IFATCA The Controller - 1st quarter 1997

Kenya Mali Mauritius Moroc co Namib ia Niger Nigeria Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Republic of South Africa

Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Tchad Tunisia Uganda Republic of Yemen Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe

Antigua Aruba Bahama s Barbados Bermuda Bolivia Brazil Canada

Chile Colombia Costa Rica Equador El Salvador Grenada Guyana Mexico

Netherlands Antilles Panama Peru St Lucia Suriname Trinidad & Tobago United States of America Uruguay

Australia Fiji Hong Hong Japan

Macau Malaysia Nepal New Zealand

Papua New Guinea Taiwan Sri Lanka

A lb ania ALJJ stria Be lgium Bos nna and Herzegovina Bu lg aroa Chann el Island s , U.K .

Cro ati a Cyprus Czech Republi c Denmark Euroco rrnt ro l Gu il d of Air Traff ic Services Eston ia Fnnland

France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Republic of Kazakstan UUuoania lu xembourg Form er Yugo slavian Republ ic of Macedonia Malta

The Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom

Algeria Angola Burkina Faso Republic of Dijbouti ., Egypt • Ethiopia Eritrea The Gambia Ghana Guinea Bissau Cote D'Ivoire

,_

..

r

JOURNA L OFAIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

United Kingdom , March 1997 PUBLISHER

!FA TCA. Internati onal Federati on of Air Traffi c Controll ers· Asso ciations. See bottom of page 2 for contact addr ess.

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA

Preben Lauridsen Pre sident and Chief Executive Offic er Paul Robinson Deput y Pre sident Oliver Farirayi Executi ve Vice -Pres ident Afri ca/Middle Ea st Samuel Lampkin Executi ve Vice -Pre sident Am ericas George Chao Pao Shu Executi ve Vice- Pres ident Asia/Pacific Gunter Melchert Executi ve Vic e-Pres ident Europ e John Redmond Exe cuti ve Vic e-Pre sident Financ e Sandy Oppenheim Executi ve Vice-Pre sident Prof ess ional Martin Cole Executi ve Vice- Pres ident Techni ca l Edge G1·een Executi ve Sec retary Terry Crowhurst Editor EDITOR

Terry C rowhur st 29 Herita ge Lawn. Lan gs hotl.

Ha rley . Surr ey. RH6 9XH . United Kingdom.

Tel. +44 (0) 1293 7840 40 Fa x +44 (0 ) 1293 77 1944 CompuS erve :terry _c rowhur st @compu serve .co m Internet:Terry.Cro whur st @srg.caa.co .uk

Volum e 36 N° I

IN THIS ISSUE 3

FOREWORD

President and Chief Executive Officer Preben Lauridsen FORMER IFATCA

PRESIDE NT RETIRES

4

Philippe Domagala Report s ASIA PACIFIC R EGIO NA L M EETI NG

5

George Chao Report s from Brisbane AFRI CA/MIDDLE

E AST R EGIO NA L MEET ING

6

Albert Taylor Reports from Daka r SIT UATIO NAL A WARN ESS

8

Bert Ruitenberg , IFATC A Hu ma n Factors Spec iali st IFATCA 97 Reports from Taipei

13

D ATALINK

25

Patrick Sch elling Rep orts from Maastricht ZOE

PROJ ECT U PDAT E

28

A Report from Sw itzerla nd CH ARLIE ' S

30

Humour and End of Year Quiz Results ATC 97 - MAA ST RICHT Show Report

32

ADVERTISING AND SALES OFFICE

Ron Mahendran I07 Drak e Road. Rayners Lan e. Harrow.

Middl esex . HA 2 9DZ. Unit ed Kingdo m.

Tel & Fa x +44 (0) 18 1 868 7399 ACCOUNTS

AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tim MacKa y ··Dunadr y ... Min shull Lane. Wettenhall. Win sford.

C hes hire. CW 7 4DU. Unit ed Kingdom.

Te l +44 (0) 1270 528 363 " Fax +44 (0) 1270 528-+78 C ONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Patri ck Sc hellin g Ch. Sur le Moulin . 126 1 Le Vaud. Switzerlan d.

Tel +41 (0) 22366 2684 Fax +4 1 (0) 22 366 4305 Philipp e Domag ala Me relstraat 5. NL 6 176 EZ Spau beek.

The Netherlands Tel+ J I (Ol464433564F ax+3 1 (0)43 366 154 1 P RINTING

Mercur y Press Unit I. Baird Close. C rawley. West Sussex .

RH I O 2SY . United Kingdom.

Tc:! +4-+(0) 1293 52300 0 Fax +-+-+(0) 1293 529000

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 1997

Adve rtise rs in this issue Br e itlin g. C rim p. O mni li fe . Ra ytheo n . Sc hm id Te leco m . Wavio nix .

Phot ogra ph s T . Cro w hur sl. P . Do moga la . A . T ay lor. G . Cha o. G IS .

Cover C hang Kai S hek A irpo rt T owe r. Ta ipe i.

Char lie Cart oon Ke n Tull y Cop y Typing Do na C row hur st Copy Editors Lu cy Leve so n. Harry Co le

ISSUES A PPEAR E ND OF M ARCH, JU NE, SE PTEMBER, D ECEMBER. C ONTRIBUTORS AR E E XPRESSING THEIR P ERSONAL POINTS OF VIEW AND OP INIONS, WHI CH M AY N OT NE CESSARILY CO INCIDE W ITH TH OSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL FE DERATION OF AIR T RAFFIC CON TROLLERS' A SSOCIATIONS. IFA TCA. IF ATCA D OES N or A SSUME RE SPONSIB ILITY F OR S TATEMENTS M ADE AND OPIN IONS E XPRESSED, IT A CCEPTS R ESPONSIBILITY FO R P UBLISHING THE SE CO NTRIBUTIONS. CONTR IBUTIONS A RE W ELCOME AS AR E C OMMENTS AND C RITICISM. N o P AYMENT CAN BE M ADE FOR M ANUSCRIPTS SUB MITIED F OR PU BLICATION IN THE CO NTROLLER. T HE ED ITOR R ESERVES T HE RI GHT TO M AKE AN Y EDITORIAL CH ANGES IN M ANUSCRIPTS, W HICH HE B ELIEVES W ILL IMPROVE THE M ATERIAL WITH OUT ALTERING THE INTENDED ME ANING. W AID EN P ERMISSION BY THE EDITOR IS NE CESSARY FOR REPRINTING A NY P ART OF THIS J OURNAL.

CORPORATE MEMBERS OF

IFATCA

ADACELPTY LTD. Canberra,Australia

W - MLM DIVISION Beer Yaakov,Israel

AIRTRAFFICANDNAVIGATIONAL SERVICESCo. Ltd. Johannesburg, Republicof SouthAfrica

IBM (UK) Feltham,UK

AIRWAYSCONSULTING SERVICES Wellington,New Zealand ALCATEL AIR NAVIGATIONSYSTEMS Stuttgart,Germany ALENIA Rome, Italy ALEXANDERHOWDENAVIATION London,UK AMBIDJIGROUPPTY LTD Melbourne,Australia

JEPPESEN& Co. GmbH Frankfurtam Main,Germany JERRYTHOMPSON& ASSOCIATESInc. Kensington,MD, USA KONGSBERGNORCONTROLSYSTEMS Horten,Norway MILLERFREEMANEXHIBITIONS Sidcup,UK

ARINCINCORPORATED Annapolis,MA, USA

NICE SYSTEMSLtd Tel Aviv, Israel

ASCOMTIMEPLEXGmbH Frankfurtam Main, Germany

NORTELDASA Friedrichshafen,Germany

ATS AEROSPACE St. Bruno, Canada

NORTHROPGRUMMAN Baltimore,MD, USA

CAE ELECTRONICSLtd. Saint-Laurant,Canada

OMNILIFEOVERSEASINSURANCECo. Ltd. London,UK

CESELSA Madrid, Spain CELSIUSTECHSYSTEMS Jarfiilla,Sweden COMPUTERRESOURCESINTERNATIONALA/S Birkerod,Denmark CRIMPA/S Allero, Denmark CORIS Le Plessis Robinson,France DENRO Gaithersburg,MD, USA DAIMLER- BENZ AEROSPACEAG Ulm/Donau,Germany DICTAPHONECORPORATION Stratford,CT, USA DIVERSIFIEDINT'L SCIENCESCORP. Lanham,MD, USA EL AR ELECTRONICSLtd Or Yehuda, Israel GAREXAS Oslo, Norway

RAYTHEONCo. Marlborough,MA, USA SCHMIDTELECOMMUNICATION Ziirich,Switzerland SERCO-IAL Bath, UK SIEMENSPLESSEYSYSTEMS Chessington,UK SOCIETED'ETUDESET D'ENTREPRISESELECTRIQUES Malakoff,France SONYCOMPUTER Weybridge,UK SWEDAVIAAB Norrkoping,Sweden TELUBAB Solna, Sweden THOMSON-CSF,DivisionSDC Meudon-La-Foret,France

HUGHESAIRCRAFTCOMPANY RichmondB.C., Canada

VITROCISETS.p.A. Rome,Italy

HUGHESATC SIMULATIONTRAINING BurgessHill, UK

WAVIONIXSOFTWARELtd Lausanne,Switzerland

JP>llease note !belownew address and telephone number for the Executive Secretary and new address and tellephone number of tlle Advertising and Sales Office on page one.

The InternationalFederationof Air Traffic Controllers' Associationswouldlike to inviteall corporations,organisations, and institutionsinterestedin and concerned with the maintenanceand promotionof safetyin air traffic to join their organisationas CorporateMembers.

CorporateMemberssupport the aims of the Federationby supplyingthe Federationwith technicalinformationand by meansof an annual subscription.The Federations· internationaljournal The Controlleris offeredas a platformfor the discussionof technicaland proceduraldevelopmentsin the field of air trafficcontrol.

For further informationconcerning Corporate Membership,or generalIFATCAmatters.pleasecontactthe IFATCA ExecutiveSecretary: E.G.H. Green O.B.E., 4 The Rookery, Peasemore, RG20 7JY, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 (01 1635 247890 Fax: +44 (0) 1635 247891

___

__________

__

___

FOREWORD _______

___

____

____

_

"UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN" 0 Preben L aurid se n, Pr es ident and Chi ef Exec utive Off ice r

e n I come to th e e nd of a n Annu a l Con ference - such as Taipei - I always look at the dec isions taken by Dir ecto rs a nd de legates a nd d raw up m y li st of ac ti o ns requir ed. But I also consider what goa ls I wo uld like to see acco mpli shed du1i ng the fo1t hco min g yea r.

Durin g th e nex t yea r, thr ee proj ec ts w ill have mu c h of m y a tt e ntion un t il we mee t aga in in Toulouse, Fra nce. Th ese are: the es tabli shm ent of a Perm anent O ff ice , th e re lease o f an IFA TCA Vi s io n D oc um e nt a nd , incr ease d a nd more agg ress ive invo lve ment in reg ional deve lopm ents of A TC. A s to the es tabli shm ent of a Perm anent O ffice in Montrea l, Ca nada, the Exe cuti ve Boar d have already initi ated an ac tion plan, that should res ult in an openin g of the office w ithin the nex t six month s. Mu ch wo rk is requ ired, but I am co nfide nt that we shall have the Office up and runnin g within the above mentioned per iod of tim e. Howeve r, we mu st allow for a pe riod, w hich w ill probably run up to nex t co nference , befo re the full ga in ca n be ex pected fro m the O ffice. Th erefo re, it has bee n dec ided to maintain the post of Exec uti ve Secre tary until the end of IF ATCA 98. Thi s should ensure a smoo th transition and I am gra teful to the prese nt Exec uti ve Secretary for his willin gness to lead thi s opera tion.

A kind of " Vi sion Doc um ent" will be another long-awa ited action and the idea is now to release this publication to co incide w ith the openin g of the Perm anent Office, as it w ill prese nt a good opp ortunit y to attract increased attentio n to bo th iss ues . Th e doc um ent w ill , w hil st co nfirmin g the IFA T CA o bj ec ti ves and goa ls, be o ur co ntributi o n to th e o ngo in g deba te on how A ir T ra ffic Manage ment should evo lve as we enter the nex t mill ennium . No doubt so me w ill see the do cu -

ment as a bit co nserva tive , but as stated at the T aip ei co nfere nce , th e air traff ic controll er being the one ultimate ly responsible for safety in the skie s - can not afford to become part of a ca mpa ign that mostly co ncentrate s on costeffic iency. Fin al ly, I me ntioned the need for IFA T CA t o in c r ease o u r in vo l vement in reg ional deve lopments of A TC and the need for th is to be do ne in a mor e aggressi ve man ner. Th e reaso n for thi s is that futur e de velop ment s w ill , ve ry m uch . be based on regional p lans and . whilst nat iona l au thoriti es .along w ith ICAO , will be the mai n inst iga tors of these p lan s. it w ill eve ntu ally lea d to the introd uct ion of CNS/ A TM. I consider it of th e utmos t imp o rtance for the controller to have a ver y stro ng view in thi s regar d and to prese nt thi s view to the avia tio n com munit y. T he w ho le wor ld is, as pr ev iou s ly men tio ned , witnessi ng a dema nd from use rs for ATC to increase its effic iency and productivity and , wh ilst full y accepting the need for our industry to meet the increased air tra ffic demand , co ntro llers mu st tab le all those requ ireme nts w hich we beli eve are linked to such increased effic iency and producti vity .

Being part of the AL LPIRG Advisory Group of ICAO . establis hed by th e initiati ve of the President of the Council of ICAO , IF A TCA w ill have an excellent chance to forward these req uir ements to an audience co nsisting of reg ion al high leve l repre sentative s. But mo st of the hard wo rk will ne verthe less be perfor med by reg iona l IFATC A representati ves, and through nat iona l representa tion, who through their participati on in task forces, working gro ups etc. have a direct influ ence on regional deve lop ments. So me ca ll this the " work of the grass roots".

I wish the "grass root s" all the best in the ir de liberation s . +

THE CONTROLLER - REGIONAL SUB-EDITORS AFRICA MIDDL E EAST Mr Albert Aidoo Tayl or P.O. Box 9 18 1 Kotake International Airport Accra GHANA

Te lephone: +233 2 1 773283 Fax: +2332 1 773293

and Mr Khaled Koo li Aeroport Int. de Tuni -Carthage CNA -2035 TUN ISIA

Telephone: +2 16 1755 OOO Fax: +2 16 l 782 106

ASIA PACIFIC Mr John Wags taff Te lepho ne: +852 255 100 8 l ATMD , CAD Fax: +852 23628 10 I Hong Kong Internationa l Airpor t Kow loon Hong Kong

THE CON TROLLE R/MA RCH 97

AMERICAS Rosanna Barn (ATCAU) P.O. Box 6554 Mont evideo URUGUAY Neil Mart in 67 Castle Rock Dri ve Richmond Hill, Ontari o CANADA , L4C 5W3 EUROPE Mr Philipp e Domagala Merelstraat 5 NL - 6176 EZ Spaubeek THE NETHERL AND S

Telephone: +598 2770 299 Fa x: +598 2770 299

Telephon e: + I 905 50 8 4771 (H) + I 90 5 676 5228 (W ) Fax : +I 905 676 3 121 (W)

Te lephone: +3 1 46 4433564 Fax : +3 1 43 366 1541

3

----------

-

-

-

---

-

--

IFATCA NEWS ________

___

JEAN DANIEL MONIN FORMER PRESIDENT OF IFATCA ET 0 Philippe Domogal a, Contributing

ea n Da niel M ONI N fin ally retired from ATC at the end of 1996 . He was Pres ident of IFATCA from 1972 to 1978 , but he spent mos t of hi s avi ation career working for IFATCA in one fo rm of another. He joined ATC in 1953 with the then R adi o Sui ss e . He particip ated at the first IFATCA Co nference in 1961 and was Ch airm an of the Organising Comm itt ee of the 7th IFATCA C onference in Geneva in 1967. Af ter Chairing Committ ee A he bec ame President in 1972.

In 1980 he was elect ed Ch airm an of the IC AO FLOW Meetings, a position he retained ever y yea r until las t year.

J

_____

_

]Eยง

Editor

Daniel was not afraid to chall enge Mar echal Tito , then Pres ident of Yugos lavia , on many occa sion s, in tryin g to have the controller involved released from Jail.

Betwee n 1974 and 1976 Jean Daniel started to lobby th e International Labour Offic e (ILO ) a lso loc ated in Geneva, with a view to havin g the particul aritie s of the air traffic controller 's j ob recognised. In 1979 , he succ eeded by establishing the Special Con feren ce of Expert s on ATC , definin g wo rkin g conditi ons e speci a lly fo r co ntroll e rs .

Almo st 20 years later, most of the ILO Recomm end ation s are still valid, and are still bein g used to rai se the condition s of controll ers everywhere in the wo rld.

Jean Dani el cel ebrat ed his retirement with many friend s in the ICAO Pari s offi ce last Oct ober, wher e th e ICAO Represe ntative, Chri s Eigl, came back especiall y from holidays to say some nice word s and to pre sent Jean Dani el with the special ICAO Award for ser vices rend ered to the aviati on communit y. Jean Dani el will retire to Geneva and it has to be asked what will he do with all thi s free tim e?

Well, he is thinkin g about writin g, as we ll as returnin g to University to study Phil osoph y or History. Th e goo d side of retirement, acco rdin g to him , is that 'o ne ca n have tim e to reflect on onese lf at one's ow n rh ythm without hav ing co nstantly to pack and unp ack one's suitc ases'.

Jean Daniel MONIN rece iving a sma ll presen t on beha lf of' I FATCA from Philippe Domagala during his retireme nt party in the !CAO Office in Paris on 30 October 1996

We wish Jea n Daniel a happy retirement and th ank him for the work he has done both inside and outside IFATC A, in promoting air traffic control. Je an Daniel was and will alwa ys remain a true friend of controller s. +

While chairing the FLOW Meetings, he always made sure IFATCA repre se ntativ es were allowed to s peak a nd ens ured that in general the voice of the co nt ro lle rs was never forgotte n . One of hi s mo st famous re marks (u sed many times during the debate s ): "ATFM is at the service of ATC, not the other way around".

I met Jea n Dan iel for the fir st time in 1976, at the Lyo n Co nference , and liked him instantly. He was the best advoca te for ATC one could dr ea m of. He a lways had th at "human " approach to things that ma de him very pop ular wit h the co nt ro llers. particularly those fro m the ' Thi rd World" . T hey saw him as the man that cou ld he lp them get out of thos e sometimes miserable cond ition s they had to work in . During hi s career as IFATCA Pres ide nt , Jea n Dan ie l had to deal with the two worst ATC re lated co llisions Europe has had in the last 30 ye ars. T hey were the Nante s co llision in 1973 and the Zag reb one in 1976 . Jean

4

Jean Dani el MON !N takin g over as Pr esid ent !FA TC A .fi-mn Arno ld FIELD in Dublin on Ap ril 1972 .

TH E CON T RO LLE R/ MARCH 97

REGIONAL MEETING

ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL MEETING BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA , 1 - 3 NOVEMBER 1996

o George he 13t h Asia/Pacific Re g ional Meeting was he ld in Brisbane betwe en 1st and 3rd No ve mb er 1996 . The meeting was hosted by th e Civil Air Operati o ns Officers' Association of Australia at the Carlton Cre st Hot el in downtown Bri sbane.

