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JOURNAL OFAIRTRAFFIC CONTROL

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JOURNAL OFAIRTRAFFIC CONTROL

Vo lume 32 N° 4

United Kingdom , December I 993 PUBLISHER

IFATCA , International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations. See bottom of page 3 for contact address.

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA

Charles Stuart President and Chief Executive Officer

Neil Vidler

IN THIS ISSUE ARUBA - AMERICAS Edge Green reports

Abou El Seoud El Karimy

TCAS

Executive Vice-President Africa/Middle East

Bert

Samuel Lampkin Executive Vice- Pre sident Americas

David Moores Executive Vice-Pr esident Asia/Pacific

Preben Falkman-Lauridsen Executive Vice-President Europe

Sture Ericsson Executive Vice-President Finance

Bert Ruitenberg Executive Vice-Presid ent Profe ssional

Chris Stock Exec uti ve Vice-Pres ident Technica l

Edge Green

NAVCOM

Terry Crowhurst Ed itor EDITOR

Terry Crow hur st 29 Heri tage Lawn , Lang shott , Horley , Surrey , RH6 9X H. United Kingdom.

Tel. +44 (0) 293 784040 - Fax +44 (0) 293 771944 COPY TYPING

Dona Crow hur st ADVERTISING AND SALES OFFICE

Ron Mah endran 13 Stanford Way , Broadbridge Heath, Horsham West Sussex, RH 12 3LH , United Kingd om.

Tel & Fax +44 (0) 403 256 798

IFATCA

9 10

REPORT

A ND THE RE ASON MODEL Ruitenberg outline s a theor y model

EUROCONVE X Success story for first

13 event

14

ATCA CO NVENTION Mike Wildin gives a per so n al report SATELLITES FOR AFRICA Future possibilitie s di sc u sse d by David

17 Learmount

21

ODID Special

Feature

HA VE A HEART Medic a l advice

Executive Secretary

6

ALTERNATIVE RAD AR TECH N OLOG Y Harry Cole gives an informed viewpoint GLOBAL

Deputy Pre sident

4

REGIO NAL MEETING

26 for controllers

27

CONTROLLER TRAI N ING Swedish CAA report

FANS Philippe

Is DEAD Domagala

28 rep orts

from

Montreal

Advertisers in this issue A lenia , A llied Si g na l. H.A.N.D. Hughe s A ircraf t, IBM. MGB Ex hibiti ons, Thom son -CSF.

Photos T. Crowhu rst, E.G.H. Gre e n, ASN . R . Grah a m. N. Vid ler, P. Do magala Cover Scr ee n picture from ODID IV Sim ulation. See spec ial fea tur e on pag e 21.

Charlie Cartoon Ken Tully

ACCOUNTS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tim MacKay "Dunadry ", Min shull Lan e, Wettenhall , Win sford .

Cheshire, CW7 4DU , United Kingdom. · Tel +44 (0) 270 73363 Fax +44 (0) 270 73478 C ONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Patrick Schelling Ch. Sur le Moulin , 126 1 Le Vaud. Switzerland.

Tel +41 (0) 22366 2684 Fax +41 (0) 22366 4305 PRINT ING

Mercury Press Unit 8. Astra Business Centr e . Bonehurst Road.

Salfords, Surrey. RH I 5TL. Un ited Kingdom .

Tel +44 (0) 293 7745 49

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

Additional Cartoons by Yanan-D e l are reproduc ed. w ith the kind permi ss ion of th e pub lishers. from the book Say When. Detail s a nd copies of th e book may be ob tain ed from the publi shers at th e following address :

Ma rtin Leeuwis , P.O. Box 580, 3740 AN BAARN , Holland , Fax - +3 1 2154 13294 Speci a l Pric e (Inc luding po stage) DFL 27 .50 ISSUES APPEAR E ND OF M ARCH, JU NE, SEP TEMBER, DE CEMBER. CONTRIBUTORS ARE E XPRESSING THEIR PE RSONAL P OINTS OF VI EW AND OPINIONS, WHI CH M AY N OT N ECESSARILY C OINCIDE WIT H THOSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FED ERATION OF AIR T RAFFIC CONTROLLERS ' A SSOC IATIONS , IFATCA . IFATCA D OES N OT A SSUME RESPON SIBILITY F OR ST ATEMENTS M ADE AND OPINI ONS E XPRESSED, IT A CCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY F OR PUBLISHING T HESE C ONTRIBUTIONS. CON TRIBUTIONS ARE WELCOME AS ARE COMMENTS AND CRITICISM. No PAYMENT C AN BE M ADE FOR MANUS CRIPTS SUB MITIED F OR PU BLICATION IN T HE CONTROLLER. THE E DITOR R ESERVES THE RIGH T TO M AKE AN Y EDI TORIAL CHANGE S IN M ANUSCRIPTS, WH ICH HE BELIE VES W ILL IMPROVE T HE M ATERIAL WITHOUT ALTERING THE INTENDED ME ANING. WRI ITEN P ERMISSION BY TH E ED ITOR IS NE CESSARY FOR RE PRINTING AN Y PART OF THIS J OURNAL.

CORPORATE MEMBERS

OF

IFATCA

ADACELP'fY LTD. Canberra,Australia

HUGHESREDIFFUSIONSIMULATIONS Crawley,UK

ALENIA Rome, Italy

IBM(UK) Feltham,UK

ATS AEROSPACE St. Bruno, Canada

JEPPESEN& CO. GmbH Frankfurtam Main, Germany

AVTELP'fY Hawthorn,Australia

JERRY THOMPSON& ASSOCIATESInc. Kensington,MD, USA

BRITISHAEROSPACEENTERPRISES Farnborough,UK

MARCONIRADARSYSTEMSLtd. Chelmsford,UK

BURANJVC Rome, Italy

NETWORKSYSTEMSGmbH Frankfurtam Main, Germany

CAE ELECTRONICSLtd. Saint-Laurant,Canada

NORCONTROLSURVEILLANCESYSTEMA.S. Chipping Sodbury,UK

CESELSA Madrid, Spain CELSIUSTECHSYSTEMS Jarfiilla,Sweden COMPUTERCOMMUNICATIONSSOFTWAREGmbH Rodedermark-Waldacker,Germany COMPUTERRESOURCESINTERNATIONALNS Birkeri:id,Denmark COSSORELECTRONICSLtd. Harlow, UK CRIMPNS Allero, Denmark

OMNILIFEOVERSEASINSURANCECO. LTD. London, UK RAYTHEONCANADALtd. Waterloo,Canada SCHMIDTELECOMMUNICATION Ziirich,Switzerland SEL-STANDARD ELECTRIK Stuttgart,Germany SHL SYSTEMHOUSE Ottawa,Canada SIEMENSPLESSEYSYSTEMS Chessington,UK

DENRO Gaitheraburg,MD, USA

SOCIETED'ETUDES ET D'ENTREPRISESELECTRIQUES Malakoff,France

DEUTSCHEAEROSPACEAG (DASA) Ulrn/Donau,Germany

SOFREAVIA Paris, France

DICTAPHONECORPORATION Stratford,CT, USA

SONY CORPORATION Tokyo, Japan

DIVERSIFIEDINTL SCIENCESCORP. Lanham,MD, USA

SWEDAVIAAB Norrkopping,Sweden

DORNIER,CommunicationSystems Konstanz,Germany

TELUBAB Solna, Sweden

ELECTRONICSPACE SYSTEMSCORP. Concorde,MA, USA

THOMSON-CSF,DivisionSDC Meudon-La-Foret,France

GAREXAS Oslo, Norway

UNISYSDEUTSCHLANDGmbH Sulzbach,Germany

HOLLANDSESIGNAALAPPARATENB.V. Hengelo,Netherlands

VITROCISETS.p.A. Rome, Italy

HUGHESAIRCRAFTCOMPANY Los Angeles, CA, USA

WALTON RADARSYSTEMSLTD Fleet, UK

The InternationalFederation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associationswould like to invite all corporations,organisations, and institutionsinterested in and concernedwith the maintenanceand promotionof safety in air traffic to join their organisationas Corporate Members.

CorporateMembers support the aims of the Federationby supplyingthe Federationwith technicalinformationand by means of an annual subscription.The Federations' internationaljournal The Controlleris offered as a platformfor the discussionof technical and proceduraldevelopmentsin the field of air traffic control.

For further infortationconcerningCorporateMembership,or general IFATCAmatters,please contact the IFATCA ExecutiveSecretary: E.G.H. Green O.B.E., Kimbers Edge, Kimbers Lane, Braywick, Maidenhead, SL6 2QP, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 (0) 628 23 699 Fax: +44 (0) 628 781 941

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FOREWORD ____

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0 Samuel Lampkin, Executive Vice President for The Americas

A

s the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Special Committ ee (FANS Pha se II) ta sked with monitorin g and coordinating development and transition planning for the future air navigation system comes to an end the aviation community eagerly awaits the next step.

In view of the evolutionary development of a future air navigation system ICAO has also embarked upon the education of the aviation community on Human Factors as it relates to the Communication, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) concept. While this should be applauded there is need for some focus on the human aspects of existing systems as these will be around for some time yet.

In particular, working conditions of air traffic controller officers (ATCOs) in many countr ies remain appalling. ATCOs in such countries carry out their responsibilities under working conditions of the pre-1970 era.

Apart from unreliable and antiquated air traffic control equipment a relatively high percentage of ATCOs are forced to seek employment additional to their air traffic function to supplement earnings in order to provide basic necessities for their families.

There is also evidence that in some countries ATCOs have to work inordinately long hours to earn enough to survive. In other instances ATCOs work busy sectors for periods in excess of four hours without a break.

All the above situations contribute to ATCOs becoming fatigued.

Although limitations on ATCO hours of work, length and frequency of breaks have long been recommended by leading medical and legal experts, in many cases the conditions continue unchecked.

It should be borne in mind that a tired ATCO may not suffer any extended ill effects, but the ATCO's mental faculties at such time will be impaired, aiid consequently his/her alertness, power of judgement and ability to react to changing and unexpected situations will be similarly affected. In other words, the ATCO's ability to maintain the very integrity and safety of the ATC system will be lost.

Acceptance of the recommendations of the International Labour Organisation (]LO) 1979 Meeting of Experts on Air Traffic Control is yet to be achieved in many countries in Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean and parts of the Middle and Far East. To this list many of the new States of the former Soviet Union ought to be added.

Notwithstanding the economic realities of the countries concerned, the safety of the ATC system should not be jeopardised. Airline operators. pilots and the passengers all expect maximum safety and efficiency in civil aviation. These can only be brought about by a proper ATC system. An ATCO who has to hold another job. or work IIJs,IJJl,, page 32

THE CONTROLLER / DECE MBER 1993

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0 Terry Crowhurst - Editor

SCANDAL OF 2 YEAR DELAY FOR AIR SAFETY ROBOT. HITECH SYSTEMPREVENTED MAJOR DISASTER, SAYS PILOT. hese were rece nt headli nes from two ill informed tab loi d newspapers, referring to a near miss situation that occurred in European airspace. The hi-tech robot referred to is of course TCAS 1 As part of my duties with the UK Civil Aviation Authority Safety Reg ulation Gro up (No - my prope r j ob is not Edi to r of The Controller), I recently attended the FAA sponsored International TCAS Co nference , stage d in Washington DC. Nat ura ll y, the conference was dominated by the TCAS implement ation plan as perceived and developed by the US. With up to 8000 TCAS units now ordered and being fitted it represents big business for the only three US equipment suppliers that charge up to $200,000 per TCAS unit.

During the conference, delegates from international controller and pilot organisations were given a brief opportunity to address delegates about their own TCAS activities. One of the first to the podium was our ow n Mike Doolin g, from Can ada, who gave the !FATCA viewpoint of TCAS. Mike delivered his address most eloquently and forcefully and in my estimation was one of the most effective speakers in the whole event. He stressed that IFATCA recognised that there was a place for TCAS in the aviation scene as a collision avoidance tool. He expressed a widely held concern that TCAS software should be upgraded to reflect the fully developed state and voiced concerns about impleme ntation befo re the sys tem appea red to be full y validated. Mike continued by highlighting the problem of a worldwide lack of understanding of TCAS and stressed that efforts should be made to overco me this imp ortant safe ty re lated shortfall. In conclusion. Mike Dooling reiterated the point that TCAS was a '¡last ditch" airborne colli sion avoidance system and should only be developed as such and as was originally intended. TCAS should not be used for alternative reasons such as maintenance of station keeping against other aircraft. Shortly after this presentation representatives from IFALPA. NATCA. ALPA and various airlines also addressed the delegates. It was encouraging to note that almost all the other speakers in this section broadly agreed with the IFATCA viewpoint and some of the airline representatives went even further by stating that TCAS II as developed was only acceptable to them as an interim solution to a full co llision avoida nce system (TCAS III ). Furt hermore. they expressed grave concerns at the implementa tion of TCAS l and questioned its acceptab ility for general use. Shortl y after thes e prese ntations the audience was told that TCAS III as a furth er development ofTCAS II has been abandoned. Difficulties in obtaining the requisite bearing accuracy for lateral separation purposes had forced this decision. Further research and development would no~ pursue the possibilities of data-linking information from one aircraft to ........ f; ll ff.l' 32

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IFATCA ACTIVITIES ____

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0 Executive Secretary, Edge Green, reports on the Americas Regional Meeting

to a good turnout and hoped to meet all the delegates as they arrived. As I had a few days rest before the regional meeting itself, they left us to savour the delights of Aruba, but explained that the y would pick up any delegates, who had arrived by Sunday, for a

Texas, with thorn scrub and cacti everywhere.

It produces virtually nothing, even the hotel flowers being flown in. Because everything is imported it is quite expensive. We were told that the half a million visitors a year , mainly from the USA and Venezu ela, had grown from very small beginning s in The Executive Board just seven year s. were most anxious that follo wing the clo sure the y were we ll of the island ' s main repre sented at thi s employ er, the oil year·s AMA Regional refinery.

Happil y Meeting , fo ll owin g today thi s is back in the 1992 expe ri ence production. Perhap s wher e for numerous more precious than oil unfortun ate rea sons is water, because every Sam Lampkin was left drop comes from the to fend for him se lf. large st desalinati on Not that the Board did plant in the Caribbean. not have confidence in However , ther e is him I It wa s more a plenty of it and even fee ling that he had an 18 hole golf course coped so well, that he is no w shouldn"t be expected under construction. to shoulder the ent ire Finally , 111 earl y load by himself again.

Some of 1he Orga nising Comm illee. From lef1: Johanner Zengerink, Luis Van der Lind en, afternoon we finished I provide this resume as Charles Brou we r, Eri ca Dedier, Mari onelle Semer el, Ulrich Ponson-Leong, 'Tilo' Reed. up at Adriana ' s so me of the reaso ns day on the island.

Imagine our surprise to be parents-in-law' s house for a barbecue and a why the ExecSec wa s go ing to hi s fir st told that we would all be collected at 06.30 swim in the their pool.

