4 INCREASING AIRPORT CAPACITY

Also in this issue:

4 Focus on MONGOLIA
4 C130 Crash in Iran
I
N
T
E
R
-
N
A
T
IO
N
A
L
F
E
D
E
R
ATION OF AIR TRA
FF
IC
C
O
N
T
R
O
L
L
E
R
S

A
S
S
N
S
.
THE
CONTROLLER
Journal of Air Traffc Control December 2006
IFATCA 2007 Annual
Conference Information
** Main Conference Hotel is The Marmara Hotel.
The Marmara Hotel room rates are exclusive of
breakfast.
Registration
Registration fee includes conference pro-
grams, equipments, lunches, Coffee Breaks,
Welcome Cocktail, Gala Dinner, transporta-
tion between airport and hotels, and hotels
to the Conference Venue as well. For Ac-
companying Persons, the registration fee
includes lunches, Welcome Cocktail and
Gala Dinner, transportation between the
airport and the hotels, and Accompanying
Persons Program Half Day City Tour.
SPECIAL PRICE FOR CAT 3 COUNTRIES:
(100 EUR limited to 1 Dir + 3 dep Dir)
Cancellation
In case of any Registration or Accommoda-
tion cancellation, written notifcation should
be sent directly to the Secretariat. Deduc-
tions for administrative charges will apply.
See web site for details.
Tel: +90 212 343 80 03
Fax: +90 212 343 80 23
E-mail: paytac@teamcon.com.tr
Organizing Secretariat:
TeamCon
Halaskargazi Caddesi Alp Palas Apt.
No: 79/1 34371, Harbiye Istanbul
E-mail: ifatca@ifatca2007.com
President Organizing Committee:
Murat Ozdil
Tel: +90 212 4 65 31 87 (offce)
GSM: +90 532 7 47 96 59
(from inside Turkey 05)
e-mail: muratozdil@tatca.org or
ozdmurat@gmail.com
Accommodation
Hotel rooms can only be reserved and con-
frmed upon receipt of a one night deposit.
The balance must be paid directly to the
TeamCon Registration Desk which will be
located at the Ltf Krdar Congress Cen-
ter main foyer. Only room extras should
be paid to the hotel reception.
Social Program
An enjoyable social program is planned
for the participants. The Social Program is
as follows :
Cocktail Reception on Sunday, April 15
Turkish Night (Optional) Turkish
Delight on Wednesday April 18
Gala Dinner highlighting the tastes and
sounds of Istanbul on Friday April 20
There are many things to see and to do in
Istanbul. Information will be available on-
site at the hospitality desk and various sug-
gestions will be posted on the website.
Visas
Please check with your travel agent whether
you require an entry visa for to Turkey.
Most visitor visas are obtainable for a fee
on arrival at the airport, but it is advisable
to check in suffcient time before depar-
ture. The IFATCA conference web site has
links to visa information.
Venue is Istanbul Convention &
Exhibition Centre (ICEC) Lufti Krdar
Harbiye 80230 Istanbul, Turkey
Tel: +90 212 296 3055
Fax: +90 212 224 0878
Website: www.icec.org
Dates
Monday, April 16 - Friday, April 20, 2007
IFATCA Conference web site:
www.ifatca2007.com
Airport Information
All international and domestic fights arrive
at International Istanbul Ataturk Airport.
Buses will depart from Istanbul airport to
Taksim Area (downtown) every 30 minu-
tes. Travel time is 45 minutes. Transporta-
tion will be available between 14-15 April
2007 and 21 April 2007. Private taxis are
available, and the approximate cost is
Euro 15-20 per taxi
Climate
April is spring in Istanbul and is one of the
most pleasant seasons. Average tempera-
tures vary between 16C - 20C.
Letter of Invitation
An offcial invitation letter to assist with visa
or administrative procedures is posted on
the Congress website for participants,
For info use www.ifatca2007.com
Please note that this letter can in no way
be regarded as a commitment concer-
ning scheduling or fnancial support
from the Conference Organizers.
Sponsorship and Exhibition Sales
An extensive exhibition will be held
in association with the Congress.
For more details or for different
sponsorship opportunities kindly
contact:
Ms. Pnar Ayta
Congress Manager
TeamCon Congress
Services Worldwide
Hotel Name Category Single Double
** THE
MARMARA
OTEL
5* 135 145
POINT OTEL 5* 125 135
CRYSTAL 4* 85 90
LION 4* 90 100
SAVOY 4* 90 105
SEMINAL 4* 75 85
GOLDEN
AGE 2
3* 60 70
TASLIK OTEL 3* 45 60
Registration Fees (includes VAT)
Before 31
January
2007
After
1 Feb
2007
Director (1 per MA) 160 180
Deputy Director
(max 3 per MA)
160 180
Delegate and
all others
180 200
^ View of Istanbul Photo: Istanbul Tourism
2
Contents
THE
CONTROLLER
PUBLISHER
IFATCA, International Federation of
Air Traffc Controllers Associations.
EXECUTIVE BOARD OF IFATCA
Marc Baumgartner
President and Chief Executive Offcer
Dr Gabriela Logatto
Deputy President
Cedric Murell
Executive Vice President Americas
Albert Taylor
Executive Vice-President Africa/
Middle East
David K W Cheung
Executive Vice-President Asia/Pacifc
Patrik Peters
Executive Vice-President Europe
Dale Wright
Executive Vice-President Finance
Doug Churchill
Executive Vice-President Professional
Dave Grace
Executive Vice-President Technical