Over 120 participants attended the meeting from the following organisations: IFATCA : Deputy Pre sident and EVP Asia/ Pacific.

Member Asso ciat ions : Australia , New Zealand , Hong Kong , Malaysia, Papua New Guinea , APCA T ahiti , APCA Franc e, Japan, Taiwan , and Ru ssia.

Non-member Asso ciations : Vietna m, Singapore. and Maca u.

Other Organisations: Air Services Australia , Adacel , Qantas and lFALP A (Austra lia).

The m eet in g was c h ai red by Mr. George Chao , IFATCA EVP/ASP and he was assisted by secre tarie s from Civil Air. After the we lco min g speec h

by Mr. Ross Robbin s, the orga nise r of th e co nf e renc e , th e fo ll ow in g key speake rs were introdu ced to make their openi ng addr esses: Mr. Robert Lo rsc hy. President of Civil Air. Mr. George Chao. IFATC A Exec uti ve Vice President Asia/Pacific.

Mr. Wil liam Pollard , CEO Air Services Austra l ia. Afte r th e roll ca ll , the C ha irman began the working sess io n .

Thi s year' s disc ussio n focu sse d o n the

Mr . Willia111Pollard adr!'sse.1¡ 1he de legc11e s

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

Chao, Executive Vice President Asia/Pacific reduction of separa tion standards in the region a nd the Hum a n Factors and CNS/ATM dev elopment s in the region.

The meeting received reports from the Executi ve Bo ard, EVP Asia/Pacific, the ICAO South China Sea Implement ation T ask Force Meeting s, the Third ICAO Global Flight Safety and ICAO Human Factor s Symposium , the Indone sia CNS/ATM Seminar and the ICAO APANPIRG ATS/AIS/SAR Sub-Group Meeting. During the meet ing , guest speakers were invited to mak e pre sentation s on the following topic s: Mr. Phil Parker , Vice President of Hong Kong Air Traffic Control Association presented a paper called "ATC Human Resource s - The Vital Link" .

Capt a in T oby Gursanscky of Australia a nd Int e rn atio n a l Pilot s Assoc iation addre sse d the meet in g on " ATC from the Pilot s' Per specti ve" Capt.

R evor Jensen , General Manager B 74 7 Op e r a ti on s , Qanta s addressed th e meet ing on "ATC from An Airline 's Perspectiv e" .

Mr. Emm anu e l de Roquefeuille , Marketing Manag er. Thom son Rad ar Australia spoke about "Essential Market for ATS Systems in the Asia/Pacific Region" .

Mr. Morri s Fr ee man , Region a l Dire c t o r of ARINC , di scu ss ed th e " Poss ibl e CNS/ATM Solution s in th e Asia/Pacific Reg ion" The Chairman ga ve a detailed briefing to the membe rs on the latest deve lop men t conc erning A TS route re-structure in the South Ch ina Sea. the 50/50 separat ion criteria and the CN S/ AT M imp leme ntation plan in the Asia/Pacific Re g ion. As th e Asia/ Pa c ifi c reg io n is the for e-runn er in the impl ementation of the CNS/ ATM sys tem. long discussion ensued on the CPD LC/ ADS operations and views were exc han ged on the pros and con s of using such sys tem. In this co nnec tio n. the meetin g was briefed on

ATC ADS rating criteri a to be d ev e loped jointl y by ICAO and IF A TC A .

While discu ss ing the 50/5 0 separa ti o n standard s, the weather avoid ance p roce dure generated

a lot o f delibe ra ti o n.

Pilot s' views were a lso so u g h t. Th e meeting was briefed on the deve lopmen t of a CNS/ ATM Operation s Gu id anc e Material by State s of the A sia/ P acifi c region. A Ta sk Force has been for me d and IF A TCA ha s been nomin ated as one of the members of the Ta sk Force.

The delegates

also learnt with interest

abo ut the latest progre ss in res pect of nego tiation s between a number of member s and their emplo ye rs o n ter m s of c o nditi o n s o f ser v ice. Fina ll y Jap a n A TC Ass ociatio n pre sent ed a work ing paper which prop ose d to host the 199 7 IF ATCA As ia Pacifi c R eg ional Meetin g in T o kyo . J apa n . Th e meet ing un a ni m o us ly agree d to accept

t he J A TC A

invitation to host the 1997 meeting . On the social side, it was again an as tounding success . Genero us sponso rship was pro vided by C ivil Air. T homson Radar.

Airse rvice s Australia. Au strali a To urist C o mmi ss io n a nd ARl NC. Th e B u s h BB Q dinn er at Gond wa na La nd Nat ure P ark a nd th e Bri sbane Riv er C rui se lun ch we re th oro ughl y e nj oye d by a ll the de leg ates .

Ove rall it wa s a rewa rding and prod uctive meet ing . Th e wo rkin g sess ion was he ld in an a mi cab le a nd co nstru c t ive m a n n er and

v a l uabl e v iews

were

e xcha n g e d o n A T C m a t te r s . T h e C h a ir m an . in hi s c losi n g r e m a r k th anke d C iv il A ir fo r th ei r exce ll e nt effo rts in orga nising the eve nt. T he dedication and enth usias m displayed by the org an is in g a nd supp ort in g staff con trib uted to the succes~ of the meeting .

+ 5

REGIONAL

MEETING

AFRICA AND M DDLIEEAST REGIONAL MEETING DA KAR SENEGAL

18-1 9 NOVEMBER 1996

0 Alb ert T ay lor

T

he 7th Afr ica and M iddl e E as t Regiona l Mee ting was he ld in Dakar a nd was h os te d b y t h e Senegalese A ir T raff ic Co n tro ll e r s' Associatio n. The ven ue was at the m ag nificent Ngo r ho tel co mpl ex which outlines the Weste rn Coas t of A fri ca. It was a relaxi ng scene to wa tch the waves of the Atla ntic Ocea n ge ntl y caress the Coast of Afri ca, and w ith it , soo thin g winds to refres h de lega tes after a hard day's wo rk. Partic ipants were made up of controllers fro m IF ATCA Me mb er Assoc iations and no n-IFATCA Me mb er Associations . The re we re also rep rese ntatives from ICAO, ILO, IATA , A FC AC and ASECNA FAPCAN w ho atte nd ed the mee ting.

The meet in g was o p e n e d b y Senega l 's Mi ni ster of T r an s po rt and was chaired by O liver Fariray i IFAT CA Exec ut ive Vice Preside nt (EVP) fo r Africa a nd Middle East (AFM) a nd assisted by A lbert Tay lo r and E la nd Muku mbwe , all Regiona l S up por t Group members.

The meeting was also atte nded by emi nent persona litie s in the Africa n av iation co mmuni ty. namely Mr. C heiffo u !CAO Regional Repre se nta ti ve for Western and Centra l Af rica. h is dep uty,

Vis ii

10

!he Island of Gore

M r. Ol a ni ya n a nd Mr. B o di a n , C h a irm a n of th e AFI Pl a nnin g a nd Impl ementation Reg ional Group toge ther with many Direc tors of ASECNA .

Th e ICA O reg ional of fice pro vided fac ilities and perso nnel fo r simult aneo us int e rpr e t a ti o n of th e Op e nin g a nd C los ing ce remonies an d also for the vario u s pr ese nt a ti o n s in E n g li s h a nd French .

M r. A nn and Pereira . from the !LO Office in Ge neva, gave a prese nt atio n

,._..._ ...-...7thIFATCA AFRICA/ MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL MEETING.NOVE MBER 18, 191996· NGOR DIARAMA HOTE L· DAKAR LJ,,-=.r>

011e11 i11 g Ccre nw;;_r

6

..,

o n th e con c lu sio n s o f th e 197 9 ILO mee tin g o f ex pe rt s o n probl e m s co nce rnin g air tra ffic co ntroll ers: their releva nce and applic ation with spec ia l ref e re nce to A fri ca. [C AO pr ese nt e d a pap er on "Trainin g th e AT CO to mee t the challenges o f CNS/ATM in A frica'·.

Th e A fri ca n Civil Av i a ti o n Commi ssion (AFCAC ) gave a prese ntati o n o n AT C pri va ti sati o n and hint ed that the Com missio n is co nside rin g the establishm ent of a prog ramm e know n as "AFNAY " simil ar to EURO CONTROL. IATA's prese ntation dwe lt on th e hu ge re ve nu e co ll ec t e d b y ATS se r v ice pro viders, the increas ing traffic vo lum e a n d th e inabilit y o f m os t se r v ice pro viders to use the acc rued reve nue for impro vement of the se rvices offere d.

Alb ert Tay lo r made a pr ese nt ati o n o n "s o ur ces of fundin g " assoc ia ti o n act ivities. A total of seve ntee n wo rking pa pe rs we re pr ese nt e d b y th e EV P AFM , STTF me mb ers, A lge ria. G hana and Morocco . Th e p rese nt a ti o ns a nd wo rkin g papers enli ghtened parti c ipants and a lso fac ilit ated o bj ec ti ve d isc u ssio ns at th e mee tin g . Fra nce A PCAN was very usef ul in prov id ing language interpr etatio ns o n tho rn y iss ues whi ch

THE CON TROLLER / MA RC H 97

..,,_

REGIONAL

MEETING

1997AMERICAS REGIONAL MEETING

Award w i1111 ers, Mo roc ca11d elega ti o11a 11d some m em be rs of th e Orga11isi11g Committ ee

aro se d urin g wo rkin g sess io ns. It was e nco ura g ing to note th at AFM Memb er Assoc iati o ns o f IFATCA are pr eparin g Wo rk in g Pape rs and co ntribut e to di sc u ss io n s o n i ss u es th a t a ffe c t th e Federati o n ge nerall y and th e ATC profess ion at th e reg io na l leve l. Ho weve r, it was app arent th at ve ry littl e co -opera tio n ex ists a mo ngs t th e ke y pl aye rs of the av iation indu stry in th e reg io n .

Th e mee tin g ana lysed the profe ssional and tec hni ca l probl e ms co nfro ntin g air tra ffic co ntrol delive ry in the reg ion and ca lled on natio na l air traffic co ntroll ers' and pil ots· assoc iatio ns to co-o pera te at the national leve l to addr es s issues co nce rn ing air navigat io n safe ty.

Th e mee tin g mand ated the IFAT CA AFM Regi onal Suppor t Gro up to assist the EVP- AFM to liaise w ith ap propri ate reg io na l re pr e se nt ative s of IFA LPA in order to prese nt relevant input on all profes siona l and tech nic al shortcoming s in the prov isio n o f Air Traffic Service s. at the app ropriate reg io nal f ora.The mee ting also identified the need for a regional conference on the Afr ican air traffic co ntro l infras tructure. especially at a tim e. when the Africa n C ivil Aviation Co mmi ssion is c o n s ide rin g a n AF RI CAN NAV IGA TI ON (A FNAV) pro gramm e.

Th e A ir Tr a ffi c Co nt ro ll e r s · Asso c iatio n of Morocco prese nted Go ld med a ls to Mess rs . O live r Fari ra y i. M. Sow and A lbert Tay lor , in rec og ni tio n of the ir se rvices .

O ve ra ll. the mee ting was ve ry success ful and prod uct ive . Th e dec isio n of

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

th e Exec uti ve Boa rd and the last AFM reg iona l mee tin g to adopt a new form at fo r co nduct of reg ional meetin gs is yielding goo d result s. It wa s decid ed that the nex t reg ional mee tin g will be hosted by the Namibi an Assoc iation, in W indhoek .

So me de lega te s we re pri v ilege d to wi tnes s a demo nstra tio n of A DS , co urtesy of AS ECNA , a clay after th e mee ting . De lega tes we re a lso fe rri ed to th e " I s la nd of Go re" o ff th e Coa s t o f S e n ega l in t h e At lantic O c ea n. Th e is l a n d w hi c h s p o rt s th e " Gun s of Na varo n e'' pl a y e d a ke y ro le in th e slave tra de and has a ve ry rich hi stor y.

We ack now led ged th at prep arator y in fo rm at io n fo r th e 7th regiona l mee ting wa s sca nt y and late , but we doff o ur h a t s t o th e Se n e g a le s e A i r T r a ffic Co ntro llers, the ir Pr esident Mr. M . Sow. th e o rga ni s in g c o m mi ttee a nd t h e ir C hairp erso n Mada m A . Sow and indefat ig a b le Chief o f A ir Na v ig ation M e issa Nd iaye fo r a we ll or ganised and hi ghl y succe ss ful Reg iona l mee ting . +

TT ATCA in v i t es a ll Member Assoc iations of th e Amer ic as Re g ion (a nd MA s fro m o th e r region s) to j o in the m in P ort of Sp ain , Trinid ad. fo r th e 8th A m er icas Reg io na l Mee tin g to b e he ld o n 13 and 14 Oc tober. 199 7 .

Th e IFAT CA E xe c utive Boa rd h ave bee n invited to ho ld th e ir Oct ober me et in g in P ort of Spa i n from I O to 12 Octo ber and b arrin g un for es ee n c irc u m stances , th ey have accept e d.

Th e confe re nce hotel ha s yet to be fi nali sed , however , regi strati o n will be no mo re th an US $50 .

Inc lud ed durin g the mee tin g will be profe ss io n a l and techni cal p resenta tio ns . T h is is a mee ting definit e ly not to be mi ss ed ' Fu rt h er d e ta i ls ca n be o b tained from TTAT CA: Tel - + I 809 664 4852 Fax - + 1 809 664 42 59

IFATCA 40TH ANNIVERSARY STORY It has been d ec ided to present an historica l per s p ect ive of IFATCA in book form fo r t h e Fede r ation ·s 40th A nn iversa ry, in 200 I .

In fo rm ati on is now being collect ed for thi s task. Co ntribu tions of a hi sto rical natur e . ph o tographs. intere sting/hum o ro us anec dotes. reco llect ions/reflections. supp le me ntary pape rs etc. are invited.

If yo u ca n cont r ibu te in any way. please co ntact or se nd re levant mat erial (no t photogra ph s in the initial instanc e) and info rm ati o n to:

Be rnh ard R uethy Bue re nstr. 23 CH-3312 FRAUBRUNNEN Swit ze rland Phone Fax:

Tile "G1111 s /1/Nurn mn e .. or G/lre Island

+41 3 I 76 7 8235 +41 3 1 7678235

Any co ntr ibuti o n . no matter ho"' la rg e o r small. wi ll be app reciated .

7

HUMAN FACTORS

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS IN ATC - A MODEL O Bert Ruitenberg, IFATCA Human Factors Expert There are several phrases and expressions that people claim are frequemly misused, even to the point where it is said that they describe concepts that are not well understood to begin with. It struck me that in ATC the phrase "Situational Awareness" appears to belong in this category. More often than not speakers use this phrase when in reality they are talking about the ATCO 's mental Traffic Picture. In an attempt to visualise the difference between these two expressions, I've drafted a model of what I think constitutes Situational Awareness in ATC. physical comfort factors could probably be mentioned as Introduction well.) Knowing that any of these factors is present, or could Situational Awareness (SA) in cockpits and air traffic conoccur, when at work, helps to shape the SA of an ATCO. trol has been the subject of many scientific studies over the To give an example: when realising that the noise-level is last ten or fifteen years. One of the scientists involved in these higher than usual, a Controller may wish to give extra care to studies is Mica R. Endsley, of the Department of Industrial ensuring that R/T read-backs are correct. In a similar vein, Engineering of the Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, that Controller may take more care that his/her microphone is USA. who provided the following definition of SA 1: close to his/her mouth.

"Situation awareness is the perception of the elements in the Another important factor is being aware of one's stress environment within a volume of time and space, the comprelevel. An ATCO with a high SA will realise when stress (usuhension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in ally caused by external factors (ref. IFA TCA Policy) influthe near future". Quite rightly she also states that a crucial ences his/her performance, and may opt to be relieved from factor in understanding SA in the ATC environment rests on a the work position earlier or more often than usual. clear explanation of the meaning of the word elements in this The final factor mentioned in the model is fatigue. definition. Yet this is exactly where I feel her studies and Recognising that you're fatigued yourself is not easy, but it ,those of several other scientists fall short: they fail to identify increases the SA to at least know the conditions that can bring some of the elements that are crucial to us, air traffic confatigue about. After working a high number of consecutive trollers. By drafting the model depicted in this article (see shifts, or after a period with intensive physical activity during page 9), I hope to offer a wider insight into the thinking of off-duty hours, or even towards the end of a single night shift. operational airtraffic controllers (A TCOs ). fatigue may be upon you. So, if such conditions apply, it may be prudent not to work the busiest position in the ops-room Explanation of the concept (assuming less busy positions are available). In any case. an In the model are all the elements that I could think of in ATCO with a high SA will know that when fatigue could be a which subtle to large changes may occur at short notice, that factor he/she should double check all actions, and avoid high will or can influence the way a Controller works at any particattention-demanding traffic situations if possible. ular moment. Many of these changes can only be recognised after having gained considerable experience in ATC in generWeather al. and at a specific location in particular. The fact that most SA is heightened by knowing the current weather and the of the elements are very site-specific may explain why experiforecast trend for at least the duration of an ATCO' s shift. enced and qualified Controllers often require several months For example: if the wind is expected to change direction, this of training before obtaining a rating at a different sector or may involve a runway change at an airport. The busier the airport: they need to re-build their SA for the new position. traffic at that airport, the more crucial becomes the timing for a runway change. So, the ATCO will plan his/her strategy to Explanation of the elements of the model include this change with a minimal disruption to the traffic The following explanation is intended to describe the flow, as opposed to what could happen in a reactive mode. rationale behind the 11 elements from the model, and also For en-route Controllers, knowing in what area any signifithe items in the boxes attached to each element. I don't precant weather exists will help to anticipate requests for re-routtend to provide the ultimate or conclusive description for all ings or circumnavigation. elements. but rather want to present some insight as to why I This applies also for the ATCO' s knowledge of local think these elements and items are part of SA in ATC. weather-phenomena (e.g. turbulence over mountainous terrain, fog-patterns, intensity of thunderstorms. etc.) and/or sudl?ersomllll lFadors den weather-occurrences like windshear or micro-bursts. An This is a good starting point, in that a person's physical ATCO with a high SA will apply different (and probably. and mental state will very much determine how he/she intermore effective) solutions in such special circumstances than acts with other persons and also will influence the performing one who is less aware. of certain tasks by that person. If you don't feel well, your performance will probably be less than optimal.

In A TC a person¡ s performance can be influenced by the Airport infrastructure Knowing at all times what runways are available at the airambient temperature (too cold/too hot). lighting (too bright/too dark). humidity. as well as the noise-level in the port( s) under the jurisdiction of an ATCO. will allow that work place. (This listing is not meant to be exhaustive - other ATCO to respond adequately in case of an emergency requiring 1 M. Ends/ey ( 1987, 1988). quoted in "Situation Awareness Information Requirememsfor En Route ATC". DOT/FANAM-94127.

Office of'A1¡iatio11Medicine. Washington D.C 20591 (Decemher 1994).

8

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH

97

HUMAN FACTORS Phys ical comfort Str ess Fat igu e

Pe 1for m a11ce le vel Li m i1C1t io11s Capa city

Person al Factor s

Current Forecast Sp ec ial (sh ea r, upp en vinds)

;\l'(li/abil itY Rel iabili ty Performance De g radat io 11

A va ilab le run ways Work in pro g ress Visual aids ( ligh ting, signs)

~

SITUATIONAL Strengt hs/weaknesses Pe,fomwnce level Soci a l grad ient Trainin in ro ress

D ijj ere11c e D eg radm ion Possibi liti es & Limit atio ns

Avai lab ility Perfo r111 a11ce Level

Environment

Obs tacl es Terra in chara cteristics Noi se se11siti1·ir_r

an imm ediate dive rsion. Such know ledge ideally includes not only the run way direction s and their length, but also inform ation on work-in-progress on any of these run ways that might preclud e their use at that particular time.