Eventually we did regional meeting. Having explained it was in manage to drain them dry' Little did we and not to bother about breakfast! the Caribbean, Wendy decided that I needed realise it, but this was the last time we were to The day trip turned out to be a magnificent company' prelude to the meeting itself. Two vehicles see Adriana. That night she was taken ill As I walked across the tarmac at Aruba, to with water pox (chicken pox to some of us) arrived promptly and we all climbed in to be be greeted by the smilin g fac e o f the and was confined to her house for the rest of transported to the Fisherman's Hut beach for Pres ident of ACTAA, Charl es Brou wer , the meeting. How sad that she had done all breakfa st, which con sisted of cold drink s escorted by two bea utiful ladi es I was the hard work and was unable to see the fruits (including beer'), coffee and a selection of wonderi ng whether I had made the right of her labour. home cooked delicacies.

We continued and de c ision in let tin g her co me ' Aft e r During my stay I was fortunate to visit the completed an entire circuit of the island.

It discovering that Wendy had not arrived even control tower (not much bigger than 111y took in vast hotel and timeshare complexes in though she had left 12 hours ahead of me, I office) and was impressed by the way over the tourist areas, each with its own casino, was beginning to wonder whether I really had 200 movement s a da y - man y of them then on to the northwest coast, rugged and paid too little for her ticket I It turned out widebodie s - were handled procedurall y. inho spitabl e, through small village s and that fog was the culprit and a few quick phone When I tell you that ever ything has to be stopping for a walk around the national park. calls led to colleagues in Curacao meeting her backtracked down 9000ft of runway with no By this time, we knew why we had left so at 03.00 and seeing she got on the right plane holdin g point , the figures beco me ve ry 1 early, the sun and the temperature climbed next morning for Aruba - thank you guys impre ss ive even th ough th e airport is steadily and I don ' t think we would have The two beautiful ladies both turned out to relatively well equipp ed. The growth of survived without the copious amounts of beer be ATCO' s . Ad ri ana Ponson-Leo ng. traffic means that there is an urgent need for our hosts had stowed in the vehicles' Chairman of the Organising Committee and radar and studies are underway now to meet During the day we learnt a lot about the her deputy. Erika Dedier. Quickly through this future need. island and its history. Surprisingly, for the immigration and customs they took me down Monday night saw the meeting get under Caribbean, Aruba has virtually no rain and to the hotel which overlooked the harbour. way with a ·Me et the de lega tes· ni ght. thus has a guaranteed climate for the holiday On the way they explained that 1 was the first Deiegation s from Aruba. Canada. France. maker. As a result the island resembles lo arrive and that they were looking forward --------------------------------

hen I trawled the bucket shops to try and find a cheap fare for my wife, Wendy, to travel to Aruba, it came as a bit of a surprise to me to find that few of them even knew where Aruba was! There were a few more surprises in store on this trip.

W

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THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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Guatemala, Netherland Antilles, Panama , Peru, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Uru guay were there. Observers from Grenada, St. Maarten, the World League of ATCOs, Nederlandse Luchtvaart School and the International Labour Office also attended the meeting. Apologies were received from IFALPA, who were unable to attend due to conflicti on with other meetings. Tuesday morning, the meeting proper opened with Samu el Lampkin address es the attendees at Sam Lampkin in the chair supported by the opening ceremony.

Deputy President, Neil Vidler and myself. the 1994 Conference arrangements and the Erika Dedier was propelled into the spotlight discounts arrangements for the use of Air to substitute for the unfortunate Adriana. In Canada and Canadian airlines. Some concern an impressive opening at the Sonesta Hotel was expressed about the high charges for the delegates stood while the national anthem visas for some countries. Following this, the of Aruba was played live by Charles Brouwer Deputy President provided a short report on on guitar and Jean Robert Dumfrie s, a the activities of the Executive Board in the controller, on trombone. Erika introducedthe previous year. A fair amount of discussion Minister of Transport, Benny Nisbet , who on the use of the newly created Conference Attendance Fund and the existing Special made a short speech of welcome stressing the role of Aruba in the tourist industry of the Circumstances Fund followed. There was Caribbean. He elaborated on the medium considerable interest in the possibility of the term plan for the development of the airport regional meeting making recommendationsto and its facilities which includes the provision the Executive Board.

In the reports from Member Associations, of radar. He stressed that Aruba had the highest record for repeat guests and expressed Canada reported in some detail on their push the wish for a successful meeting and a return for independence from government control. to the island for all the delegates at some Discuss ion on privat isation and/or commercialisation followed. The number of future date.

In a powerful response Sam Lampkin, after states in the regio n where thi s is under welcoming the guests and thanking the consideration is substantial. Some Member Associations were obviously opposed to this Minister , went on to highli ght all the prospect while others actively supported the shortcomin gs in parts of the region. He idea. Later in the day, Uruguay related a referred to excessive hours of work, poor remuneration, lack of job security and career remarkable story, where they had joined a partnership with their administration and prospects, poor indu strial relation s and inadequate pension arrangements. He called airport authority to run the whole airport on on the relevant civil administrations to rethink commercial lines. As a result, they had their policies in these areas to ensure that the substantially improved their salaries by nearly Air Traffi c Control was recognised, as in doubling them, had allowances for capital expenditur e and opera tional activ itie s many other parts of the world , as a true segregated in each area. Delegates were profession.

After the opening ceremonies the Minister clearly fascinated by this success, but many left, but rejoined us for lunch and the work uttered words of caution.

Trinidad and Tobago highlighted problems got underway. Sam reviewed the last year in his report and then detailed the outcome of with the short notice withdrawal of some some of his visits in the region. He outlined navaids by the St Lucia administration. As a result both MA's will address this problem in his hopes for the fort hcomi ng year and Panama and provided details of his visit programme. He the fo rth comi ng year. spoke of his frustra tion with the lack of Guatemala reported improvements in their recognition of the Federation by ICAO at own organi sation s while the Netherland some meeti ngs, where clearly we had a Antilles highlighted many of their residual legitimate interest. His report was followed problems.

This was the first time that we had met by a review of the previous year's report and the fo llow- up action take n by Member controll ers from the Federations newest member. Peru. They contributed greatly to Associations.

Each country in turn provided a report of the debates and it was with concern that we follow- up action in the ir own countr y. heard of the threat to incorporate air traffic Canada provided a comprehensiveupdate on control into the military establishment. This

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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came as a surprise to the member s of the Executive Board, who see in most parts of the world the development of the civil side of aviation is far outstripping the military needs.

Uruguay offered their experience to try and help Peru address this problem.

Reports from the non-member associations in St Maarten and Grenada were presented, wit h the latt er active ly exploring the possibility of rejoining the Federation.

The mee tin g then went on to discuss regional technical and professional matters affecting members with Uruguay leading the Human Factors discussion. Their papers will be comi ng forwa rd to conference fo r discussion.

On the afternoon of the second day, Mr Luis Zamudio, Regional Advisor on International Labour Standards from the ILO Lima office, made a presentation to the meetin g. The presentation covered Labour Standards in the Americas and Structural Changes in Civil Aviation. Although the speech was presented in Spani sh, it was well rece ived by the delegates, who felt that the link with the TLO might well be useful to them in the future.

In the co ncl udin g debat e there was considerablediscussion on the lack of ability of some MA's to attend IFATCA meetings. due to their inability to obtain support from the relevant airlines. Some MA's suggested that the Executive Board approached airlines on their behal f. The Executive Board explained their difficulty in actioning this issue but would advise IATA and the Press of the forth comi ng meetin gs in future.

Delegates felt that anything that could be done would help the situation.

The next Regional Meeting, the 5th, will be in Cancun, Mexico in October 1994 with Bolivia and Uruguay left to resolve the issue of the venue for the sixth meeting in 1995.

This account of the Regional Meeting cannot be concluded without reference to the wonderfu l support that the Aruban Association had worked so hard to obtain.

Amongst the spo nsors were American Airlines, Raytheon. Viasa. Air Aruba and Esso Petrolera who sponsored the fabulous carnival night on Wednesday at the Radisson Hotel. The meet ing concluded with a farewell party in the old fort in Oranjestad.

I can only say that for my first regional meeting. I could not have picked a better place to meet so many hard working and hard playing ATCO's' Charl es Brouw er .

Adriana¡s husband Ulrich. who helped so much and all the committee made the whole meetingone to remember. This truly is ¡'One Happy Island" + 5

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ALTERNATIVE A.T.C. ECHNOLOGIES

0 Getting the Balance Sheet Right- by H W Cole, ATC Consultant-WESTRAD ASSOCIATES.

arry Cole is a long time friend of IF ATCA and known to many in the Association. He "retired" from full time work in 1992, after 32 years with Mar coni Radar . On the basis that you can not keep a good man down, Harry now works an an air traffic control consultant, or as he puts it "Poacher turned Game keeper". Harry very kindly offered to write the following article as an exclusive for The Controller. Althoug h at first sight it may appear to be an engineering technical paper it is well worth reading as it contains many int eresting radar facts that have been collected over a lifetime's experience associated with air traffic control. l'\ TRODL'CTIO'.'i

There have been many advances in primary radar technology in the past decade. Some of these have improved system performance dramatica lly. So much so , th at so me techniques previously held to be inferior to others have, in fact become superior. This paper attempts to restore bal ance of judgement regarding ATC radar performance by reference to the lates t knowledge of modern radar technology.

As in the past. the heated arguments for and against different technologies for use in ATC radar continues. It is natural for suppliers of equipment to high-light the good points of their product s and leave negat ive aspect s unexpressed. Thi s paper a ims to dr aw attention to some aspect s of the numero us technologies that are often kept invisible. Too often , attentio n is dra wn to the exce llent performance of a particular element in a radar equipment (e.g. a transmitte r, a receiver, a stable local oscillator etc.) when the important fact is its contribution - for good or ill - to the total system pe1formance.

All ATC sur ve ill ance radar s ne ed th e properties of coherence in order to distinguish fixed from moving targets. This property. in turn, rests upon the system's ability to retain phase reference during target i 11umi nation times and to maintain precise time references.

Stability is vital: thus, engineers talk in terms of the radar's System Stability. (I stab) - an important factor in determining the ability to ,ee aircra ft targ ets wh en th ey are 6

of these are not rigidly controlled, then phase errors and noise will lower the transmitter' s system stability. High power klystrons must be operated in 'saturated' mode and thus any control over output lev els must be by reduction of input drive. This reduce s yet further the already low overall conversion efficiency (the ratio of prime electric power input to the microwave power output). At full output, the overall conversion efficiency is typically only 12%: thus every Kilowatt of RF output demands 8KW of electrical power.

Lowering the drive input will lower this efficiency even more. In these days of high fuel and power costs, this becomes a serious consideration.

simultaneously present with clutter signals (from ground, weather, angels, sea-clutter, etc.).

The transmitter design is crucial in determinin g I stab and it is here that controversy begins , involving the kind of microwave power generator used and the subsequent Signal Processing techniques.

MICROWAVE POWER GENERATORS

The major types currently favoured are as follows: a) Linear Beam Tubes '' Travelling Wave Tube - (TWT) ,; Low Power Klystron * High Power Klystron b) Magnetrons

* Conventional * Coaxial c) Solid State Modules- (SSM)

The latt er category (SSMs) are not yet available in the E/F band at prices within the range of most ATC authorities, neither has their reliability been brought to an acceptable level. Thus they remain essentially in the future , although operation at lower frequencies such as those used for secondary surveillance radar and D band primary radar are now well proven technology.

Low peak pow er klystrons , TWTs and SSMs are all forced to use the Pul se Compression system to compensate for the lack of high power. This introduces great complexity , the sys tem being radically different from the simpler systems using high peak power microwave generators. This paper will concentrate on discussion of the high peak power devices.

Hlu, PcmER KUSTRO\S

(SEE FIG.L).

These are essentially power amplifiers (the original pre-l 940's technology). It is natural to think that the system stability produced is bound to be best because the system is 'selfco he re nt' - based as it is, upon a fixed co ntinuou sly running stab le osc ill ator.

However, this judgement must be tempered by the fact that the tube needs a very stable amp Ii tude EHT pu Ise, a very stab le electromagnet system, and of course very stable RF drives (both pulsed and CWJ. If any -------------------

Fig.I. Th e Varian VA 87E Kh s tron. lt is mount ed ins id e a Cy lindri ca l E lectromagn et 40cm.x 40cm. lt s n 1¡eral/ heigh! is approx i111 a1ely I 00 cm and its diameter is 22cm. lt has w idespread use in 10cm wavelengt h rada rs. Phot n cou rtes ,¡ of The English Eleclric Valve Co.Lid. ---

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THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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High levels of spectral purity are rightly claimed for the tube , together with low spurious noise levels. What is 'spectral purity' ? Ideally the transmitter output should contain only a single frequency plus those components necessary to represent the pulse.

One can liken the requirement to that of making a bell whose note is pure, with no unwanted harmonics and with no cracks , whose faces rasping together when the bell is struck would create noise. A commonly used tube, the V A87E is quoted by the manufacturer to have spurious noise level of 60dB. That is, noise levels are one million times less than the tube's peak output.

Comparisons very favourable to the klystron, but unfair to magnetrons, are made without reference to the vast improvementsin spectral purity brought about by modern magnetron and modulator design. This is evidenced by the IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Washington DC. July 1976. One of its papers reports measurements showing that magnetrons perform equally well. Developments since then have improved matters further.

Similarly, claims are made that the klystron, being a self-coherent device , can cancel 'second-time-around' clutter signals. This is because the phase reference is unchanging from one transmission to the next. Although this is certainly true, it can only be of use if the system 's pulse repetition staggering is inhibited. Thi s could cause target s to disappear, because without staggered Pulse Recurrenc e Frequency (PRF) the Moving Target Indicator's (MT!) 'blind speeds' are reintroduced. Also any large aircraft targets detected in the 'second-time-around' regime will be displayed as though they were within the radar' s normal range scale. Both of these effe cts are po sitively dan gerous and unacceptable to ATC authorities.

Finally, of concern to technicians, it is often forgotten that high power klystrons use EHT pulses of between 50 and 85KV. This makes it necessary to include shielding from Xradiation. The tube ' s vuln erability to mechanical damage, sensitivity to vibration, and the need continually to condition it 'onthe-shelf' with ion pumps - all these have to be borne in mind when writing a 'balance sheet" of suitable tubes.

M \(

RADAR SYSTEMS ._ _____

electrical power. Both use the COHOST ALO method of producing the full coherence necessary in ATC radars.

Temperature drift of the magnetron's output frequency can be compensated automatically so that their long term frequency stability equals that of driven systems using Linear Beam Tubes . Magnetron EHT pulse s restricted to 30KV make X-radiation shields unnecessary. Some modern design s exist wherein this voltage appears at only one point in the system - at the magnetron cathode itself - and so, with the highest DC voltage at around 500 to 600V, the electric stress in the system is low. This makes for higher reliability.

;NE TIW NS

Two types are available: a) Conventional Multi-Cavity b) Coaxial (see Fig. 2).

Both magnetrons use permanent magnets of very high field strength . requirin g no

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

Fig.2 . Th e En g li s h El e c tri c Coax ia l Ma gn etro n MG 54 03. The tu b e i1s elf s its be!Yveen 1he poles of a powe ,f ul p ermane nl magnet and op erates in the 1 Ocm .band. The whole assembl y is shock 1no un1ed betwe en t wo m e /Cl/ plat es .O ve ra ll h e ig h t 42cm. Width,24cm. Photo by coun esy of The English Electric Valve Co.Ltd

Conventional magnetrons have a tendency to spuriou s mode s of oscillation . making matching a difficult problem and give system stability of marginally acceptable standards.

