old tower had to on a global scale. Usually the post-licence weren"tthey? be transferred to the new one at Transition training consists of no more than seeing In case you still have doubts: this story is Day. New equipment was ordered, but changes in procedures (including major NOT true. That is to say. it is not about the delivery was delayed so it would have to be changes) on paper, after which experience Air Force, aircraft or pilots. The scary part installed later. Management,however, was on how to use these new procedures is is. it is about Civil Aviation. the transition confident that the controllers would be able gained while working - in an operational from an old to a new control tower. and air to cope. After all. they were able to work environmentwith real aircraft! traffic controliers! from the old tower too. weren't they?

And when new equipment is installed, the

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THE CONTROLLER/JUNE

1993

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air traffic controllers usually receive an introductionon how to operatethe hardware (i.e. what the buttonsare for), but not how to use it. That again is left for the individualsto discoverwhile working,using live traffic as part of the learningprocess.In that process, interestingdiscoveriesare sometimesmade!

For example,in a new systemthat was about to be implemented somewhere in Europe, one of the more spectacularitems that were automated was the traditional Flight Progress Strip - the rectangular piece of paper used by controllersto keeptrackof the whereabouts of an aircraft. Normally, annotations concerning estimates, heights and speeds are made in pencil or pen on the strip, but in the new systemeveryinputgoes per keyboardand electronicstripsappearon monitor.

Controllers do not have to sort the strips anymore- the computerdoes it all, based on the estimates. The interesting discovery however was, that people using keyboards do tend to hit a wrong key every now and then. Well, maybe this was known already, but the discoverythat if an estimate-timeis wrong by one hour or more, the computer will sort the strip straight to a part of its memory where it cannot be retrieved until that time comesup, surelywas a new one!

This wasjust one example,and morecould be quoted here. The bottom line is: if the design of ATC systems is left solely to technicians,and the controllersreceivelittle training before using the system operationally,The Latent Failure-phaseof the Reason-model is entered without a secondthoughtand guesswho are in the last line-of-defence?

Is automation as beneficial as many engineers and managers seem to believe, anyway?It is temptingfor themto thinkthat by introducinga high level of automationin air traffic controlthere will be a spectacular increase in capacity, in other words, that becauseof automationmore aircraftcan be handled by less controllers.I would like to label this "a popular misconception".I will evenexplainwhy.

No matter how state-of-the-art the automatedsystemsthat becomeavailablefor ATC are, there is not goingto be one that is absolutely fail-safe. So, when the system fails, it is the air trafficcontrolleron whom everybodyreliesto handlethe problem.And since his automated system has failed, he will be required to use a back-up system, which will usuallybe automatedto a lesser degree. This implies a higher workloadfor the controller.so he shouldn'tbe overloaded

THE CONTROLLER/JUNE1993

HUMAN FACTORS¡----------------

with too high a numberof aircraftto handle.

In other words: even in an automated environment a controller should never be responsible for more aircraft than he can safely handle without the automated equipment- which is equal to the numberof aircraft he handled before automation was introduced. So far for the increase in capacity.

But surely the number of controllers requiredcan be decreasedwith automation, you say? I'm afraid the same argument as before applies: you need sufficient controllers to take over when the system fails, so you probablyneed the same number as before. Worse even: you might require morethan before!

AlthooghI maintain that there is no such thing as an absolutely fail-safe automated ATC system, I will concede that today's systemsare pretty fail-safe.(Whichin ATC is just not good enough!)Therefore,just like pilots, 999 out of 1000 times an air traffic controller will work a shift without experiencing any problems with the automatedsystem- or even better odds. It is that ONE time occurringthat makes people really appreciatehaving pilots on board, or controllers on the ground. For that reason, pilots go through regular trainingprogrammes where the special skills requiredto handle emergency-situationsare practisedand sharpened.

It should not be different for air traffic controllers working in highly automated environments. If their old-fashioned or manualskills are relied on to keep disasters from happening when ever the system breaks down, you'd better make sure they haven't forgottenhow to use them!So, when automationis introduced,this doesn't cancel the need for training the controllers in the old methods- it enhancesthat need, whileat the same time adding the need for training how to operatethe new system.If all that is done conscientiously,it may well implythat becauseof the introductionof an automated ATC system there are more controllers requiredthanbefore.

Having arrived at this point, it is interestingto note that in many areas of the worldthereis a seriousshortageof air traffic controllers,a shortagethat many politicians and otherpeopleresponsiblefor ATS expect to solve by automation.See why I called it "a popularmisconception"?

By now you may get the impressionthat IFATCA (or controllers) are completely against all forms of automationin ATC. If you do, you are wrong.IFATCA feels there

are genuine needs for automation to assist controllers, to improve performance and reduce workload, to increase efficiency, to remove non-essentialtasks, and to enhance job-satisfactionand the safety element of the controller'stask. But there is also a need for air traffic controllers to be involved as an essentialpart of any future ATC system. The man-machine interface needs to be examinedclosely so that the system fits the human, rather than have the human fit the system.

Therefore,IFATCAhas always urged that controllers be involved from the designing phase onward in the development of new equipment. The Human Factors aspects of automation must be fully considered when developing automated systems and should includethe maintenanceof essential manual skills and controllerawareness.

It is our (IFATCA) belief that the controller must remain the key element of the ATC system and must retain the overall control function of the system. Safeguards must be established to ensure that the controller remains an active, rather than a passive,user of an automatedsystem.

The precedingstatementsare examples of IFATCA policies that I referred to in my introductionto the Federation earlier. They are the result of many meetings in which controllers from all over the world endeavour to formulate statements on subjectsthat concernthem all.

Another such policy is that before a new system is implemented, controllers should receive adequate training in operating the system.This should seem obvious but is not always done. IFATCA is also in favour of regular refresher-training and proficiency checks; always with the aim to keep the professional standard of the controllers as high as required.

Coming to the end of my presentation. in which you first were briefly introduced to how IFATCAworks, and what the relation is between IFATCA and ICAO's Human Factors Programme,it is my hope that the main part about ATC training, Automated WorkingEnvironmentsand Human Factors has given you an insight into our Federation'sconcernsin this field. Don't get carried away by technological possibilities when considering automation in ATC. Rememberthat the human element - the air traffic controller - remains the heart of the ATC system,and that the system is there for the controller.not the other way around. +

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IFATCA'93 CHRISTCHURC ' NEW ZEALAND ground. This "peace symbol" was picked up by the President which was a signal for the remainder of the Maori Party to break into songs of welcome. Accompanied by the Secretary, Edge Green, the President was then escorted to his position on the main platform where a local Maori gave a short welcoming speech in the Maori language.

The Conference Chairman, Rob Irwin, then invited the "foreigners " to "HONGI" - an exercise whereby the "foreigners" meet the locals with handshakes whilst at the same time rubbing noses with each of the Maori people, in turn. ::i The Maori Challenge

The morning of Monday 19 April 1993 dawne d as a fres h bright Autumnal day which marked the beginning of the IFATCA ¡93 Conference. The Conferenc e was centred around the municipal facilities at the Town Hall; a purpo se built conference cen tre which mor e than met the requirements for a conference as large as the IFATCA annual event. Just before I 0am. delegates and guests assembled in the James Hay Theatre of the confe rence centre, for what was to be a most interesting opening cere mony. As the partic ipant s took their seats they were treated to the gentle singing of Maor i people asse mbl ed on the main theatre platform. Following the singing of the New Zealand national anthem, a Maori ¡'WERO" was performed whereby a Maori warrior cha!lenged the President of IFATCA to ens ure that his vis it was with good intent ions! Af te r much chall e ngin g. posturin g. adva ncing and retrea tin g. the warrior placed a piece of greenery on the

:i Charles Stuart

..I The "HONG/"

lt gives me great pleasure to welcome so man y of yo u to thi s our 32 nd Annual Conference. particularly as it is being held in my own region. This is only the second time that an IFATCA conference has been held in the Pac ifi c reg ion , the las t be ing in Melbourne. Australia. in 1975. It is also only the fourth time a conference has been held in the southern hemisphere. The number of registrati ons is more than double that of Melbourne and may well even break the record of last year in Bournemouth.

Much has changed since that conference in Me lbourne. IFATC.A membership. both

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0 Rob Irwin then introducedeach of the four speakers whose openingspeechesare reportedas follows: ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT AN D CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF IFATCA

professional and Corporate has more than doubled, as ha s its budget. We have radically restructured the organisation and IFATCA has become a highly respected international aviation organisation, sought after for its views and contributions by all major players in the international aviation field.

Most of you have travelled a very long way to get here thanks to the very generous assistance of Air New Zealand . Indeed , without that assistance many of you would not be here . You really can't travel any further. And yet, I am sure that you will find that the effort has been worthwhile as New Zealand is without doubt, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I doubt that there is another country of similar size any where else in the world with such a variety of climate, vegetation and topography.

To give you a few statistics on distance.

Auckland to Singapore, considered a near north neighbour, 5231 miles, compared to London - Los Angeles , 5442 mile s.

Auckland to Los Angeles about thirteen hours flying, compared to a similar time from London to Bangkok. In fact London to Bangkok is 74 miles shorter than Auckland to Bangkok. London across the little pond to New York is about seven hours flying, while Auckland to Honolulu, just part way across the big pond, is about eight.

I give you these statistics to explain to you why so many of you are probably suffering from jet lag. You will probabl y now under stand why the Executive Vic e President for Asia/Pacific and I need a few days to get anywhere and ju st a couple of clays mor e to organise it. Our nea re st member association other than New Zealand, a mere three-hour flight, or Fiji, four hours. is Hong Kong. nine hours from Sydney, the same as Vancouver to London.