Fo r Aerod ro me Controll ers, knowl edge of work-in-progre ss is not limit ed to run ways but mu st also includ e that of tax iways and apron s. It eve n co uld includ e being awa re that visibility from the Towe r may be (te mp ora rily?) imp aired by con s tructi o n w o rk . Al so for Ae rodr o me Co ntroll e rs, SA is increase d by know in g how the airp ort loo ks fr o m a pilot' s po int- of- view - not ju st durin g the app roac h but also w hen taxiin g. Wh at visual aids (lightin g , signs) are there to which reference can be made w hen ex plainin g a requir ed ro utin g to a pil ot? An ATCO who pos sesses such know ledge w ill probably succee d better in tran sferrin g his inte nti ons for a ro ut ing to a pil ot than an AT CO with out it.

Colleagues A lth ough A TCO s are all ex pec ted to mee t the same standards, it should not be forgo tten that th ese sta nd ards are mini ma. In other wo rds, ev e n tho ugh a ll AT CO s are at lea st as goo d as these stand ards requir e. there still may be (and probably are) d ifference s in the deg ree that eac h ind ividu a l ATCO is be tter than these standa rds. A t any g ive n faci lity Co ntro llers are awa re of th ese di fference s. and w ill sub co nsc io us ly or eve n co nsc iously take eac h other' s strengths and weakne sses into acco unt when wo rking toget her.

A no th e r hum a n attribut e . th at di s t in g ui s hes u s fr o m mac hines, is that we do n' t perfor m ex act ly the same wa y over

Operator s & Pilot s

Sit ua1ion ("p ictur e '') Deve lop111e111 Patterns Flow

Familiar ity leve l Pe,jo nnan ce leve l R/T leve l (incl. voca bu la ry)

and ove r aga in . One of the ways in w hich thi s attri bute manifes ts itself in A TC is the fee lin g of ·'b eing a Iitt le ru sty '· after not hav ing worked a ce rtai n po sition fo r a ce rta in time (even th o ugh th at tim e is less tha n the lega l m ax im um of e.g . 6 months). Recogni sing this variati o n in performance level in onese lf and in one' s co llea gues is also part of the SA .

Furth er more I submit that ther e also is a social gradient that influ ences eac h wo rk situ at ion within eac h ATC fac ility. Thi s soc ial grad ie nt is also found for exa mpl e o n flight -decks. w her e a situ at ion w ith a youn g capt ain fl ying w ith an older fir st office r is diff erent from a situation w ith an o lder captain flying w ith a younge r first off ice r. The s ituation can become socially eve n more comp licated if one of the pil ot s is femal ec.

If in thi s exa mple ·'ca ptain" is sub st itut ed by "s upe rviso r.. it is ea sy to see ho w th is could affect an ATC wo rk situat ion and hence its significanc e for SA .

Th e last item in thi s catego ry invo lves on-t he-j ob tra ining (OJT ). Know ing that there is training in progress at an adj ace nt po sition , or at a pos ition or faci lity with which freq uent co -ordin at ion takes place. will influ ence a ConLroller·s way of work ing. The deg ree of influ ence can be su btle. as in adopting a s lightly mor e form al phra seo logy wh ile co-ordinat ing. or it ca n be to the ex tent that proposed so lutions for traffi c confli c t s o r h a nd overs. that no r ma ll y a re regard e d as less favourab le. are yet accepted for the benefit of the training.

n ·affic Know ing the exact traffic situation is of course a very impo rtant e lement of a Contro ller ' s SA. But in addition to

2

Hu ma n Fac to rs in Flig ht. Fmnk H a wk ins. ed ited b_,· Ha rn · O rlad v. 2nd editi on. 1993. Ashgare P11blishi11g Ltd . Alders /w t.

Ha nt.1·. Eng land.

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 1997

9

HUMAN FACTORS

·'having the picture., of where all aircraft under the Controller's jurisdiction are and will be next, it is equally important to be aware of the development of the traffic situation. ls it the beginning of a peak-period, or is it the end of it?

Will there be additional traffic like photo-flights, training flights. calibration flights, etc? Any of these aspects can influence the way in which a Controller will handle his traffic.

The Controller's knowledge of the normal traffic patterns will help determine his options for solving conflicts. These patterns are not necessarily the same as the airways, ST ARs and/or SIDs depicted on maps, which implies that a Controller can only learn them over time, or by experience! A further aspect that may influence a Controller is being aware of the flow of the traffic he will handle or is handling. If there is a lot of traffic expected to move in the same general direction (e.g. to or from one particular aerodrome: north/east/south/westbound), other solutions will be applied than when traffic is moving more randomly.

Operators & Pilots For pilots. taxiing and manoeuvring at an unfamiliar aerodrome is like being in a strange city for the first time. Of course, there are signs giving names and directions, and maps with routes on how-to-get-anywhere, but it takes time to properly interpret all that information and it is normally found useful if a person, who is familiar with the place, can provide further instructions. Aerodrome Controllers, especially Ground Movement Controllers, are often in the role of such a "familiar person". If their SA is high, they will recognise operators & pilots of whom the familiarity level with the local circumstances is low, and they can respond or assist adequately.

(Recognising potentially unfamiliar operators is relatively easy by looking at the company or aircraft colours, or may be evident from the callsign. Recognising potentially unfamiliar pilots could be more difficult. Yet if for example a certain company always operates a B737 to a specific destination, and now comes with an Airbus 320, chances are that this is not a normal destination for the Airbus crew and thus they may require more guidance than the B737 crews of that same company normally do ... ) To a certain extent this also applies to Area and Approach Controllers, with respect to familiarity with specifically national or local procedures.

An aspect that has received a lot of attention in aviation psychology circles over the last few years is "corporate culture": the differences between one airline and the next. Air traffic controllers have been unconsciously aware of this aspect for almost as long as the business has existed, and have learned to take the subjective performance level of the various operators into account. Solutions or manoeuvres that are acceptable to ( and therefore applied to) one operator are not even proposed to a second operator. Knowing when to do this and when not is part of a Controller's SA. There is a third aspect. distinct from and yet closely linked to the other two mentioned here: a pilot's R/T level.

Controllers can get important cues from the degree of proficiency in R/T that a pilot displays. both in procedure and in vocabulary. and - given the right degree of SA - will adjust their R/T accordingly with respect to the complexity of instructions and/or procedures. (NB: this aspect will almost disappear in an environment where most air/ground communication takes place via datalink. The effect that it will have on a · \IH F 011111idire<"fimw! Runge heuco11. gi1·i11g a

10

Controller's SA deserves further study.)

Environment Although most of the environment could be described to be of a semi-permanent nature (no pun intended), and therefore may seem out of place as an element in this model of SA, there are certain aspects that are important enough to warrant mentioning here. Aerodrome Controllers for example need to be aware of the significant obstacles at and around their airport. This includes keeping track of new constructions in the vicinity, and the many cranes that are often erected in association with construction or maintenance work at an airport.

Being aware of the terrain characteristics could lead a Controller to choose a different (and probably better) solution in a given situation than he might have used without that awareness. (Note that this could tie in with the familiarity level of the operator involved.)

Last, but not least, knowing the noise sensitivity of populated areas in the environment of an airport may be a factor when certain runway combinations have to be considered for use. And even when there are not many combinations to choose from, the environment may dictate that certain changes in the runway used shall be effected at a certain time of day (curfews, landing/departure runway change, e.g. as at London Heathrow). Knowing what part of the environment is affected by the traffic pattern or runway(s) in use at any time is therefore part of an Aerodrome Controller's SA.

Navigational aids An obvious aspect of this element of course is availability, i.e. mainly whether the beacon is serviceable or not. But there is more to this: although a beacon (or waypoint) may be situated in the area for which an ATCO is responsible, it doesn't necessarily imply that a pilot has immediate access to its frequency or co-ordinates. If a flight is following a Standard Instrument Departure (SID) that is based on one or two specific VORs-\ and this flight is subsequently cleared to proceed direct to a beacon or waypoint that is not specified in the SID. the pilots may have some trouble locating the point to which they are supposed to set course. This in turn could lead to a delay in the desired change in course to take effect. An ATCO with a high SA will either use beacons and way points that are likely to be familiar to the pilots concerned. or will use radar vectors to overcome these problems.

Similarly, ATCOs may take into account the performance level of certain navaids. In an ideal world all navaids should work as per their specifications, but in reality this is sometimes not entirely the case even though the beacons meet the required technical specifications. Experienced ATCOs will know if the reception of certain beacons in their area is impaired in certain directions. or under certain conditions.

This knowledge is part of their SA.

Aircraft Performance ATCOs are in general aware of differences in aircraft performance, e.g. between a Boeing 727 and a Boeing 757. or between a Cessna Citation and a Lear Jet. But there can he more subtle differences as well. A Boeing 747 which is serving a destination that is only 2 or 3 hours flying time from the departure airport has a different performance to a similar aircraft taking off for a I O to i 3 hour flight. This difference

radial I and often a di.1·1u11ce) lo orfi·mn The heucon.

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

1111>

HUMAN FACTORS

affects Aerodrome and Area Controllers alike. A Controller with a high SA will take cues from either the flightplan information available , or even just the callsign (flight number) , to assess the expected performance of each flight and will adjust his/her strategies accordingly.

A further factor may be the way in which an aircraft is usually operated by the various companies. Climb speeds and/or angles may differ , although the aircraft type is the same. Being familiar with these differences adds to a Controller's SA. Controllers also need to be aware of the many degradations that may occur in aircraft performance , either as a result of atmospheric conditions or as a result of technical problems .

And then there are the possibilities and limitations of the many types of aircraft. Knowing these, will increase the SA of a Controller. To give but a few examples: many modem aircraft have the capability for off-set navigation, or to construct non-standard waypoints , or can give accurate readings of the wind at their position and flight level (alt itud e) , etc. Older aircraft often lack these facilities, and should therefore be handled in a different way. As another example, non-pressurised aircraft will normally not accept a flight level above 110 or 120 (if that alr eady) for the simple fact that there is not enough oxygen in the air above the se levels. This restricts the options fo r app lyin g vertical separation with such aircraft. I'm sure that many other examples can be found .

Equipment As with the navaids earlier, one of the first things about the A TC equipment is to know at all times what exactly is available . Thi s includes spare (or back-up) equipment, and if certain equipment is scheduled to be taken (temporarily) out of service for maint enanc e, it's better to know this in advance than to be confronted with it as the technicians enter the operations room.

The reliability of the equipment is another important factor. If recent ly there have been a high number of failures with a certain radarscope, an ATCO with a heightened SA will be very prudent when working that position and probably accept less traffic (or apply wider separations ) than under normal circumstances.

Again similar to the navaids, the performance of the equipment may not be optimal under all conditions . Knowing these conditions, and the associated degradations in perf ormance. increases the SA of an A TCO. Degradations may, of course , also occur as a result of techni ca l problems. The ability to recognise the problems, and knowing what the consequences are , are all part of a Controller 's SA.

Adjacent Centres Several of the aspects that ha ve been described under the heading "Colleagues " are also applicable to the ATC units with which traffic is exchanged . In the model I've called these units "A djacent Centre s". Being aware of the actual performance level of such unit s, and being able to compare this to a perceived average performance for them , belong to the SA of a Controller and may influenc e the choice of strategy. In some cases , the fact that another shift takes over in an adjacent centre has a significant bearing on the way traffic is handled by that unit , and subsequently affects traffic received from or handed over to that unit.

An ATCO with a high SA will also be aware of possible limi tations that adjacent centres may suffer from. A simple example cou ld be thunder storm s that make it hard for the other side to comply with agreed handover procedures , but it could also involve staff shortages or equipment problems . In some cases this may lead the adjacent centre(s) to declare a lower capacity than usual.

Conclusion This completes the circle of 11 elements in the model. I'm not claiming that the mod el is an exhaustive descripti on of SA 4 in ATC â&#x20AC;˘ Yet one of its more dramatic features is that it immediately make s clear that an ATCO ' s ¡Traffic Picture " is just one of many items that together make up an ATCO' s Situational Awareness. This , in fact, is what the model is intended for. If readers feel that they can expand the model to improve its app lication , I encourage them to do so . +

4

One ele111 ent that was also co nsid ered, but rejected , is "Procedures". The reason I didn 't inc lud e it is that I.f elt that Proced ures are port of the strategy as sometimes mentioned in the text. An ATCO 's SA will determine his choic e of'strategv. so Procedures. as such, are nnt an element of SA .

It pays to advertisein

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ' ASSOCIATIONS (IFATCA) is seeking an

OFFICE MANAGER to set-up and manage its new office in

TheControlleris readby over 60,000Controllers& Aviation Related Personnel in 170 countriesall overthe world.

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

Montreal , Canada .

A self-motivated Englis h speaking person of integrity with computer and word processing ski lls is required .

Similar experience with an Association or Federa tion wou ld be an advantage .

Interviews at the beginning of June in Montreal.

Write or fax for an application form :

The IFATCA Secretariat,The Rookery, Peasemore, Newbury RG20 7JY, UK. Fax +44 1635 247891

Closing Date 16 May. 1997

11

COSMONAUTE

Orbital chronograph

The h and-wo und m ec h a ni ca l COSM01\ALT I' chron og raph fea tu res a 24-ho ur dial to p reve nt any ris k o f co nfu s io n betwee n 12 n oo n a nd midn ight-a lways possib le in spa ce.

What's more, its rotat ing bezel w ith do ubl e loga rithmi c sca le is desig ned fo r a n 1 numb e r o f n aviga tion a l (1peratinn~ and ca lculation s.

Stra pped to Sco tt Ca rp ent e r's w rist d urin g NASA 's seco nd o rbit a l flig ht , o n Ma y 24 1962, the COSMON.<\UTE chro nog rap h has be en imp ro1·ed in eve ry d e tai l sin ce th en a n d, tod ay still , rem a ins a persona l in strum ent unlik e any oth er.

BREITLING SA, PO Bn>-111? c;w 1I / FRLA D - 2'i-Hl C Rl-:N( H EI\. il'I. -1112 h'i-1 'i-1,-1 ~ il, -11 {2 h'i-l 'i-1()()

INSTRU

MENTS

FOR

PROFESS

IO

NALS

____

__________

IFATCA '97 ______________

_

IlF'ATCA '97 - ANNUAL CONFERENCE, TAIPEI, TAIWAN 0 Terry Crowhurst , Editor n the evening of Sunday, 16 March , participants for the 1997 Annual Conference gathered in the Asiaworld Plaza Hotel , Taipei , for the traditional Meet and Greet. In a brief ceremony and surrounded by people in traditional Chinese dress, the President of ROCATCA , Charlie Chi , welcomed everyone to Taipei and the Conference .

He acknowledged the hard work of the Organising Committee, led by David Tsao and Peter Chen, for the preparation that had taken place in bringing the Conference to Taiwan .

The Pr es ident rl ROCATCA. Charlie Chi , rece ives the Breitling 1rntches .

During thi s ceremony. an extraordinarily generous gesture was made to both ROCATCA and IFATCA .

Breitling watches had made a special issu e limited edition of 22 watches bearing the IFATCA logo on the watch face.

Two of these watches were pre sented to ROCA TCA and eleven to the President of IFATCA . The watches for IFATCA were intended to be used for fund raising purpose s and it was therefore decided that one would be raffled in a draw of limited issue ticket s. to take place during Conference. The draw took place on the last night of Conference and so me US$ 3000 were raised towards IFATCA funds . It was subs equently dec ided that thi s mone y would be split bet wee n the Conference Attendance Fund and the Special Circumstances Fund . Th e rema inin g ten watches remain in safekeeping while the Executive Board co nsider how to use them to the best advantage of IFATCA. Although the As iaworld Plaza Hotel was th e m a in ve nue for al l th e Co nference social eve nts. the Co nference itself was held in the Taipei Internati ona l Co nvention Centre (TICC). Accordingl y.

the following day all delegates , together with accompanying persons and others , assembled at their hotels for transport to the TICC. Although only a coup le of miles from the hotel locations the jour ney to the TICC varied from 20 minutes to one hour , according to the levels of traffic (wh ich were either very heavy or even more so!).

On reaching the TICC , participant s were guided by members of the General Innovation Service (GIS) to the impressive Plen ary Hall that had been prepared for the Opening Ceremony .

GIS are a profes sional convention organising company and their staff provided an excellent se rvice during the week in looking after th e day-to-da y running of the Conf erence .

Prior to the official opening ceremony. a daz zling lase r light show together with a Chinese flag dance was pre sented to the audience. Thi s impressive show was a fitting precur sor to the arrival of the Pre sident of the Republic of China.

IFATCA was particularly honoured with the Pre sident s' attendance and it de mon strated the imp o rtan ce of the IF A TCA Conference to Taiwa n.

IFATCA'9

,

.

~

The President o_f"theROC addresse s the audience

Th e Pr es id e nt of th e Republic of China. President Lee Teng-hui then gave a speech in wh ich he welcomed everyone to the country and acknowledged the pro gress lFATC A had mad e in its past 36 yea rs. He also paid tribut e to the air

traffi c services within the de velopment of aviation in the area. He drew particu lar attention to the recent introduction of new international air routes between Hong Kong and Japan wh ich could herald a new era for the aviation industry of his country. Before le av in g the stage.

Pres ident Le e Teng-hui was introduced to the Executive Board of IF A TCA and others assembled on the stage. The Minister of Transportation , Minister Jaw- Yang Tsay and the Director General of the CAA. Mr Duesi Tsai and the Pre sident of ROC ATCA . Mr Charlie Chi each then gave short speeches of wel come. Following these speeches. the Pres ident of IF A TCA delivered his cus tomar y annu al State of the Federa tion pre se ntat ion . The speech was hard hitting and to the point and was very much appr eciated by all the delegate s . The speec h, as delivered by our Pre sident is produc ed below.

STATE OF THE FEDERATIO'.'i Presented by the IFATCA President & Chief Executive Officer.

Pr e ben Laurid se n.

"1996 was an awful year for safety in the skies." "A global fear of flying."

The se were two of the headline s that I picked up in news magazines during trips in late 1996. Furth ermore . realising that 1.187 pa ssengers and crew were killed on commercial flights world-wide. raise s the question whether flying is act ually as safe as we all think it is.

However. I claim that aviation , compared to other mean s of tran sport . still holds an outstanding safety rec ord .

Additionally. reali s ing that a ir traffi c figures h ave seen a continu ed and stro ng growth for man y yea rs no w. I think that we - the front end operator s of the Air Traff ic system - should not foc us too much on the frig htening headlines presented to us by the media. ~ 11uge / 4/15

--------------THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

13

_____________ ~

page 13 continued

Having said this I nevertheless strongly believe that air safety can and should be increased. A trend to downgrade safety and upgrade financial results, the latter through cost savings. increased efficiency and productivity, has been observed in recent years. It is time that IFATCA along with other international and national aviation organisations and authorities, brings back safety aspects where they should be - at the top of your priority list.

It is time for both pilots and controllers to remind ourselves of the objectives that we are employed to fulfil.