Their operatin g life-tim e is also short in comparison to the other available microwave power generators. Howeve r, the Coaxial magnetron includes a very high - Q cavity surrounding the ring of cavities around the tube·s cathode.

'Q' is a measure of the goodness of a tuned circuit. Reverting to the 'bell· model. we can say that when it is struck once, the chime will continue for some time. getting ever softer before finally dying away. The longer the decay time. the higher is the of the bell.

Microwave ca viti es (themse lves. tuned circuits) behave in much the same way. but at very much higher frequencies. The Coaxial magnetron·s high - Q cavity is connected to

·o·

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each cavity in the ring and acts to prevent spurious moding and is the means by which the spectral purity is obtained.

Of the man y modern impro vement s in design , one of the most signific ant is in magnetron modulator s. Old designs using hydrogen thyratrons produced low reliability and relatively poor system stabilities because of trigg er jitt er. Modern soli d state modulator s in them sel ves pro duce d improvement: but the biggest improvement has been brought about by considering the magnetron and its modul ator as a single entity. In the past, magnetrons scored badly in the system stability area because insufficient attention was paid to their 'start and stop ' regimes, governed by the EHT pulse shape.

Modern designs ensure that the transitions between quiescence and oscillation are made precisely and smoothly by tailoring the rates of rise and fall of the EHT pulse applied to the tube. Calcul ation s show that if thi s technique is applied to klystrons. TWTs and magnetrons, alike, the system stability of the magnetron is actually superior to either of the Linear Beam Tubes for pulse duration s of 1.35 microseconds and less. However. all the adva ntag es of the mag netron are suppl eme nted by th e ex treme ly long operating life of the Coaxial magnetron which is equal to that of Linear Beam Tubes.

The most modern solid state modulators use Field Effect Transistors to form the pulse.

This allows pulse durations to be adj usted on site to maximise the use of the magnetron· s mean power capability for a g iven pulse repeti tion frequency. th us giving great er target detectability. Such flexibility is denied to older designs and is not applicable to high power klystrons.

StG1'/ .\L PROCESSII\,/(;

Two main categories of signal processing are usually discussed and become the subject of further controversy: a) MT! - Moving Target Indication. based upon the use of zero-Doppler filters b) MTD-Moving Target Detectors. based upon the for mati on of banks of Doppler filters side-by-side including a zero-Doppler filter.

There is however. another technique which produces the benefits of MTD whilst keeping the relat ively simpler and less co mplex designs found in MT!. This is the AMTD Adaptive Moving Target Detector. In this. a zero-D oppler fi lter is supp leme nte d by another rejection filter. automatically steered to coincide with the Doppler frequency of moving clutter such as the residue of weather

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clutter not removed by circular polarisation.

Moving clutter is thus cancelled. Contrary to popular belief , calculations comparing the effectiveness of an 8-filt er MTD and the above AMTD in the same fixed and moving clutter scenarios found in ATC radars, show a signifi cant advantage in favo ur of such an AMTD. The action of these three techniques

a)

b)

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RADAR SYSTEMS _ _____

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of Doppler frequencies, has recurring nulls at the crossover points of neighbouring filters.

These nulls create processing loss. The MTD filters are ever present and so are their losses.

The AMTD moving filter is only present when and where moving clutter dictates that it should be. Thu s, the AMT D pass-band characteristic is virtually flat across the whole Doppl er range for the vast majority of the Surveillance time.

Impro veme nt Factor (I) -How well can moving targets be see n over compe tin g clutter.

Mo st engi neers use the formul ation of M.I.Skolnik to express this:

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Owner ship. It is easy for these term s to become confused. In buying equipment the customer pays a price; the manufacturer bears a cost. If judgments are made on the price of sys tem s (and the y mu st be ) it is worth remembering th at a manufacturer who deliberately redu ces hi s price below the profit ab le base wi ll alm ost certa inl y be increasing the subsequent Cost of Ownership to the customer by redu cing in built (or promised) support and increasing later spares and support prices. The Cost of Ownership of a modern Magnetron ba sed system wit h AMTD processing is almost certainly lower than systems using linear beam tubes if for no other reason than a lower component count.

I total= 1 + 1 ....

CONCLUSION c)

is shown in Fig.3.

Fig.3 . The three typ es of proc essor: a) Zero Doppler filter with stagge red PRF. b) The AMTD. The Zero Doppler .filter is supplemented b_va 's teerable ' notc h fil ter (shown dotted) . This notc h is automaticall y stee red to coincide with the ve locity of moving clutter wherever it appears in the radar output. c) Multi filter MTD. Typ ica/ly ,8 filters would be con structed ,their peaks spaced at abou t l 5knot intervals.Phase detector action makes the set of filters repeat themse lves ad inf in itum so that th e whole ran ge of speeds is covered .A dra wbac k is that the Zero Doppler filter is also repea ted at the natura l 'blind speeds' of the radar. Photo bv courtesv of Marcon i Radar Systems .

It is often forgotten that the pulse repetition rate in MTD has to be fixed for a number of periods at least equal to the number of filters in the bank. Staggered PRFs to counter blind speed s have therefor e to be introduced in blocks, i.e., in an 8 filter MTD the PRF has to rema in fi xed fo r at leas t 8 con se cutive tran smissions. It ca n then be changed to another value and held there for another 8 (at least) periods. If an aircraft is travelling at the blind spee d of one of these blocks of 8 periods. t he air craft signal wi ll not be detected ca using plot extraction errors in position reports. This leads to poor tracking performance.

In AMTD - a zero Doppler filter plus an automatica lly steered Dopp ler filter - the overa ll Doppler pass-ba nd characteristic is esse ntially ripple free outside the Dopple r frequenc ies covered by the : teerable notch filter. An 8 filter bank. across the same range

8

The above shows that on grounds of radar performance for an ATC Radar in the TMA/Approach role th at a mod ern Magnetron system is not only a match for those using high power klystrons - in many respects it is superior. When considering the whole range of Doppler frequencies created by aircraft across their possible radial speed range, the AMTD described is superior to an equivalent 8 - filter MTD. Author's Note: It may be helpful to those unfamiliarwith the radar art to refer them to my book, "Understanding Radar ", Blackwell Scientific Publication s 2nd.Edition 1992, which gives insight into such things as pulse spectrum, Doppler Filtering,etc. +

The sub-factors express such things as the effect of the an tenna beam sca nnin g the clutter, the effect of staggered PRF, the effect of system instabilities, the number of samples taken to effect cancellation of clutter, the effect of wind-blown vegetation, etc. Among the sub-factors I, to In is the System Stability factor, (I stab). Transmitter contributions to this have been described above. Although it is one of many, it is not necessarily the most important. It attracts greater attention because the elements going into its value are largely matter s of engi neering skill and not the vagaries of nature, as in values for I clutter the factor introduced by wind blowing on vege tation , fo r exa mpl e. A sense of proportion is needed in judgement regarding the value of I stab to be striven for. Systems Engineering disciplines and knowledge of the user' s real requirements need to be used to ensure that good value is present in the system selected. For example; suppose the combined effect of I stab and I clutter each contributed -43dB to the overall I factor. To introduce an I stab factor, by costly design, of - 7OdB would mean that the transmitter was very much better than required if the other two factors were the limiting case. In the above example - a thousand times better' This has price implications.

COMMERCIAL

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE

IN

e ,,,1:

JOURNALOFAIRTRAFFIC CONTROL

conTROIIER

CONSIDERATIONS

An ATC radar , ideally, should produce 100% of its claimed performance for 100% of the time it is required. The ideal is never reached , only approached. Procur eme nt Executives, faced with the difficult choice between rival systems, have to take account not only the Price to be paid for the system.

They have to consider the Cost to them of its

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CONTROLLERS AND RELATED PERSONNEL WORLDWIDE

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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IFATCA REPORT _ _ __

LOBAL NAVCOM

'93

O by Chris Stock, Executive Vice President Technical

LOBALNAVCOM93 was the first of a series of annual international Symposia and Technical Exhibitions organised by IA TA in consultationwith ICAO and supportedby a large number of international aviation organisations including IFA TCA. The objectiveof this symposiumand those in the future is the promotionof an early and cost effective implementations of the FANS technologies, in other words, the ICAO CNS/ATMsystem. This year's symposium was held in Seattle between 28 June and 1 July.

The whole event was divided into three separate and distinct parts which took place on consecutivedays. The first day was taken over by tutorial sessions so that delegates could bring themselves up to date with three key fea tur es of FANS : Communication s/ Navigation/Surveillance (CNS); Air Traffic Management (ATM); and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Each subject was lead by an acknowl edged expert in their respective fields. Over a period of some four hour s, del ega tes were subj ected to an int ensive appr ec iation of the !CAO CNS/ ATM sys tem which includ ed comprehensive background documentation.

Th e tutori als were a highly succe ssful innovation, so much so that the organisers were oversubscribed in numbers and were forced to make some frantic arrangements to cope with the demand. Learning about the lack of capacity the hard way! The rest of the first day was given over to the Technical Exhibition and various demonstrations.

During this first day a Senior Executive Roundtable had been arranged for a group of experts and senior managers to discuss the latest developments in CNS/ATMand air their views and opinions on various aspects with particular reference to the implementation of the FANS technologies. Although the meeting was held behind closed doors. it would not be betraying any confidences to note that many of the issues and problems facing the aviation community are not technical but financial, lega l. instituti onal. and political matters.

Furth ermore, a st ron gly held view. parti cularly with the users. is that the implementation of CNS/ATM systems must be on an incremental basis so that co st benefits are apparent at an early stage to the customer.

The seco nd clay was devoted to the

Welcome and Theme speeches. This gave the opportunity to senior executives from many sectors of the civil aviation community to present their views and ideas on the future progress of the FANS technologies and the benefits that they will bring. In his opening speech, the IATA Director General, Pierre Jeanniot drew the attention of the audience to a most unpalatable statistic, the airline losses for 1992 were US$5 billion and that over the past three years the total was over US$ I I billion which was more than the total airline profits since 1945. These figures had ensured that th e focus was fi rmly fi xed on cos t reduction and that the tim ely and cos t effecti ve impl ementati on of CNS/A TM systems was a top priority for IATA. However he added that although FANS promised great advantages, it was not the panacea for the current airline difficulties. Much work was required on the financial and cost charging mec hanisms to ensure th at the airlin es received value for money for their investment in FANS technologies. !CAO President of the Council, Dr Assad Kotaite expresse d his co nce rn th at the developing countries should remain within the global perspective of CNS/ATM so that they would not be left behind during the transition stage throu gh lack of fund s or tec hnica l expertise. He emphasised that many countries could leapfrog in systems technologies and allow them to enter satellite based systems in ai r traff ic manage ment. He covered the subjec ts of finance. management. and legal issues as seen through the eyes of !CAO: also. he considered that the Council should set up a special task force that would encourage the implementation of CNS/ATM and identify problems for further action. In conclusion he highlighted the overriding need for the civil aviation community to work together during the difficult transition stages with a sense of urgency. with co-op erat ion rat her than confrontation .

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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Other speake rs represe nted the airlin es, aircraft industry, air traffic services, airports and aviation electronics. It would be difficult to cov er the very many pert ine nt views expressed, however, IATA will be issuing a complete text of the proceedings. However it is important to cover the FAA presentation because the US has been the subject of some critical comment with respect to GPS and, to what is to some, its monopolistic position. The FAA spokesman emphasised the commitment of the FAA and the US to the CNS/ ATM concept and explained the FAA objectives to brin g the benefits of GPS to the aviation communit y. In pa rti cular , the FAA has approved supplemental GPS for all phases of flight including non precision approaches; this decision has enabled some 2500 airfields in the US to adopt a non-precision approach which had not been available before. Also, the FAA expec ted to approve CAT I (GPS ) approaches by 1998; equally the FAA would remain committed to MLS until the feasibility of CAT 3(GPS) had been proven or not.

The thir d day intro duced the techni ca l sessions which covered six issues in some detail. IFATCA was directly involved in the Air Traffic Management session which was chaired by Sven Andresen. Director of Air Navigatio n Services , CAA Denmark. The emphasis of the session was on the Automation of ATM; IFATCA was concerned about its effect on controller skills and presented a paper represen ting the controll er viewpoint (publ ished in the pre viou s issue of The Controller - Volume 32 No 3). The Eurocontrol paper looked at future syste ms in a fully . automated environment with the controller being pushed into the role of airspace manager. a concept as one questioner later succinctly put it. as attacking the controllers¡ comfort zone.

Other papers dealt with technical aspects of automation in one form or another. including further details on GPS integrity.

The overa ll impre ss ion of GLOBAL NAVCOM 93 was of a superbly organised and efficiently run symposium held in the magnificent facilities of the Washington State Conventi on and Trad e Ce nter . The programme was extremely ambitious and if one criticism could be levelled. it was that the tec hnica l sess ions were run co ncurr ently therefore some it ms conflicted and prevented participation in one or the other. However the organiser¡s message stressing the importance of CNS/ATM and the need for timely and cost effective implementation came over loud and clear. After this sy mposi um. GLOBAL NA VCOM has estab lished its e lf a~ an essential and important event on the future aviation calendar. +

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TCAS AND THE REASON MODEL: HUMAN FACTORS THEORY (1298) 0 Bert Ruitenberg - Executive Vice President Professional

I

INTRODUCTION

n my presentation during the Christchurch Professional Panel I outlined inter alia a theory-model for the analysis of the breakdown of complex systems.

This model is named the Reason-model, after its developer Professor James Reason (University of Manchester, UK).

Defences Interactions with local events

Inadequate

Productive Activities Unsafe Acts

Preconditions

a technical tool is given to one of the groups in the last line-of-defence with a view to make the system safer. I don't think this is a good solution. Worse, I think it has the potential to reach the opposite effect of its aim i.e. it can make the system more dangerous!

Psychological Procursors of

¡ Unsafe Acts

EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS

Rather than just give a tool to those in the last it line-of-defence, Deficiencies would have been better to change the rules, Active & Latent Failures regulations and/or procedures in order DecisionActive Failures to prevent future Makers -¡' Fallible Declslo7 accidents. Some midLatent Failures ~ . airs involved VFRLatent Failures ~ traffic that strayed into the path of !FR-traffic.

Latent Failures If, for example, the Fig 1: Modified version of James Reason's model of accident causation. This figure airspace-classification shows the various human contributions to the breakdown of complex system. had been changed to "IFR only" or sometime somewhere by another pilot or "IFR/CVFR", and the approach procedures ATCO, thus causing another or similar for the airports involved were amended REASON-MODEL accident. accordingly, this would do more to improve First let's have a look at the Reason-model Figure 2 again depicts the Reason-model, the safety of the system than the present (Figure. I). What it says is: in complex but this time in a slightly different way. This TCAS-implementation.

In other words systems, such as the aviation industry, an version clearly shows a "last line-of-defence" (reference Figure 2), start working on the accident is the result of a number of l.Atent in the system. parts of the system on the left side of the Failures combined with one (or two) Active JN AVIATION WE ARE IN THIS LAST lines-of-defence before adding extra tools to Failure(s). "PilotError" or "ATCOError" LINE-OF-DEFENCE, TOGETHER WITH that last line! shouldinfact read "SystemError".