Enough of travel statistics. You are now in the fastest growing aviation region in the world. If I can borrow some facts that Neil Vidler, our Executive Vice President for the Region . used in his fore word to the last edition of The Controller. by the year 2000 Asia/Pacifi c will account for 30o/cof all aviation activity. Asia/Pacific has thirteen of the top twenty five world air markets and the Pacific rim countries account for 40% of

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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ne w 74 7-400 orders and 80% of B777 orders. No new airports are planned for North America or Europe but this region has at least seven airports under construction or planned. Indeed only a couple of weeks ago, China announced that it intends to build another thirteen new airports.

This region is in the forefront of Automatic Dependant Surveillance tri als, Area Navigation trials and Mach Number Techniqu e. One country in the Region , Australia, is the only country in the world with approvedRNAV separationstandards.

Another very important reason to be here is to meet controllers and the administration of the first fully commercial national provider of air traffic services. This is your opportunity to discuss and ob serve the benefits of such an operation, and there are benefits.

Now to the Conference. The organising committee are to be congratulatedfor coping with so many registrants, more than double what they expected. They have done a remarkable job finding sufficient beds at relatively short notic e, for , lets face it , Christchurch is not a large city.

Once again we have a large number of applicants for membership, some of whom are from countries that have broken up into smaller independent Nations and which were previously represented by one organisation.

There will be some difficult decisions to be made and we will have to be sensitive to National problems, but practical on the other hand, in assessing how our decisions will affect the Federation.

After the address by CharlesStuart the following speech was given by the Vice President of the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association - Mr Paul Robinson.

Paul is a Terminal radar controller at Auckland Airport. New Zealand ALPA was also the host of IFATCA '93.

CONFERENCE SPEECH _________ ADDRESSBY THE VICEPRESIDENTOF NEW ZEALANDArn LINE PILOTS' ASSOCIATION 0 Paul Robinson

Geographically, IFATCA 93 is being held at the far end of the world from the last - and highly successful IFATCA Conference at Bournemouth in the United Kingdom. In ter ms of common interests , thou gh, the distance between the two Conference is less marked.

IFATCA 92 was notably conscious of the immediate problems presented by crowded European skies - !FATCA 93 is hosted in the world' s fastest expanding aviation region.

Solutions obtained in Europe will likely act as a blueprint for the development of AsiaPacific aviation. Innovations in this region may be sought to be adopted elsewhere.

It may be on that basis that many of you will be int eres ted in New Zea land ' s "commercialisation" of air traffic control.

The progress made by New Zea land in providing air traffic control services in a commercial environment is likely to provide significant material for discussion. The area is not free from controversy: it is arguable whether private-sector management ethics are better suited than those of the public-sector to the provision of ATC services; it is not plain that the "efficiencies" of a market driven ATC system necessarily provide for "the orderly flow of air traffic"; and it seems unlikely that the contestable provision of ATC services is a desirable goal for an integrated ATC system.

I look forward to hearing. and discussing with yo u, these and other issues thrown up

by New Zea land 's expe ri ence in the commerc ialisation of air traffic contro l services.

We are also innovative in another - and. in av iati on, signifi ca nt - dire ct ion. That innovation is the formal integration of air traffic controllers and pilot s in a single professional organisation. It must not have escape d yo ur not ice that is it the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association which is hosting IFATCA 93. The New Zealand Assoc iat ion. represe nting the two most important groups of aviation professionals. is a member of both IFATCA and IFALPA. In my view. this integration has the potential to be of precede nt -se tting importance . in enab lin g a co hes ive and coordinated approach to the ever-swifter technological

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and regulatory change in aviation.

Although our particular integration was as a consequence of m1111mum member requirements under New Zealand labour law (and was unlikely to have been considered but for those requirements), with the benefit of hind sight. it has been a particul ar ly appropri ate alliance. At a time of rap id aviation development - when "flex ibility" and "efficiency" appear to hold sway - the singular vo ice of the ver y people most affected by , yet leas t consulted in , that process has been an anchor for safety in the increasinglydisturbed seas of aviation.

We know progress requires change. We kno w pro gress in av iat ion requires technological change. We know progress in aviation mean larger aircraft for pilots to fly and more sophisticated air traff ic control equipment and procedures. We know those advances are of mutual interest to both pilots and air traffic control_l ers. If we need proof. we need look no further than the agenda of this Conferenc e and that of the IF ALP A Conference being held simultaneou sly in Brazil - both Conferences will consider. among other matters. FANS and ADS. But we must also recognise that we have a common role to play in the introduction of change. IFATCA and IFALPA must jointly ensure that change is introduced and managed in a controlled manner. supported by dedicated research and realistic costbenefit analyses. We cannot afford to allow aviation to trial change on a historical basis introducing innovation and waiting to see if anything untoward arises from it. We must be act ive to ensure the maximisation of safety in progress - the continued growth of our indu stry , and our place within it. depended on our vig ilance. Unless our parent bodies make clear statements. at an internationallevel, of those aspects of change which we. as aviation professionals. find unacceptab le. we will si mpl y by overwhelmed by the speed of development and be left trying to hold together a system which is being dismantled around us.

We must insist that change is introduced in a better manner than. for example. TCAS has been. This piece of technical wizardry was of significant impor ta nce to pilots but presented at least as significant problems for ai r traffi c controlle rs. In the end. the import ance of TCAS out weig hed it s difficulties. Working together. pilots and air traffic controllers could have minimised the difficulties of TCAS and enabled its earlier achievementof its potential.

It is thus imperativethat our respective

--------------------------THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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international bodies jointly lead the way in providi ng a coordinated appro ach to the technical, professional and medical areas of international aviation. Such will reinforce our ability to monitor - and counter - some of the more extreme proposals which will inevitably surface as governments move to acco mmodate operator s struggling to improve financial returns from the industry after a period of downturn.

I be lieve our relationship here in New Zealand demonstrates that such arrangements can - and do - work. Like any marriage, they require dedication, mutual interest and hard work. Ther e will be areas of vigorou s debate. There will be areas of particular and focussed impact for one or other party. But, predomi nantl y, there will be are as of common concern and it will be those which provide the bas is fo r a succe ss ful international alliance between pilots and air traffic controllers.

I believe the potential of such an alliance to be far greater than the sum of its parts. Cooperation betwee n IFATCA and IFALPA must be utilised to the greatest poss ible extend to ensure its maximum effect within the industry. As we move towards a new millennium, I urge the Board of IFATCA to closely examine, foste r and deve lop its continuing co-ordination with IFALPA. Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your superb attendance at this Conference. With over 600 registrations, we have accumulated here in Chr istch urch the seco nd larges t collection of IFATCA attendees ever. Your suppo11 emphasises the global network which air traffic control provides; your presence virtually assures the Conference's success.

Together with the Co nference 's majo r sponsors - the Airways Corporation of New Zealand , Thom son CSF and Ai r New Zealand - I wish you an enjoyab le and instructive stay in New Zealand. I trust that, when you come to leave us at the end of the week, yo ur profess ional and socia l expectations of this Conference have been met... or. better still, surpassed.

Next to speak at the gatheringwas Tony Chapman.Tony is the ATC directorof the New ZealandAir Line Pilots' Association and IFATCA LiaisonOfficer.

Before he began, Tony Chapman requested a minut es silence in memory of Mr Lyn West, a Christchurch Centre Supervisor. who was tragically killed in a light aircraft crash on the Saturday previous to conference.

Tony Chapman then cont inued with his prepared speech as follows.

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ADDRESS BY THE ATC DIRECTOR, NEW ZEALAND ALPA

0 Tony Chapman

Thi s addres s, usually made by the host nation's ATCA Executive Officer, is a great opportunity to have a go at the establishment - to highlight the shortcomings in the local aviation environment, to criticise the agency responsible for the provision of air traffic services; to point out the deficiencies and hint at the potential for a serious incident; all hea dline grabbin g stuff , frequently appropriate , and the stuff that makes controller 's blood rise, gets your attention and assures me of an almost standing ovation at the end.

However, all too often the very orga ni sation s th at we are so quick to condemn are the very organisation s that provided the transport, allowed us time off to attend this conference, and indeed, pay our wages.

I believe their intent is safe skies, incident free operations, and appropriatel y skilled people. Similar goals to ourselves, though at ti mes we might find thi s difficult to comprehend, knowing what we know.

So. having made such a statement, and considering the chance of a disinterested, unresponsive audience, I would like to break with thi s tr adition and look inward , at ourselves, and what we can offer the industry that employs our considerable skills, this Conference and what is might achieve.

It is often said that the road to problem solving beg ins with opening the gate of understanding. During this Conference we will all have to put aside our training in short term crisis or traffic management, look down an equally difficult path and put ourselves in the shoes of our co lleagues . the Member Associations who might well have a different point of view in the debate to hand.

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We must work toward finding solutions, and making recommendations and policy, in areas that directly impact on our operations.

We must look at Human Factors, the how and when of ATC. Open questions, not the closed questions of the past. We must look at the changin g face of the world , the new Associations looking for membership. We must put aside any political or personal reasons for their exclusion, and look at the benefit to others and the hopes and wishes of the applicants themselves.

So Ladies and Gentlemen of IFATCA, your task is not an easy one, but it is one well worth the effort. When we have our house in order and when we have clear policy and direction, then we can go to the industry and say - look what we can achieve and what we can offer.