We can not allow ourselves to become part of an aggressive cost saving campaign if this results in a decrease in air traffic safety. We can not accept that controllers should work excessive overtime in a safety industry. We can not accept that controllers in certain parts of the world are not properly trained or equipped to handle an ever increasing traffic volume entering their airspace and their airports. And we can not accept, that the enormous amount of money airlines are paying for air traffic services, are not reinvested in ATS. As an international organisation representing more than 40,000 controllers world-wide. we have an obligation to inform the rest of the world of our concerns. and we must all be committed to pursue our objectives and our mission. I consider this, the 36th Annual Conference. a very appropriate time to confirm our mission and goals, and to pass on a message to those listening. that whilst we do not fear flying. we are sincerely concerned about developments in the previously stated areas.

lPROlFlESยง][ONAL The past year was once again a year of many an industrial dispute, primarily taking place in developing and underdeve Ioped countries.

Controllers in Panama and Bulgaria were dismissed after having been involved in industrial

14

IFATCA '97 ____________ actions. In many countries a lack of recognition of the profession was seen, resulting in controllers facing working conditions far below the standards which you should think would exist in a safety related industry.

IFATCA, through its regional representati ves and Executive Board, has severely criticised national administrations violation of international laws and aviation regulations. We have furthermore offered legal assistance, both financially and professionally to both our Bulgarian and Panamanian MAs, and await an answer to this offer.

However, political turmoil and lack of communication has complicated progress and led to uncertainty of the current status in both countries.

Through symposiums held around the world (the last one held in Panama City), IFATCA will continue to address issues of concern to the controller fraternity. Solutions to the above stated problems must be found, and both controllers and their authorities/employers must actively engage themselves in this process. But, it must be based on the fact that ATC is a unique profession and should therefore be afforded a working environment that ensures stability and motivates its staff.

Human Factors was still, in 1995/96, a hot issue and dominated the activities of the Federation in this field. At meetings with international aviation organisations and committees, our representatives have been accepted with high appreciation. and their contribution to the ongoing debate on HF and professional issues is increasing.

ICAO. IFALPA, IATA, ECAC and even academic institutions seem to understand. better than ever before. IFA TCA views and arguments. and the role of the air traffic controller, both in the current ATC system and in the coming CNS/ A TM environment. It should be mentioned here that !CAO has asked IF ATCA to develop a proposal for an ADS Training Manual, as we are also actively involved in the subsequent definitions of the requirements to be included

_

in an ADS-license. Likewise the ILO has asked IFATCA to take the lead in setting up a meeting of experts on the issue of air traffic safety and human factors in Africa. This event may be attached to the forthcoming IFATCA symposium to be held in Harare in June 1997.

TECHNICAL The implementation of CNS/ATM systems has started to speed up and the changes are having a direct affect on the Federation's technical activities. It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep our policies in line with developments.

Consequently the Executive Vice President Technical has been concerned that the support for the Federation's technical activities has not been as effective as it could have been.

Therefore, in conjunction with Chairman Standing Committee I, an internal review was instigated, and the various options to improve matters were examined.

Although improving communications and imparting information remains an ongoing process, additional innovations have been introduced to enhance the flow of information within the Federation, such as the production of INTERLINK and the establishment of a technical secretariat and library.

Also, it has been acknowledged that the role of SC I is crucial to the success of the technical activities. Consequently its composition and membership is now under review. and a working paper to conference will propose significant changes.

These self-examination processes have not deflected the main thrust of IFATCA technical input to other international organisations. Our representatives to the various lCAO panels and working groups have been kept busy dealing with all aspects of CNS/ATM implementation. It is gratifying to note that !CAO look to this Federation to provide specialist information on a range of subjects including ADS. GNSS

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

~

_ ______

_ _____

and RNP. We hav e also been asked to participate in an informal group that is considering future ATM operational concepts, and ju st recently the Pre sident of the ICAO Council asked IFATCA , to part icipate in a Global Advi sory Group that will ass ist national administrations and sub-regional groupings in the task of implementation of CNS/ A TM. Although ICAO wor k take s up the major portion of our tec hnic al effort and finance , we co ntinue to maint ain a close working relation ship with IFALPA and durin g the year , we have co-ordinated our efforts on a number of items. In particular , our common inter es ts and concerns over de ve lopment s in the Pacific emanating from ISPACG , have forged further links , allowing an united front to be pre se nted . Although differ e nt in charac ter, our relationship continues to improve .

with IAT A

CONCLUSION Th e world is see ing a co ntinu ed and strong grow th of air traffic in these times.

A s a direct co nseq ue nce, pr essu re is being put on the elem ents, that are supposed to handl e the subsequent increa sing dema nd for ATC capacity. National admini strations and service providers are desperately

_ IFATCA'97 ____ invol ve d in aviation, to recon sider their prioriti es and make sure that safety standard s are not lower ed. Do not fool yourself and others by thinking that new technology and automation alone will greatly increa se efficiency and keep you at your present sa fet y level. The ATM system consists of a large variety of elements , of which the human mu st be co nsidered essential. Failure to accept this fact will not improv e either safety nor effic iency.

It is the wish of the Executive Board of thi s Federation that the leve l of air traffic servic e and safe ty, throu gh jo int efforts, will improve greatly during the coming year. IFATCA , repres enting one of the front end operators of the ATM sys tem , stands ready to play its part in this proc ess . Our prioriti es rema in crystal clear and non negotia ble.

Followin g thi s presentation , th e IFATC A Pre sident and Executive Vice Pre sident, Chris Stock , accompanied the government officials to the T ec hni ca l Exhibition, which had been set out in the foyer of the TlCC. Some 24 co mp anies con sisting of Corporate Memb ers and loca l airline related indu stri es had set up their booth s in thi s area to prov id e a n impr ess ive di splay of their wares. The EV P T echnica l we lcomed all the parti cipants to the Exhibiti on and

_________ thanked

_

th em for th e ir participation.

Th e IFATCA Pre s iden t a n d EVP Tec hni ca l, together with the government official s and the Corporate Members Repr ese ntati ve, George Dooley , lined up to jointl y cut a ceremonial ribbon to declare the Tec hnical E xhibit ion open .

Whi lst the Technical Exhibition was bein g op ened , the Deput y President.

Neil Vidler , ass um ed the chair of the Op enin g Plen ary to oversee the remain ing for malitie s of Conf erence opening pro cedures. Fo llowing these formalitie s. de legates a nd accompanying persons adjourned for lunch. after wh ich, the co mmitt ee sess ion s were con ve ned. The 1997 conference was now under way.

The essential bus iness of conference takes p lace in the formal plenary ses sions and the three associated comm ittee s. The report s of the three committee cha irm an that follow. give an overview of some of the import ant decision s and iss ues that were discussed. conference

During the

period several other activi-

tie s took place. so me of which will be reported in the next iss u e of Th e Controller. These additional acti viti es included an intere sting Accompanying Persons programme , a Professional and Technical Panel plus Regional Meeting s of the four primary IFATCA areas. +

look ing for impro ved effi-

ciency , and a rationalisation of services is often co n s id e re d. In thi s sea rch for impro vement - be it technic al or hum an Federation represe ntati ves have on sever al occasions

w itn essed th at th e sa fety

aspect is not necessar ily addresse d - as it once used to be.

But no one ca n expec t that controller s without being given much better technical support and ass istance. without adeq uate airspace to move traffic in, without proper training that fit s their traffic vo lum e . without enough airport capacity. and without being afforded a social working environment that suits a safety domain. - will be able to ha ndl e a traffi c grow th of almost 10% per year. and still maintain a high leve l of safety and efiic iency.

IFA TCA

ca ll s up o n eve ryo ne

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

Opl'11ing1hl'Tl'ci 111irn/E.rhihi1io11

15

_ _

___________

_

IFATCA '97 _ _

__

____

___

__

_

Report of C airma.n Commi ee A 0 Bert Ruitenberg ommi tt ee A . th e fo ru m w h ere the Fe dera tion 's int ern al house kee pin g i s d o n e , o n ce a gain managed to d ea l w ith a ra th e r h ea vy agenda. In three -and- a-h alf da ys of efficien t ye t enj oya bl e w orkin g -sess io ns, de legates exc hange d v iews o n topi cs such as App licat io ns fo r M e mb ership , Terminat ion of Me mb ership , Fin ance , the Secretaria t, and pro posa ls fo r new or amended Co n s tituti o n a l a nd Administra tive Policy.

The Co mmitt ee a lso e nt e rt ai ned elections for Sta nding Co m mjtt ee 6, the venue for th e 1999 IF A T CA A nnu a l Confere n ce , a nd 4 p os t s on th e Execut ive Boa rd . F rom a pro ce du ra l viewpoint it was gra tify ing to note that the recent ly s implifi ed vo tin g- p roce dure s seemed to se rve th e ir p u rp ose well. The elec tions re quir ed w hat I consider an accepta ble amo unt of tim e, and the number of "spo il ed " ballot-p ape rs mu s t have b een a n a ll- t i me low ( if memor y serves me we ll) .

Here is an ove rview of so me of the results of the debate s and elect ions :

C

Co 111111i11 ee A D el egm e.1

16

Comm illee A Top Table

3 new Memb er Asso ciations (MAs) have bee n acce pted into the Federation , while only 4 MAs we re recommend ed to Final Pl enary for termin ation of memb ership .

Th e fact th at ther e w er e co ns id era bly fewe r termin ations than originally for esee n is ev idence of M As mak ing better use of the Sp ec ial Cir cum stances Fund , and also of the generosity of severa l other MA s who vo lunt ee red to pay th e dues of MAs in atTeai·s.

Perhaps the most significa nt d ec is io n ta ke n in Co mmitt ee A thi s yea r was to give permi ssion to th e Exec uti ve Boa rd to esta bli s h a P e rm a ne nt Office for the Federation, in M o ntr ea l , Ca n ad a.

H av in g thi s Offi ce w ill almost certa inly enhance th e d ay to day bu siness of the Federatio n.

A new category of membership was proposed to Final Plenary ca lled Honorar y Assoc iate Membe rshi p .

This is intended for recognition of persons who work, or who have worked, close1y with the Federation, but who are otherwise ineligible for membership.

To ulouse, France was confirmed as the venue for the

1998 Annu al Conference, and Chile was elected as venue for the yeai· following that.

Th e Corp ora te Members, in co-ordin ation with the EB , have deve loped a wa y of co ntributin g to our A nnual C onfere nc e that is more suited to their expec tations.

Rather than sponsoring a lunch, a spec ifi ed amount of money from th eir du es will fund a Corporate Members' cock tail pa rty or rece pti o n durin g Co n fe re nce (open to Delega tes) .

Regarding the EB elections, I an1 pleased to repo1t that Committee A had recom mendations to Final Plemuy for each post.

Th e nee d to rev iew th e co mp os ition o f Standing Committ ees was identified.

A

T as k Fo rce w ill be app o int ed b y th e Pres ident durin g the yea r to discuss thi s matter and to deve lop proposa ls for considera tion at nex t yeai·'s Co nference.

In clos ing I wo uld like to th ank my Vi ce C h a irm an. Ms . S prin g T s ui of R OCA T CA

T a i wa n .

a nd

my

Sec retaries , Mr. Ad more C hiro ngo ma of Z imb abwe and M s. S ue Bras h of New Zea land, fo r the ir o ut s ta nd in g wo rk .

W ith o ut the m . th e mee tin g wo ul d n ' t ha ve bee n ha lf as s uccess ful n o r as rewar din g an ex perience as it was.

+

THE CONTROLLER /M ARCH 97

_____

_ ___

___

__

_

IFATCA '97 _____________

_ _

epor of Chairman Committee B 0

t was indeed a privilege to have been given the opportunity to chair committee B of IFATCA 97 in Taip ei. This is the second year that the Executive Board has be stowed this honour upon me, and T hop e that their faith in my ability has proven ju stified.

The work programme detailed to SC 1, once aga in indic ates a yea r of hi g h workload ahead. with 6 items currently listed . The increasing sta tur e and intern at ional profil e of IFATCA , a nd the continuing demand for the organisation to provide technical input to variou s bodies and forums , places this committee, w hich so me may feel to be the IFA TCA fla gs hip , und e r an ev e r incr eas ing burden. Thi s situ ation is now being addre sse d.

The following MA s were e lec ted to SC 1: UK , Ir eland, The Netherland s, Israel , Nigeri a, Ital y, Canada , Australia , Franc e and Swit ze rland.

Th e fo llowi ng member s were e lected as correspond in g member s K e n ya, ROCATCA T aiwa n , Fiji , Germany , Japan , Portu ga l, New Zea land , Sweden , Papu a Ne w Guin ea , Gh a n a , FYO Mac edonia and Trinid ad & Tobago.

In giving thi s report , I w ish to point out some of the mor e important areas of tec hni ca l subj ec t matt er co ve red during the comm ittee deliberation s.

Hans Cool

The procedure nee ded for d a ta link tran sfer via Dire ct Controller pilot co mmunication now ha s draft IFATCA policy .

IFATCA policy on th e u se of TIBA proc edur es was reinforced to ass ist the Federation in affected areas .

The iss ue of down s tream c leara n ce capability by data link is now the subject of draft polic y.

I am pleased to point ou t that the prev ious stated need for clo se r liaison w ith our maj o r partn ers in the aviation environment , pilot s, in particul ar IFALP A. has, in fact , happened , albeit with their inability to attend thi s Confer ence. T his c lose co nt ac t can on ly ass ist w ith our future de lib erat ions on matt ers of mutual int e rest and co nce rn s. The re lat io nship wit h our Corporat e Memb ers was also con sidered exce llent and the ir input

to thi s committee va lued. Continued support by British Airwa ys in assisti ng w ith 8.33 KH z de ve l opment s was apprec iated.

Th e discu ss ion o n iss ues relati ng to African airspace was of an exception al qu ality and pro vided many po siti ve e lements.

Input was pro v ided b y a ir sp ace user s, and se rv ice pro v id e rs . wit h no less than 7 Member Association s from the region talcing part in the debate. Th e use of a joint committee meeting was effect ive in allow ing a wider parti ci pation of interested MAs. For the second co nsec uti ve year. a comb ined Committee B&C meetin g was held. co -c haired b y eac h comm itt ee chairman. Thi s yea r the age nd a listed 7 items for discu ssion. This allowed for a w ider partic ip at in g a udi ence , w hich resulted in an effect ive debate on all mat ter s cons idered. An exce llent paper wa s pre sented by M r Colin Hum e of British Air ways, which was we ll received .

With such a large agenda continuit y of deb ate was at ti me s difficult. w ith int er rupti ons ca use d by coffe e/ lunch ad j o urnm e nt s a nd sc heduling: the Technic al Pa n e l for the same da y . I w ou ld suggest m ore consideration be given to the size of the agenda and sched ulin g fo r futur e j oint comm ittee meetings.

It is also important , that for such agenda s. a wider distributi on of subj ect Workin g Papers be give n. ~

pa ge / 9

Draft polic y was developed on procedur es to be fo llowed in providing aerodrome Flight Informat ion Service at aerodrom es adjace nt to a CT A. Co nt ro l res pon s ibiliti es with rega rd to airspa ce class ificat ions we re clea rly defin ed.

Th e vex ing subjec t of the VHF 8.33K Hz spac ing in Europ ean air space was discussed in detail and po licy dr afted for its implem entat ion.

------------------------------

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

Commillee B Delega1es --

-

17

Some difficult inAirTraffic Management 1 . How can I improue safety?

2 . How can I reduce costs?

3. Ho w can I increase reuenue?

Oneeasy

WAVIO

PANS-OPS SOFlWARE PANS-OPS TRAININGPANS·OPS CONSULTANCY T/J<' I I '<I( •i<JI JiX Fruc('( \ '<TSirJIJ

.·u1

/llr<'S

/Je1s I we, 1 ill

( 1s< · ill

( 11,r iu11s I:! m JJ 11·111J

/ \[ •iw i <I/ J /-\( 11/H )/"iii(' _<-; for S()j"/(l '/1/"(' /J/IS

T/Je

_ Ull<f is ('[ 1/'ll

f('Sf('(/

ill

irs , H'(

illl<'r<IClit

/)( 'Si(Jll<'f

/-3USil" S<J(IU •Ur<' l'uckU<JI'

<'Xli'lbit'<'itj

I W<' l l

/JJ()f"(' (l.<-.;<T :/i"i<'ll<f/!J

( , ( •1·rs i<Jll .

•<·

Iii J)(' _

S( JI l I( '

1<1<1/ f<Jr

I I is

I C/\O

1/w

i<l<·u / l>usc·<I

I/ )(' Jc·uri i, )( / <·,JI 11/J( II JI) ill j) f()l' iriil I( }

As

l-'/\. "\'S-0/'S I/ JU/

\ \"t l( 1i<>JliX

("( J(

U/

1/"S('

u // (l _<-.;JJ<'< "lS <>{ fir<J<"i' </1/H'S

<i<'l<'flllilll'

<Jl( '/1

1/"(l ill iJ 1/J O llr

<"<'Ill /' /" I )<'Ur

('X /Jl 'fl

lr Uilli/l/ J

T/J Clll/ ,s

<JUill<'<i

ubu

I<J S ( Iii

/ 10/rl

!JrJI/ /"

i1·1s , ii 1, 1/ii'.<'<I

/JH T i S<' I IC'('r/ .<-.;.

/"('(j(t/ (l r

Sl/11 I/ )( )_<-.;i( 1/I J.<-.; /( J disc(

ii 1 l 'l \ ,V<-;-(Jl'S.

/

/SS

( )/ )('

cluu

I} ('( ( I i.S.S(/('S

\\ 'U!' i <I/Ji X

JC:1\0

dums

(")"('(/l('

<l}JJJ/i nll i <JIIS _'-, // J's

(/11(/

(( '/'

I('

ii I

1

/JU( 'C'

s , 1(1!! '<tr< '.

/

'1\ ."\".'-;- (

X 'S

}Jf"il '<ll c'

(J /)< T

, ·Ji,·11/S

\\ '11(•irnli

<'X/ H' /"/S.

r<'C/!tiri1 HJ

JI 'S

<Jl( 'll

t'c

TU

<F'->

1<'<1111 "{ I ( •ii/I

n I/ J_jt II )(" / i () / I

( /.<-.;S <H "ic /1( '( / SJJ<'C"i <tfi .<-.; I.<-.; ( /JJJJJ"(!l '<'</ / HJ (/ _<-.;_("(/1 / <J/)<T li lt' I H'SI

il l l/ Hl rii cl / , uli •i , ·,,

/< J / \irJ J<)/"IS <II Jr/ ; \ ( •ic /Ii () / J ; \( II/ l() J"il i <'.-; _

IJ !/ <1!1 W<J!ti r<' /"()/ lie 1<"I I IS.

)()

/l (J (/

f ,1r

w,·i11 1/

illc/(t<f<' S l--<.\"1\\ " r 111r/ 11"(;.'-,,½4 CCIJJ(//Ji/ i l! / C/ t<lrli l l(j

'

<i <'Si c/11

1·, n1s( 1/1, 11u·i 1

ill

(/Sl'ri

c'X /J<'fic'/l("C

{"( II J

<I<'Si<JI J </1) (/ o/ JS I<l<"i<" ( '<Tif"i<"<Iii< !II . <II Jr/

T/W

//)('

lll <lf k<' liJJ</ /}It' (( 111r/</ 's /JIC JSI S (l< "("('S{ (I/

.<-.;1·1 ·/<J/S

<I<'! ,{'f, >JJ

<1/s, >

Il l

i/J <T<'<llil l</ . </('(l('/c1 pi11 1J <II H I

/)l"( JCC'/ /(1/"<'S

!CJ / Jr<JCC<ft tW SJ)<'<"iU JiS lS. (.I J)(/

( "<J( I/ S/'S

\ \ "(' 11S1·<1 I<>

i lS

Jm H •i< IC'S

m 1/

u ss is /rn

/"(J( 1/"S<'S

IJ<'

I I< II!