THE PILOTS. Incidentally, the way TCAS is being After Conference all Member Associations implemented has all the characteristics of received a copy of my "Anyfield Case-study", TCAS becoming a classic example on how NOT to a fictitious story meant to illustrate the Now about TCAS. You will recall that do it.

The deadline was such that the Reason-model, so I won't give further TCAS was the Reagan administration's technology couldn't meet it; the primary users examples here. answer to combat the number of mid-air (pilots) received little or no training on what What is important to realise is: if there has collisions in the USA, in which quite a few to do with it, nor did the secondary users been an accident, it is wrong to just take lives were lost (for example the Cerritos (ATCOs), who on top of that were (and still disciplinary action against the pilot or the accident in the I 980's). are) unaware if TCAS is used or not. (You ATCO and think you've solved the problem Looking at the Reason-model in figure 2, are invited to add to this listing as deemed that caused it. If there is no change in the this can be translated to mean that because the appropriate). system. the same mistakes will be made whole of the existing AIS-system had failed,

1 also indicated how I think this model can be used to demonstrate that TCAS is not an optimal solution for a failing AIS-system.

For the benefit of those who weren't able to attend the Professional Panel I have put my view on paper. I hope this view will be used whenever IFA TCA is asked to express an opinion on TCAS

10

Line Management

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

__________________

Organisation

HUMAN FACTORS _________________

Task/environment

Processes

Conditions

St:iccg=ls Organise Manage

Errorproducing conditions

Desif; Bui d Operate Maintain

-->-

Individuals

Defences

Unsafe:act:s

~

Vio'2tionproducing conditions

I B ___.

Violations

I

Accident

Fig 2: The elements of an organisational accident.

SAFER OR UNSAFE?

UNSAFE ACTS

Finally, I owe you an explanation as to why I think TCAS has the potential to make the aviation system less safe than it was. For that, I refer to a conversation with the IFATCA President and CEO, EVP Technical and I had with Dr. Fromme (Director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau) during our introductory visit to ICAO, May 1992.

In that conversation he, in all seriousness, quoted the one-in-a-billion chance for fatal aviationaccidents that with TCAS could be significantly reduced. Accordingly, he stated that in the near future the separation-criteria could well be reduced for TCAS equipped aircraft. Allow me now to take you back to the Reason-model.

Unsafe acts divide into two distinct groups: errors and violations. All involve deviations but they differ with regard to the nature of this deviation.

Errors may be of two basic kinds (Reason, 1990): (a) attentional slips and memory lapses, involving the unintended deviation of actions from what may be a perfectly good plan; We've seen that, because the system is unsafe, a tool is given to pilots: the last lineof-defence. No other coherent changes are made to the system. So, it remains as potentially unsafe as it was, it is only hoped that the last line-of-defence will better serve to keep accidents from happening. In Dr. Fromme's reasoning that new tool in the last line-of-defence is now used to justify a reduction in separation-criteria that were considered inadequate to begin with!

I can't resist an analogy here, for which I would like to compare TCAS to the airbagsystems that are nowadays built into many family cars.

Just like TCAS, airbags are meant as a last resort to prevent the ultimate disaster from

THE ANATOMY OF AN ORGANISATIONAL ACCIDENT

What sorts of ideas are necessary for understanding the causes of organisational accidents? I would argue that we need three basic elements: organisational processes, task and environmental conditions and, at the individual level, a variety of possible unsafe acts. The relationship between these three elements is summarised in Figure I. The cause direction in Figure 1 is from left to right, from organisational processes, via the task and environmental conditions that promote unsafe acts, to the individual errors and violations themselves. The latter may be committed on the flight deck, in maintenance hangars or in air traffic control rooms.

Unsafe acts may combine with local triggering events to breach the system's defences and cause an accident. But, for the most part, they are either detected and recovered or they are blocked by the aircraft's defensive systems (stall warning and recovery, fire detection, fire-fighting, ground proximity warnings and the like). Each of these elements of the "organisational accident" is considered in more detail below, beginning with the unsafe acts.

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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happening. No car-buyer expects to ever use it, but it feels safe knowing it's there anyway.

TCAS is meant to provide a similar feeling to pilots.

But unlike what seems to be the trend in aviation, no legislator that I know of is considering a structural slackening of existing road-traffic safety rules, such as doing away with speed limits, minimum braking performance or minimum requirements for tyre-profiles, just because cars are now fitted with airbags ! In aviation however, the installing of TCAS in aircraft has immediately triggered many so-called trials to see if existing separation-criteria (i.e. safetyrules) can be lowered! That is not what TCAS was meant for!!

EPILOGUE

I hope this article beings the message across.

TCAS can serve a purpose, but in the way it is being implemented it adds little to the safety of the aviation-system.

IF A TCA should call for caution where possible to prevent TCAS from becoming detrimental to aviation safety instead of enhancing it. One way of doing this is to promote the following IF A TCA policy on airborne collision avoidance systems: "IFATCA recognises that the development of airborne collision avoidance systems should be encouraged. However, it must be accepted that the primary means of collision avoidance within a controlled airspace environment must continue to be the air traffic control system which should be totally independent of airborne emergency devices such as ACAS. Autonomous airborne devices should be be a consideration in the provision of adequate air traffic services."+

11

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UCCESS

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OR FIRST EUROCONVEX

0 By Richard Da\\1s011 - Euroco11vexCommittee Menzber

ver 800 delegates and exhibition visitors from 29 countriesattended EuroConvex93 at the Bournemouth InternationalCentre, UK, between 20 and 22 October,1993.

The delegates were able to hear from 28 International Speakers originating from 12 countries and visit the Exhibition where 43 companies from 8 countries were displaying their latest technology in over 700 square metres of stand space.

The Conference was officially opened by Russell Sunderland, C.B., Deputy Secretary at the United Kingdom Department of Transport, replacing Lord Caithness who was unable to attend owing to parliamentary business . Opening addresses from David Grace , President GATCO , and Ron Whittaker, the Mayor of Bournemouth, were followed by that of Russell Sunderland who then officially declared the Conferenceopen.

Yves Lambert, Director General (Designate) Eurocontrol, was unfortunately unable to open the Exhibition-being delayed in Paris due to industrial action at Charles de Gaulle airport. Russell Sunderland kindly agreed to also carry out the opening of the Exhibition, following an introduction by Robert Bryon, Chairman of the EuroConvex 93 Committee.

Russell Sunderland then visited the exhibition stands accompaniedby David Grace, Philippe Domogala, Robert Bryon and Ron Mahendran, the GATCO Corporate Members Representative.

The central feature in the circular exhibition hall was a control tower, with a platform around its base from which Euroconvex 94 was promoted. The large exhibition stands were those of IBMUK/EDS-Scicon,Siemens Plessey, Hughes Rediffusionand the National Air Traffic Services of the United Kingdom.

However, not only equipment providers but also airport operators and airlines were also participating which made for a broader base of interests than at the IFATCA 92 exhibition hosted by GATCO at the same venue. ATC related equipm ent feat ured includ ed

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

Eurocontrol's ' ODID IV ' colour radar displays , Hughes Rediffusion's Fle xible Independent Radar Skills Trainer, Norcontrol ' s Radar Data Processors , Frequentis UK ' s Voice Communication System, IBM Software for the New Enroute Centre and NOVA 9000 colour radar displays.

The equipment on display provided a great deal of interest for conference delegates and exhibition visitors alike with many of the exhibits enabling attendees to handl e the equipment themselves.

After the opening buffet luncheon , the Conference programme was opened by the Session Chairman, Philippe Domagala who introduced the speake rs in turn. Martyn Cooper, Director Professional of GATCO, presented the opening paper followed by the Pres ident of IFATCA , Charle s Stuart .

Wolfgang Philipp , the Dire cto r of Eurocontrol, Tony Chapman, representing the NZALPA, and Stephen Frankiss - United Kingdom Department of Transport, followed.

Their presentations on the Conference theme 'Denationalisation of ATC - are we serious¡ were received intently by the audience and the Open Forum sess ion attracted many questions from the delegates.

That evening, the delegates were invited to a Civic Reception in the Pavilion Ballroom hosted by Deputy Mayor of Bournemouth.

Mrs Margaret Hogarth, followed by a finger buffet and entertainment.

Thursday morning commenced with Session Chairman Harry Cole, EuroConvex Corporate Members Representative. introducing the 7 speakers. They comprised Graham Greener Norcontrol, Graham Hunt - !AL. Chris White - Siemens Plessey. Mel Jackson - Praxis. Rick Goold - Airp or t Inform ation Systems.

Graham Lake - SIT.A. and Neil Dickie of Flight Refuelling. This session was dedicated to ATC Equipment and Service Providers and included information about some items of new technology.

The buffet luncheon was sponsored by the GATCO Corporate Members with a short address given by Ron Mahendran , who highlighted the close working relationship between the Corporate Member s and the respective Guilds.

Captain Bernard Clack, Britannia Airways chaired the afternoon session which comprised George Oliver - IAT A, Derek Leggett - BAUA, Dr Rod Baldwin - BIS , Louise Congdon - Manchester Airport/ACT Europe and Captain Phillip Hogge of British Airways.

On Thur sday evening , British Airways invited the Delegates to spend an evening at Sega World followed by entertainment at the Palace Court Hotel.

Following the Thur sda y evening' s entertainment, it befell Colin Hume of British Airways to chair the Friday morning session.

C J M Gresnigt - KLM, Gerhard Stadler Austrian CAA, D A Facey - NATO, Richard Everitt - BAA, Peta Meterna - ATC Czech Republic and B S Gr ieve of Britannia Airways were the speakers. Yet again. the Open Forum session overran owing to the number of questions from the delegates.

At the buffet luncheon , spon sored by Britannia Airways, Captain Stu Grieve was presented with their Cor porate Memb ers Scroll by David Grace. GATCO President. thereb y beco min g the 29t h Corpo rate Member of the UK Guild.

The final session was chaired by Howard (Ted) Til ly, GATCO with conferen ce speakers Frank V Fischer - ANSA. Henrich Bokbardt - German Federal MOT. Ralph Riedle - DFS and Jan Gordte - Vice President EG.ATS. After two and a half days of st imul at ing discuss ion and debate EuroCon vex was brou ght to a c lose by Philipp e Domogala . Interim Pres ident of EG.ATS. Over 200 Delegates and Speakers attended a ¡s urvivors Party' in the Pavilion Ballroom on Friday evening, the highlight of which was a ........page 32

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ATCA

CONVENTION REPORT _______________

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CONVENTION

0 A personalreportfrom Mike Wildin,DirectorInternationalAffairs,UK GATCO,fromthe 38th AnnualConvention,held in Nashville,

Tennessee,from 24 to 28 October.

T

he US Air TrafficControlAssociation's These comments must be considered in the light of the US Senate's approval of the (ATCA) Convention this year took FAA's budgetfor financialyear 1994-1995of place at the Opryland Hotel Nashville $2. 12 billion.The originalrequestwas for $3 Tennessee between 24th - 28th October. billion!

Technicalsessionswere entitledas follows:Other speakers in this session gave their InternationalAviationPerspective view of what aspectsof the automatedsystem Management in the US might look like towards the year Policy 2010. Mr Ron Morgan FAA'~ Director of Modernisation NAS EngineeringServil;t.:.~aici,in his view, Procedures that pilots would play a bigger role in HumanResources determining flight plans and that increasing Researchand Development traffic levels would requirethe increasinguse Co-operation of decision-makingtools to assist controllers.

Operationand Maintenance For reasons unexplained it was decided to He said there would be a move away from voice to datalink as the principal means of hold a special session on Monday entitled "Systems Road map for ATC Automation". communicationsin ATC. He confirmedthat voice recognition systems were now being As it transpired this was one of the most interestingof the sessions attended by about used and trials were taking place at Orlando, Florida, in which Doppler weather radar 650 delegates and manufacturers' information is being transmitted representatives.

Mr Martin T Pozesky, FAA 's Associate simultaneouslyto the pilot and the controller.

Mr Mike Perie, Programme Director Administrator for System Development opened the session by stating that continued AutomatedATC System,statedthat his prime developmentof the US ATC systemwould be concern was to preserveexistingsafetylevels by evolution and not revolution. It is the in the present system whilst upgrading was FAA's intentionto move forward automation taking place. He said that Seattle would of the present system by using off the shelf receive the first ISSS unit in October 1996 technologies.There would be a concentration and in late 1996or early 1997resolutionaids on implementation as it was felt that user interacting with the controller would be added. These resolution aids would be benefits were being lost in the present situation.This wouldrequire a culture change replaced at the turn of the century by within the FAA affectingthe way it will do business in the future. He stated that there were more technologies, both in fact and currently emerging, than can be used ! Therefore, it was very important to devise a complete strategy detailing how the automation of the system will be progressed.Mr Pozesky finished by saying "Automation is a journey and not a "WORLDWIDE US destinationand therefore it was not possible now TAKEOVER?" to answer all the possible questions".

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automatic resolution systems requiring no controllerinvolvement.

Mr Joe Fee, Oceanic Systems Manager, talked of Oceanic AutomationStrategy being one of evolutionfrom the present state to the AdvancedOceanic AutomationSystem. This would involvethe integrationof the functions of Air Traffic Management with air traffic control.Datalinkwas pivotal to the successful implementation of this system and he recognisedthe need for integration with the Asianand Europeansystems.

Another session was interesting for a numberof reasons. The audience heard from one speaker who gave the FAA's objectives as being; a) reductionof operatingcosts of the system's users (throughtechnologyand harmonisation), b) improvementin securityand safety (throughthe exchangeof technical informationand expertise)and c) improvementof the effectivenessof ICAO by reform.

Another speaker believed the future Air TrafficManagementsystemwould: I) increaseairspacecapacity, 2) increasecontrollerproductivity, 3) maintainsafetyand 4) lead to economicimprovementsfor airspaceusers.

Safety was not placed as the top priority by these two speakers!

Two non-US based speakers spoke of the world outside the FAA. It was believed by one that no capacity gains were possible using CNS in Western Europe. The other, Mr David Moores, EVP Asia-Pacific region of IFATCA, dealt with the realities of the situation from the controllers' point of view, after all the theory and plans had been expounded.

Saying that flight safety was paramount, he detailed the growth in his region, stressing

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THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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that there was an urgent need to maximise capac ity now. However, they were being asked to manage with old equipment. He said that ICAO was at the present leading efforts to co-ordinate programmes throughout the Pacific rim yet it should have been the States th emse lves. Thi s presentation certa inl y enli vened thi s sess ion yet so me of the comments/asides heard from the audience indicated the significant gulf existing between the FAA/manufacturers/aviation consultants and the "coal face" controllers doing the work day-by-day. Theory and fact were not closely aligned.

Elsew here in the sessions there was recogn ition of th e chan ging role of th e controller due to automation. Additionally, through the introduction of a programme called "Quality Through Partnership", it was acknowledged by US controllers there had been a change in the FAA's attitude with the early involvement of contro llers in such activities as procedure s formulation.

However, it was stated that commitment to this programme had not yet extended to all levels of management.

The session dea lin g with Re sea rch & Development (R & D) yield ed some interesting information. The statement was made that the aim of FAA' s R & D was to "achieve safe and affordable clear air capacity

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

EUROCONTROL said : "with unusually high performance . it will display a very large amount of radar data ."