But before you turn your programmes into darts and throw them at me, I want to say we have not been under achievers in the past, we quite clearly have achieved a great deal, and I can think of some great work by some dedicated individuals, but I suggest there is more left to do than what we have done to date, I would like to see an organisation called IFATCA that is asked to participate in many more forums on flight safety and efficiency. J would like to see an industry that recognises our contribution s and readily of fe rs assistance in travel and accommodation, time to do our busines s and time to make an impression. I would like to see an industry that offer s the se incentives without us begging cap in hand. We are a non-profit Association. We struggle to meet objectives _ given our income, that doesn't make us less professional - just broke.

What we _lack in money we must make up for 111 ability , we must understand. Only when we understand our role in IFATCA each and every one of us, only then can w~ begin to understandour role in the scheme of things - IFATCA'S place in aviation.

Having made such an impassioned plea I ask only for one more thing - that you find humour and pleasure in the Soci al Programme, that you mix, mingle and smile.

Ladies and Gentlemen, enjoy your stay in New Zealand, enjoy our unique hospitality, try the food and wines , experi ence th e feeling - be a Kiwi for a week.

Continued on page 21

THE CONTROLLER/JUNE 1993

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_ LETIERS TO THE EDITOR_

LATEST NEWS ON ESTONIA Between the time that I wrote the ai1icle in the last edition of The Controller, several positive things have happened in Estonia which are well worth reporting to correct some of the previous concerns.

Since last Autumn, the overall political situation in Estonia has improved to the extent that the ordinary person can appreciate the changes. This of course has also reflected on the controllers and their situation is fortunatelygetting better. Laws are being amended and the Russian speaking controllers now have the same rights for renting or buying apartments as those of their Estonian speaking colleagues.

Those living in hotel rooms have equal status with those living in apartments.

The controllers annual leave has been extended to 40 calendar days and this gives them some advantage over other professions. Salary has been raised to 50 US$ net per month, which although still lower than many is a sign of improvement.

The Civil Aviation Authority has promised to embark onto an intensive training programme and is currently attempting to raise funds to cover the commitment.

The newly formed Estonian Air Traffic Controllers Association has just joined IFATCA and was unanimouslyelected as a full member of the Federation during the recent annual conference in Christchurch, New Zealand.

No doubt, the re-entry of Estonia into the world community, and the participationof their controllers in IFATCA will improve their status even further, and we hope that some day in the very near future, our Estonian colleagues will enjoy similar conditions as the majority of other Europeancontrollers. They certainly deserve it.

and demonstrates some of the problem s we are coming across in Russia.

The insert "The Future of ATC in Russia" however, could have gained by speaking also with your Corporate Member BURAN. BURAN is a company, not a project. Alenia has a 49% share in Buran and the rest are divided among the Russian industries.

Buran is not a "timid attempt", as was implied, to gain access to the market, but currently the company delivering modem ATC systems to Russia. The ACC and TMA systems for Omsk and Novosibirsk. the TMA system for Samara, and the the ACC system for Raduzhnyy are under delivery, with most imported material already received and paid.

Buran is also, together with Russian authorities, involved in the study for the modernisation of the rest of the Russian airspace. Buran has today about 100 personnel, of these 60% are Russians and 40% Italians. The majority are ATC experts with decades of experience in the field.

Yours sincerely 0 Peter A Jorgensen

Editor's note. Thank you Peter fo r serring the record strai ght. lnc/11 ded with the lerrer was a brochure derailing the status of ATC systems in Russia and it is hoped that this informationwill prol'ide the hasis f or afiaure article in the 111aga :ine.

0 Philippe Domagala

LETTERSTo THEEDITOR ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED

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The conference will provide an extensive involvement of airport related international and European airpo rt and A TM/ A TC equipment users and providers. It will give manufacturers and suppliers the opportunity to realistically assess their markets. To meet this objective, industry-oriented presentations will be given by experts in the fields of air traffic manageme nt/control market developments and requirements on the following topics:-

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For larger , nation-wide ATC systems such as CAATS, to control Canada's 5.8 million square miles of airspace , Hughe s is introducing automated tools for the air traffic controller - clearance processing , flight conformance monitoring, flow management , conflict prediction, alert and resolution being severa l examples. The se highly automated system functions are presented on the Hughes large screen (20 inch x 20 inch ) Advanced Multimission Display , the AMD-44.

Autom ation of the many repetitious actions required will provide critically needed time for the controller to concentrat e on the primary task of air traffic management.

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The final speakerwas the New Zealand Ministerfor Transportwho was invitedto formallydeclarethe the Conferenceopen with the followingwords.

ADDRESSBY THE MII\ISTEROF TIU'ISl'ORT f (>R NEW ZEALAND

0 The Hon. W. Rob Storey

On behalf of the New Zealand Government I wou Id Iike to ex tend a very warm welcome to over 600 delegates from the 77 countries which make up the International Federation of Air Traffic Controller s' Associations.

I' d also like to extend the welcome to observers from a number of countries and es peciall y to any rep rese ntativ es from pot ential member countries. It ' s my understanding that membership applications under consideration include Croatia , The Gambia, Slovenia, Niger, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and Zambia.

This is the first time your organisation has held its conference in New Zealand and only the second time the conference has been held in the Southern Hemisphere. We feel sure that you will enjoy your stay here and that you will also find it very productive from a professional point of view.

The New Zealand Organising Committee with the help of sponsors including The Airways Corporation, Air New Zealand and Thomson-CSF. have done a terrific job in assisting your Executive Board to bring this conference together.

Your pre se nce here is yet another confirmation that New Zealand is highly regarded in many respects. One of those is our aviation infrastructure and especially the company that is responsible for air traffic control - The Airways Corporation of New Zealand. We are proud of what has been achieved but in a practical sense we also feel there is a great deai which we can share with

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

CONFERENCE SPEECH ____

you about our experience and its potential for application elsewhere.

It is said by those who study the future as a profession that civil aviation is one of the most signifi can t factors on which the economies of tomorrow will depend.

As an island nation, many thousands of miles or kilometres from our largest markets, New Zealand is already virtually dependent on the maintenanc e of an eff ici en t and effective aviation system as a integral part of our nation's economic infrastructure.

While air services carry only a sma ll percentage of our produce by volume the goods that are caiTied are of very high value.

Product s which are leading the way to a brighter future . Even more significa ntly, tourism is one of New Zealand's large st industries with over one million visitors per annum visiting our shores.

Without reliable and frequent international air servic es there is littl e doubt that our opportunities for increasing prosperity would be severely curtailed. In this context you will easily understand why New Zealand decided in the 1980s to review the whole basis on which the operation and regulation of the airways system was carried out.

In keeping with many parts of the economy at that time, the airways system was heavily tied to ce ntral govern ment. Air tra ff ic co ntrol was run by the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport which also regulated the whole aviation sector.

The air traffic control system itself was bas ed on 30 yea r old Marconi prim ary surve ill ance radar which althou gh well serviced would not see us through the 90s.

Just gettin g spares for the radar sets was becoming a very big headache. There was little alternative but to upgrade the whole system in one hit.

Th e difficulty was that und er the organisational model then in existence. the taxpayer. not the aviation user. would have been required to stand the capital cost as well as meeting the operating deficit. which for the five years prior to corporatisation had totalled $66 million.

It was decided. there fore. to take a bold new approach to the whole issue by taking the operating arm out of the public service and placing it in what we call State Owned Enterpri se. Thi s Sta te Owned Enterpri se wo uld have all the co mmerc ial characteristics of a private sector company it would have its own Board. would be requir ed to mee t all its cap ital and expenditure from within its own revenue would have no guarantees of funding from

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the government and would be required to return a dividend out of profits.

But whereas a private sector company may be owned by indi vi du als or public sharehold ing, the State Owned Enterprise would be owned by the government with two shareholding ministers of the Crown.

The shareholding minister s would be the Minister of State Owned Enterprises and the Mini ster of Finance. Th e Mi ni ster of Transport, the portfolio which I now hold, would no lon ger be res pon sible for operational matters . Rath er, he or she, originally through the Air Transport Division of the Mini str y of Tran sport and more recently through a stand alone Civil Aviation Authority, would oversee the development and mon itoring of all aviation safety standards.

The success of these changes which began in 1987 with the creation of the Airways Corporation of New Zea land ha s been spectacular.

The new corporation immediately set about the airways modernisation project. a project cost ing a littl e under $NZI00 million to totall y rep lace the existing primar y surveill ance rada r. introduc e secondary surveillance radar and reduce the number of air traffic control centres from four to three.

For the first time in the history of aviation a project of this magnitude was completed on time and within budget. Compare this with the effort s of the United States Fede ral Aviation Administrat ion to upgrade the American system.

Certainly. the scale of the job is huge but conceptually. it is similar. Recently it was reported that senior off icial of the FAA feared that the Advanced Automation System which is already seven years behind schedule and running at double the cost of the original es tim ate s. faces further delay s . Even attempts to compromise on some of the more technically difficult features of the system could in fact add to delays rather than reduce them.

Here in New Zealand the modernisation programme has been completed and running sa ti sfac toril y for two ye ar s now. The Airway Corporation has in fact moved on to a new project e nti tled The Navigati on Systems Modernisation Project which aims to upgrade the navigation aids which pilots use to determine their position during flight.

On a strictly commercial hasis The Airways Corporation has also been a success. Over the first five ye ar s of its op e ration shareho lders funds increased frnm $41 million to $55 million. dividends amounted

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to $22 million and the Company's gross assets increased from $65 million to $168 million. It's latest half-yearly report to the 31st of December posted an after tax profit of $4. l million on a revenue of $45.4 million and an interim dividend of $2 million.