SJ!('( "i U li S IS / Jl"{Jl 1i rle Wi j(t/ u r (( 1( '('/{ -/r J/)(/

n 111 <J11 11 s 1,111r/e1n l i<tJil< J/J c·1nll/J!WT

crn1

/J ll /

/.1 ,r i d I A irf) <Jrl .

, ·w 1

_c.;<J(lll' <tr<'

ii h <JI J//J

, trl! •rn 1n ·1 I "C< JJ11/J! ll<' ri i'.c·, I / '; \ ,"\'S-0 /' S"

l 'l \ ,V'-,-() / 'S rn1cl ("/ J(lr/ill<J . <111</ n111 /)('

Tlw

S< J/( l l ir JI lS.

1/ii S

-" / J<'<ictli sc'< I e1ssh1< 11W<'

U l/ ll fii< 'X

<tr <'c/ .

(j()

(/

JJJ( /SI

l"</11 /J<'

ST A J<'s

(l/1(/

WAVIONIX ~©

WAVIONIX®'''

I IF ~\D OFFICE 11' 1\VIONIX SOFTW\RE LIMITED WORLD TR:\DECENTER L:\USANNE , Avenue cleGratta-Paille 2 , POBOX4i6 , CH-IOOO , LaL1Sanne 30 Grey, SWITZERL>\ND Tel:41 21 641 1313, Fax:41 21 641 1310, EMAIL Waviornx@Access CH

______________

IFATCA '97 _____________

Ill>page 17 continued The Executive Board have indicated their desire to rotate the responsibilities of Conference Committee officers. This I D Martyn feel is an excellent proposal, as it allows for a wider cross section of input which ur Executive Secretary, Edge will in tum provide better feedback to the Green, suggested in the last different areas from which those repreIF A TCA newsletter before sentatives come. Unfortunately, after this Conference, that delegates to Committee Conference, I will be unavailable for fur'C' might have trouble staying awake ther representative duties for IF ATCA. because the seats were too comfortable.

My involvement has indeed been a Well, I am pleased to report that Edge rewarding one for me, and for the MA was indeed right and at times several members of the Committee were seen to that I represent, Australia. be catching up on jet lag, or the late To the Executive Board, in particular EVPT, Chris Stock, the Chairman of night before, or recovering from the excellent lunches that were provided.

SC 1, Dave Grace, and all other members To some extent, their 'tactical' cat-napofSCl and IFATCA, I express my ping was appropriate to a major item on grateful appreciation for the support the agenda, which concerned itself with received, and the opportunity to reprethe medical effects of night shifts. But sent the organisation. To be involved more of that, later. with such a dynamic organisation that is It was once again my privilege and increasingly sought after for expert opin- pleasure to chair the work of Committee ion and assistance, is an experience that I 'C'. I've said it before, but it needs shall long remember, and hopefully reinforcing - the work undertaken by many others will be given the opportunithis Committee is the most important that IF A TCA undertakes. Some may ty to partake. I urge all MAs to become say that is a brave statement to make more involved to assist with this development and I look forward to being able and it is, of course, my own, personal to attend future IFATCA forums in some opinion. But, when you take into account the diverse subject matter other capacity. under discussion, and the fact that it is The support provided by our host directed solely at the professional workROCA TCA has been excellent. The faciliing and employment conditions of conty is first class, and was instrumental in trollers - world-wide - then I think you enabling the culmination of this have to agree that as far as membership Conference success. of the Federation is concerned , the indiFinally, I extend my thanks to the vidual ATCO is best served by the work Committee delegates, who so patiently being considered by Committee 'C'. assisted with the passage of a busy and This year's Conference welcomed a complex agenda. This enabled the new EVPP. Sandy Oppenheim and two Committee Secretary, John Wagstaff, new Standing Committee Chairman. and Vice Chairman Jonathan Lin to Fairless (Australia) of SC4 and Paul complete what was a difficult and oner- Templeman (UK) of SC7. The agenda ous task. These two gentlemen are the gave the impression that we would be reason that I am able to stand before you finished by Tuesday afternoon. But, today, a job well done. The difficult task once again. the depth and importance of the subject matter ensured that a full of the Minute review panel was completdiscussion was needed and the time ed with the assistance of MAs from UK, available was only just sufficient.

South Africa and Australia. Thank you.

The need to ensure that a quorum Our hard working Secretariat then was present each day, had its problems. processed these hieroglyphics into the with many MAs only being able to field legible document you have before you a few delegates amongst the today. Thank you for your patience Edge Committees. Thus. the length of proxand my sincere appreciation to your ies became longer and longer as time team for their assistance.

I went by and the seemingly more imporI reluctantly hand back the hadge of i tant agenda items in Committee ¡A¡ Office, the gavel. In doing so, I can advise required delegates attendance. On sevyou with satisfaction. that it is still in a eral occasions. the agenda had to be state of little wear and tear, that will allow manipulated to ensure a quorum was its' fu1ther use ror some time to come. + present when policy was heing decided.

_

Report of Chairman Committee C

O

1

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

Cooper Another innovation this year, was to present all the Working Papers with the accompaniment of OHP slides. Not only did this focus the attention of the delegates, but it also served to illustrate some complex aspects of the work items and provided a much clearer perspective on the subjects. The EVPP is to be congratulated on his foresight to improve the presentation of the working papers and for the members of the Standing Committees for a much improved and professional presentation of their work.

At the last Conference, Committees 'B' and 'C' got together to discuss a Working Paper that required both technical and professional viewpoints. This year, we went one stage further with a joint session to discuss a much fuller agenda of compatible items . To some extent, this was a valuable exercise. It did, however, effectively remove one full day out of our specific Committee work. Nevertheless, it is an indication that developments within our profession now require joint deliberation from the technical. professional and legal viewpoints and the need for full policy to be developed in each area.

The joint agenda included a review of the problems facing controllers in Africa and South America. The EVP AFM, Oliver Farirayi. and EVP AMA. Samuel Lampkin. gave a detailed and disturbing insight into the difficulties facing many of our members in those areas. A common theme was the lack of investment in training. staffing and equipment in what is becoming a very busy traffic area. The fact that airlines were required to pay enroute charges for a service that was not heing improved to meet demand was a concern.

It is clear that revenues obtained from the airlines were not being used to build up the ATC infrastructure.

Despite industrial action and limited ATC services in many African areas. many major airlines continue to fly through the airspace relying on lFBP and TCAS. Mr Colin Hume. British Airways. gave an airline perspective and it is clear that there are frustrations and concerns at all levels.

A SC I working paper on TIBA wa:-, presented to revise and develop l!J,,-p11ge 20

19

___

_ ___

_ ____

_ __

_ IFATCA '97 ____

Com111it1 ee C Top Table

Committee

existing IFATCA po licy. The use of TIBA is d irec tly re lated to th e lack of provision of a s ub s t a nti a l A TS a nd IF A TCA reaffir m ed th a t it d oes no t suppor t the use of TIBA as a long-term so lution to th is pro bl em . On ce aga in , the fact that more in ves tm ent in peo pl e and tech nology is req uir ed to meet the demands of the se rvice was ra ised. Th e frustra tion s an d co nce rn s exp resse d by de legat es fro m the Afr ican MAs se rved to underl ine the need fo r IF A T CA to take a firm stance on these matter s and foc us attent ion on the profe ss io n and livelihoods of contro llers in those areas of the wo rld where develop ments of the A TC s ervice h ave been l imited or ignored.

It is hoped that during a j oin t sympos ium with !CAO in Z imbabwe. in June . t h at a ll th es e matter s can be ad dres sed and acted upon .

W hilst on the subj ec t of limited and de ve lop ing ATC se rv ic es . th e u se of ADS and the need for contro ller tra inin g was id e nt ified in a SC4 work in g paper. ADS is prese nt ly a majo r deve lopment in the ASP Reg ion a nd New Zea land. amongst other s. is deve loping its ow n training manual. IFATCA has propose d a d e fin iti ve ADS Rat i ng , rath er th an endor s ing ICA O 's suggestion that ADS can be anne xe d to existing rad ar Rating requ irement s .

The purp ose and use of Prod uct ivity and Pe rfo rmance mon i tors/ i nd i ca to r s was also di scusse d. T here was s ignificant concern about the co rrec t definit ion of what a rea listic perfo rmanc e ind icator was and the commerc ial influenc es that co uld deve lop from unr es tri cted use of Perfo rman ce Indicator s.

T he j o int m ee ting e nabl e d the report s from two of the Reg iona l EV P s to be prese nted. EVPRs are requir ed to mak e a report to all three Co mmitt ees and thi s is not only tim e cons umin g. but it i~ oflen diffi cult to plan th e ir atte ndanc e and fit their repo rts int o the thre e widely ranging ag enda s . T here is ce rtai nly a benef it to be gained fr om the

EV PRs ma kin g a jo in t pr ese nta tion to both Co mm ittees ' B ' and 'C' in order th a t th e tec hn ica l a nd prof ess io na l as pec ts fr o m th e R eg io ns ca n be di scussed toget her.

B ac k t o s p ec ific C o mmitt e e ' C' wo rk . A n opportunit y was gras ped by both SC4 and SC 7 to includ e the list of re levant wo rking papers in the IFA TCA Ma nu al, in stea d of ju st a list of guidance m ate ri a l. It was ag ree d th at th e membe rship wo uld be bes t served by a defin itive list of Working Papers , show in g po licy dec is io ns, W orkin g Paper refe rences and Co nfere nce de tails. Thi s wo uld enable all releva nt IF ATC A professio nal and lega l po licy to be co rrelated w ith their res pective W orking Papers a nd wo ul d ide nt ify w ha t s upp o rtin g info rm atio n and d isc ussion was co nsidered w hen creating policy .

Fo ll ow in g o n fr o m thi s , a n d in recog niti on of the sterlin g wo rk done by Dav id G race , Chairm an SC I, with the introduction of an IFATCA Tec hnica l Ma nu al. it was dec ide d to procee d with the c rea ti o n of a Profess ional M anu al too. SC4 w ill und ertake thi s wo rk , in co nju nct io n with SC7.

Co mmit tee ' C' saw a numb e r of de ta iled and le ngth y Wo rking Papers this yea r. O ne of them detailed a list of acrony ms and terms used within IFATCA and the AT C industry.

It was ag ree d that thi s sizea ble list should be included in the IFA TCA Ma nual. Th e Exec uti ve Boa rd were un de rstandab ly conce rned that the size of the list wo uld requir e a

20

C Delegates

________

___

_

large r Manu al to be prin ted . Howeve r, th e und erc urr e nt of op ini o n fro m th e floo r was that the memb ership nee ded a definiti ve li st of acro nym s and te rm s, espec ially when reference was mad e to them w ithin the body of the M anu al.

With rega rd to th e IFATC A lnfom1ation Handb ook , there was continuing concern over the lack of response from MAs to the provision and amendm ent of in fo rm a ti o n. D es pit e requ es ts fr o m Executive Board and Regional EVP s, the maj ority of MAs were not updating their res pec ti ve in fo rm atio n. H av in g asce rtained that the IHB was of use to MAs, the need was once again emph asised to complete and return the qu es tionn aires. In view of the procee dings of Committ ee 'C' be in g fin ali se d ea rli er th a n th e o th e r Commi ttees, additional copie s of the IHB questionnaire were prov ided and delegates were invited to complete them be fore they depruted from the Co nference .

Th e subj ec t of the medi ca l effec ts of night shifts was supp orted by a signi fica nt and ve ry deta iled W orkin g Paper fr o m SC 4 . D ag H a rs tad of N o rway. was res ponsib le for puttin g toge th er a mos t co mprehe nsive Paper identifying the fac tors affec tin g slee p patterns and s hi ft wo rk in g. Th e w ho le p ape r was take n as guida nce mat er ial and w ill no doubt prov ide the foundati o ns for so me spec ifi c IF A T CA po ]icy to be deve loped . Th e Pa per also supp orted ex isting policy w hich also serves to indica te th at co nt ro ll e rs 's ubj ec ti ve ' o pini o n should be ta ke n ser iously, and be co nside red va lid , eve n when the empiri ca l. sc ie nt if ic ev id e nce h as no t ye t bee n determin ed. It was usef ul to see that the co nce rns Dag had identi fied on sleep ing patte rn s was be in g take n se ri o us ly by the me mb er s o f th e Co mmitt ee. w ith severa l of them ' nod din g off ' durin g the pr ocee d ings . But no t throu g h D ag¡s prese ntation, howeve r 11 Eq ually imp ort ant to co ntroll ers is the s ubj ec t of s tr e ss a nd pa rti c ul a rl y th e

Co mmittee C Delegates

THE CONTR OLLER/MA RCH 97

_____

_________

IFATCA '97 ______

________

_

effects of traumatic stress following an incident or accident that the controller has been involved with. Trinidad and Tobago were incidental in bringing this important topic to the floor , following their work in SC4. The subject of Critical Incident Stress Management was a feature of the first Professional Panel during the New Zealand Conference in 1993. The Working Paper underlined the importance of dealing with CISM and at the same time sought to review existing IF A TCA Policy on stress and provide new policy on CIS and CISM. The importance of providing comprehensive and confidential support CISM services to A TCOs, as well as ensuring that working environments are as stress free as po ssi ble , was adopted as policy. Several MAs , already able to receive/provide CISM , gave examples of how stress coun se lling was employed in their countries and the positive effects it had on ATC personnel. IFATCA now has policy requiring all employers and provider s of air traffic services personnel to provide professionally trained CIS support services.

ACAS (TCAS) Training for ATCOs was another agenda item that lead to existing lF ATCA policy being reconsidered and added to.

The increasing use of TCAS as an airborne traffic avoidance system has been globally recognised , and accepted. However , there are many countries where controller training in the use of TCAS, and the means to deal with reso lution or traffic advisory actions by aircrew, has not been acknowledged as necessary or essential.

IFATCA now has policy to ensure that all national administrations recogni se the involvement of ATCOs in the use of TCAS and for the nee d for adequate ab-initio and refre sher training to fami Iiarise the mse lve s with the airborne sys te ms.

SC7 was able to prese nt the first examp les of IF A TCA' s central data bank of juri sprudence and the format in which the information is collated. SC7 had also upd ated existing policy on accident and incid ent inv est igat ion s, particularly with reference to the conf identiality and use of any recorded data. The imp ortance of maintaining credibility and protection of the controller was at risk , if reco rded data , suc h as R/T tape recordings. were released to th e media be fore any independ e nt analysis and inv es tigati on took place. Inc ide nts in the Netherlands and the rece nt air co llision in India were discussed.

Following on from las t yea r 's joint di scussion on the role of controllers with regard to surface movements. SC7 prepar ed an initial paper to rev iew the lega l aspect s of aerodrome controllers a nd the use of unqualifi ed staff Th e subj ec t is a complex on e. requiring further study before any definitive policy ca n be forwarded. It did. how eve r. bring into focu s the area s of res pons ibilit y that controller s now find them se lves in. e sp eciall y wh e n mo nit or in g and controlling traffi c in poor weath e r condition s w ith limit e d assis ta nce from anci ll ary s urfa ce m o nit o rin g eq uipm e nt. The use of unqu a lifi ed staff was the subj ect of a fur th e r Working Pap e r, le ading to polic y co nfirmin g that thos e a llocat ing unqualifi ed staff to an ATC task ar e dir ectl y res pon sible for the actions of tho se staff. Thi s po !icy ha s pro ved to be tim e ly . g iven th e c irc um stances occ urring in Africa and e lsew he re. where unqu a lifi ed sta ll have bee n use d w he n ATCOs have tak e n indu strial action. ... pog e 3.Z

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 1997

Updating ATIS- VOLMET? C CRIMP has the solution to remove the heavy work load: Fully Auto mated ATIS/VOLME T Eliminates all recording tasks

•

Consistent speed and quality secure clear broadcas ts to pilots

•

Long experience and many ope rational systems wo rldwide ensure the functionali ty requi red by the use rs

...

•

Comme rcial Off The Shelf product

CRIMP

'Id'

CRIM P NS Solv ang 30 , Lille r0d DK-345 0 Aller 0d tel.: +45 48 100 500 fax: +45 48 100 550

Selected for Hong Kong New Airport at Chek Lap Kok

21

_______

__

____

IFATCA '97 _____

____

___

_

NEW EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS During the IFATCA '97 Conference the following two new Executive Board members were elected. As is customary, each of them was invited to give a short resume of their ATC experience etc. They are both very welcome to the team.

PAR) , area and terminal radar and supervisory positions.

He held various positions on Branch Committees and the E xe cutive of the New Zealand Air Traffic Controllers ' Association (NZATCA) in the 1970 ' s and 80 ' s. He was Industrial Director and chief negotiator for NZA TCA (and subsequently the ATC Council ofNZALPA ) from 1986-1991.

He was involved in the amalgamation of the air traffic controller s with the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA ) in 1989 and was Vice Pre sident of NZALPA from I 991 to 1994 , being respon sible for the administrative and financial man age ment of the As soc iation. He was organi se r for the 1995 Asia-P ac ific IFATCA Regional Meeting , held in Auckland. He ha s served on Standing Committee 6 of IFAT-

DEPUTY PRESIDENT- Paul Robinson

CA since 1994, including two years as its Chairman.

Paul is an operatio nal air traffic controller performing terminal radar and approac h duties a t Auckland International Airpor t in New Zealand. Paul co mm ence d hi s ATC career in 1967 and he ha s worked in towe r and appro ac h at both dom es tic an d intern at ion al airports . ocea ni c, militar y ( including

Paul is married to Gleni s and they have a daught er aged 20 and a 17 year old son. His inter ests outside A TC are boatin g. scuba di ving , golf and watching rugby. +

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT TECHNICAL - Martin Cole Marti n has bee n an Area Co ntroll er at Wash ingto n A ir Route Traff ic Co ntro l Ce nter. located in Lees burg. VA , since 1983. He has been certified in two Areas of Specia lization there.

Ove r four yea rs ago. Martin started hi s ac ti ve in vo lveme nt wit h new tec hn o logy re lated to A TC. He first se rv ed as a Workgro up represe ntati ve for his associ ation . NATCA, on the FAA "s Data Link Operat iona l Req uirements Team (DLORT) .

T hi s gro up w a s tasked with th e V is io n . Co n cep t , a nd O pera tion a l Requirements Document fo r the Aero nauti ca l

22

Data Link system (ADL).

In ea rl y 1995 he became NATCA 's National Technolo gy Represe ntative for Dat a Link , and worked full time at FAA Hea dquart ers in Washington , DC whil e remaining current o n one control po sition at Wa shin gton ARTCC. In Jun e 1995, Martin was se lected to repres ent IFATCA on the ICAO Automatic Dependent Surveillance Panel (ADSP).