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in instrument weather conditions". The FAA would try to bring forward the date for the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) from 1998 to 1996. There had been much interest from US- based aircraft for CAT I landings using DGPS. The speaker also believed that CAT III accuracy with DGPS was achievable and he stated that GPS could also be linked to TCAS IV. MODE S was being app li ed to airf ield surface operations and plans were in hand to supply 137 MODES systems - 105 to terminal units ( 60 nm range) and 32 en-route station s (256nm range) with all these being designed for operat ion in high traffic den sity environments.

As normal , the eve nt included a comprehensive exhibition with I09 exhibitors includin g some of IFATCA ' s Corporat e Members. However, it was noticeable that some of the more exciting emer gin g technologies ( e.g. HUD in the tower ) were not being shown. Presumably, there was some advanced notice of the FAA' s new way of doin g busines s. Al so, th ere was much duplication throughout the exhibits e.g. there were 10 manufactures of switching systems among the 109 exhibitors.

In conclusion this convention was indicative of th e change in the FAA 's attitud e to existing and emerging technologies brought

us at the given adress.

about by a reduction in government funding.

In spite of this change, there is still strong commitment to automation for ATC and the drive to implement this at the earliest juncture is strong. The di sturbing as pect of thi s convention was its attitude to ICAO. There was sentiment expressed that, "as the US had contributed about 50% of ICAO's runni ng costs, for the last 20 years, it was about time that we started getting value for our money".

Also there was a strongly supported call from the floor to have the US controller handbook accepted as the standard throughout ICAO. +

Next year's Annual Meeting will be at the Hyatt Regency, Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va.. September 18 - 22 inclusive, and should prove to be very interesting.

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0 The folloivi11g article fist appeared in the Aeronautical Satellite News and was written by David Learmount to explain some of the difficultie s encountered by air traffic control in Africa and to examine the prospects for a satellite based solution . The article is reprinted with the kind permission of the ASN Edilor, Brendan Gallagher.

A TC Botswana Airport

ith cabin windows lit, navigation lightssteadyand fin-mountedstrobe stabbing the darkness, the Airbus A3l Omoveshighthroughthe Africannight. In the quiet of the flight deck the first officer is speaking into his headset microphone. Voice pitched a single tone higher than normal, he enunciateseach wordwithexaggeratedcare: he is trying to report the aircraft's position to the air trafficcontrolcentre(ATCC).

But the high-frequency(HF) radio channels available are full of chatter and noise from stationsas far awayas India. It's impossibleto tell whether the ATCC has acknow!edged the report. After several more fruitless attempts the first officer gives up and broadcasts the A3IO's position and intentionsfor the benefit of other pilotson the route.

He will repeat the process later, trying to contactthe ATCCin the next flight information region (FIR) on the route. Meanwhile, the captain maintains the planned flight level. trusting to low traffic density and careful lookoutfor collisionavoidance.

For all practicalpurposes the airspace might as well be oceanic. Potentialen route diversion

W

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER

1993

airportsare closed at night.Some of the ground navigationalaids are not working.The crew's only sure indication of their position is the aircraft's own on-boardnavigationsystem.

The destination airport, Kinsha sa, is expecting the flight, but only because of its published schedule from Nairobi. The flight plan , dispatched through the terres tri al. teletype-based Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN), may well anive some time after the flight itself.

The above scenario is imaginary. But the problems described routinelyaffect the carriers flying any numberof airwaysin the Africaand Indian Ocean region,designatedAFI by ICAO. And though the situation is widely acknowledgedin the air transportindustry, fear of compromising their African operations makes the airlines reluctant to put their names on publiccomplaints.

Instead . repres entati ons for impro ved communicationsare made quietly to national authorities through United Nations agencies like the Int erna tional Civ il Aviation Organisation (ICAO) or industry pressure groups like the International Air Transport

Association(IATA). They themselves find that only continuous, patient work with the local governments and civil aviation authorities is effective.

There can be no denying that Africa is largely unwillin g to communic ate about its poor communications. But it would be unfair to suggest that the problem could be easily and quickly solved. The technology may indeed exist. but in many countri es the foreign exchange to pay for it and then maintain it does not.

If a continent-wide improvement is to be achieved. the solution must be relatively cheap and must demand the minimum in ground infrastrncture.There are signs that the national CAAs and ICAO's AFI Planning and ImplementationRegional Group (APIRG) are beginning to discern both of these virtues in satellitetechnology.

The problem to be solved is fo1midable. In Africa - wit h its many delicate national economies. huge distances across wilderness terrain and general shortage of techni cal expertise - the eco nomic and practi cal difficulties of maintain ground navaids and

17

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VHF relay stations thousands of kilometres away from the majorcities are insurmountable.

Makingmatters worse is the fact that in many poor areas any untended ground installation, includingan airport with insecure bound-aries, is seen by the local populaceas a ready source of raw materials.

As a result, an aeronautical chart accurately reflecting the true condition of the skies over Africa would be blemishedwith yawning gaps in navaid and communic ations coverage.

Combinedwith politicalfactors, these holes serve to distort the air routes over the continent.

"People in Africa would like to see air traffic routes among the regions of the continent restructured to simpli fy movement," said Her zon Olouch, director of Nairobi International Airport, earlier this year. "It is discouraging to note, for example, that it is easier and faster to fly from Nairobi to London or Paris that to any West African airport.."

Simplification of Afr ican routes would benefit the future development of airport s througho ut the continent, Oiouch believes.

"It 's a challenge to aviation policy makers in this region and in Africa as a whole."

Not all is gloom in the AFI region, however, lATA's regional director, Nairobi-based Trevor Fox, points out that the Seychelles has just set up a new ATCC for its FIR in the Indi an Ocean, on the easternedge of the region.

Air-ground communications are based on VHF, with links to adjoining ATCCs provided by fixed satellitecommunications. Fox calls the arrangement "a fine example of what can be done - a good ATC service has replaced an inadequate one based on HF radio."

The Seyc helles ATC author iti es are responsiblefor airspace that is almost entirely oceanic. But difficult terrain, enormous land distances and sparsity of ground facilities mean that their continental counterparts face nearidenticalproblems.

The priorities for the mainland countries are improvedlinks between nationalATCCs for air traffic management purposes and better airground communications for air traffic control in areas where they are poor beyond VHF range.

Fox spells out the shortcomingsof the system today:"poor telecommunications adversely

18

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affect aircraft operations in many ways. For example, deficiencies in the AFI AFTN network affect the exchange of message s between ATC units, leading to inadequatecoordination of traffic and allocation of flight levels , and unavailability of fuel-saving routes."

The shortcomingsof the AFTN also obstruct the spread of meteorologic al information, frequently resulting in the carriage of unnecessaryextra fuel, and may lead to gaps in

the information provided to pilots at flight briefing.

HF is the commonest communications medium in the air. But it is less than satisfactory. Carriers complain about its often extremely poor quality and the limited pool of frequencies available across Africa. As Fox points out, "there are still too many areas in the region where mobile communications are at best tenuous. These have been identified for action throughAPIRG." APlRG is one of the groups originallycreated to provide a regional thrust to the development of air traffic planning. The autumn 1991 decision of the !CAO states to endorse the concept of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) added an extra significance to the work of the gro ups, which are now busy preparing implementation plans for what has become known as the Communications , Nav igation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM)system.

Recognising the significance of aero satcoms to CNS/ATM, APIRG has invited Inmarsat to par1icipateas an observer in its meetings and is looking to the satellite organisation to help arrange practi cal demonstrations of the

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technologyat work.

In the APIRG plan, priority will go to fixed and rhobile communications. "The AFTN networksin AFI have some major gaps," says Fox. "Fixed satcoms, replacing point-to-point HF and landlines, is the goal we have to strive towardsin this application."

Satelliteswill also have a major role to play in the mobile arena. "Needless to say, airground voice communicationswill be handled by aeronautical satcoms," declares APIRG sec retary Zephaniah Baliddawa . "The volume of this traffic will be reduced as some information will be exchangedby datalink."

Baliddawaalso sees satellites taking over the navigation and surveillanceroles in AFI: "For navigation the conventional aids - NOB, VOR/DME and ILS - will be replaced by satellite systems like the US GPS. For surveillance,satellite technology will replace radars. " He expects the outcome to be improved air traffic management, generating more airspace capacity to handle projected increases in traffic.

"The new systemwill have a lot of advantaoes over the present one and will be cheape:, " concludesBaliddawa.

The APIRG vision is an inspiring one: Africa carrying out its part of the global CNS/ATM plan withinand aroundits own shores. A great deal of the region will go direct from procedural control based on HF radio communicationsto satcoms or VHF datalinkaided automaticdependent surveillance (ADS).

And the AFTN will be upgraded to include fixed satcoms, permitting seamless FIR/FIR ATC handovers.

The first steps in this direction are beino b taken already. According to Baliddawa. the communicationsinfrastructure is beginni~g to benefitfrom moves to make the national CAAs "autonomous,more efficient and economic to their governments. This promotes proper management and helps to motivate staff. It also ensures that revenue derived from civil aviation is returned to the sector to fund improvements."

The "autonomy" to which Buliddawa refers means CAA independence from government in the collection of revenues, self-funding and investment in equipment. training and

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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AIRFIELDSTATUSDISPLAYe ATCSIMULATORSe ATC SYSTEMSe

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expertise. Until recently in most African nations, all income from air traffic user charges went directly to the national treasury. Once in the hands of central government,this valuablesource of foreign exchange stood little chance of being used to provide for a good all-round ATC service and future investment.

The Roberts FIR (covering Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone) is an example of what can be achieved if the ATC authorities retain control of their own revenues. The FIR now handles its own billing arrangements from the ATCC in Freetown , and thus has much greater control over equipment investment decisions.

Another nation which has acknowledge the need for a reform in ATC funding is Uganda, which has set up an autonomous CAA. All this bodes well for inv est ment in high-technolog y communicationsequipment. !CAO is playing its part in upgrading communications and air traffic management in the region. The organisation spent $44.25 million there in 1991 and $58.5 million last year. The money went mainly towards supplying expertise and technical education aimed at making African nations self-sufficient in the management of high-technologysystems.

An effort to acquaint pilots and controllers with the CNS/ATM plan is also in preparation, according to Baliddawa. At the regional level this will take the form of seminars, the first in Nairobi in August, the second in Dakar in October.

More broadly based activities like IATA 's Glob al Navcom conference in Washington this summer will help to prepare African states for full participation in CNS/ATM planning for their region.

This will begin at the first meeting of the APIRG task force in Nairobi early next year.

The job of the task force is to formulate policy and to help get implementation under way. Says Baliddawa: "The programme to be adopted will have to be progressive, allowing a reasonable time for the operators to equip their aircraft. !CAO is coordinating development of standards and recommended practices. Once these have been promulgated we foresee no major problem."

Although the foundations are clearly being laid in AFI, starting with the conversion of vital senior people in the air tran sport hierarchy, the hoped-for transformation cannot happen overnight.

ADS is still being defined and tested - no fewer than six different national or international trials are under way or under preparation around the world - and will not be implemented in even the most highly developed airspace until the middle of the decade.

Nonetheless, some African carriers are moving already to acquire satellite capability. Air Afrique has order Rockwell-Collins SAT906 multi-channel avionics for its Airbus 310s and expects to access-approve its first installation this autumn. South African Airways is currently talking to satcoms vendors and could begin retrofitting its 747-400s in the middle of next year.

A realist, Baliddawa thinks it will be 20 years before the whole of the AFI region is endowed with a high-quality AFTN using " ... a combination of terrestrial and celestial systems relaying both voice and data." Within that time, he believes. satellite-aided ADS will be progressively introduced in those areas which cannot support radar or VHF datalink-basedsurveillance.

For although satellite technology is seen by many as complex and therefore expensive, it will eliminate the need for extensive and costly ground installations. And in so doing it will help to bring international-quality air traffic managementto African skies. +

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E ATIONAL DISPLAY AND NUT EVELOPMENT 0 Thefollowing article was submitted and edited by Bob Grahamfrom the EurocontrolDirectorate of EATCHIPDevelopment, located at Bretigny in France. The article was written by Vic Day and Geoff Strut (the ODID Group Chairman).

Takingpart in the evaluationwas EVP Europe, Preben Falkman Lauridsen who comments on the operational viewpoint of the event.

ODID

controller

GROUP

The ODID Group was formed in the mid 1980s to undertake research into str ip-l ess systems in ATC and to investigate the use of colour for ATC displays. The Group was set up by the "Expert Group on Colour Displays , Stripless Systems and Speech Recognition" (known simply as the Expert Group). The Expert Group was itself establishedby the Eurocontrol Committeeof Management.

In order to ensure full conformity with the eventual use rs requirements (the controllers), the ODID Group was made up of a mixture of operational controllers , human factors experts and research personnel.

ODID I ANO H Initial experiments, in the form of real time ATC simulations, were carried out using United Kingdom airspace, followed by Belgian and German airspace.

The Controller Working Positions (CWPs) used colour Electronic Data Displays with line s of on-screen tex t generated automatically by the system to replace paper strips. The interface with the ATC system was through a Touch Input Device (TIO).

These experiments provided much useful information on the use of colour, but were less than satisfactory in terms of the interface with the ATC system.

ODID HI In l 99 l the ODID III experiment was carried out with French and Swiss participation and was revolutionary in that it made use of a mouse as the input device to the ATC system.

The displays were the large 20" x 20" colour raster scan screens developed for the FAA' s Advanced Automation Sys tem. Th e combination of graphic displays of traffic

THE CONTROLLER /DECEMBER 1993

situations in place of lines of text and the rapid "point and click" data entry capabilities of the mouse was a significant advance over the preceding experiments. This Graphical User Interface (GUI) was a breakthrough for the ODID Group in its research into future ATC systems.

ODID IV The ODID IV experiment takes the concept of fast input and graphic displays of traffic situations even further.

ODID research addresses Human Computer Interface problem directly by replacing the strip and radar display with a compo site picture of graphic images and on-screen input mechanisms. These features will pave the way to better automation and sa fer ATC systems in high density traffic.

Speed of input is critical to the success of future automation in ATC. ODID IV uses a graphical interface of ¡'point and click'' on the subject aircraft 's radar labe l. where the

' s attention

is

alread y focused. Fields in the radar label are "context sensitive" in that they each bring up different display information or input fields when clicked with the mouse. The sys tem is programmed to present the controller with th e mo st likel y input order as a default value so that in most cases it is sufficient to point at a data field and "cl ickclick" on the mouse button to insert the data and the controllers intentions into the system.

Such input is faster than the voice command over the Radio-Teleph one and this will probabl y pro vide a good basis for future datalink applications. The input ODID Screen system is intuiti ve and logical, which makes it easy to use and easy to learn.

Although the paper strips are replaced by electronic display of data. ODID IV has carefully maintained the working methods currently practised by controllers. An analysis of controller needs has led to a display system in which the controller will carry out his work in similar manner as today. However. instead of scanning the strip display and assessing future conflicts on the radar screen . the controller will ask the system for information to be displayed in graphic display windows to visualise traffic situations.