Jack van Delft
Executive Board Secretary/
Conference Manager
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Philippe Domogala
Editorial address:Westerwaldstrasse 9
D 56337 ARZBACH, Germany
Tel: +492603 8682
email: ed@ifatca.org
Residence: 24 Rue Hector Berlioz
F 17100 LES GONDS, France
CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Kevin Salter (Germany/UK)
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Web site: Philip Marien (EGATS)
Chris Stock (UK)
REGIONAL EDITORS
Moetapele D. Matale (Botswana)
Al-Kadur Acosta (Dominican Republic)
Phil Parker (Hong Kong)
Patrik Peters (Europe)
COPY EDITORS
Stephen Broadbent and Brent Cash
PRINTING-LAYOUT
LITHO ART GmbH & Co. Druckvorlagen KG
Friesenheimer Strae 6a
D 68169 MANNHEIM, Germany
Tel: +49 3 22 59 10
email: info@lithoart-ma.de
Photo:
Airservices
Australia
Foreword by Dale Wright 4
Editorial by Philippe Domogala 5
Airports 1 Airports capacity enhancement tools
by Raimund Weidemann 6
Airports 2 African Affairs by Moetapele Dauphin Matale 7
Airports 3 3 years ago I couldnt even spell RNP by Robert Mason . 8
Airports 4 Terminal area Required Navigation Performance
A flight operations perspective by Captain Alex Passerini 10
Airports 5 The most complicated terminal airspace in the world by Phil Parker 12
Spotlight by Kevin Slater 14
IATA Advert 17
Mongolia 1 The Asia Pacific Regional meeting of IFATCA Ulaan Baatar,
Mongolia Sept 2006 by Philippe Domogala .. 19
Asian News A new low cost airline in Hong Kong by Phil Parker 21
Mongolia 2 Interview Ya Ariunbat, General Manager ATM, Mongolian CAA .. 22
Mongolia 3 Interview with David Cheung IFATCA EVP Asia Pacific and
Interview first and only woman supervisor in Mongolia
by Philippe Domogala . 23
Mongolia 4 Being a young controller in Mongolia in 2006 by Philippe Domogala 24
Side Views Air traffic control strikes by Ayman Mahmoud 25
Legal Affairs The crash of a C130 in Iran 26
Advertisement The aviation English language assessment program
is open by Gary B. LaGuardia . 28
Americas Winds of change in Argentina by El Kadur Acosta 29
European News When the Vikings meet by Patrik Peters 30
Book Review The Aviation Book by Fia O Caoimh 31
Philip Marien features Up, Up and away
by Philip Marien 32
Charlies column 34
DISCLAIMER: The rules, recommendations and information contained in this document reflects what IFATCA established at time
of the last amendment. Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, neither the International Federation of Air Traffic
Controllers Associations (IFATCA), or their Members or Officers or representatives, shall be responsible for loss or damage caused
by errors, omissions, misprints or misinterpretations of the contents hereof. Furthermore IFATCA expressly disclaim all and any
liability to any person whether a purchaser of this publication or not, in respect of anything done or omitted, by any such person in
reliance on the contents of this publication. COPYRIGHT. The materials herein are copyright IFATCA. No part of this document may
be reproduced, recast, reformatted or transmitted in any forms by any means, electronic and mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission from IFATCA.
VISIT THE IFATCA WEB SITES: www.ifatca.org and www.the-controller.net
In this issue:
December 2006
4th quarter 2006 volume 46 ISSN 0010-8073
^
Foreword from
the Executive Board
4
THE
CONTROLLER
Lets talk about money
IFATCAs presence in the world aviation
community has grown significantly over
the past three years.
As our involvement in the aviation com-
munity increases so does our financial
commitment. The Federation has seen a
reduction in the availability of free or re-
duced air travel, which affects both our
Representatives and members of the Ex-
ecutive Board. IFATCA will see even larg-
er challenges in the future. With the un-
fortunate accident in Brazil we see a need
to establish some type of team to assist
Member Associations There are several
very qualified individuals in IFATCA with a
wealth of knowledge which our members
should have available to them in a time of
need. Funding will be the major issue of
any new initiative. This is the reason IFATCA
needs to improve our presence even fur-
ther in the aviation community. Gaining
access to assist our members during any
accident investigation may be a challenge
depending on the location. The Member
Associations within IFATCA rely on each
other for different types of support. The
Federation relies heavily on our largest
Member Associations for funding to work
initiatives. How can an action against one
Member Association affect IFATCA?
One does not have to look any further
than IFATCAs largest Member Associa-
tion. The National Air Traffic Controllers
Association (NATCA) in the United States
has seen their members placed under
Imposed Work Rules (IWR).