But perhaps of even greater interest to you is what thi:;changes have meant for staff. The commercial orientation has flowed through the entire organisation. Whereas before the focus was very much inwards now it is focussed on the users. or pilots and the customers who pay, that is the airlines.

:) Delegates at Conference

There is recognition that everyone ·s livelihood and prosperity is dependent on a healthy and efficient aviation sector. It means that during the recessiona ry times from which New Zealand is ju st emerging. our aviation and aviation servicing industry weathered the difficulties as well as any other sector of the economy. This clientoriented philosophy hand in hand with a total quality approach has also penneated the regulatory authority.

As I have already indicated. last year the Civil Aviation Authority was devolved from public service to become a stand alone authority with its own Board. It too has an out ward foc us and is busy developing the implementing the concept of safety audit whereby the industry is held clearly accountable for its own safety management.

Instead of having teams of inspectors carrying out detailed checks on equipment and procedures, the new approach focuses more on auditing the safety management systems of operators to ensure that safety is an integral part of the total operation. In regards to the air traffic control system the separation of the operat ional from the regu latory components has meant a clea r de lin ea ti on of responsibilities. No longer is there a blurred line.

Everyone knows exactly what they are there for and if there is an incident there is abso lutely no doubt in anyone·s mind as to the objectivityof the subsequent investigations by both the Civil Aviation Authority and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

The other important development taking place on the regulatory side is the overhaul of our aviation leg islation . Until recently New Zealand had a real mish- mash of legislation and safety orders, many of them outdated and difficult to interpret or to relate to each other.

Under our new sys tem. we will by the end of next year, have reviewed the entire body of regulatory material and have put in place a new single tier set of technical rules. Each of these new rules will have been subject to comprehensive input by the organisations and individuals affected by them In addition. each rule will have been subjected to a cost-benefit analysis to ensure that the end result is a positive contribution to safety at reasonable cost.

Those invo lved in the rules deve lopment project have been especially mindful of developments taking place elsewhere in the

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world to ensure th at our rule s are con sist ent with overseas international trends in aviation safety regulation . Considerable progress has also been made to hannonise New Zealand's rules with those of Australia.

Harmonisation is a term which I am sure we will all hear a great deal more of in future as more and more the political, economic and technolo gical barrier s between all the nation s of the world are lowered . Both the Civil Aviation Authority and The Airways Corporation are participating in the global Future Air Navigations Systems Project, or FANS for short. Phase I of FANS concluded that a satellite based system would overcome the shortcomings of current systems. Phase 2 has resulted in the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management Systems concept to fulfil the needs of future air traffic management.

New Zealand' s modern airways system was develop ed in the expectation that satellite technology would be the next step and we will have little difficulty fitting in to the systems being planned.

There's no doubt that the future holds exciting prospects for aviation.

New Zealand intends to remain at the leading edge of developments.

We also hope to share our knowledge and expertise so that others might profit from it also.

Already the Airways Corporation is working with IO Pacific Island countries on technical maintenance work, technical training and the implementation of navigation aids. A recent contract also involves training Vietnameseair traffic controllers in aviation English, The Corporationhas skills available in the commercialisation of air traffic control, project planning for new systems and training - both technica l and air traffic control. Similarl y the Civil Aviation Authority has skills in the development and implementation of safety audit and the development of aviation safety legislation.

Our Transport Accident Investigation Commission has a growing reputation for its work in the causal analysis of aviation accidents and at a macro leve l the New Zealand Mini stry of Tr ansport has considerable expenise in institutional and regulatory reform and the corporatisation of government agencies. l am sure that over the next few days you will learn a great deal not only from the formal papers to be presented but from the opportunity to rub shoulders with colleagues from around the world. Try and take up the invitation to tour the Air Traffic Control Centre here is Christchur ch and if you are able to affo rd a few clays rest and recreation by visiting some of our other tourist centres there is no doubt that you will return home completely reinvigorated.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I now have much pleasure in declaring the 32nd Annual Conference of The International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers officially open.

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Following the opening ceremonies the visiting dignitaries were escorted to the Technical Exhibition area. The Technical Exhibition was formally opened by the Executive Vice President Technical, Chris Stock. The exhibition was made up of stands provided by Sony Broadcast. Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Airways Corporation of NZ. Dornier. Hunting Aviation Services Ltd .. Thomson-CSF Airways Consulting Services and the Canadian ATC Association. · Meanwhile. the Opening Plenary was convened. followed by the adjournment of delegates to the 3 conference committees to enable the work of conference to proceed For the remainder of the week the delegates worked hard to finalise their respective tasks before meeting for the Closing Plenary on the Friday afternoon.

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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CONFERENCE SPEECH ____

The reports of the various committees follow.

During the week several other activities took place which will be reported on a later occasion. They includ ed the Accompanying Persons Programme, the Technical Panel and the Professional Panel.

Both of the Panels were well attended and very successful. It was the fir st tim e that a Professional Panel had been arranged during conference but it was unanimously agreed that it should not be the last. As ever a varied social programme was organised for the ''off duty" hours and the effort expended in arranging these events was much appreciated by ail. At the end of conference a short film on the next conference venue, Ottawa was shown to the assembled company to whet their appetites for the next conference. As I said earlier - "See you there". +

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0 EVP Technical , Chris Stck, opens the Technical Exhibition .

COMMITTEE REPORTS COMMITTEE"A"BrianStuart,Vice Chairman

Committee A was chaired by Lesley Austin (from the UK), who ensured that a lively pace was maintain ed and the work of the committee was completed in good time. Committee Secretary, Janet Brown (from Canada) again did a great job producing the minutes.

The routine work involved adoption of the reports of the various officers of IFATCA - once again the main impression was of their very high workload and the many common problems faced by ATCO Associations throughout the world. Reports were also given by the Editor, the Controller Management Group, Chairmen of Standing Committee III and YI. Financial matters were also dealt with - Accounts, Auditors Reports and Budgets for both IFATCA and The Controller Magazine - all the mundane stuff that allows the interesting work of the Federation to carry on.

Working Papers on Financial matters which were adopted included the following items of interest: Profit for 1991/92 was CHF 55,000. Of this total CHF 23,500 was put into the Reserves Russia (in case the USSR membership fees have to be written of at a later date) and CHF 5,000 was added to each of the Reserves, Equipment and Special Circumstances Funds. CHF I6.000 was used for new membership cards - these will be issued every 5 years. with an annual validation sticker. This will lead to cost sav ings in the long term. IFATCA dail y allowances have been increased for the first time in 8 years to CHF 65.

Associate Professional Fees have been increased to CHF 50. A

TH E CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

CONFERENCE ATIEND ANCE FUND was established to allow the Exec uti ve Board to dip ense assi stance to up to 5 Member Associations with financial problems thus enabling them to send one Director to Conference. CHF 5.000 was allocated to start the fund and CHF 1,000 will be added annually if finances permit. Uruguay wished to donate CHF 220 to the Fund.

The MA responsible for the Controller Management Group is now GATCO. How the profits from The Controller magazine will be used, in the future, will be determined by Standing Committee III. once the transfer is complete.

Committee A deals with changes to the Constitution and By-Laws.

Those significant changes agreed this year included: SUSPENSION of MAs who fail to remit the affiliation fee or annual subscription will now be automatic. But on the other hand. MAs which have been suspended for being in arrears can now be reinstated by the Executive Board once the outstanding money has been paid.

REGIONAL EVPs' ELECTION process has been altered so that only Directors from MAs who belong to the relevant Region. or their proxies. take part in the ballot in Committee A. Th e TIMING OF THE ELECTIONS TO THE EXEC UT IVE BOARD and the SELECTION OF CONFERENCE VENUE will in future take plac e at a fix ed date and time toward s the end of conference, to be advertised in the conference programme.

AFFILIATION OF APPLICANT ASSOCIATIONS - Applications to join the Federation will be investigated by the Executive Board to ensure that their constitution is compatible with that of IFATCA. The Executive Board will make a recommendation on acceptance or not to the Directors for their consideration.

A method for the SELECTION OF MAs FOR STANDIN G COMMITTEES was decided upon. This involves putting numbers on the ballot paper in order of preference, lowest totals win the place on the Standing Committee. Chaim1en of Standing Committee and the relevant Board Member will advise Directors of which MAs they deem essential to maintain the high quality of work in the Standing Committee.

Committee A has on its agenda various appointments. selections and elections and these are given below: STANDING COMMITIEE III - Finance After a secret ballot as described above, Canada. Sweden and the UK were appointed to serve on SC III. Appreciation was expressed to Switzerland for their work on SC III. Switzerland expressed their regret at the committee decisions.

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Switzerland expressed their regret at the committee decisions. Items on the work programme include: Use of The Controller Funds; ScholarshipFund; and their routine duties.

STANDING COMMITTEE VI - Constitution and Administrative Policy. Australia and Gennany were appointed to SC VI. The work programme items include: layout of working papers; deadline for application s for affi liation ; status of suspended MAs; and the developmentof IFATCA policy.

IFATCA '94 venue was confirmed as Ottawa, Canada. After a ballot, Jerusalem, Israel was chosen as the venue for IFATCA '95.

APPLICATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP were recommended for Croatia, Slovenia, Niger, Bulgaria, Romania, Zambia, The Gambia, Russia, Estonia, Peru. All these were carried in Final Plenary.

The affiliation of the following Associations was TERMINATED USSR (CAWU), Yugoslavia, Bahamas, Papua New Guinea.