Thi s gro up rece ntly completed and sent to the Air Navi ga tion Commi ss ion the Drqft /CAO Manual of Air Traffi c S en 'ice s (ATS) Data Link Applications . While serving on the Pane l, he ha s worked clo se ly with the IFALPA represe ntativ e to ensure that many pro visions were includ ed in thi s Manu al that were of importan ce to both co ntroll ers and pilots. Also stemmin g from thi s Panel work , several elements of Provi sional IFATCA Policy were adopted at the rece ntl y completed IF ATCA Conference in Taipei , Taiw an.

Jn other areas of the aviation world , Martin hold s a Pri va te Pilot ce rtific ate, rat e d for Single E n g ine Land a nd fo r In strum ent fli ght. He is also lice nsed by the United States Parac hut e A sso ciation (USPA) as a D-rat ed Expe rt pa rachuti st with Instru ctor and Jumpma ster ratin gs, and is a FAA ce rtifi ed Se nior Para chut e Rigger.

Martin is 43 yea rs old and befo re beco min g an air traffi c controll e r was a union J o urn ey man Carpenter.

His hob bi es includ e sailing and comp uters . +

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

/ COMMUNICATION

STRAIGHTFORWARD Schmid

Telecommunication

connects

air-t raffic

controllers with pilots and other ATC centers with a revolutionary standard of quality. Rapidly, simpl y and as reliably as a Swiss watch.

A wealth of know-how as a leader in the communications field coupled with state-of-the-art

digital

technology makes all this possible.

The user interface , for example , is based a touchscreen,

on

which

not only makes life a lot easier for users but also cuts expense mum

work

and

to

a mini-

when

systems

are adapted to future developments .

Make your skies safe . And ca ll us for more information .

Binzst rasse 35 , CH - 8045 Zur ich Phone + 4 1 - 1 - 4 5 6 1 1 1 1 Fax + 4 1 - 1 - 4 61 4 8 8 8

___

__

________

IFATCA '97 _____

_ _ _ ____

_

THE FINAL PLENARY Fo ll ow ing a we ek o f h a rd wo rk , together w ith a n exce llen t so c ia l and Accomp any in g Pe rson s' pro g ra mm e , all assembled aga in fo r the Final Pl enary Session in the T ICC. Yet aga in , a minor miracle was ac hieved with th e produ ction of a com pl ete se t of amend ed and final note s fro m all the comrn j ttee deliberat ions. Trus is no mea n fea t fo r a co nfe rence of thi s size and is one th at is very seldom achieved by any orga ni sa tion world -wide . Th e Secr eta ri at staff and the mem bers of the orga ni sing staff involve d w it h the product io n of th e notes are to be co ngra tul ated on thi s sign ifica nt a chi e v e m e n t. Mos t o f th e imp o rt ant dec is io n s of th e week ar e sum mar ise d in the Comm ittee repo rts.

Howeve r, a num ber of significa nt eve nts too k place du rin g the Plenary th at wa rrant further atte ntion.

Last yea r , th e E x e c uti ve B oa rd instigate d an E xec utive Boa rd A wa rd to sig ni fy o ut s tan din g se r v ice s t o t h e Federa tion. This year , two of these pr es tig ious awa rds we re made . T he fir st wa s made to M r. C o lin H u m e o f B ri t is h Airways. Co lin has bee n a long tim e friend of IF A TCA and has ass isted our mem bership all ove r the world in their duty trave l to IFA TCA ven ues . In appr eciat ion of this exce pt ional se rv ice and i n ack now le d ge men t o f t h e s u p p o r t given by British Airways . the Exec uti ve Boar d we re p lease d to recog ni se t hi s ass istance with the awa rd of the cer tifi cate to Co lin. U n fo rt un at e ly, Co lin Hume had to leave the Co nference early

The Pr!!.l"idi!II/ prese11r.1路 Coli n Hu 111ewith the Exec 111il'I! Bourd A ,,路w路d.

but the prese ntation was made to him at an eve ning function during the week .

The seco nd Exec utive Boa rd A wa rd was made to the retir ing Exec uti ve Vice

24

The Pr es ident p resents Chri s Stock with the Execu tive Board Awa rd.

Pr es ident Techni ca l, Chri s Stock for his lo ng and ex cepti o nal se rvice to IFATC A . C hri s h as see n the F e d era ti o n throu gh a very di fficult tim e of deve loping techn o log ies and he ha s instiga ted a stru cture th at w ill se rvice the tec hnical requi re ments of IF A TC A into the futur e.

In an exce pti onal but mos t we lcome m ov e , th e Pr es id e nt in v it e d th e Imm e di a t e P a s t Pr es id e nt , C h a rl es Stu a rt t o ma ke th e n ex t a wa rd , th e Scro ll o f Ho nour. Th e Scro ll of Honour has bee n de ve lope d to recog ni se o utstandin g service to the Federati on.

As a perso na l friend and co lleag ue of many yea rs, it wa s mos t fittin g that C harl es sho ul d de !i ver the va lediction for the awa rd . In an emotional delivery, C h a rl e s ack n ow ledge d th e re tir i n g Deput y Pres ident , Neil Vidl er, who has been a loya l and dedi ca ted serva nt of IF A T CA for many ye ars .

pant s. Forty Corporate Member s attende d th e ev ent to g ether w ith 7 International Orga nisations and go vernment ob se rv ers. Th ro ugho ut the wee k ge ne rou s spon s or ship of me a ls a nd social events were enjoyed by all and our grateful thank s are extend ed to those sponsors that includ ed CAA ROC , Th e China A v ia ti o n Dev e l o pm e nt Found ation , China Airlin es , Far Eas tern Air Tran sport , M and arin Airlin es , Uni Air , Th e Lee foo Hotel, T aiwan T obacco a nd Win e , Br e itlin g , A IDC , Fli g ht Safe ty Fo und ation, Sin ora ma , Ev a A ir, Jap an As ia Air ways, A siaworld Pl aza Hote l, M ag no lia Ho te l a nd IBM. W e th ank yo u al I. T he Fin al Plen ary was brought to an end by the speec h from the Pres ident of !FA TCA which prov ided a fittin g co nclu sion to the hard wo rk of the previous wee k. +

From I August 1986 to 1989 , Neil was the Regional Vice Pres ident for the Pac ifi c Reg io n. A fter the 1990 res tructurin g of the Fed eration, he beca me the Exe c ut ive V ice Pr e sid e nt of th e Asia Pac ific Region, a pos ition he held from 1990 to I 994 . A t t he 1994 IF AT C A Con fe rence , in Ottawa , he was electe d to b ec ome th e De put y Pr es ide nt of th e Fe der ation, the po sition fro m which he retires at the end of the 1997 Co nference .

In recog niti on of his e leven ye ar s outstand ing se rvice Neil Vidler was awarded the !FATC A Scroll of Honour.

D u rin g Co n fe re n ce so m e 6 0 Me m b e r Assoc ia ti o ns h ad be e n dec lared together with ove r 500 partici-

N iel Vidler /ce ntr e) re cl!i1路es the Sem i/ of' Honour/iw n Charles S11wn Irighri ,rirh co11gm tulurio11sJ im11Pree/en Luuridse n / lefi ).

THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 97

ATC '97

~

J\.LINK

Iss ue s di scu ssed at Maa stricht '97 EG ATS Forum 0 Patrick Schellin g, Contributin g Edit or t is be co min g a tradition that th e fir st day of the ATC Conf erence at Maastricht is ho sted by EGA TS , the Euroc o ntrol Guild of Air Traffi c Servic es. Thi s yea r's th eme was Air Ground D ata-Link , a burnin g s ubj ec t that was prese nted from diffe rent ang les as the spea kers went "on stage" .

Thi s paper is base d on the prese ntations as well as the ensuin g discu ssion s du rin g th e fo rum. So m e passag e s a re reproduc ed here in full whil e oth ers are edit ed to save space . Th e objecti ve of thi s Pap er is to hi ghli ght th e diff erent ex pe rt s conc e rn s th at ac co mp any th e introducti on of Data-Link.

M r. V andenbrouck e . Dir ec to r of the Maas tricht Centre opened the forum remindin g the audi ence th at the (one and only) Euro control Area Control Centr e at M aas tricht is holdin g its 25th anniv ersa ry thi s yea r and can be co nsidered a D a t a -Link C e ntr e s in ce tri a l s h ave alr eady bee n co ndu cted at this unit. Wi th a traffic growth of 75% ove r the past ten yea r s a nd a n ex p ec te d o ne milli o n fli ght s in 199 7. data-linkin g mi g ht be o ne o f th e answers to so lve ca pac it y pro bl e ms . He po int ed o ut th at use ful co nc lu s ions co uld be d raw n fr o m th e fi rs t P ET A L (Pre liminar y Euro co ntr o l T es t of A ir/G ro und D ata- Link ) tri a ls .

He also sa id that futur e ATC co mmunica tion w ill not be poss ible w ithout some amount of data-lin king to co pe w ith traff ic futur e de m a nd. but wa rn e d th a t exte nsive R&D wo rks need to be co mpleted before impl ementation.

PhiliJJpe Domogala . spea kin g fo r the air traff ic co ntro llers, int rodu ced the subj ec t by say ing that Data-Li nk is not new since it was already used in 1956 be for e the introdu ctio n of vo ice co mmuni catio n. Th e first operational DataLink ma chi nes were used to aut omatica ll y deco de and e nco de .. Q .. Co d e s ( i .e . QN H ) o n m o r s e fr e qu e n c ies .

Vo ice co m muni ca tion (V HF R/T) wa s then int rod uced and rep lace d the DataLin k ma chin es ' T oday . he continu ed .

R/T is still superior in qu ality and spee d co mpa red to Data-Lin k - so why do we need to change? Th ere are other reaso ns tha n sp ee d and qua /i; ,- . a ltho ug h he be li eve s th a t th ese t wo is s ue s a lon e co uld delay the operationa l intr odu ct ion of a "'p ure Data-L ink environment."'

Rather than e lab o rat ing o n the rea l

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

re ason s w hy D ata-Link is being pu shed in A TC , he po sed a series of qu estions th a t , in hi s view , w ill have to be answe red befor e goin g opera tion al with Data-Link . How eve r, Philipp e Doma ga la w as quic k to point out that these qu estions " ... are not neces sarily fear s of the unknown or fea rs of change, but worries that need to be listed."

Th e fir st qu es ti o ns fo cuse d on th e h a rdwar e and prot oco ls to b e u se d .

Will it b e M o d e S , VHF , S a te llit e , ATN , A C ARS o r so m e thin g e l se?

Conc e rnin g th e tra ns mi ss ion spee d s , th ese a re c urr e ntl y ca lc ul a te d fr o m equipm ent to equipm ent. Wh at are th e average tim es of tran smi ss ion fro m person to perso n? In our case , pilot to controll er and vice ve rsa ?

Th e Hum a n-M ac hin e Int erfac e (HM I) is also an iss ue s ince qu es ti o n marks floa t aro und on how are we (the co ntroll e rs a nd pil ots alik e) go in g to send and de code me ssage s? Ergonom ics w ill play a m aj or rol e when int rodu cing Data-Lin k. Will the pilot be pun ching in data and rea din g messa ges') How w ill thi s wo r k in hi g h de ns it y a irspa ce at lowe r altitud es where the pil ots have to loo k out fo r VFR traffi c?

A n o th e r in te re s tin g s ubj ec t w a s raised. Th e language to be used, will it be English or will other language s be used to transmit message s? And . how can we be sure that we are co mmuni cat ing with the rig ht aircra ft ? So me recent ca ses hav e show n that aircraf t have rece ived mes sages th at we re not intend ed fo r the m.

Phili ppe explained . W ill hackers be ab le to send unauthorised messages to aircraft (s uc h has bee n the cas e rece ntly w ith VHF?)_Or. how do we detect overload of a co ntro ller via Data- Lin k?

Philip l\larien . EGATS Pres ide nt w as a ls o ta lk in g fr o m a co ntro ll e rs · po int o f view and as ked : '"W hy do we need a new wa y of co mmu nica ting w ith aircra ft? It wo uld provide more capa city w he n imp le me nt ed but thi s ar g ume nt see ms to be mainly of interes t to the air1i n e c o m pa ni es and t he a ir t ra ff ic ad mi n is tr at io ns ra th e r th e n th e co ntro llers . T he frequ ency is a we ak po int. and this und oubted ly has co nsequ ences fo r the sa fety and aff ect s the eff iciency o f a sect or."' he conceded. "'but for contro llers . it is c lear tha t there are many mo re facto rs in flue nc ing ca pac iiy and

D ata-Lin k , in it se lf. w ill not m ea n a capac ity increase . It cou ld," he stress ed . " allow us to handl e more traffic. B ut if there are no other change s, such as signific ant airs p ace re stru cturing. majo r sys t e m u pgra d e s, h armoni sa ti o n bet ween centr es in a w ho le reg ion and mos t imp ortant of all , a maj or incr ease in airpo rt capac ity, D ata-Link w ill not allow more traff ic. T hings ma y be di ff e re nt in a r eas w he r e traffic is no w mainl y co ntro lled proced ura lly . such as O cea ni c ai rspace . H e re. the po ten t ia l increa se seem s more log ical, be ca use of the poss ib ility to redu ce the separa tio n stand ards ."

S p eak in g o n A DS (A ut omatic Depend ent Sur ve illance ), Phili p Mar ien sa id th at base d o n the a ircraft 's own nav igati on equ ipm ent. str ip boards w ill be allowe d to be replaced by e lec tron ic di s pl a ys, no t u n li ke ra da r di sp lays .

Studies m ust show j ust w hat new se para tion stand ards can be app lied. b ut it is e xp ected that th ey ' ll be s m al ler th an tod ay ·s stand ard s. In thi s e nviro nme nt. as well in all places w here Dat a-Link is introd uce d. new sys te m s . pro ce dure s and tra ining progra m s w ill ha ve to be wo rked out ve ry ca refu lly to al low contro llers to co pe w ith the tec hno logy and w ith the poss ib le traffic increase .

A ls o. a ma tt e r that is eas ily ove rlook ed befo re cap ac ity is incr eased . is the prov ision of ade qu ate back up facilities s hou ld e le ment s of th e Data-Link sys tem fai l. How w ill an Ocea n ic contr o ll e r co ntinu e t o e n s ur e t h e new redu ce d se parat io n standa rds w he n he does not have the more acc urat e position reports·, Ca n an en-ro ute co ntro l !er fall bac k on frequ ency. w itho ut becom ing instantl y over loa ded·J R ega rd in g the im p le m e ntati o n of Data-L in k P hil ip sa id that he did not ca re w hether a piece of info rm at ion was se n t o ve r Mode S. a VHF channel. sat e lli te . fa x o r Fe de ral Exp ress' All that matt ered was that info rmati on got to where it wa~ s uppos ed to be as fast or fas ter than a vo ice message 1 "'Anothe r co nce rn is th e e normou s proc es. ing po we r needed to handl e the me ssa ges that wi l! travel to a nd from the diffe rent partners in the futur e sys tem. The aircraft. air traffi c co ntrol . flow contro l. weather office». ai rport ;, and airline opera to rs and mayhe C\·en ii),

25

ATC '97 military ATC centres will communicate in real time! Some experts say that it may be a real challenge to provide this (computing) capacity in the future! ¡¡Assuming that the processing power allows for all the messages to be delivered "on time" there are the different message formats and priorities. For a controller, everything he wants to 'say' to an aircraft has to receive priority over other people's messages.

Within our own set of instructions, there are also different levels of urgency. I'm also sure that an airline dispatcher feels that some of his messages can be rather urgent, not to mention flow controllers," Philip continued.

What about the security of this system? It's true that, at present, frequency, hasn't got much to offer in that respect either, and that practically anybody with a VHF transceiver could issue false instructions to aircraft. However, the number of idiots that would do this is limited because a very specific preknowledge must be present. With a wide computer network, it is not unimaginable that someone fakes messages, and uploads them to aircraft. Not only would there be more people (hackers) world-wide probably able to do this, they would also be virtually untraceable if they did. Even the most top security networks in the world, such as the Pentagon, have been broken into several times!

Another issue is the display of the data. This should not only be seen from the controllers' point of view, but also from that of the pilots'. Designing an efficient and workable HMI, seems to be extremely difficult.

Also, the danger of an 'information overload' is a real one. At the moment, for controllers, information comes in through different channels: with our ears, we listen to the radio frequency and telephone and with our eyes. we see what happens on the radar, and read data on strips or electronic displays.

With data-link, the focus moves exclusively to visual observations.

Take for example the so-called party line effect. When this is quoted in documents on Data-Link, it mainly deals with the consequences for the air crews: since there will be Jess talking on the frequency. pilots will loose their general picture they claim they have of the traffic. and this will have consequences for safety. To counter this. a system for situation awareness in the cockpit i~ proposed. During the PET AL trial in Maastricht. some pi lots thought it was

26

realistic to have a screen displaying traffic up to 150 miles around them.

Whenever pilots fly through busy airspace, they have enough problems trying to pick out the calls that are directed at them, let alone listen to other calls, never mind interpreting them. TCAS has given them some impression of what is going on around them, but Philip Marien does not think it is reasonable to expect from them that they have a complete picture.

What pilots do need, is some sort of idea of whether a controller is busy or not. It could influence his requests for levels, direct routes, etc. In a radio environment. it's easv: if the controller is talking constantly: he's busy. If there are breathing spaces, he's.probably got some time on his hands to arrange direct routings. Exactly how, in a Data-Link environment, pilots would be told that a cont ro II er has a lot of things to do, is unclear. A display simply telling him "there are 25 aircraft in the sector you are flying through" doesn't mean much.

Neither does a display with all the traffic.

What exactly would stop a pilot from making one request after the other via his on-board computer? Will the controller have a possibility to ignore certain messages when he's too busy? These are problems that can't be solved with procedures. Philip Marien thinks they should be addressed in the HMI design.

On the controller's side, the situational awareness on a sector is also affected to great extent by the use of Data-Link. A radio provides a very important means of cross checking.

Assistants (or co-ordinators) can intercept mistakes made by the radar controller, while radar controllers can listen to phone co-ordination their assistant makes, without taking his eyes off the radar, thus reducing the need for in-sector co-ordination to a minimum. This cross checking is a vital safety issue and listening in helps all the controllers on one sector to follow what is going on.

With Data-Link, it becomes very hard to follow exactly what someone else is doing. Unless the person beside you constantly explains his or her actions, cross checking becomes very difficult.

As a solution, visual indications on the radar screen may be a solution, provided they are implemented correctly. The danger is that too much information is presented on the screen for the controller to take in. He wouldn't see the wood for the trees, and might miss important messages, no matter how colour coded they are.

Partly to counter this, the radio would continue to be used for tactical instructions. I don't want to enter into the discussion of what are tactical and what are strategic messages, suffice to say, that there is no clear line between them when it comes to clearing aircraft.

A routing instruction, considered strategic, might become tactical if it's used to provide separation a bit further along the way.

But does the mixed environment make things easier for controllers?

Certainly, the way of building his or her picture of the traffic, will change radically. Rather than listening to who is calling up at the borders of the sector, an aircraft will change colour, or blink or whatever. When a pilot wants something, other things can happen, change colour, blink at a different rate, all depending on the urgency of his request. A controller will have to process all this. I don't think visual triggers have the same effect as aural stimuli. More "warnings" in daily life (even in cockpits) are given by audio signals, rather than by flashing lights.

Depending on the parameters that will be laid down for Data-Link implementation, another problem could be what Philip Marien calls the loss of sequentiality. Radio interaction at the moment is certainly a sequential process, in that a pilot asks something, to which the controller replies with an instruction, that is then acknowledged and executed by the pilot. Then maybe another aircraft asks something, etc.