In ODID IV a Medi um Ter m Co nfli ct Assistance (MTCA) function which scans all flight s for the contro ller and presents the res ults of thi s confl ict detection for his inspection and actio n. Although this may eem a radical step. it is in line with developme nts being considered by many ECAC Administrations . The Short Term Conflict Alert (STCA) function has been in use in a number of ATC Centres for many

21

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SPECIAL

ODID

FEATURE _________

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IV: AN OPERATIONAL VIEWPOINT

0 by Preben Falkman-Lauridsen

eing part of the Danish operatio~al te_st be tested successfully and therefore the team, I had the pleasure to part1c1p ate m simulation objectives were not achieved. The main reasons were: the ODID IV simulation at the European Experimental Centre in Bretigny, France.

• A considerable amount of software A total of 10 controllers from Copenhagen, debugging was required during the assisted by controllers from its adjacent simulations. Programming ATC-software centres, namely, Bremen , Maastricht and was probably underestimated due to Malmoe participated in the t1ialswhich lasted its complexity. four weeks.

• With the increase of traffic, the system's In addition to this, the FAA of the United response-time decreased1 This would State s and a repres entative from Austria naturally be unacceptable in an operational looked over our shoulder s; the FAA environment. participation being a part of an agreement • The simulation pace was affected, since made between the FAA and EUROCONTROL the new simulator used in ODID IV for exchanging informationand knowledge. needed frequent adjustments.

The ODID IV simulation set up consisted of • The complicated staff-infr astructure and two ACC sectors (one lower and one upper), lack of resources within the EEC were not an approach sector with a departure and an appropriate for a project such as the approach and an arrival position. All in all, ODID IV. there we re se ven so-c alled "mea sured " When knowin g th at the theory , the positions. specifications and procedures behind ODID Using a mouse for all inputs as well as the IV were to us operationally feasible, it was so dedicated tools was familiar to us, having much more a disappointment not to see it already been involved in the set-up (debugging) of ODID IV during May and fully work in practice.

It should be mentioned that many of the June this year. The actual simulation was tools made available to the area controller aimed to test how it will work under a steady (the Horizontal Aid Window , the Vertical increasing traffic load.

Assistance Window , the Conflict And Risk The baseline traffic samples were those of Displa y , Short Term Conflict Alert and 1992, reaching a maximum by the year 2000, Conflict Zoom Window) did at the end work taking into account a predicted, linear 5% relatively well; however, due to the slow increase for each year.

Unfortunately, high traffic loads could not response time, only with 1992 traffic loads.

Other findings worth mentioning were: • The access to the labels is crucial, as. more or less, all inputs are done here. A good Iabeloverlap-preventiontool is essential 1 • Use of colour clearly impr oves visual appreciationof the traffic-picture.

• Coordination via the Sony screen made traditional coordination methods (telephone) almost unnecessa ry; probabl y the bigge st "success-tool".

• Flexibility within the ATC-system must be maintained, we should not let the controller be limited in her/his possibilities of using the tools available. In other words, the system parameters must be as open as possible.

Concluding the "Danish remarks''. let me express a sincere wish from all operational participants in the simulation: 'Thi s simulation should not be the end of ODID IV. Due to the abov e menti oned constraints. the theory behind ODID IV has not been fully tested and therefore this project

B

ODID Work stat ions

years and has proven an effective safety tool and will still be retained as an essential part of any modem system.

In add iti on, as ODID III has alr ea dy demonstrate d, the use of sys tem ass isted coordination relieves the controller of a time consuming telephone coordination task. This system function is available for entry and exit level coordination as well as speed restriction, heading and direct routings.

Up-dating the system with the controllers intentions is necessary for further developme nt of ATC Tool s. To dat e, controllers have been reluctant to enter their intentions into a comp uter system , and to update the strips and watch the radar screen at the same time. The input devices have so far been too user unfriendl y to enco ur age controllers to use them. The development of a fast input mechanism and practical display system is the key to the introduction of greater automation in future ATC systems and ODID provides a vehicle for further study in this direction.

The

22

'" 11ell'

too/"'fo r the controller

...... page 32

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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NEWS _ __

USA A new air traffic control system based on commercial off-the-shelf hardware and designed to meet the operational requirements of nearly all the world's civil aviation authorities was unveiled by the Hughes Aircraft Company at the annual US Air Traffic Control Association convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee. The ATC system, called Guardian, provides controllers with automated tools to handle increased air traffic loads with improved safety margins. Being off-theshelf, Guardian can be fully operational in a fraction of the time traditionally experienced in fielding ATC modernisation programmes.

The system provides scaleable, economical solutions ranging from stand-alone applications, such as control tower displays to fully integrated national air traffic control systems. Two countries have already selected Guardian to meet their airspace management requirements and the system is currently proposed for use in Australia, Indonesia and Brunei.

RUSSIA Hughes Aircraft Company has also been successful in winning a mutimillion dollar contract to improve the enroute and terminal approach control centres in Vladivostok. The installation will be based on the TracView product line similar to systems already installed in Germany, Turkey and Canada. The system is expected to reduce the current time for some flights by as much as 33% by offering direct routing of aircraft.

EUROCONTROL After an international tender lasting 15 month s, the Siemens PlesseyfThomson-CSFConsortium has been awarded a contract worth in excess of 40 million ECU by the 15 nation Eurocontrol , The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation and by the Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS). The contract known as the Operator Input and Display System (ODS) is for the supply of air traffic control workstations. High performance colour displays will provide the controllers with a fully electronic working environment and will fully eliminate manually updated flight progress paper strips.

The contract will comprise radar display and planning facilities for 95 controller working positions for the Eurocontrol Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre and 186 worki ng position s for the German Centres in Karlsruhe and Langen.

ISRAEL Human Resources International, of Israel, has developed a low-cost selection system for air traffic controllers which is designed to indicate who will be the best candidates on an ATC training course. The system, which is expected to reduce the cost of instruction, is called ATSCREEN. Developed by ATC and psychology experts, the system can be run on a PC with an 80 megabyte hard disc. During a 2 hour dialogue with the candidate the system can measure skills, aptitude and other qualities required by a controller. The system is expected to reduce the numbers failing the ATC and improve the quality of candidates. The system has already been installed in the US and the Far East.

• JAPAN After many years of conflict and difficult consultation the new Japanese coalition government says that it intends to build the extra two runways at Tokyo Narita Airport. The conflict . which has lasted 27 years. involves settling the dispute between eight families that currently own farmland within the airport boundaries which is THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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currently sited in the middle of the runway development. Such has been the difficult y with the negot iations that aircraft have been required to taxy around areas of farmland sited in the middle of the apron and other manoeuvring areas.

UNITEDKINGDOM At the end of October, a significant move towards a new air traffic control system for London and the south east of England was made.

Approach controllers from London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports moved into a new purpose built operations room at the London Air Traffic Control Centre, locat ed at West Dra yto n. The new operations room is equipped with advanced, state-of-the-art equipment and displays for communication s, flight data , radar and support information . The new system, called the Central Control Function (CCF), is a key part of the UK Civil Aviation Authority's £150 million a year, Investing for Growth programme to provide air traffic control equipment facilities and procedures to meet the demand for air travel in the late 1990s and beyond. Other controllers remain in place in the control towers at the airports to handle air traffic movements on the ground and during the take-off and landing phase.

DISTANTTRAVEL Returning to Australia from the June 1993 Executive Board meeting in Montevideo, the President and Chief Executive Officer, Charles Stuart, and the Deputy President, Neil Vidler, are pictured at the Aeropuerto International Rio Gallegros. This airpo11in the south of Patagonia is believed to be the most southerl y locati on visited by any Board members in the pursuance of IFATCA business.

CEO, Charles Styarr and DP. Neil Vider al Aeropuerto International Rio Gal/egros.

• IRELAND Ireland's £30 million programme to modernise its air traffic control system was officially inaugurated with the prime contractor. ThomsonCSF. in September. A further £5.2 million deal for back up radars was also agreed during the inauguration ceremony. The contract includes the installation of new ATC centres at Dublin. Cork and Shannon, along wit h two primar y radar s and four monopul se seco ndar y surveillance radars. The system already handles approximately 75% of all North Atlantic traffic entering Western European airspace and handles in excess of 300,000 movements per year. The centres are linked to each other and to the centres in London. UK and Brest, France. The system. known as On-line Data Exchange (OLD!). wa~

23

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developed by Eurocontrol as part of the EuropeanATC harmonisationprogramme.

Ill CZECHANDSLOVAKREPUBLICS The CzechAir TrafficControl Administration's new air traffic controlcentre in Prague was put into operationalserviceon 1 August, 1993.The Thomson-CSFsuppliedcentre is one of the first centresworldwideto use high definition colour displays. The new "Eurocat 22-type" en-route and approachcontrolcentre is equipped with 10 high definition colour displays. The system receivesdata from four radar stations and two secondary radars recently installed at Prague and Bratislava.A similar control centre is also being installed at Bratislava in the Slovak Republic. llilAIRTRAFFICGROWTH IAT A is forecasting that international scheduled passenger growth is expected to average 6.6 percent per annum during the period 1993 to 1997. International freight traffic is forecast to show an average annual increase of 7 .2 percent per annum. IA TA Director General, Pierre Jeanniot remarked that, ''The likelypassengergrowth rate is one to two percentage points lower than we were forecastingat the beginning of the decade but the forecast level still has serious implications for the infrastructure if the necessary investmentsin air traffic control systems and in airports are not made. Nearly 38% more international passengers will fly in 1997 than flew in 1992."The fastest growth is expected in traffic to and from Eastern and Central Europe and betweenSouth-Eastand North-EastAsia.

LAWRENCE WILLIAM CURRY As we go to press with this issue of The Controller, we are very sad to hear of the death of Larry Curry from the United Kingdom. Larry was one of the founding fathers of the UK Guild of Air Traffic Control Officers and a lifetime Honorary Director of the organisation. Larry had many friends in IFATCA and was particularly well known for his long term involvement as Chairman of Standing Committee 1.

On a more personal note, Larry was my mentor in my past involvement with the UK Guild as their Secretary.

He was a friend and a constant source of inspiration for many ATC related matters. Larry will be sadly missed by all and our thoughts and condolences are extended to his wife Joan and all of his family.

Terry Crowhurst - Editor

24

NEWS/CONFERENCE

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IF'J-\.A 'TCA 94

_

limited in number, therefore, attendees are encouragedto register early in order to ensure availablespace.

f

0 by Paul Ellis, Chairman IFATCA 94

•

S

ome more informationto assistin the preparation for attending the 1994 IFATCA Conference to be held in Ottawa,Canada,between18 and22 April.

Plans are nearly complete for the social programme as well as the business sessionsfor IFATCA 94. A finalised agenda for the entire IFATCA 94 conference will appear in the March edition of The Controller. The final update will contain a complete breakdown of what will take place on each day of the conference. Clothing suggestions and the weather conditions expected will also be provided. Lunches will be offered on each day of the conference.

•

IMMIGRATION

Some Member Associations' have confirmed that visa payments necessary to attend the annual conferenceare high. Because of these high fees, a numberof Associationsmay not be represented. IFATCA 94 will endeavour, in consultationwith the CanadianExternalAffairs department, to attempt to have the visa requirementsreconsidered. Members will be advised of the decision in a final information packageto be circulatedin the near future.

•

REGISTRATION

In order to register for the conference, please completeone registrationform for each person attending. Both the standard information requested,as well as your choice of any of the options presented should be clearly indicated.

Upon receipt of your registration form and applicablefees, the conferencecommittee will make the appropriatearrangementsas indicated on your registration form. Please note that arrangements will not be made without a registrationform and applicablefees.

CONFERENCEVENUE

In previous correspondence describing the conferencehotel, "CHATEAULAURIER",we indicated that there were three different types of rooms, Standard, BusinessClass, and Entree Gold. The following explains the distinction between the different classes, which we hope will help you in making your particular selection.

•

TECHNICALEXHIBITION

Details of the technicalexhibitionare finalised and were distributedto potential exhibitors on September23 1993. All signs indicate that the Technical Exhibition will be a tremendous success.

Standard room - provides comfortable, affordable hotel accommodation, without compromising the choice location in the downtowncore.

Business Class - the hotel's second level, is traditionally used by frequent business travellers. This class has all the amenitiesand more, including separate check-in/check-out, newspapers, and a complimentarycontinental breakfast.

• ACCOMPANYING PERSONS PROGRAMME

The Accompanying Persons Programme is nearlyfinalisedand is intendedto run for three days (TuesdayApril 19 to Thursday April 21).

EntreeGold - the hotel's executivesection,is The registration fee for the Accompanying a hotel within a hotel. This private section PersonsProgrammeis $125.00CDN, which is boasts deluxe furnishings. Guests are extended to be included with your registration form. the privileges of a private check-in/check-out Participationin the programmemay be limited, on the fourth floor, Concierge service and a so applicationswill be handledon a first come, comfortableprivate lounge on the floor, which first servedbasis. serves a complimentarycontinentalbreakfastin the morning with hors-d'oeuvres served during • OTTAWAINFORMATION Ottawais Canada's capital and is located in the the evening.

Please note that the CHATEAULAURIERis Province of Ontario, at the junction of the holding Standard rooms for the conference. If Ottawa and Rideau rivers. The name Ottawa is delegates require either a Business Class or derivedfrom a word used by the original native Entree Gold room, please indicate this in the Indian settlers of this historic site and means space provided on your IFATCA 94 "wherethe rivers meet". registration form. These types of room are A numberof adjoiningcommunities,some of

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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which are cities in their own right, are spread alongthe OttawaRiverand make up the greater Ottawa area with a populationof about 680,000 people, while the Ottawa metropolitan area itself has a populationof about 314,000.

The Ottawa River for much of its length forms the provincial boundary between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The two predominant cultures in the area are English and French , although other cultural representationsin the area are growing rapidly.

Both English and French are recognised as "officia l" languages and most services are readilyavailablein either language.

Public transportation within Ottawa is providedby an excellentbus systemwhile taxis are plentiful and reasonably priced as well.

Major downtownattractionsare within an easy walk of the conferencehotel. There are many automobilerental firms in the city and several bicycle rental agencies for the more adventuresome.

The federal gove rnment has a NO SMOKING LAW applicable to all federal government buildin gs. Smoking is not permittedon airline flights within Canada and while travelling on other public transportation systems.Most restaurantsprovidenon-smoking areas and many hotels offer non-smoking rooms.

Alcoholicbeverages(wine, beer and distilled spirits) may be purchased for take- away through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) which serves as sales agent to the public . Drink s are also available for consumption while at the plentiful bars and restaurants throughout the city during the licensed drinking hours of 11:00 am to I :00 am.

Canadahas a national health care system and there are several hospitals serving the city.

Each has emergencyand outpatient (walk in) treat ment unit s. The standard of care is considered excellent but it can be expensiveif appropriateinsurance coverageis not arranged prior to requiring the service. There is emergency "911" service in the city and hotels have accessto doctorson call if there is a need.

• WEATHER The climate in Ottawacan change quickly and often. It can be windy as well. Generallyit is hot and humidin the summer, and cold and dry in winter. For April, daytime temperatures average 11Celsius (51 Fahrenheit),with cooler temperaturesat night. You would be wise to THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

CONFERENCE

PREVIEW ________________

have clothingsuitable for a range of conditions.

• CURRENCY The currencyof Canada is the Canadiandollar, although you will find U.S . dollar s in widespread use by American visitors. Most merchants accept U.S. dollars at the current rate of exchange,however, some may insist on a fixed rate that does not reflect the actual trading rate. Typical values put the Canadian dollar equivalent to approximately 80 cents U.S. Funds may be exchangedat most Banks and Trust Companies as well as at exchange kiosks locatedat major airportterminals.