ELECTIONSTO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD: Deputy President - Neil Vidler of Australia, Executive Vice President - Technical - Chris Stock of UK, Executive Vice President - Africa and Middle East - Abou el Seoud el Karimy of Egypt, Executive Vice President Asia and Pacific - David Moores of Hong Kong.

Other matters discussed included Member Associations problems (in closed session).

A CORPOR ATE MEMBERS CO DE OF PRACTICE was introduced.

A TOKEN OF APPRECIATION was presented to the Japan ATCA

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by APCA France for their assistance to a French Controller who was injured in a hot air ballooning accident.

The IFATCA SCROLL OF HONOUR was awarded to Ulli Windt in recognitionof his outstandingservice to the Federation.

Personally I would like to thank all the members of Committee A for their good humour which made my job as Vice-Chairman so much easier.

COMMITTEE"B"MichaelT Dooling,Chairman

Once again , this year the deliberations of Committee B were relatively noncontroversial, informative as always, and a number of policy decisions were made.

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COMMITTEE REPORT ________

Forty two working papers were discussed over the four days of working sessions which produced 30 recommendations. Extensive policy was developed on the subject of Microwave Landing Systems (MLS), primarily concerningthe use of MLS by controllers.

Other topics addressed by the Committee included Area Navigation, Air Traffic Flow Management, Airborne Collision Avoidance Systems, and numerous Regional matters, primarily in the European area.

It was again very apparent from the report of IFATCA 's representatives to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and the InternationalFederationof Airline Pilots Association (IFALPA), that their workload continues to increase in both volume and complexity. As was apparent in the working papers, vast changes are in store for the aviation industry in areas of communication, navigation, and surveillance, in a relative short time frame. It is obvious that IFATCAmust stay at the forefront of the deliberationsas much as possible.

The European Regional representatives continue to be extremely busy as the various States and Organisations try and address the numerous problems associated with this very congested and complex area.

Standing Committee 1 (Technical & Operational) will, once again, be faced with an almost Herculeantask this year trying to address the 14 work study items that it was given. The nine member associations of this Standing Committee are to be commended for the outstanding work they do in the short time frame they are allotted.

Excellent representationswere made this year by the observers from ICAO (Mr F. Castro Rodriguez) , and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) of the U.S. (Mr. William Faville Jr) . These gentlemen provided a wealth of information to the Committee,on a host of issues. which assisted in the deliberations.

The Technical Panel, presented on the third day by the Corporate Members, was a resounding success. The Corporate Member Coordinator, Mr. R. Roper is to be commended for his work in this area.

The working sessions this year progressed very smoothly thanks to the work of the Secretary, Mr. Simon Tyas, and the Vice Chairman, Mr. Chris Dalton, and the agenda was completed in sufficient time to allow the Delegates to tour the beautifulhost city of Christchurch.

COMMITTEE "C"MartynCooper,Chairman

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was balanced, informativeand, at times, lively.

26 recommendationswere forwarded to Conference, of which 19 are significant. This underlines the important role that Committee C has in developing ProfessionalPolicy for IFATCA. Of particular interest to Conference is new policy on HIV and AIDS, as they affect individual ATCOs Licensing and the ATC environment, especially with regard to Education and Counselling.

With so many changes affecting the provision of ATC Services, the definition of the term "Privatisation of Air Traffic Services" was seen as essential. Policy to ensure that Safety and quality levels of ATC Services are not compromised, is important for many MAs facing privatisation. Also discussed, in great detail, and subject to further study by Standing Committee VII, is the requirement to develop relevant policy on the subject of the legal consequence s of privatisation.

Significant recommendationfor Policy were made with respect to the Unlawful Interference with Civil Aviation and its Facilities. ln particular: l) the need to clearly identify the responsibility for the issue of orders that imply a deviation from established Air Traffic Rules.

2) the need for MAs to seek formal agreement on the conduct of a controller, during situations of unlawful interference and the adoption of contingency procedures during such situations, and 3) the need for MAs to ratify with their government's existing protocols, conventions and treaties on these matters.

As far as Liability in the Use of Automated Systems is concerned, Committee C agreed that a controllers shall not be held liable for incidents that may occur due to the use of inaccurate data. if a controller is unable to check the integrity of the information received. or in which the loss of separation occurs due to a resolution advisory issued by an automated system.

In addition to the recommendations established in committee. there was discussion on the use of recorded data. ATCOs Licensing with regard to Recency and Competency, and a significant review of the conclusionsof the IVLO Meeting of ATC Experts in 1979.

Further, there were detailed presentations. given to the Committee on a study of ATC Workload by Austria and on Stress by Uruguay.

Particular mention must be made to the Professional Panel. This Conference marked the first occasion that such a Panel has been included in the programme. I believe that I speak for everyone when I say that it was a great success and all tribute must be paid to Neil Vidl er (EVP Asia Pac ific) and EVPP Bert Ruitenb erg for int roducing the Profe ssiona l Panel to Co nfer ence.

The subj ect s covered we re of great int e rest to co ntroll e rs and

Once again. the Working Papers showed a high standard of content and covered an extensive and varied number of subjects. Discussion

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

undoubtedly ensures that the Professional Panel will remain as an essential feature at future Conferences.

I have never been a Committee Officer before and I have found the experience somewhat interesting. I was on a steep learning curve from the beginning and had had my fair share of success and failures. So it is at this point that I would like to offer my sincere thanks to EVP Professional.my Vice-Chairman Kim Smith and especially to Lesley Payne who prepared the minutes of the Committee¡s proceedings.

Additionally. I would like to thank the Directors and Delegates of those MAs present. for their goodwill. support and patience as I chaired my first Conference Committee. I would also like to express my thanks to the organisers of this Conference for providing such excellent facilities for our Conference work. +

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Resume of the presentation made

by Philippe Domogala at the Forum on R/T Blockage of Frequencies held in Maastricht on 11 Nov

other only by pure luck!

How often do blocked transmissions occur?

One ATC Centre in Europe, Geneva, made a survey and in a six month period it was reported twelve times, for a total duration of 2hrs 15mins. This is roughly twice a month with an average of 11 minutes per case.

That was already said eight years ago and it is still valid today. A technical device, called CONTRAN, was then explained to us which is fin ally no w be in g deve loped and is available today.

92. ..BLOCKED FREQUENCIES AND We now address the simultaneous or more BLOCKED TRANSMISSIONS EQUALLY commonly known blocked transmissions.

DANGEROUS TO ATC".

By blocked transmi ss ion one Dangerous yes. beca use th ey urtclers tancls two peop le are have been the co ntrib utor y talking at the same time on one factory to numerou s incident s VHF chann e l. Unlik e th e CAN EXPECT and accidents. What is really a tec hn o logy used in HF or th e P€.RMl6610N TO LAND shame and frustrating is that the telephone, the technology behind ~ problems are recogni se d and VHF means that it can only carry solutions have been put forward, one tran smi ss ion at a time. If recommendations have bee n two peo ple ta lk simult aneo usly voted upon. and yet very little on one channel the transmission progre ss see ms to have bee n will be garbled or cut out. The made in solving the prob lem clange r in ATC lies in th e fact but unfortunately thi s is. in a that if the tr ansmi ss ions are nutshell. the sto ry of many appro ximately of equal length , problems in avia ti on. Almos t ne ither perso n will noti ce th e eig ht yea rs ago I mad e a doubl e tran smission and both presentation at a forum organised would expect their tran smission

by EGATS lo be rece ive d . Also th e third - ··RT THE VIT AL LINK '" per so n s upp osed to ge t th e describing some horror storie s messages do es not know that about blocked frequencies. Two cases were Certainly enough to make many incidents anything was addressed to him. like the ones mentioned above.

This clanger can become fatal if combined described: The scenario started with a DC I0, in Africa, At th e tim e IFATCA had a sub-gro up with the fact that some people ASSUME that at FL 350. 100 miles from an FIR boundary th inking abo ut the probl em and some their transmission is received and only wait and a DC8 also at FL 350 in another country proce dural solutions were put forward for the answer or confirmation. unfo rtun ate ly they co uld not be Numerous incidents or accidents occurred - both aircraft were on INS tracks opposite to implemented. The suggested solutions were: one another. because of this. I will not go clown the well I) That pi lots should maintain a Iistening trod path and tell yo u aga in abo ut th e The intention of the co ntr o lle r was to watch on 12 I .5: IFALPA was against this, dreadful Teneriffe incident. The reason for descend the DC8 to FL 330 well before the arg uin g th at 12 1.5 was the emergency this disaster was NOT totally attributable to FIR boundary. but beca use o f a stu ck microphone button in the observer seat of the frequency and using it for this purpose was the block ed tran smi ss ion. but had th e incorrect. Besides, 12 1.5 was not available in blocked tr ansmi ss ion not occ urr ed.

DC8. the frequency was blocked and neither all palts of the world. aircraft could be reached. As they were on POSSIBLY the co llision could have been 2) Allocation of a Special Guard Frequency: prevented. R/f is often the last safety pin in recip rocal INS tracks they fin ally passed if 121.5 was not desirable what about setting the chain of events, and when all previous exactly on top of each other (laser precision 111 AV1) with 30 feet vertical separation (as up another one. This time !CAO was against things go wrong (and in Teneriffe almost it - standardisation on a world-wide basis eve rything we nt wron g'), dir ec t vo ice registered by the GPWS of the DC I0). This was ve ry diffi cult and anyway lack of contact is all that is left to help. distance was marginally a little more than the frequencies available prevented this.