With Data-Link, it is perfectly possible that 3 or 4 requests arrive on the controllers' screen at the same time.

Hopefully, the way they are displayed will draw the controllers' attention and trigger some action, possibly 4 clearances that go out almost instantaneously. By the time the acknowledgements come in from the aircraft, the controller might have already engaged in other business with other aircraft. This difference in working 'parallel' rather than 'sequential' seems underestimated. if not neglected, in most studies.

Needless to say, the HML will have to be designed in such a way that a controller can deal with this adequately.

This is probably the biggest problem Data-Link faces. Whether on the pilots' side or on the controllers¡ screen, it presents the software designers with a formidable challenge to incorporate everything that is needed into a new electronic environment. This should not only incorporate Data-Link. but other

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

ATC '97 advanced Air Traffic Management tools, such as medium or long term conflict detection, etc.

Philip Marien concludes that there are many unresolved issues surrounding the use of Data-Link in air traffic control.

He thinks it is vital that controllers and pilots stay very critical about all aspects of Data-Link implementation.

It is important that as the main future users, they are involved from the very beginning in the design of both systems and procedures. Practical, hands on experience, such as the PET AL trials in the Maastricht UAC, are proving to be of exceptional value in adjusting requirements for the new systems. Hopefully, it is through trials like these, that in the not too far away future, we will be able to use a mature and complete system.

Steve Zerkowitz of IATA presented the Airline's view on Data-Link and elaborated on the reasons why Data-Link is needed? The points in favour are the reduction in human error, increase in productivity, better use of av~ilable resources, integrated ATM air and ground systems, free flight, etc., but the real answer is information interchange .

Indeed, if we are serious about wanting to make the best of the data available on board aircraft and in various ground systems; if we want to integrate the various elements of the ATM System thereby increasing its ~fficiency and making it capable of catenng to the needs of increasing traffic, and if we want to realise one of the basic tenets of free flight, we will have to exchange a tremendous amount of data between air-and-ground and air-and-air so that the information to be deduced from that data is available when needed. Only Data-Links can do that effectively, Steve Zerkowitz said.

Like previous speakers, he also pointed out the challenge of designing an appropriate (cockpit) HMI for the ~ew A TM environment. Here too. possible information overload in the aircraft is a major concern. He also concedes that ACARS. from a purely HMI point of view, will be totally inadequate to display sophisticated information in the future._ If there is little doubt that Data-Lmk will become a reality in a more sophisticated form, the implementation will be largely cost/benefit driven according to IATA. Steve Zerkowitz says that ¡¡anyone proposing new equipment is frowned upon. unless a clear business case can be made with a payback period typically not exceeding 5 years". As an example. to equip one aircraft with an

THE CONTROLLER/MARCH 97

CNS/ATM-1 package, the bill could run over I million US$, excluding engineering, training and certification!

To conclude his speech, Steve Zerkowitz said "what airlines need is an ATM system with enhanced capacity, flexibility and safety, accommodating optimised aircraft routing and flight profiles and ultimately free flight. To attain that goal, we will have to develop a common, global CNS/ ATM aim supported by a limited set of inter-operable solutions, unhindered by archaic institutional or political considerations".

Captain Terry Hanson, raised the same question of possibly overloading controllers with information they may not be able to handle in terms of the amount and form presented. Not to speak of the possible system overload, which ..." happens frequently in time critical, high order, task intensive operational situations", Terry Hanson remarked.

A perfect example is the "sensory attenuation" that often happens due to overloa~ during s~mulator proficiency check ndes. Dunng these instances pilots may loose the overall pictur~ while things look clearer from, say, the jump seat. The same can be true for controllers. The supervisor may see things a controller might miss. What will they do when the trickle of information becomes a torrent, then a flood and finally a deluge? ' Terry Hanson suggests what might happen: "They will do some personal load shedding. We will see controller's tailoring their scopes to present the maximum data count they can personally handle. This sounds like an optimum solution to data presentation. But, it isn't", he continued.

Data-Link is different from VOICE communications on a number of fronts.

It is easy to get trapped into thinking that we will use Data-Link in the same manner that we currently use VOICE. We will not. The human factors issues regarding Data-Link are a rich research treasure trove that is just now beginning to be explored.

If Data-Link truly is different from VOICE. how is it that we have such difficulty in comprehending that difference?

It is because Data-Link also has great similarities to VOICE. Data-Link and VOICE are similar in the same way that apples and oranges are alike. Both are nourishing fruits. different in texture and taste: but similar in origin-both from trees - and disposition - they sustain life.

Data-link is related to VOICE in much the same manner that poetry is

related to prose. Both communicate thoughts to the reader; somehow poetry lifts the spirit by involving the reader in the imagery of the human soul more than simple prose does. No one can deny that the two forms are different; yet no one can deny that they are related. So it is with Data-Link and VOICE : two aspects of a common coin, two mediums to express communications, two techniques to achieve understanding. Each is unique to itself yet each complements the other in its appropriate domain.

Patrice Behier, a former Maastricht controller and now project leader for the Preliminary Eurocontrol Test of Air/Ground Data-Link trials (PET AL) at Eurocontrol, started by providing an overview of the issues by saying that routine R/T constitutes approximately 49% of the sector workload distribution.

This has been identified as being a significant capacity and service limitation while performing ATC. Likewise, realtime studies have shown significant (time) savings when using Data-Link.

A Eurocontrol Task Force, named "Operational Development of Initial A/G Data Communication" (ODIAC), including members of 8 States, Industry, IATA, IFALPA, IFATCA, Airlines and Maastricht Operations. is co-ordinating these activities and contributes to the world-wide standardisation via the prov is ion (to ICAO) of consolidated European requirements.

The group specifically looks at user developed requirements. airlines and ATM needs (in terms of cost. safety and productivity). procedures. human factors as well as safety inherent parts of the requirements.

With the operational trials of PET AL I now completed and its objectives attained. a second phase (PETAL II) will start in November 97 and go through December 98. More aircraft and ATC units will be involved this time.

One of the limitations experienced during PET AL I was that only one Data-Link equipped aircraft was active. in a (ATC) sector and on an ATC voice channel. at any one time.

27

UPDATE

EZO:E

AGENDA 1997

Skycontrol APRIL

21 - 25 GNSS 97 Symposium, Munich Contact - DGON Phone +49 2 11 369909 Fax

+49 2 11 351645

23 - 25 Inter Airport Singapor e Con tac t

In terfa m a

Brooks

Exhjbitions Pte Ltd Phone +44 1707 27564 1 Fa x

+44 1707 275544

MAY

23 - 26 CATCA

20 th Biennial

Convention , Hote l Ne wfoundl and , St John ' s, Newfound land Contact - JoAnne St-Gelais, CA TCA Phone + 1 613 225 3553 Fax

+ l 613 225 8448

JUNE 3 - 6 ATCA

Confere nce a nd

Exhjbit s, Prague Contact - Carol New master Phone + I 703 522 57 17 Fax

+ 1 703 527 7251

4 - 5 IFATCA Symposium, Harare

Co ntact - EVP Africa Midd le East , Oliver Fa rirayi.

Phone +263 4 5751 87 Fax

Meet ing, Harar e Co ntact - Exe cutive Secretary, Edg e Gree n.

Phone +44 1635 247890 +44 1635 247 891

AUGUST 27 - 29 I nt e rn a ti o n a l Av ia t io n

Safety Co nference, Rotte rdam, The Nether lands Contact - Mr Ha ns M Soekk ha Pho ne +3 1 182 572046

Fax

28

Exte nsive di scu ss ions at vario us leve ls are now tak in g place , as th e dec is ion nears. Jn thi s pape r, Skycontrol looks at the diff erent facts and figures as we ll as the poss ible implications sho uld the Minister s dec ide to go-a head with the project und er its proposed form .

Th e ZOE airspac e conc e rn ed e xtend s over fi ve Europe a n A ir Traffic Control Centres. including Aix-en-Pro ve nce , Geneva , Par is.

Reims a nd Z uri c h . in lin e w ith th e ECAC Stra teg y . w hi c h promot es th e ZOE Proj ec t.

The ZOE Proj ec t was pre se nt ed ex te nsive ly in the Jun e 96 ed itio n of ÂŤThe Controller Âť.

A lar ge, re a l-tim e s imul atio n e xe rc ise co nducted in 1993 at the ENAC (Eco le Na tionale d e I' Av iatio n C iv il e) in Toulouse. c lea rl y demon strated the fea sibilit y of ce rtain sce narios . in c ludin g th e ass oc iated capac ity ga in s req uir ed to cop e w ith the present. as we ll as futur e tr a ffic growth in o ne of th e bu s ies t ar eas in Europe . It a lso showed that. from an o p e r a ti o n a l po int of v iew . the ZOE area wo uld be be st managed o ut of a single ATC Unit.

+26 3 4 57516 3

6 - 9 IFA T C A Ex ec utive Board

Fax

A

n imp o rtant d ec is io n rega rdin g the Fran co -S w iss ZOE Proj ec t is du e to b e tak e n. b y both r espec ti ve M ini stries. aro und September thi s year. The m a in iss ue is not the ZOE Proj ec t itse lf but und e r w hat a rran ge m e nt s a nd from w hich faciliti es the ZOE sec tors w ill be eve ntu ally co ntro lled. Skycontrol , th e Swis s Asso ciate Member of IF ATC A, is supp ortin g th e cre a ti o n of a co mm o n Ce ntr e Unique, fr om w hic h th e ZOE area wo uld be man age d by a bi-national co ntroll e r tea m.

+ 3 1 182 572046

October 1995 , to o rder a feasibility stud y regarding th e j o int opera tion of a co mm on Area Control Centre now ca lled the Centre Commun. To tackl e these issue s, the resp ecti ve Directors of both CAA 's formed tw o wo rkin g gro up s: a n int er- mini s te ri a l hi g h leve l expe rt gro up ca lled GIE (Groupe int er ministerie l d ' experts) and an ex tended stee rin g gro up n a m ed GEPEL (Gro up e cle Pilotage).

While the GIE was purpose ly com posed of representatives from both Mini s tri es , s uch as Foreign Affairs, Defe nc e , Transport and Finance (includin g th ei r res pe cti ve CAA s). providers of ATC as well as a representative of the personnel, the GEPEL , in tum was fom1ccl mainly of operational expe rts and ca llecl upo n an already ex isting working group.

The GIE eva luated the project from an in stitutional. lega l, financial and hum an reso ur ces point of view , while the GEPEL studi ed th e tec hni ca l and opera tion a l pr ob le m s to be so lved . Apa11 from a fe w problems yet to be resolved , the results of the stud y cle arly point toward th e crea ti o n of a Com mon FrenchSw iss Centre as being the best op tion.

Some Technical facts Th e Cen tr e Com mun wo uld be loca ted a t Geneva in a brand new building whic h was built initially for the purpose of crea tin g more floor space for future ex tension. one o r wh ich wo uld have been to concentrate a ll Sw is s upp er airspace there. It is now planned to integrate the Ge nev a ACC sec tors w ith th e aim o f becoming operat ional by e ncl 1997.

In 1994 Fra nce expr es sed its w ill to change s o m e a s pec t s of th e Franco-Swiss H a rmoni sat io n Plan b y re- neg o tiating the financia l agr eem e nt re garding de legated a irspace . France all oca tes to Sw itzerland near ly 50 milli o n SF r. Per ye ar. co llected from user char ges . fo r the se rvice pro vicle cl in the ir de legat ed air space. Th e clelegat ecl airspace represe nts appro xim ate ly 60 '7, of the total area con troll ecl by Ge nev a . T his anno unceme nt create d c o ns id e ra b le co nce rn w ithin th e S w iss A T C co m m uni ty since the year ly amount paid b y Franc e i s e qu i v a le nt to o ne third o r Sw issc ontnJl" s op erating bud ge t. Swi sscon trol is a pri va ti se d e nterpri se mandat e d by the Sw iss G ove rnm e nt to pro v ide A ir T raf fic Se rvices ( AT S ) in Sw itze rland.

The area co ntrolled wo uld comp rise the ZO E 98 area wi th a lowe r lev e l ove r Fra nce be ing FL 200 and ove r the ea stern pan of Swit ze rland FL245. It wo uld be co ntro llecl from 14 sec tors and should be ab le to cope with th e fo rese e n traffic de mand of around 35 o/, ov er the ne xt yea rs for thi s area. It wo uld be staff ed by 224 ATCOs organ ised in te am s ( s tri c t parit y rega rdin g nati ona lity w ill be resp ected) and 120 ot her person ne l (tec hni c ians. spec ia lists. ad mini strati ve personn e l a nd mana ge rs ) w ith globa l parity rega rdin g natio nalit y . Th e bud get was calc ulatecl at around 85 M io SFr . in the op erating phase . Impl e me nt at io n wo ul d beg in 199 8 a nd s h o ul d be a c comp li s he d around 2005.

Recog ni sing the nee d for co herent Air Traffi c Mana ge m e nt in th e ar e a. th e M ini ste r~ o i' T r a n s port of b o th co untri es clec icle cl. in

Ba s ica lly . Sw i,, AT C (h wo uld be offe red ne w c ondi ti o n s to wo r k in th e C e ntr e Comm un whe rea, th e ir Fre nc h coun te rpart s

Sonw Sodal Figures

THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 1997

0

UPDATE

ATE Swiss ATCA

ECT U

AGENDA 1997

wo uld kee p the ir condition s as «civil serva nt sec ond ed to th e ce ntr e in G enev a » . Th e ir wo rkin g co ndition s wo uld be uniqu e and spec ific to th e ATCO s in th e Ce ntr e Co mmun and , in ge ne ral th ey wo uld have the sa m e soc ial condition s, regardle ss of their countr y o f o rig in.

Of co ur se , the re are som e conditi ons which ca nn o t b e alt e re d , for in s t a n ce, pe n s ion sc hemes or social security , being dependent on nationalit y . Th e diff erence s in remun eration w ill be made up by a special fundin g for the Fren ch. As a res ult the net salaries will be the sa me for French and Swiss ATCO s in the same cat eg or y . Thi s wo uld me an an in c rea se of a round 30 % of ne t in c om e for a Fr e n c h emp loyee and 10% loss for a _Swiss empl oyee , co mp ared to the prese nt s1tuat1on.

Th e ri o ht t o s trik e w ill b e g r a nt e d eve n th ouoh ~h ere are still some diff erence s in the a pp lica tio n. It is one o f th e maj or ~chi eve ment s of thi s proj ec t that two co untrie s with ve ry diff erin g vie ws hav e bee n brought into line (o ne co untr y with a long trad1t1on of the ri oht to strik e and th e o ther wh ere ATCO s 0 to stri ke as a trad e-off for oa ve u p the 1-ioht o · ~bta inin g imp rove d soc ial co nditi ons).

to happen in the future'? , .,, ,1.1,at is aoing "' . .

I

Alth o ugh tak ing note of the pos itive cone u0 s .1ons o f both wo rkin oo o ro up s, the Dir ec tors o. f C A d e cid e d in No ve mb e r 1996 o bt a rn m o re in fo rmati o n and an a lte rn ati ve viewpoint by stud ying ad_diti onal options. A small aro up of spec ialists 111 vo lved 111res ol v111 g the ~e mainin g pro ble ms of the GIE and GEPEL gro up s have bee n mandated to loo_kat_the feasibilit y a nd re pe rc uss io ns (unpl1 ca t1o ns) o f two oth er altern ate sce nari os:

W

_ Th e re poss ess io n by France ot· Frenc h airspace cwTent ly de lega ted _to Ge neva ACC. and _ An e nlarged ve rsion o t the Ce ntre Co mmun ( inco rp o ratin g a ll Sw iss air space in c ludin g airspac e be lo w FL245. as we ll as the delega ted French airspace be low FL200J .

Th ese stu d ies s ho uld pro vid e the neces sa ry m ater ia l fo r bot h co untri e s to m ak e a fin a l de c is io n . T he la tt e r a re ex pec ted fro m th e D irec to rs o f th e res pec ti ve CAA s by mi d Jul y and fro m th e M ini ste rs o f Tran spor t by autumn 1997 .

Prnhlems/( )hjection s Fro m an op erat ional po int of view there are no re a l prob le m s . Bot h Fa st and Rea l T im e sim ulat ion\ ha ve ind icated exte nsive (futu re)

benefit s. The main objec tion s to thi s proj ec t lie on the social fact ors side . For vario us reason s (rig ht to strik e , soc ia l securit y, loss of po litical cl o ut , fea r of a n o ut s id e age nc y , re du ce d ne g oti a tin g po we r , e t c) Fr e n c h uni o n s a re to tall y o pp ose d t o the C e ntr e Co mmun . The y have thr ea ten ed th e ir CAA that they will use all mea ns and mea sures to count er thi s proj ec t. Fro m a profe ss ional po int o f view it is di fficult to co mpr ehend th at eve n op era tion al matters are mi suse d to put pr essure on thi s decision . An infamous ex ampl e is th e impl e m e nt ati o n diffi c ult y ex pe r ie nc e d with ARN Y2, where a new rout e stru ctur e was imp lement ed in Nove mb er 1996 throu 0ohout Europ e, with th e exce pti on of Fran ce .

On th e politica l side th ere are add ed fac tors th at influ ence thi s proj ec t: nego tiations fo r a new sur veill a nce ra dar for th e Sw iss A rm y are still und erway (two co ntenders remain I French an d I America n), as we ll as neoo tia . .

0 t1ons wnh the Europ ea n Uni on (Switze rland is still not a memb er).

23 - 26 Inter Airport Frankfurt Contact - Mack Brook s Exhibition s Ltd Phone +44 1707 27564 1 Fax

+44 1707 2755 44

OCTOB ER 4 - 5 European Region al Meeti ng Contact - EVP Europe Guenter Melchert Phone +43 1 9 14 93 483 Fax

+43 1 914 93 484

10 - 12 IFA TC A Executive Board Meeting, Port of Spain Contact- Executive Secretary,Edge Green.

Phone +44 1635 24789 0 Fax +44 1635 24789 1

Possible Implic ations

13 - 14 Ame ricas Reg ional Mee ting

Irrespecti ve of th e o utcom e o f the deci sio n maj or chan ge s will inevitabl y take place w ith~ in Sw iss ATC. If Fr ance takes back the a irspace ov er it 's territ o ry , it w ill result in th e clos ure of on e of the two Swiss Area Co ntro l Ce ntres (Z urich or Geneva ) and a sub stan tial j ob loss within Sw issco ntro l, together with a co mpl ete restru cturin g o f the prese nt Sw iss ATC system .

Port of Spain

Fo r a irspace use rs , if th e Ce nt re Co mmun doe s not happ en, an imm ed iate incre ase in ATC-delay s w ill occur durin g th e tra nsitio n ph ase (w he n th e a ir spac e is be in g ha nd e d ov er to Fra nce) and. post-imp lementation, the ca pac ity will be lower than in any other scenario (eve n status qu o) beca use of the layout of the ZOE 98 ro ute network and the reduced flex ibility of airspace explo itation

Contact - EVP Asia Pacific George Chao

In acco rda nce with ECAC strat egy . two states ha ve collabora ted ex te nsive ly to im p leme nt an ATM proj ec t that is believed will de liver the requir ed ca pac ity upon impl ementat ion. as we ll as into the nex t centur y. For the first tim e sin ce EA T C HI P wa s int ro du ce d two stat es h ave at t e m p te d to impl e m e nt. in s uc h a stra ight-forwar d manner. the conce pt o f closer c o-op e rati o n at d iffe re nt lev e ls . From th e Sw iss ATC A · s po int o f vie w it is a uni q ue c hance to pro ve that thi s pro gra m is mor e th a n _jus t a wo r k in g p a p e r p u b li s he d b y ECAC. but also. a va luab le way of avo idi ng serious j ob losses for Swiss ATCOs.