• BANKING Regular banking hours are Monday to Friday, I O am to 5 :30 pm, but there are many institutionsthat stay open later each day as well as being open on Saturdays.To assure yourself of the most favourableexchangerate, it may be best to exchange your money for Canadian dollars prior to departureor soon after arrival in Canada.

• TAXES In Canada, taxes are applied to the sale of goods and services. This is done at two levels; an Ontario provincial sales tax of 8% and a federal Goods and ServicesTax (GST) of 7%.

Unless specificallyadvertised as such, prices as displayed or quoted do not include these two taxes. These amounts will be added to your bill when it is tallied. There is provision for those visiting from outside Canada to reclaim the GST tax on departure from the country. If you wish to avail yourself of this process, please ask your convention hosts or the staff at any major hotel or retail store for the required forms.

NOTE: There are no departure taxes for leavingCanada.

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•

ADDITIONALTOURIST / TRAVEL INFORMATION NationalCapitalArea National CapitalCommission VisitorInformation Centre 14 MetcalfeStreet Ottawa, Ontario Canada KIP 616 Tel: (613) 239-5000 Fax: (613) 952-8520 Provinceof Ontario Ministryof Culture, Tourism and Recreation ConsumerSales and Services 9th Floor, 77 Bloor St. West Toronto, Ontario Canada M7A 2R9 Provinceof Quebec Tourisme Quebec C.P. 979 Montrea( Quebec Canada H3C 2W3 If we, the IF ATCA 94 Conference Committee, can be of further assistance, or if you have any questions, please write - IFATCA94 162 CLEOPATRADRIVE NEPEAN,ONTARIO CANADAK2G5X2 or phone - (613) 225-3553 or fax - (613) 225-8448 I hope that the above details combined with the informationalready distributedto Member Associations, and that disseminated in the Septemberissue of The Controller.will ensure that you are fuLly informedto better enable you to complete your plans to attend IFATCA 94 in Ottawa, Canada, We are looking forward to seeing you in Ap1il.+

• GRATUITIES Tipping in Canada is recommended at a rate of 10 - 15% for service in restaurants, beauty parlours and taxis. Some restaurants add a 15% service charge to the bill, in which case further tippingis not expected.

Radar: WhatIs your mghtlevel ?

• ELECTRICALSUPPLY Electrical power in Canada is supplied at 110120 volts, 60 hertz. An adapter is required if you plan to use appliances designed for 240 volts.

Pilot:

Alllevels between170 and 220, we areexperiencing some spectacu lar

turbulence.

25

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HAVE

MEDICAL

A

REPORT _________

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EART

0 The followingarticle was submitted by Angela Robertson, who is a NursingSister at the United KingdomCivil Aviation Authority Medical Unit, located at the Safety Regulation Group, Gatwick Airport. recently read an interesting article in The Controller, entitled "Blocked Frequencies", pointing out the dangers of jamming the RT communication link between pilot and ATC, thus heightening the risk of accident (Volume 32 issue number 3/93). This set off a train of thought in my mind on the similarities between ATC safety and the human body.

What, I wondered,did we think was important, with regard to safety and efficiency. in keeping our human "air ways" unblocked and uncluttered?

No - don't stop reading - this isn't just aboutgiving up smoking!

Rather, it is an opportunity to review some simple but important steps that you, as safety conscious people working in ATC, can action, in order to stay health y. We all know that ATCOs need to maintain an agreed medical standard in order to do their job, but how many actually work at maintaining that fitness, or is it all left to chance, hoping the examining doctor will be kind and overlook that "small" weig ht gain since th e las t medical examination?

Fitness comes in all shapes and sizes - look around you. We aren't all built the same and cannot all hope to achieve the same goals in losing weight or running a marathon. But for each and every one of us there a personal target to be achieved IF WE REALLY WANT TO' Motivat ion is the ke y. We al l have motivation to so me ex tent or anoth er, otherwise we probably wouldn't even get out of bed in the morning' Safety of the travelling public would seem to be a motivating factor in performing daily routine. and sometimes not so routine, tasks in the ATC environment. So why can' t we apply this safe ty factor to ourselves and our lifestyle'i It is commonly known that putting the wrong petrol in a car, draining the battery or radiator

!

"A ll I wwll is a H ea rt .,

26

and running the engine with no oil, will result in a seize up of the machinery and leave us with a very expensive bill, if not a totally useless commodity. But somehow we manage to ignore many of the side effects associated with lack of care when it concerns our own bodies.

Start by asking yourself a few questions: Do I: I. eat a sensible, balancedand varied diet at regular intervals or do I eat irregularlyand tend to choose the temptingsweet or fatty foods?

2. try to crowd too many tasks and activities into my life and not allow sufficientrest and relaxation time?

3. take sufficient, or indeed, any exerciseto ensure a good circulationof blood and general suppleness?

4. get "steamed up" over trivial matters, suffer restless sleep or often feel "on edge"?

We all may experience some of the above occasionally, but if you recognisethese factors are increasing in your life, NOWis the time to start making some changes.

In order to "run" efficiently and effectively we need to have a good cardiopulmonary system; that is heart and lungs in good working order , with no blocked airways and clear , undamaged arteries and veins. The cardiopulmonary system acts as a transport system carrying oxygen and essential nutrients to all body tissues and helps in removingwaste products from the tissues preventing a build up of toxic chemical s in the body. Any interruption to the blood flow such as blood clots or build up of fatty substances can lead to problems such as increased blood pressure and coronary heart disease.

So what can we do about encouraging a healthier lifestyle , thereby increa sing our efficiency and helping prolong our working life') After all, if we encourage and maintain good health throughout our working years and embark on a well earned rest period with active minds and bodies, we are more likely to gain enjoyment in retirement.

Hea lthy living doesn' t necessarily mean existing on salads and running five miles a day 1- -far from it. Eating a good balanceddiet with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, cutting down on animal fat consumption and taking a good brisk 20 minute walk three times

a week, goes a long way in getting started on a healthy lifestyle.

If you regularlyconsume alcohol keep within the guidelinelimits ie. 20 units for men and 14 for women, per week. (One unit = 1/2 pint of ordinary beer OR I single measure of spirits OR I small glass of sherry OR I glass of wine). Remember, too, that alcohol adds extra calories to your diet which isn't helpful if you are trying to lose weight.

Consider cutting down on smoking if you really cannot give up the habit. Even if you have already tried - try again , as research shows that you are more likely to succeed the more you try. The chemicals in tobacco smoke reduce the oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cells, thereby depriving other body cells, such as the brain and heart muscle, of essential oxygen. Smokers also carry a high risk of contracting major diseases of the lung such as cancer and bronchitis.

Initiate a sensible exercise programme involvingfamily or friends, such as swimming, bicycle rides, racquet sports and team games.

Exercisingon your own often isn't much fun, but by involving family and friends you not only gain benefit from the exercise' you boain mentalrelaxation and help to combat stress.

Promote an interest in medical matter s concerning yourself through discussion with your authorised medical exa miner , Occupational Health Service or boeneral practitioner. Also try reading some of the abundant literature written especially for nonmedic al people , explaining how to help prevent rai sed blood press ure and hea rt disease, a primary killer particularl y in the Westernworld.

Learn to recognise and deal with exce ss stress. We all need a certain amount of stress to functionadequately,but an excess of certain stress hormones in our bodies can upset the delicate balance and lead to both mental and physical illness.

Having read through this, I am sure some will be thinking "I haven't got time" Perhaps it might be worth considering that a little time given up now to actioning some of the above ideas, may well give you MORE time to enjoy your retirement. Too many ignore the signs and symptoms of impending danger such as increasing headaches and ¡¡indigestion-Iike" pains hoping they will disappear if ignored. ..,_..,_pa ge 32

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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_ TRAINING _____

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SELECTION AND TRAININGOFCONTROLLE RS 0 Presentationof a Swedish Research Programme he Director of the Swedish Air Navigation Senices (ANS) Department has set an objective for the efficiency of screening and training procedures for air traffic controller students which implies that all students "shall be considered to have the qualification for - and be given the means of - completing the training".

As a consequence a research project has been established.

It is run by the ANS Department, and with members from the Swedish CAA, in close co-operation with Uppsala University.

and economics (lack of surplus of personnel).

An efficient system with a more predictable outcome of not more than I 0% around the mean and a 90% success rate would save the Swedish CAA at least US $520,000 per class of 20 students.

THE COMMISSION

OF THE REPORT

To improve and revise the present situation the main task for, what is known as the "MRU -Project", is to evaluate current screening and tra1n111g procedures and create recommendations aiming at a reduction of the present wide span between input of students and output of qualified new controllers.

BACKGROUND

On I January 1978the military and civil ATS systems in Sweden were totally integrated in to the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration.

In preparation for this alteration a new ATS Academy was built and a new integrated air traffic controller trainin g programme was implementedin 1974. One of the aims for this training was to decrease the failure rate to a maximumof 20% of students.

So far this objective has not been reached although since the start of 1974, the average failure rate has been reduced by almost 20%.

At present 74% of the students pass through the trainin g scheme . However, thi s improvement cannot be described as a steady cu rve. Instead there is a great deal of unpredictable fluctuation around an average figure for successful training results: Duringthe 1970s Average 54% Range 27% - 71% Duringthe 1980s Average 66% Range 57% - 86% Duringthe 1990s Average 74% Range 63% - 90% R ECIH 11T:\I EI\T AN D El' 0 :'11 0 1\1\ '

In Sweden there is now a balance between supply and demand for air traffic controllers.

This leads to an acute planningproblem which can be describedas follows: Due to the unpredictab le span between success and failure in present screening and training systems it is necessary to employ 27 students to be able to guarantee to supply 20 air traffic controllers to the ATS system.

Statistically this means that the output will provide a number of qualified licensed air traffic controllers. which will be. by chance, between 17 up to 24. Hence, this uncertainty has great negative effects on both planning

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

STRATEGIES

FOR THE PROJECT

AND RESULTS

The ta sk-force chose to conduct a work analysi s ba sed on the critical incident technique. It was found that 300 reported key behaviours could be catalogued into 5 groups:

Decision-making Self-confidence lnf ormationgatheringand processing Socialrelations Co111mw1ication Beha viour which is related to se lfconfidence is mostly reported in accordance with unexpected events and variables. The result has been compared with attributes for failure in the basic controller training. It has also been compared with incidents that have occurred in the operational life according to current official report systems. Both students and controllers concerned failed to perform the key behaviours at a sufficient level.

The training process requires the students to practise key behaviours from the very first day, aiming to minimisethe numbers of errors equal to a full performance level, and finally reach the appropriate skill level. Today a slow learning curve is the most frequent cause of failure during the basic controller training.

At Stockholm ATC and Arlanda ATS units in Sweden attemp ts have been made to develop and improve basic training methods involving the 5 groups of key behaviours.

The results from trying to apply modern training techniques. for example programmed skill-training and to transformthe instructor to a mentor and a coach , is now the most prom ising measur e taken to impro ve the outcome of basic air traffic controller training.

To quot e one of our ex ternal ex pert s.

Professor Berndt Brehmer , from Uppsala University: "it is astonishing how little efforts are made to train and develop an operator in a high-tech environment by modern training technology, and how much reliance is still placed on old fashioned on-the -job-training provided through a more experienced fellowworker."

F UR URE A TS SYSTEMS

In future automated ATS systems the human controller can never be replaced. But manual repetitive work can be replaced and in that way facilitate inform ation seeking and collecting of information.

If a new technology or system is to be introduced it is important and fundamental to be assured that the operators accept the new technique, and that the new technique will create opportunities for them to improve their performance. They must also be informed in advance how to be trained to achieve this new standard of performance . In our view a continued automation of air traffic controller work will ju st further emph as ise the importance of adequate training to execute the "new" key behaviours.

CONCLUSIONS

AND SL'\l\lAR\'

The present rate, and variation in span, of failure in the Swedish basic controller training concept is unacceptable. Knowledge today suggests that this uncertainty can only partly be explained by inadequate psychological tests and screening procedures.To reduce this uncertainty it is impo1tant to improve training and learning of key behaviours for the air traffic controllers work. We believe that this will give a prompt and positive result.

Efforts must also be made for a continuous pin pointing of key behaviours in a changing technology, and in that way develop training methods aimed to maintain a high standard of air traffic controllers.

An important prerequisite for a successful tra inin g res ult is an eff ic ient se lection procedure based on a well thought out chain. consisting of information-introduction-ski!I tes ts. assess ing in substance the most important groups of the key behaviours: Decision-making (in a dynamicprocess) Self-confidence Information gatheringandprocessing Socialrelations Communication ...,....,. page 32

27

ICAO REPORT -----

AGENDA 1 - 2 DEC 93 Africa/MiddleEast RegionalMeeting, Tunis, Tunisia.

Contact- EVP AFM, Abou El Seoud El Karimy.

Phone + 20 224 463 22 Fax + 20 224 754 73 1994 FEBRUARY 4 - 7 Executive Board Meeting, Melbourne, Australia. Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green.

Phone + 44 628 23 699 Fax + 44 628 781 941 22 - 24 ATC 94 Exhibition and Conference, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Contact Donna Studholme,MGB Exhibitions Ltd.

Phone +44 81302 8585 Fax +44 81 302 7205

22 - 27 Asian Aerospace 94, Changi, Singapore.

Contact - Mr Jimmy Lau, Reed Exhibitions Pte Ltd. Phone + 652711013 Fax + 65 2734520 MARCH 28 - 31 21 ST Aviation Psychology Conference, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.

Contact - Pat Holahan.

Phone +353 I 7021091 Fax +353 1 6712006 APRIL 15, 16 & 23 Executive Board Meeting, Ottawa, Canada. Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green.

Phone + 44 628 23 699 Fax + 44 628 781 941 18 - 22 IFATCA 33rd Annual Conference, Chiiteau Laurier, Ottawa, Canada.

Contact - Paul Lewis (Chairman IFATCA94), 162 Cleopatra Drive, Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2G 5X2.

Phone + l 6 13 225 3553 Fax + 1 6 13225 8448

28

ANS Is DEA GLOBAL PLAN

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0 By Philippe DOMOGALA, IFATCA Representative on FANS

he last Meeting of the FANS (II) committee in Montreal ended on I October 1993 with the adoption of, among other things, a large document called "THE GLOBAL PLAN" and a smaller brochure entitled "COPING WITH AIR TRAFFIC DEMAND".

It could be asked whether that is all we did during those many years. Well, it has been more complicated than was thought. At the start , we wanted to improve the Communi cation s, the Navigation and the Surveillance (we called them CNS) of air traffic. Then came the positioning satellites (th e fa mou s GPS ) and th eir enormou s poss ibiliti es. As a res ult , we obviously decided to explore those possibilities.

Satellites could not only provide navigation (the prim e objective of GPS ) but if we combined them with communications and an exchange of information between the aircraft and the ATC in an automated way (we called it Data Link or D/L) we could think of a survei ll ance sys tem. That sur ve illance sy ste m wo uld be much bet ter than monitorin g strips to pro vide proc edural separation. We called this system Automatic Dependent Survei llance (ADS). Then we decided th at if we combined the 3 CNS functions together we could create a new ATC system, and as we liked new names we called it Air Traffic Management (ATM).