To illustrate the problem I will use a recent vertical fin of the DC8 1 3) Automat ic reve rsing to prev iou s accident. It happened in Lill e on the 5th The second incident was rather a complex frequency: Could not be applied on a world- December 1989. situation in one of the Maas tr icht secto rs wide basis because of limited range of VI-IF An A320 from Air Inter co lliclecl on the where 23 aircraft were on the frequency at the tim e. of which 15 we re c limb ing or ground transmitters, combined with some runway with a Moone y 20 who lined up desce nding and ruur pair~ were on radar aircraft not necessarily having worked any without authorisation. The A320 was making hea ding s. Then th e frequency became previo us freq uency and the lack of an automatic lancl,ng in poor visibility. The jurisdiction of controllers to apply ATC over Tower controller realised the Mooney was blocked for 3 minutes.

A~ the planned act ions by the co ntroll er areas other than their own. lining up and ordered the Airbus to Pull Up Therefore only a technical solution to the and Go Around. because the runway was co uld not be tran smitted to the aircraft problem was consiciereclviable. concerned. two pairs of aircraft missed each obstructed by a light aircraft.

• • fJCtge32

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THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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VIETNAM Vietnam's Ministry of Trade has authorised ThomsonCSF to open a permanent office in Hanoi. The office will work to consolidate several years of active involvement by the company 111the Vietnamese market. to help the firm to respond more closely to the country's infrastructure requirements. Vietnam Airlines, the company in charge of civil aviation in Vietnam. has selected Thomson-CSF to install ;n air traffic control system at. Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport. A control centre with 7 controller positions, a voice communications control system and a radar station. compri sing primary and secondary radar will be installed.

DENMARKIn January 1993, what was purported as being the first high definition (2,048 X 2,048 column) colour display was dec lared operational at Denmark 's Billund Airport. This is the world 's first operational Eurocat sys tem and was suppli ed by Thomson-CSF. RUSSIARussia's Minister of Transport and the Chairman of the National Defence Industry Commission signed an agreement. on March 25 1993, in Moscow with Buran, Westinghouse, ThomsonCSF and the supervisory institutes and representative bodies of all related sectors of activity in Russia. The agreement covers the creation of an international consortium called Raduga (the Russian word for "Rainbow''), which will act as prime contractor on Russia's air traffic management modernisation programme - the first phase of which will cover Moscow. Additionally, in 1994, Russia will take delivery of a simulation and modelling system designed to provide training for Russian air traffic controllers.

BELGIUMBelgium·s Computer Assisted National Air Traffic Control Centre (CANAC) became operational on 11 March 1993.

Supplied by Thomson-CSF. the system is reported as being one of the most advanced air traffic control systems in Europe and will be use d to dir ect tr affi c in the lower air space of Be lgium and Luxembourg. CANAC includes 20 controll er positions and can communicate via digital links with up to IOadjacent ATC centres.

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SWEDEN The Swedish Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) is claiming a major advance in development of a future ATC technology based on the Global Positioning Syste m (GPS). Initial tests in Sweden, using a clatalink between an aircraft and GPS ground stations, have demonstrated that aircraft positions and and identities can be reported with sufficient accuracy for potential use in an ATC system.

An article on the development of the system will appear in a later edition of The Controller.

HONG KONG Cardion Inc.. a Siemens Company of Woodbury.

New York is to supply a Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar (MSSR) to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department. The MSSR will supplement the existing primary radar installation by providing air traffic controllers with position and identification of aircraft in the Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport Term inal Control Area. The order follo ws on from other orders placed for similar equipment for Slovenia and the new Macau Airport.

• MEXICO Mexico ·s Air Navigat ion Author ity has awarded a contract to supply 7 air traffic control centres.The Mexican authorities have chosen the new Eurocat system designed and developed by Thomson-CSF. The contrac t involves insta lling 3 en-route and approach control centres at Mexico City, Mazatlan and Monterrey and 4 approach control centres at Guadalajara. Puerto Vallarta. Acapulco and Tijuana. The 7 centres will handle data from all the ATC radars installed on Mexican territory.

• UNITED KINGDOM The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has awarded a contract to Norcontrol to provide new radar processing equipment and Air Traffic Monitor (ATM) displays to Aberdeen Airport. Scotland. This is part of the CAA programme to re-equip its regional airports and is the sixth contract for Norcontrol in the UK. Simil ar sys tems have been suppli ed to Newcast le . Li verpool .

Bournemouth and Southampton. Ultimately. the system may control all Aberdeen North Sea helicopter operation s. in additi on to the ap p roac h and radar su rve i ll ance req uir em ent s fo r A berdeen A ir port.

• PHILIPPINES

F i ve ne w to we r co mmuni cat io n sys te m s are bei ng pr ov i ded by Denro I nc .. of Gaither sburg. Mary land US . to th e Rep ub li c of th e Ph i li ppin es. Mod e l 466 sm all to we r vo ice sw it c h and

phone systems will be providedto each of the airports at Legaspi.

Zamboanga. Bacolod.Iloiloand Cotobato.+

ITPAYS TOADVERTISE -.JA ir Traffic Cont rol Ce ntre . CAN AC - BELGIUM

IN

• TCAS II. AlliedSignal Aerospace won approval for the latest software. Version 6.04. for the TCAS II ahead of US FAA notice of proposed rule-making which could require airlines to change the software by the enclof I99J Version 6.04 is designed to make TCAS II more acceptable to pilots and air traffic controllers by reducing the incidence of unnecessary Traffic Advisories (TAs).

TIIE conTR0UER

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

JOORNAL Of ~R TRAFFl C CONTRQ

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AGENDA JUNE93 25 - 27 Executive Board Meeting, Montevideo, Uruguay, Contact Edge Green Phone +44 628 23 699 Fax+44 628 781 941 18 - 1st July Global Navcom 93 Symposium and Exhibition, Washington State Convention Centre, Seattle. Contact David Fisher, IATA, 2000 Peel Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2R4 Phone: + 1 514 844 63 l l Ext. 3404 Fax +l 514 844 6727 AUGUST93 4 - 8 Airshow Canada 1993, Abbotsford Airport, B.C., Canada.

Contact - Airshow Canada, P.O. Box 6, Abbotsford, B.C. Canada V2S 4N9.

Phone + 1 604 852 4600 Fax + 1 604 852 3704 19 - 22 Taipei Aerospace Technology Exhibition, Taipei World Trade Centre, Taipei, Taiwan. Contact Linda Howell, Reed Exhibition Companies.

Phone +852 824 0330 Fax +852 824 0246/0271 SEPTEMBER 93

8 - 11 Business & Light Exhibition and METX 93 (The International Meteorological Exhibition), North Weald Airfield, Essex, England.

Phone +44 992 52 2210 Fax +44 992 52 2238

15 - 17 First SIPTA (International Air Transport Show), Palais des Congres.

Porte Maillot, Paris, France. Contact Mondail Convention.

Phone +33 ( I) 42 26 33 45 Fax +33( 1) 4226 1505 21 - 24 Inter Airport 1991 Contact Blenheim International GmbH, Neusser StraBe I I 1, D-4000 Di.isseldo1f 1.

Phone +49 2 1l 90 l 9 I 0 Fax +49 211 901 91 80 OCTOBER93 5 - 7 Americas Regional Meeting, Sonesta Hotel & Seaport Village, Aruba.

Phone + 297 8 2400 - ext 136 Fax+ 297 8 23038

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AIRCON GAINS MOMENTUM 0 Patrick R. Schelling, Contributing Editor

Air traffic control and information systems which process RADAR data at International airports are well-known to the reader. They are usually driven by main-frame computers and feed a (comparatively) large number of Controller Working Positions (CWPs) which in turn, do very little local data processing.

However, the new generation CWPs, through their HMI (Human/Machine Interface), will be able to proce ss and integrate not only RADAR data but also environmental data, that is, danger areas, landmarks, NOTAM information , flight (plan ) and NAVAID statu s etc. (see Cov er picture THE CONTROLLER issue 4/92). The list of possibilities is impressive and will provideair traffic controllers with very powerful working tools.

Similar sys tems are now availabl e, on smaller, but not less powerful PC-based computer systems destined to be used at sm al !er airport s where cost-effective solutions are required.

Such a system was demonstrated to THE CONTROLLER at H.A.N.D Systems Head Office in Wie sbaden a few weeks ago .

AIRCON - the brand name of the product, has been certified by the Bundesanstalt fiir Flugsicherung (now Deutsche Flugsicherungs GmbH , DFS ) and is operational at the German Regional Airports of Friedrichshafen and Lubeck. Braunschweig Airport is also scheduled to be equipped with AIRCONlater this year.

According to Georg Pfistermeister, ATCO at Friedrichhafen, the system is a very helpful information tool and provides a clear picture of the traffic situation. The (RADAR) data is provided by the Gossheim antenna which tracks aircraft in the Lake Constance area onl y down to about I 200f t/GND and co nseq uent ly limit s the visua lisat ion of targets at low altitude. This problem could be ove rcom e by integ rat ing RADAR-data pro vided by the Laegern Radar Station , locat ed nea r Zuri ch Airport , says Pfistermeister. Despite this limitation, he believes that this equipment has already helped troubled VFR pilots with information prev iously not ava ilable. AIRCON is certified. for the time being, as a monitoring tool only and is not used to guide !FR traffic.

The AIRCON System AIRCON is a s ituation display and information system which operates on highend, off-the-shelf personal computers with powerful graphics capabilities.

AIRCON proce sses digital and analogu e RADAR data autonomou sly using th e HAND-DTE , Digital Target Extractor.