Contact - TA TCA Phone + 1 809 664 48 52 Fax

+ 1 809 664 42 59

13 - 14 As i a Pacific

Region a l

Meeting, Tokyo

Phone +852 26244057 Fax

+852 26244021

NOVEMBER 24 - 25 Africa/M iddle East Reg ional Meet ing, Nami bia Contact - N AMA TCA Fax

+264 6 123884

Phone +264 6 1239850

DECEMBER 10 - 11 ATC ' 97 Asia/Pacific ,Bali , Indonesia Contact - Donna BusheU, Miller Freeman Phone +44 181 302 8585

+

-

THE CONTROLLER / MARCH 97

SEPTE MBER

----

-

-

-

--

----------

29

-----

-

---

-

--

-

~~OLUMN

BAe 146 AND RATES OF CLIMB

I

Overheard on the frequency: (thanks to "der Augleiter" magazine) Tower: SWR6577 behind the landing British Aerospace 146 on short final , line up and hold .

BA146 Pilot: For your information Sir we are an A VRO LINER 3rd Voice: Doesn't matter, it look s like a jet as well " . Even in England the y joke about it: (From The UK Controller Magazine "Tran smjt ").

PilotBA146: London, EasyJet500, how do you read my transmission?".

Controller: EasyJet 509 , strength 5, but with a muffled humming in the background .

3rd Voice (belie ve d to be that of a Speedbird B747 ): Th at' s his aircraft.

Crossair , the Swiss regional airline, ha s recently introduced the new SAAB 2000 aircraft in addition to their fleet of BA 146s. Surprisingly , the SAAB , de spite being a twin turbo prop aircraft cljmbs faster that the BA I 46 and to hjgher altitudes .

Recently on my frequency: To the pilot of a very slow climbing BA 146 : CRX 123 , can you ex pedite a bit your climb? You are being ca ught up by your colleague in the SAAB behi nd .

BA146 Pilot: Please don't rnb it in.

And whilst talking about poor rates of climb - an old Tri star (LlOl l) on a hot day can be an interesting experience as well: Controller: Brit ish Charter 234 are yo u still climbing? I have a frozen Mo de C (altitu de) rea dout on yo u.

Pilot: No , we are sti ll supp ose d to be climbing , only probably at a slower rate tha n the Mode C updat es !

I have read that Al (R) is now selling its new BAl46 s ( son-y A YRO LINERS ), toget her with pilot s so that the buy er ca n operate the aircraft immediately . It will give 4.5 pilot s per aircraft it says.( I wonder who is the half pilot ?). The article also says that once the buying airline has trained its own pilot s the manufacturer s' ones are to be sent back. But this is an interesting idea, the y should do the sa me wi th our new Air Traffic Co ntrol Ce ntres . Smee all of the new Centres are , on averaoe 2 b, to 3 years late on delive,-y, it should be a ruce and restful career.

CHARLIE's AVIATION PHILOSOPHY (2) Ru le No 3 : " Ev eryth in g i s acco mpli s h e d through Tea mwork until somet hin g goe s wro ng, then only one co ntro ll er ge ts all the blame .. " T hi s reminds me of th e old Co mmuni st joke: We are a democrati c institution here; all the sugges tions are taken toge ther in a fr ee atmosp here after a healthy debate, and the decisions are taken in Moscow ...

This soun ds ve ry fami liar if I repla ce Mos cow wi th my I Headquarters ....

___

BIG$$$$$

co nstantl y that they we re losing mon ey and tri ed to make us be lieve that inef fi c ie nt ATC w as part of their probl e m. I recently fo und a ni ce a rti cle in th e In te rnati o na l Hera ld tribune (30 .12 .96) telling a diffe rent stor y : I T he US Airlin e indu stry ha s booked an a ll time record 4 Billi on US$ profit in 199 6. A US Airlin e Chi ef has co mmented: "T his is the first time since th e woode n prop eller was inve nted that the airlin es have put tog ether 4 years of back to ba ck profi tabilit y .." As if this was not eno ugh, many

I

_________________________________________

30

_

_

_

__

_

_

airlines are now seriously contemplating RAISING their fares by another I 0 % in order to make 1997 profit s another record ... Ah .. Can this mean that profitability has little to do with inefficient ATC after all and mo re to do with the price at which the airlines charge for their tickets ? ....

CALL SIGN CONFUSION One of the very few occasion s when call sign confusion is pleasant for the controller (from the Dutch Controller magazine "De Guildebrief) .

Two aircraft are on the departure freq uency , the KLM029 cleared initially to FLI 70 and requesting higher and the KLM 209 cleared FL 250:

Pilot KLM029: KLM029 is approaching FLI 70 Pilot KLM209 : Ehh ..Confirm you want us to report FLI 70?

Pilot KLM029 : Affirm!

Pilot KLM209: Wilco , KLM209 Maybe they were training for FREE FLIGHT. ....

ANSWERS TO QUIZ 1997 Question 1: How many Members ' Associations joined IF ATCA in 1996?

ANSWER: 8 ( SPAIN, BAHAMAS, GUINEA -BISSAU, LATVIA, SIERRA LEONE, THAILAND, TURKEY AND ZAIRE) Questio n 2: How many of those were from the AFRICAN Region ?

ANSWER : 3 ( GUINEA -BISSAU, SIERRA LEONE AND ZAIRE) Que stion 3: Who was Pre s ident and CEO of IFATCA BEFORE Preben Laurid sen and from which Country did he come from?

ANSWER : CHARLES STUART from Austra lia.

Que stion 4 : What is the type of aircraft and which airline ?

ANSWER : Airb us A320 and TUNISAIR ( Official carrier last year's IFATCA Conferen ce) Que stion 5: Can you determi ne the 3 type s of Aircraft pre se nt on thjs photo (attention , the 4th aircraft down the line is the tricky one) ANSWER: Airbus A300, Boeing B727 and Boeing B737.

Que st ion 6: What type of aircraft are the se?

ANSWER: ILyushin 62 ( IL62-Ms of Polish Airline LOT)

Crossword Results Across:

I In rece nt ye ars the airlin es hav e be en co mplaining

___

I. S. 6.

8.

10.

I I. 12.

Down:

ADRIA IRO RR REMMIE BOEING ONCI SIS!

I. 2.

3.

4.

7.

9.

AIRBUS OREO ROM EOS ARJNC REGIE MINI

Regrettably , there we re no complete ly co rrect so luti on s to th e qui z.

Better luck nex t year. ____J

THE CONTROLLER /MARCH 97

--

--

---

-

---

-

-

-

- ~~OLUMN

~ '

,,,, •

•

..

_________

_

_

___

_

__ 0

-

#

-

"Everything is accomplish ed through teamwork --

.

c::::..

LETTERS To THE EDITOR ARE ENCOURAGED AND APPRECIATED

--

until som ething go es wrong, then 0 11(1' 011e controll er ge ts all the bla me . "

~---------------SUBSCRIPTION THECONTRO LLER. JOURNALOFAIRTRAFFI C CONTROL, is published quarterly by the International Federation of Air Traffic Controller s' Associations (IFATCA).

Iss ues app ear end of March. Jun e, September and December.

Subscription rates are CHF 20 per

annum (4 issues).

Subscription rates for Controllers are CHF 12 per annum (IFATCA member rate) ( 4 issues).

Post and Packing per annum: CHF 6 - UK surface mail outside Europe.

CHF 6.40 Europe. delivery within 14days.

CHF 10.80 airmail. worldwide.

Invoices are priced in Swiss Francs.

Make cheque payable to The Controller Magazine. Credit card payment facilities are now available.

FORM ________________ ___

Please return to the Subscrip1ion Manager, 'Dunadry', Minshu/1 Lane, Wellen.hall, Winsford , Cheshire CW7 4DU, United Kingdom

(BLOCKLETTERSPLEASE) Family Name/ or Company First Name(s) Address __ __ _ ____

Postal Code & Country PLEASEMARKWITHX Cheque Enclosed

Delivery address

_ _ _ ___

I I I I II I I End

_

Against Invoice

CreditCard

CreditCard Visa/Mastercard number Expiry Date Name of Cardholder Address of Cardholder

_ _ _____

II I I I I I I I

I

lfd iffere111ji'm11above

Number of copies required _ _ _ _ The 1ra11 sactio11will appear 011swte111 e/l[as a sale in £Sterli11 g

THE CONTROL LER / MARCH 97

31

THE LAST PAGE ATC '97 MAASTRICHT EXHIBTION CONGRESS CENTRE 25-27 February 1997 ir Traffi c Co ntrol Exhibiti on & Confe rence (A TC 97 ). th e mos t important dedica ted eve nt of its kind to be stage d in E uro pe , att rac ted ove r 2 ,000 visito rs in 199 7 m ak in g it the mos t succe ssfu l show ye t.

Th e exh ib iti o n h as g r ow n fr o m strength to strength ove r the las t seve n years and an increa se of ten per ce nt on last ye ar 's h ug e ly s ucce s sf ul v is itor attenda nce confi rm s AT C's pos ition as one of the larges t int ern ati o nal eve nt s for the globa l air traffic co ntro l indu stry .

Ove r on e hundr ed co mp ani es attended the ev ent wh ich attrac ted severa l new ex hibi tors inc luding AEA Tec hn ology , AR IN C. th e Ger m a n A ir Fo rce , ITT Gi lfil lan a nd SY S ECA . A numb e r of exh ibito rs use d A TC as a laun c h pl atform fo r a hos t of new prod ucts and services. pro v id ing b uye rs an d spec ifier s from the air traff ic con tro l, civil and military secto rs with the mo st foc used platfo rm fo r the exc hange of idea s and tec hno log ies in the ATC industry .

The 199 7 '·New Produ ct Se min ars·· were enthu sias ticall y we lcomed by th e ind ustry and gave ex hibit ors the opp ortunity to bri ef visito rs on ne w pro du cts and se rvices in a cl ass roo m sty le environment w ithin the e xhi b itio n ce ntre .

Co n fere n ce de le ga te s a t bot h t h e EGATS Fo rum a nd the ATC Confe rence org ani sed by Ja ne ' s A irp ort Gro up increase d once ag ai n thi s year. +

A

~ Co11111111/1 ' <' C , ·"111i11 11n/ /ro/ll

/Wf<<' ~ I

As in rece nt ye ar s, th e Co nfer e nc e benefited from a Profess ional Panel. Like the Tec hnica l Panel that prece des it. the Profes sional Pa ne l is now seen to be an imp orta nt ingred ient in the Confe rence forma lities and one that allows a diverse range of subj ects to be pr ese nted w ith direct releva nce to co ntro llers. A lthough a more detailed acco unt will appear. topics pr ese nte d to an atte nt ive a udi e nce included the follow ing: Ex-EV PP . IFATCA H um a n Facto r s Spec ia list and thi s yea r·s C hairm an of Co mm itte e ·A· . Be rt Ru ite nberg ga ve an in -de pt h eva lu at io n of t he h u ma n factors aspec ts of an ai rcraft inc ident. as see n fro m the ATC v iewpo int . The

32

incident , though signifi ca nt, had ended up safe ly , but rai sed a numb er of important iss ues with rega rd to ATC pro ce dur es and instruction s durin g low visibilit y condition s. A s a res ult of a det ailed exa mination of all the relat ed fact ors surr oundin g the incident , a significant numb e r of chan ges had bee n made to A T C instruction s and the way th ey were pr esent ed to staff.

Ther e was a corresponding prese ntation on th e Hum an Fac to rs as pec ts of indi vidu al aircraf t inciden ts. Thi s was a lengthy, though interes ting, prese ntation w hi c h refl ec ted on attitud es that are app are nt to mo st of us, but se emin gly ig nore d , u nt il an acc id e nt or incid ent res ults. Th e compl ex ities of hum an factors and th e way th at a daisy -ch ain of small probl ems build into a disaster was kee nl y ac kn ow ledged and sob erin g to con templ ate. Th e role of hum an fac tors co ntinu es to be see n as of param ount imp ortance to our prof ess ion al lives as contro llers and the need to have national and loca l admini strati ons acknow ledge this mu st be at the forefront of our concern s . No -o ne wa nt s to be face d with deali ng with the aftenna th of an accident, when ca usal factors were already known and had not bee n adequately dea lt with.

Th e Panel wa s co mpleted by a represe ntation by severa l MAs, providin g up to date reports on the pri va tisation and co mm erc ialisatio n of ATC se rvices in New Zea land, Germany and Switzerland.

In c los in g thi s repo rt , I am mos t grate ful for the help given to the smoo th r unnin g of th e Co mmitt ee b y th e Co nfere nce O rga nisers of ROC ATCA , in pa rticular, M rs Grace Lee , who acted as my Vice -Chairm an, and assumed her res po nsib iliti es with goo d hum our and plenty of 'grac e' 1 My thanks also go to my two Secretaries - to Max Short ley of th e U K . w ho s te pp e d in smartly (o r should I say ·shor tly') to fill the pos ition w hil st Pa me la C hi wa re o f Z imb abwe w as stra nd ed w ith a n airlin e d isput e .

Ne ve r one to lose a volunt eer, I enco urag ed Ma x to work alo ngs ide Pame la , once she had arrived . and between them they ma naged to prov ide an exce llent set of Min utes to the Secretariat.

W e are also ind ebted to Vina Lamba of Brit is h A irway s w ho w ith stoo d th e challenges of the co mputer and enab led the report of Co mm ittee 'C' to be print ed fir st. He r pati e nce a nd abilit y to w ithstand stress was an enco urage ment to all of us I Given the early difficulties w ith Ch inese key boa rds and unfa-

mili ar equipm e nt , it was goo d to se e that Edge and hi s helpers ove rca me all the probl e m s, a nd that CISM was not needed in the Sec retari at thi s yea r ! ! +

Dr\ TA L! N K , ·,1111 i 11erl.fi"0/111wge 2 7

PET AL II will see th e particip ation of SAS , Lufth ansa. S w issa ir , th e Fren ch DGAC , the Swe di sh CAA , UK NATS , Aerospatiale and e le ment s of the NEAN and PHARE proj ec ts. So far se ven aircraft w ill be di spat ched to fly the tri als.

Th ese are : DC 9, FK28 , B A I 1, A3 I 0 , A340 , MDI I and B747 , acc ordin g to Patrice Behier. On e of the main obj ectives is to tes t addition al function s (61 messages) compri s ing , a mo ng o th ers, H eadin g I Sp eed I Ve rti ca l Rate cl ea ranc es and requ es ts, includin g ackno wledge ment of the messag es. A new pil ot and co ntroll er HMI will also be tes ted .

T o co n c lud e hi s pr ese nt a tion , Patric e B ehi e r sa id that requir e me nt s should dri ve tec hn o logy and that pra ctica l ex perien ce sho uld co mpl e ment and driv e specific atio ns . W o rld wid e standardi sa tio n is the challenge in thi s ve ry co mpl ex do main .

Conclusion Th e EG A TS F o rum re veal e d th a t man y techni ca l as we ll as in sti tuti o nal issues will need to be so lved befo re dat alink can be use d effi cie ntly as we ll as eco nomica lly. W hile not neg lec ting safety aspec ts, airlines wa nt to see a return o f inves tment (a stron g bu sines s case) and pil ots and co ntroll e rs. th e ir wo rkl oa d decrea sed and safe ty incr ease d .

Thi s o ne day forum did no t revea l any maj or di scordance betwee n the diffe re nt pro po ne nt s . Ge ne ral ag ree me nt see ms to ex ist on the mi ssing lin ks and the maj or issues that nee d to be tackled.

It is co m fortin g to hea r that the a irlin es . re pr e se nt e d a t thi s for um by IAT A . while pro motin g Data-Link as a mea ns to rea li se fr ee- fli g ht. a re still ra th e r p rag m ati c o n w h a t t o e x pec t in th e fut ure . A tribut e has to be paid to o ur Dut c h co ll e ag ues fr o m EG A T S fo r. o nce aga in. orga nising such an infon n ati ve fo rum co nta inin g subj ect s dea lin g with real op erational iss ues .

+

THE CO NTR O LLER /MARCH 97

Your working days are numbered...

It's a fact of life ...

of both the present and the futur e.

you are go ing to lose your licence, and with it

This is where we come in. Omnilif e offers you a compr ehensive insuranc e plan that prote cts you against loss of licence, pro vides contin-

For furth er informati on and a personali sed Merc ur y Plan to suit yom age and insuran ce nee ds, pl ease se nd yo ur personal d etails , includin g nam e, rank , mailing addres s, date of

your specialised livelihood. It may not be until you reach retirement, but it could be much

uous life cover and gives you a guara nteed sum when you retire.

birth , and licence type to either of the addresses or fax number s shown belo w.

earlier. Why insure yourself solely against loss of licence7 Wha t abou t the long-term?

The Mercury Plan is simpl e and straightfor -

Let's face it, one thin g is certain . Sooner or later,

much of your life ensurin g the prot ection and

ward to maintain. Premium s are fixed and there is a guaranteed cash payment when your policy matur es. We don 't even ask for regu lar

safe ty of others . What about your self and your

medical repor ts. And no-on e bu t you can

family 7

cancel or vary the policy.

As a prof essional air traffic controll er, you spend

You need a solution that caters for specific ATCO requ irements , and one which take s care

It's for life. And that's a fact.

IT'S A FACT Of LIFE

Ornnilife lnsurance Company Lid. Incorporated in the U.K. Registered No. 2294080 HEAD OFFICE: I-+Austin Friars. London. EC2N 21-lEUK Tel. +4-+(0) 17 1 37-+0 123 Fax +-+-+(Ol 17 1 374 () 169 CYPRUS BRANCH: 13 Ay. Paraske,¡i. P.O. Box 5.12. 1660 Nicosia. Cyprus Tel. +357 (0)~ 379 130 Fax +3.'i7 (())2 379087 Regulated by the Personal Investment Authority A Member or thL¡Association of British Insurer,

AND T H IS IS IN C REAS IN G EVERY DAY. Rayt heo n has just been awa rde d two substanti al contr acts in the United Stat es for the Standard Te rmina l Automa t ion System (STA RS) and t he Digital Airport Surveilla nce Rada r (DASR). STARS w ill modern ize and upgrade 33 1Ter minal Automati on Systems over the next deca de, w hile DASR w ill help mo de rnize Am erica's t er minal area surve illance netwo ,-k into t he 2 1st ce nt ur y Bot h system s ut ilize t he m ost advance d tec hnology available to ma ximize air tra ffic safet y. Which is why peo ple fro m No rway to Ho ng Kong, Ca nada to Ge rma ny re ly o n th e experi e nce and commitm ent of Raytheo n. A t ot al air traffic contro l systems capab ility. For more inform ation co ntact Rayt heo n Elec tr o nic Syst e m s

Raylheon

+ 1-508-490-3 3 18, fax at + 1-508-490 -3050, o r visit o ur Internet site at htt p://www.r aytheo n.com .

EXP ECT GREAT THINGS