Still there ? If not, read again slowly.

To COYIT\l I¡:: The plan was interesting, but it had a large flaw: it relied on the Global Positioning System. GPS is a US Military system, and the military has the ability to degrade its accuracy and even to change the orbits of the satellites when they want to (both of these events occurred during the Gulf war). Then came an unexpected angel, in the form of Mrs T . ANO DI NA of the (then) Soviet Union who saved our plan. The USSR has an equivalent to GPS, called GLONASS. She offered the Soviet system, free of charge to the civ il aviat ion comm unit y, as a complement to GPS. The USA did not want to be left behind, and also offered GPS free -------------

of charge, and even agreed to cooperate with the Soviet scientists to make both systems compa tibl e. Everybody cheered ! What better guarantee than 2 systems, compatible with eac h other , eac h belonging to a Superpower to ensure indep endence , and FREE of charge! A formal ceremo ny of signat ure s of protocols betwee n Mrs. ANODINA and Mr. J.TURNER of the US FAA, held in Paris ICAO Office in April 1989 sealed the GPS/GLONASS agreement, and th e whole Aviation co mmunity applauded.

We then developed a "Plan"whereby GPS and GLONASS were to become the basic step of wha t was called a Civil Glob al Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

We also started to plan for a worldwide new ATC system that could use the GNSS instead of relying on "old" VORs, NDBs, and even radar.

In IFATCA, we started to issue warnings to restrain the vast majority of plannin g engineers who, in their enthusiasm, wanted to automate everything. With the constant help of IFALPA we successfully managed to have the GlobalPlan established on the firm ground that the human will keep the decision makin g (both in the aircraft and on the ground), and that the human will remain at the centre of the system. Also you will see in a subsequent article, that there is a lot of goo d thin gs in the Global Plan for the controller. A lot of Human Factors aspects were introduced by us, as well as conditions to be met before any new element is introduced. We insisted, for instance, that a clear definition of responsibilities between pilots, controllers and system designers must be in pl ace befo re any ne w automated system is implemented. Also the facts that prop er tr ainin g, studi es , test s and demo nstr ati ons to dete rmin e the be st Human-Machine Interface, determination of the constraints of the system etc. were put in the document by our request. '?

Well. the Globa l Plan has to he now adopted by the ICAO Counci l (it is not ---------So \\ HAT\

\ I Li . HAPPE'\

!\EXT

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

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ICAO REPORT _ ___

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AGEND

HE

A

JUNE 10 - 13 Executive Board Meeting,

Hong Kong.

Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green.

Phone + 44 628 23 699 Fax + 44 628 781 941

JULY 18 - 21 Global Navcom ' 94, Palexpo Exhibition Centre, Geneva, Switzerland.

Contact - IATA. Phone +I 514 844 6311 Fax +1 514844 6727 SEPTEMBER 5 - 11 Farnborough International, UK. Contact SBAC Ltd. Phone +44 71 839 3231 Fax +44 71 930 3577 30 - October3 Executive Board Meeting, Israel.Contact - Executive Secretary, Edge Green.

Phone + 44 628 23 699 Fax + 44 628 78 l 94] The goo d co-op eration betwee n IFA LPA and IFA TCA pa id uf f durin g the FANS Meetings .

Cap!ain Denis Leonard and Philipp e Do111 ogala al !he Mon/r eal M eeling in Sep! '93

expected that they will refuse it ). The plan will then become a "Blue Cover Book" and will be di stributed to th e St ates for implementation. It sounds simple, but it is not. Firstly, it will cost some money, so not all th e State s will be able to afford it .

Secondly, there are still political issues to be reso lved. The Soviet Union is no more; Russia alone is now supporting GLONASS (for how long, at what cost ?). So before closing the FANS (II) meeting we said that GPS alone was not the GNSS we defined in the Plan. We wanted a truly international civil system. But that system will surely cost money as well , and the idea of "cost recovery" crept in. So we might have to pay for the service after all. How much and to who are still open questions.

Finally, Differential GNSS. The concept of Differential GNSS is the idea of using a ground station, to add some communications in order to recalculate the GPS replies and retransmit them to aircraft in a more accurate form. This opens the possibility to perform CAT III approaches without any further aid on the ground. Wonderful I So we do not

THE CONTROLLER / DECEMBER 1993

need MLS anymore, not even ILS? Could be, but who will pay for the ground stations and for the communication satellites needed?

How much will it cost? More questions, and all still awaiting a reply. Nevertheless, ICAO will run a special Conference on MLS in 1995 and a decision on its future is expected then.

In the meantime FANS has retired (I fear it is not ready to completely die yet) leaving behind a number of results: namely, a book called: !CAO CNS/ATM Global Plan, a new ICAO GNSS Panel and an as ye t to be established Task Force to monitor what is happening in the field of implementation.

Let' s hope that the efforts made and the (long) time spent in the FANS(ll) Meetings and sub working groups during the last 8 years will result in something more than just another planning document, collecting dust on some office shelve. It certainly deserves more than that.

OCTOBER 4 - 6 EuroConvex 94, Valkenburg, The Netherlands. Contact EGATS/EuroConvex 94.

Phone +3143 66 1332 Fax +31 43 66154l Telex 56317 25 - 27 Inter Airport '94 Atlanta, U.S.A. Contact- Julia Milne.

Phone +44 707 275 641 Fax +44 707 275 544 ADVANCE NOTICE AUTUMN1994 European Regional Meeting Warsaw, Poland Contact - The Organising Committee.

Phone +4822 650 l 3 52 Fax +4822 46 41 75 Americas Regional Meeting, Cancun, Mexico

In the next issue of The Controller: The contenrsqf"the Ciubal plan, or ''A USER ¡s GUIDE "fo r co11 1ro/lers aroundthe \\IOrld.

29

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COLOUR IN ATC Wherever you work, sooner or later you can be sure that your old fashioned monochrome radar displays will be replaced by brand new colour ones. The wonderful colour displays have marvellous possibilities such as creating windows and displaying 1300 (yes one thousand three hundred !) different colours. Of course technicians love to play with those options. Anyway, at my unit we have just received a couple of the colour displays and they worked perfectly except we could not display any weather data on the screen. We tried all buttons, all sequences again and again, but still no joy . A blank window. We called the technician downstairs who, like most other times, replied : "Negative , everything is working fine , it MUST be displayed on your screen, I can see it from here on our monitors." We replied as usual: "Come on ! We are not blind !

Come up and see for yourself !' After the average 5 minutes argumentthe technician came up and could not understand. The big chiefs arrived... tried all the controls...looked at every bit of cable but replied that the information was reaching the computer but disappeared somewhere... They took the back of the screen away and started to dismantle the unit. The screen was shut off and we reverted back to our old but faithful black and white screen. A few hours later along came a happy technician with a large smile on his face: "I'v e got it! I was right all along the inform ation WAS displayed ! You j ust had difficulty seeing it because it was printed in the same colour as the background! " ....... ......Wonderful technicians !!!!

11

get

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THE MORAL VICTORY OF PATCO "Ex-PATCO American controllers can return to their jobs !" So reads the headline of a US Newspaper. Well at least President Clinton has pardoned the 11500 fired controllers who can now reapply for their jobs.. Wonderful !... Yes but most controllers are now well above 40, out of practice for 12 years and the FAA has less than 200 vacancies per year with an age limit....Ah ... I see ...

But at least it is a moral victory ! Yes, a moral victory is like finding out that the person you always wanted to date and always said "no", is having having a liaison with someone else ... The victory is to say: "I knew the person would say 'Yes' one day or another !"

Staying in the USA, the FAA now publicly admits that their ATC automation plan AAS will be at least 10 years late... Mr. EBKER, General Director of IBM, who is building AAS, has said of the plan: "It took longer to get this contract going than it did NASA to put a man on the moon..."

I only suspectedthat ATC was one of the more complex things to do, but more than space exploration? Maybe controllers can be compared with astronauts ! I like this I must say...my children and the neighbours will be impressed !

FAX MACHINESIN AIRCRAFT AIRBUS Industrie have advised us that they are equipping their A340' s with a fax machine linked via satellite . They say that

This new colour radar is great, boss! rid of conflictions by just selecting - the same colour as the background!

You can them in 11

~ =-/' 路. /:, ' 路~

'-t 路.::" 路 '

30

THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER

1993

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passengers should not get worried about being hounded with faxes from their office while flying since the service will be strictly airto-ground and not vice-versa. Ah ! What a pity !. I would love to be able to send a copy of the map of our airspace to some pilots via fax. That would save me endless explanations about the location of all the 5 letters intersection points that have suddenly replaced most of our VORs.

NEW IDEAS FOR GPS Following my last piece on GPS (Charlie, The Controller 3/93) I discovered that the Swiss controllers recently published the following warning: "As observed on radar for some time now in the Geneva FIR / UIR, we noticed that CRX pilots do not anymore fly the published routings, or the given ATC clearances. We suspect them to fly, with the help of GPS, their own private routings....we would be grateful to receive [from other controllers] more evidence on the subject."

Private routings! Why don't they all do this so we can all go home

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and watch "TCAS in action" on the Television, the latest movie of Steven Spielberg.

"HUMAN AND ROBOTS" In the 2/93 edition of The Controller , EVP Europe , Pre ben Falkman Lauridsen told us that the experts of Eurocontrol have agreed that in the future "the man will keep a human role". I am so glad to hear this. From reading some of the official publications issued recently by Eurocontrol I had the impression that , in the future, they wanted all men to become engineers...

FINALLY OUR JOKE OF THE MONTH GROUND CONTROLLER: "Air Cocorico 123 are you proceeding via VEEHOAR or ALPHA ?"

PILOT: "Negative, Sir, we are still standing at the Terminal ..."

GROUND: " OK, Let me put it another way, which airway are you proceeding after take off ?

PILOT: " There is no airway, Sir, we like to go direct !."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED THE CONTROLLER , JOURNALOF AIR TRAFFICCONTROL , is publishedquarterly by the InternationalFederationof Air Traffic Controllers' Associations(IFATCA).

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Issues appear end of March , June , September and December. Subscription rates are CHF 20 per annum (4 issues) plus post & packing. Postage Rates: Surface, Worldwide CHF 6.00 Europe (delivery within 14 days) CHF 6.40 Airmail , Worldwide CHF 10.80 Cheques or money orders (not cash) in Swiss Francs should be made payable to

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... pag e 13 EUROCONVEX

excessively long hours in order to survive, or one who works long periods of heavy traffic without breaks, is less likely to be able to exercise the concentration required to execute the functions of air traffic control and is more susceptible to the factor of human error.

As far back as 1984, H H Henschler, a Past President of IFATCA, expressed concerns in the Editorial of this journal (Volume 23, No 4), which are as valid today as they were then.

The concerns were as follows: "So far we have been fortunate, but it is in the interest, and indeed it is the responsibility, of all members of the international and national civil aviation communities to impress on political decision makers (in the countries concerned) that only a proper air traffic control system staffed by ATCOs employed in accordance with the ILO conclusions can assure what airline passengers trustingly expect when they board an aeroplane; maximum aviation safety and efficiency."

To err is human, but in air traffic control the golden rule must always be to err on the side of safety.

unique raffle in which everybody seemed to be a winner!

The EuroConve x Idea l is now a reality providing a forum for debate of the highest quality together with a trade exhibition displa ying the latest in ATC and Aviation Technolo gy . The effort which GA TCO members have made to make EuroConvex 93 so successful is to be commended, and we look forward to future years where the concept will continue, providing stimulating conference themes, in a professional and budget friendly environment.

We look forward to your participation at the next EuroConvex where you can be assured of a warm welcome. +

another and the new system was likely to be ca lled TCAS IV or TCAS 2000. It was expected that it will take a further 2 years to develop the new system. Having explained the failings of TCAS to us, many of the audience were horrified to hear that TCAS II was being tested on the Pacific Ocean as a means for aircraft to maint ain separation from one anot her whilst climb ing through the other aircraf t le ve l to effec t an Oceanic le ve l increase. Furthermore, TCAS I is being tested to allow fitted aircraft to effect, and I quote from the FAA procedure guidance , "minor adju st ment to the ve rtic al fli ght path consistent with air traffic requirements are not considered evasive manoeuvres. The se two developments of TCAS give great cause for co nce rn. As GPWS befo re it , there is an uneasy feeling that TCAS is being developed by the incidence of incidents. So called hi-tech robots on the ground have not proved their effectiveness as a total replacement for the human being; it is unlikely that they will also do so in the air. TCAS is one of many tools ava ilable for civil aviation to incr ease the level of air safety. It is being developed and sold as a collision avoidance system - let ' s keep it that way and attempt to integrate it into the system as seamless ly and as safe ly as possible without turnin g it into a piece of equipment that is a 'Jack of all trades and master of none¡;

32

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pa g!' 27 TRAINING

....page 3 FORE\VARD

....paf<e 3 EDITORIAL

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....page 22 ODID I \/

A test assessing the skill to work and make decisions in a dynamic course of events must also be introduced as a selection instrument.

The "MRU" -proj ect has now completed Phase I. Will Phase 2 create recommendations, based on research, on how to solve problems in a practical form.

ADDITIONAL THE

"MRU"

INFORI\IATION

ABOUT

PROJECT

If more detailed

information about th e "MRU"-project is requir ed contact th e Swedish Civil Aviation Administration, ANS Department , S-60117 Norrkoping, Sweden .

Tel +46 11 192000Fax +46 11 192640 The "MRU"-project consists of the following members: Mr Rune Haglund, Project Manag er Senior ATS Specialist , Swedish CAA Mr Bertil Andersson, Air Traffic Controller, Swedish CAA Mr BjornBackman, Industrial Psychologist, Swedish CAA Mr Olle Sundin, Manager, Arlanda ATS, Swedish CAA

phase is not terminated. The specifications and ideas worked on so hard by the dedicated Steering Group deserves to be validated. And this can only be done through a se cond operational trial/simulation - in other words: ODID IV+".

To conclude, let me put on my IFATCA hat and continue the above comment within the EATCHIP context: Extemal Expert: The EA TC HIP Project Board and highMr BerndtBrehmer, rankin g official s within national Professor, Departmentof Psychology, Uppsala administration s have clearly stated that we University must build brid ges betwee n today and tomorr ow. The future Dir ector of EUROCONTROL , Mr. Yves Lambert, also emphasised this in Strasbourg at the IFATCA European Regional Meeting last year.

It is believed that ODID IV, with its functionalities , could become the possible EA TC HIP recommendation for the futur e Controll er Working Position (CWP) to be impl emented aro und the yea r 1998-2000.

Should this happen, ODID IV needs to be validated fairly soon.

Resources will therefore needed to be set aside to accomplish the initial objectives of ODID IV with the aim of - one day - seeing ODID IV in operational use! Again simulation and validation are the keywords in this process 1

To Advertise in THE CONTROLLER

Contact:

THE ADVERTISING MANAGER

..../!Uf!C' 26 H1\ \'I:" A

1/EART Beca use of the important job you do in maintaining high standards of safety 111 the ATC environment, you owe it to yourself to take a safety check on your own lifestyle, and not leave it to the Medical Officer at your next medical renewal.

So , whil st you wouldn ' t want to see an air craft acc ident happe n due to blocked communications on the RT, take time out to review your own human "blocked airways'¡ so

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THE CONTROLLER/DECEMBER 1993

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