Several radar antennas can be integrated at the same time in the Multi Radar Tracking (MRT) mode. Approximately IOOOtargets , including comprehensive information labels, can be displayed simultaneously. Maximum range of the displayed area is I 024 x I 024 NM; it can be zoomed and traversed freely between 5 NM and 1024 NM. Target presentation to the air traffic controller is done by sy mbols distingui shin g th e different status of flight. Primary targets are represented by an "X" whereas identifi ed SSR-return s sho w as "A ". Additional informationcan be selected within the target label with a ON/OFF function. For example transponder code, present heading, altitude (MODE-C equipped aircraft only), speed, distance to the respective airfield reference point as well as the hi story trail of the aircraft.

Position forecast is visualized by a leader and can be adjusted from 5 to 300 seconds by the ATCO. System setting for permanent (static) symbols is menu-driv en, and doe s not requir e any programming but is only access ible to the supervisor. Colours and reference coordinates can also be changed in the menu without interrupting the system.

The colour of the background can be adjusted to the daylight conditions of the controller's working position in 4 steps from dark to very light and can be set to individual ATCO' s colour perceptions. However, direct sun-light on the monitor poses a problem.

Primary and SSR-targets can be hooked to obtain speed, heading and track to selected reference points. A smal I window supplies additional information on th ese targets.

Target to target hoo king is available and might be used, among other applications. for approach sequenc ing. Specific information about course and distance between the targets are written on a vector line.

If a target cannot be tracked by the RADAR

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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for any reason, the computer continues to calculate the track and after the second rotation of the radar antenna the target will be displayed as an "O" , to advise the controller that a comput erized target is shown and will disappear after a pre-defined set number (between2 and 9 rotations.)

During an unusual situation (emergency, hijacking and radio failure), the target and its label will change their colour automatically.

An !DENT signal triggered by the pilot will also be indicatedby a colour change.

Instructions (e.g. descent) issued to the pilot can be entered directly into the label - a function mainly used for silent transfer.

Portions of vertical airspace can be set in order to display selected flight levels only.

Call signs can be assigned manually or accepted automatically if a connection is established with a main FOPS, Flight Data ProcessingSystem.

With the NOTAM Editor it is possible to enter NOTAMs into the system to make them availableto the ATCO when required.

Status of NAVA!Ds can be marked to "stand out" on the map. A written message can be posted in the dedicated NAVAID status window.

A strong feature of AlRCON is its ability to process and display graphical information.

This is done with the integrated module called Geographical Information System, GIS. The controller obtains additional information from his display by placing the cursor on symbols and area s. The GIS contains information on navigational aids, restricted areas, cities, highways, railroads, rivers, mountains etc . In operations, this informationhas already proven to be helpful to inform and guide (lost) VFR-pilots.

A Direction Finder (DF) can be visualizedon the radar picture in the form of a vector. In the programmemenu, details on QDR /QDM can be selected alternatively. When the OFvector and a primary target meet, detailed information on position, distance and speed can be obtained.

AIP- Lihrary Another feature of AIRCON is its AIPlibrary. This function may contain AIPinformation of different countries presented in a very condensed form. Thus , the air traffic controller can tran smit relevant informationabout other aerodromes to pilots in seconds.

Weatht'I'Displa~ The system displays weather information in -------

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graphical and written form , integrating Weather RADAR , METAR and TAF messages as well as local sources (e.g. RVR).

The controller can compose the selection of information he needs to have, individually.

For permanent display of weather information in written form, a window is placed within the radar picture or the usermenu. Radar derived weather information can be shown on the situation display .

Shades of colours change according to the intensity of the weather.

MAP Editor AIRCON has two powerful map editors. The first one is the on-line map editor which runs without interrupting operations. Vectors can be drawn and show track and distance automatically. Thi s tool is often used to create temporaryroutes or areas.

The second, which is the main map editor, offers a rich selection of symbols and colours and is used off-line. A restricted area, e.g., can be displayed as a coloured area and marked with specific information. With the main map editor it is possible to draw very comprehensive maps and to combine with already existing ones.

AIRCON make s it po ss ible , due to its accurate mapping, to inform flights about noise sen sitive area s (Minimum Noi se Routing). During a AIRCON - test phase in Saarbruecken and as a re sult of thi s precision, the complaints concerning noise disturbances caused by aeroplanes decreased substantially, according to Hermann Schmidt of H.A.N.D Systems.

Workin g with AIRCON is don e usin o ROLLING-BALL , KEYBOARD and"' FUNCTION-KEY (F-KEY) commands. A context-sensitive HELP function was also demonstrated, which is always available online.

Read~¡for the future AIRCON has also successfully demonstrated the processing of data from GPS-derived position inform ation. The system seems ready to be used exclusively as a display system for ADS (Autom atic Dependent Surveillance) or RADAR data . lt is also possible to combine both into a synthetic air situation displa y using radar and ADS information simultaneously. Because of the accuracy of DGPS (Differential GPS). this technique should be pursued in the long run, acc ordin g to Mr. Schmid t, specially in terminal areas where maximum accuracy for approaches is needed.

11,,.11,,.page 32

AGENDA OCTOBER 10 - 13 Country to Country, ACI World Exhibition and ACI North America Regional Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Contact (outside North America) L. Johnson.

Phone +202 293 85000 Fax +202 331 1362 and (withjn North America) D. Whitt Phone +41 22 798 41 41 Fax +41 22 788 09 09

14 - 17 Executive Board Meting, London, UK. Contact - Edge Green.

Phone + 44 628 23 699 Fax + 44 628 781 941 20 - 22 Euro-Convex 93 Bournemouth, UK. , Contact - Peter Rose. ¡ Phone & Fax + 44 202 870 682

NOVEMBER93 6 - 7 European Regional Meeting, Dublin, Eire.

Contact - EVP EUR, Preben FalkmanLauridsen.

Phone & Fax + 45 325 027 7 1

7 - 11 Dubai 93, International Aerospace Exhibition.

Dubai International Airport.

Contact - Fairs & Exhibitions Ltd., London.

Phone + 44 71 935 8537 Fax + 44 71 935 8 16 l

30 - 1 DEC Africa/Middle East Regional Meeting, Tunis, Tunisia.

Contact - EVP AFM, Abou El Seoud El Karimy.

Phone + 20 224 463 22 Fax+ 20 224 754 73

FEBRUAR Y 94 4 - 7 Executive Board Meeting, Melbourne, Australia. Contact - Edge Green.

Phone + 44 628 23 699 Fax + 44 628 781 94 l APRIL94 18 - 22 IFATCA 33rd Annual Conference, Chiiteau Laurier, Ottawa, Canada.Contact - Paul Lewis (Chairman IFATCA 94), 162Cleopatra Drive, Nepean. Ontario.

Canada K2G 5X2.

Phone + I 6 13 225 3553 Fax + I 613 225 8448

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THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

29

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-----------~iiOLUMN SOCIALIST SOLIDARITY IN THE 90s All 167 passengers and crew escaped unhurt when a Tupolev 154 crashed at ew Delhi airport on 9 January 1993. After having been repeatedly told not to land by ATC, the pilot continued approach because, the initial report said :.. both pilots failed to understand the standard code of communication... which meant in clear language that they did not understand English. Well to their defence one must say that the aircraft was operated by one of the new CIS States and that it was their first time outside the former USSR. What were they doing in New Delhi in bad weather ? Well they were there to break a strike of Indian Airlines Pilots... Poor Lenin must be (once again) turning himself in disbelief in his grave .....

BUYING AIRCRAFT IN THE 90s Talking about sociali sm, the greatest communist nation left is China, but its ideas on running Civil Aviation have also slightly changed. If the typical Chinese pilot still pedals his bicycle to work and still earns about 300 US$ per month , their way of buying aircraft is radically new: A new Airline, based in Chengdu, received at least 2 Tupolev 154s from a fonner USSR republic by trading 2 tra in loads of frozen pork meat for the aircraft. No cash was involved and it seems both parties are happy with the deal! I have not seen the colour scheme of the new airline but I guess it must be pink and the R/T callsign could be "Flying Pig". It would make a good competitor to "Flying Tigers".

CANADIANNEWS Well fellow controllers I hope you liked the Chinese article, because now I have another one for you: I read elsewhere that the Canadian Government has agreed that single turbo-prop engine aircraft can be flown by one pilot at night in IMC and with up to 15 passengers on board. Well not with me on board, thanks ....

When I started flying in 1959 it was with 4 engines and 4 in the cockpit (Lockheed Constellation with a navigator), in 1969 it was reduced to 3 engines and 3 in the cockpit (the DC 10) - it was still OK by me. In recent years it has reduced further to 2 engines and 2 in the cockpit (B767 and A3 l 0) and I was gettin g a little bit woJTied.But now, 1 engine and I pilot.... yes only above Canada today, but tomorrow maybe across the Atlantic.... and if then the pilot is like the trainee I have today, I am really worried !

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FLOW MANAGEMENTIN EUROPE The latest Amendment to the !CAO Documentation on how to apply Flow Management in the Europ ea n Reg ion is full of interesting section s. The amendment suggests that controller s should not give direct routings to pilots anymore because it might affect the times at which they are to overtly en-route restriction points. Also it says that controllers should not clear aircraft to higher flight levels because pilots might have accepted to fly at a lower altitude earlier to avoid a (higher) restricted area. It makes me wonder if the experts that wrote this have any idea about air traffic control today ... Making the ATC system more bureaucratic is certainly the best way to increase ATC capacity..No wonder many seem to spend more and more time disregarding the rules. By the way the airlines never cheat the ATFM system. No, as IATA puts it, they only show "Positive professional thinking!"

WORDS FROM THE LAND OF THE KIWI Snippets overheard during the IFATCA 93 Conference in New Zealand.: A speaker during the Technical Panel advocated the extensive use of data link to eliminate voice R/T exchanges between pilots and controllers. He went on to assure us that it will be no problem as the pilots will have paper hard copies of everything they receive to check. A controller then intervened, stating that for his area of control, during continuou s radar vectoring, the printer in the cockpit will be constantly producing paper with the consequence that the pilot may loose sight of the runway either through the paper clutter or that fact that he is still trying to read all the instructions.

However, the pilot can take solace in the fact that he will always know what went, wrong as it will be recorded on paper!

A reply made to a speaker advocating Hong Kong policies in Civil Aviation - "Hong Kong looks to me like Right Paradise but Wrong Time!"

Finally our joke of the month: A Tower Controller to the DC8 pilot of an not-so-well established airline approaching his field: Controller: " ...Excuse me sir, but you seem to be very low for the approach...."

Pilot: " .................Eh ! We are trying to land, man ......................'¡

])

30

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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NEWS EXTRA __

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NEW EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT ASIA /PACIFIC- MR. DA YID MOORES

avid Moores, was elected as the new EVP ASP at the IFATCA Annual Conference held in Christchurch in April. David has a long history in ATC which stm1edin 1964 when he controlled his first aircraft, a Meteor Mk V, endearingly known as the "meat box" at RAF Strubby in Lincolnshire, England. Having cut his teeth in military aviation which included a year in steamy Borneo in 1967, he progressed to the more "sophisticated" world of area radar at Midland Radar in the County of Rutland.

Having exhausted his talent for crossing Canberras and "V" bombers through Airway Amber I, he left the RAF in 1969 to join civil aviation and settle into Edinburgh. The experience of general aviation, public transport , training and military aircraft mixing it up on crossed runways in the variable climes of the east coast of Scotland

EVP ASIA/PACIFICDavid Moores

led to the Far East and Hong Kong in 1973.

With his wife and first of two sons he returned to the East . To date, he has been 19 years at Kai Tak Airport - from Electras to B747-400s - and a career which has been very rewarding and not without its moments

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of soul searching of " Why am I here?'.

In 1989 HKATCA pried him out of his midlife complacenc y and super vising in the ATCC and brought him down to earth and rejuvenated his interests in the bigger picture with the Pre sidenc y . Four yea rs and mountains of paper work later, coupled with dealing with endless staff matters, IFATCA claims his services. It is evident that Dave has not learnt that the road to the quiet life and retirement is not via IFATCA and EVP ASP. With his pr edece ssor se ttin g a blistering pace in the region there are many adventures ahead. The great con solat ion must be the Pacific part of the territory and the promise of balmy days in Paradise. No doubt ATC problem s in the region wi ll restore reality. We are pleased to welcome Dave onto the team and we look for ward with him to a rewarding experien·ce working to fulfil the aims of IFATCA in the Asia Pacific region. +

LETTERS To THE EDITOR ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRICIATED ~ THE CONTROLLER. JOURNAL OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL , is publi shed quarterly by the International Federation of Air Traffic Controller s ' Associ ation s (IFATCA).

Issues appear end of March, June, September and December.Subscription rates are CHF 20 per annum (4 issues) plus post & packing.

Cheques or money orders (not cash) in Swiss Francs should be made payable to

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Please return to the Subscription Manager, "Dunadry", Minshull Lane, Wettenhall, Winsford, Cheshire CW7 4DU, United Kingdom (BLOCKLETTERSPLEASE) Family Name First Name(s) Address

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THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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ii.. page 3

FOREWORD the maintenance and publication of all the necessa ry records , manual s, bulletin s, newsletters and our own Federation journ al.

Outside his "offic ial" duties Ulli has been heavily involved in European ATS matters on behalf of the Federation and he has done much to enhance its image and reputation.

He has tra ve ll ed exten s ively for the Federation, particularly to the Central and South Americas, where has has done much to assist some of the less fortunate Member Associatio ns.In recognition of hi s outstanding service to the Federa tion , Ulli Wind t was unanimou sly awarded The IFATCA Scroll of Honour.

Ulli"s friendly and wise guidance will be sorely missed by his peers on the Executive Board and the Federation at large. We wish him and his fami ly every success for the future and look forwa rd to see ing him at future conference venues.

As a final gesture, I invited Ulli to write the Foreword to this edition of the magazine

+ ii.. page 26 BLOCKED FREQL'E.VC!ES This transmission was partially blocked by the co-pilot of the Airbus' own transmission that he was on Short Final. The controller realised that his transmiss ion might have been blocked out and repeated a second time the order to Pull Up . Unfort unate ly, hi s second call was covered in the cockpit by the radio altim ete r co mput e r shouti ng "Minimum", "Minimum··.

A few se conds later the Airbu s hi t the Mooney at 115 knots. It is a miracle that noone was kill ed, but bot h a irc raft we re written-off.

Wha t ca n be do aga in st simult aneo us transmissions? Proced urall y there is very little that can be done - better R{f discipline would help but would not e limin ate the problem.

How often does this occur? This is difficult to say because nobody logs such cases or even talks about it. The incidents are part of the R/T life for contro llers and pil ot s. I would say that as soon as you have more than ten aircra ft on one freq ue ncy th e chances are you will have thi s situation several times an hour. If you have more than twenty aircraft. I would say several times every ten minute period. but this is only a wild guess based on my own experience. But it can give those of you not familiar with live ATC an idea of the scale of the problem. Of course. not all cases will have the dramatic co nse quences of the cases I ha ve used.

32

THE LAST PAGE ______ Anyway, only a technical solution would definitely solve the problem.

Some people have been heard to say that possibly DATA LINK was going to replace R{f and that therefore all our problems could be re so lved. But Data Link has its limitations, whether VHF, Satellite, Mode S or Gatelink . The potential errors are definitively there and this is why R{f VHF (w hether ground based or relayed via satellite?) will CONTINUE to be the means to issue tactica l clearance s up to the year 2025. Data Links (plural) will only be used for Strategic Clearances - that is what the ICAO FANS II Committee recommend.

By Tactical Clearances one has to understand Hea ding s, Lev el Ch anges , Take -Off Clearance s, etc and all the out-of-theordinar y tran smi ssion s, whi le Strategic Cle arances are Weather Information , EnRout e Clearance s etc. A discussion is currently taking place to find out in which category to place Frequency Changes.

Perso nall y, I be lieve that since there is apparently a consensus in Europe that Mode S will be used for ATC Data Link, there will be a limit ed use of data link in dense continental airspace. Mode S data link is far too slow and far too limited to compete on equal grounds with voice communications.

The probl ems I have descr ibed here are unfortunately going to continue unless we implement a technical solution very soon which is known to ex ists and is eve n marketed today. Blocked frequenc ies and transmissions are a real danger for ATC and we need the technical solutions to resolve them, now!+

29 SPI: CIAL 1-L\ 7LRf: In orde r to max imi ze the ca pac ity of AIRCON-GPS, intelligent algorithms will be used, which will reduce the same data from repeating. The speed of the position report and the data-updates can be set from very quick to very slow. Therefore, it is possible to proc ess up to 1OOOGPS targets at the same time. ii.. p age

The L\\ extension AlRCON offers also a LAN-version which offe rs additi onal communicati on possibiIities.

The most important additional functions in AIRCON- LAN are, among other things , message transfer, NOTAM transfer, hooked ta rge ts tr ansfer. ca llsign tran sfe r, map a lloc at ion. tran s fer of identi ty, siient-

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coordination, supervisor- and ID-function.

The LAN can be extended to more than 30 CWP s which pr ese nt s a cost-effective solution for medium-size ATC-systems.

Due to its open concept, AIRCON can be linked to existing systems for instance data exchange with ATM-systems (e.g. RADAR and Flight data, Airport Management and Inform ation sys tems and/or other radar systems (e.g. Weather Radar).

Other Applications EUROCONTROL uses AJRCON with its specific RADNET interfac e to verify installed RMCDE s (RADAR Me ssage Conversion and Distribution Equipment) and connected RADAR antennas. RADNET is the European RAdar Data NETwork which provides information from 14 RADARs in 4 member states. At UAC Maastricht, there are 14 Radar stations simultaneously connected via RADNETand displayed with AIRCON. As found in main-frame systems, the PCbas ed sys te m al so provides a central monitoring Unit (CMU). A control monitor checks all incoming data back to the source for possible errors or problems (e.g. antenna or modem). At the same time, all connected CWPs will be monitored.

In its basic version, AIRCON is composed of two CPUs with Intel 80486-50 processors.

The tra ff ic situati on is di spl aye d on a (rasterscan) monitor with a resolution of l 280x 1024 or l 600x 1200 or 2048x2048 pixels.

Th e system demonstrated to THE CONTROLLER see med easy to use and prese nted a c lea r pi cture of th e traffi c situation. The acceptance of the system by the air traffic controllers is felt to be good.

This fact seems to be no coincidence, since AIRCON has , to a certain ex tent , been specified by controllers. Although classified as a monitorin g equipm ent , safety and efficiency at smaller airports will certainly increase - at a competitive price.

(For further information contact Mr. Kramer 0049 754 I 300 930 Friedrichshafen) +

We a 1hcr r<::p ort Pil o t

Vertlcal

vls lbi11t y ze ro

" Is that in feet or meter s? ·

THE CONTROLLER /JUNE 1993

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