I will not get into the fine print of the nego-
tiations or the differences of each side but
it may affect IFATCAs ability to grow.
With the IWRs there has been a larger
than anticipated number of retirements.
As the number of members decrease, so
do NATCAs revenues. The controllers
in the United States pride themselves on
working high-density traffic. Changes to
working conditions such as leave; meal
breaks and schedule have reduced the
morale of the controllers, which results in
a higher retirement rate.
The FAA has also changed the pay bands
for controller pay. Their new pay band
which was not agreed upon by the union
is 30% less than present controllers sala-
ries. Even though present controllers will
not have their pay reduced to the new
bands this will have an affect on IFATCA.
The FAA has reduced the amount of dues
controllers pay the union to the new pay
bands, even though the union did not
agree to this. The result is a 30% decrease
of union revenues. This does not include
the reduction due to controller retire-
ments. NATCA has assisted many Member
Associations of IFATCA with laptop com-
puters and financial assistance. With this
large decrease in revenues IFATCA will be
affected. This is only from the issues of one
Member Association.
Working conditions for controllers through
out the world has been a very important is-
sue for IFATCAs Executive Board. This has
been a constant issue for the past year in
board meetings. Regardless of the finan-
cial status or location of the Member As-
sociation working conditions of controllers
must be monitored. We have dealt with
conditions in Central America, Africa and
Australia. If European Member Association
are treated the same as the United States
this will affect our ability to participate all
the projects in Europe.
The worlds air traffic controllers deserve
the best working conditions possible. This
includes protection and support during
accidents/incidents. Financial support from
Member Association is vital to continue our
increased involvement. Controllers need
a common voice. The common voice for
these concerns worldwide is IFATCA.
^
by Dale Wright,
Executive Vice President Finance
Editorial
SUPPORT FROM IFATCA IN BRAZIL Following COLLISION
Following the collision of last September between a civilian B737 and a private Legacy 600 jet in Brazilian airspace, IFATCA sent a three-
person team to Brazil to provide support to those controllers involved in this unfortunate accident. This trip was made possible by the
generous support of the Swiss and Portuguese Member Associations and by NAV Portugal.
Our Team consisted of two technical experts, one an experienced accident and incident investigator, the other an expert with profound
technical knowledge and experience in accident/incident investigation. The third person was a CISM- trained Mental Health Profes-
sional. The team visited Brasilia Center from 12 to 16 October 2006. Their intervention received high praise from both the Brazilian
Controllers Association and their employer, the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).
A detailed report of the groups visit and intervention will be the subject of an article in the next issue of the Controller.
The [ US controllers] new pay band
[..proposed by the FAA..] is 30% less
than present salaries.
P
h
o
t
o
:

D
P
Another Mid air collision in Brazil, this time
with both aircraft under radar control and
with brand new aircraft. The Legacy business
jet was out of the factory on its delivery
flight and the Boeing 737-800 was delivered
new from Boeing less than a month before
and had just 200 hours. Both aircraft had
state of the art avionics and TCAS. 154
passengers and crew died in the B737, the
worst air disaster in Brazil.
In California, a business jet collided with
a glider. Fortunately, and miraculously one
could say when looking at the remains of
the jet, everybody survived. The business
jet had TCAS and the glider was trans-
ponder equipped.
Why do we keep on having collisions with
TCAS? The public ( and the airlines ) were
wrongly told that with TCAS there would
be no more collisions. At least this is what
they wanted to hear. Because I recall the
earlier days of TCAS presentations where
the MITRE corporation (designer of the TCAS
software) clearly said that in a 100 collision
models, TCAS will save the day in the vast
majority cases ( between 70 and 90 % if my
memory is correct), but in some cases it
would not make a difference and even in
some cases TCAS could in itself induce a
collision. But as the overall introduction of
TCAS was a positive move it could be rec-
ommended for implementation.
In both cases above it appears one air-
craft had its transponder off. Whether this
was a deliberate act by the pilots ( glider
and Legacy) as some rumors suggest, or a
technical malfunction, only the final reports
will tell us. I am not here to speculate. The
fact is that for TCAS to work it is like the
Tango : you need two willing and function-
ing partners. TCAS without a transponder
on the other side will do nothing. Trans-
ponders do fail, even set themselves auto-
matically on stand by as we have recently
learned. I am constantly amazed when I
make a flight in a cockpit ( like in my recent
Flight to Mongolia ) to hear a well educated
Editorial
Captain telling me that recently
he saw another aircraft passing him
very close and he had nothing on
TCAS and wondering how can that be !
Like the flying public, some pilots a
only remember the glossy brochure and
tend to believe that with TCAS they are
safe from other traffic. Misunderstand-
ings about TCAS are still many, and even
Ueberlingen type encounters (where a pilot
still chose to follow ATC instead of RA) are
still reported today despite all the training
efforts done since then. Education is the
key, both pilots and controllers should be
informed about the shortcomings of the
ACAS system as a whole and act accord-
ingly. With the number of aircraft in-
creasing at such a rate in our skies and
the deadly precision of modern GPS
navigation, near miss encounters
can only rise. Fitting and properly under-
standing TCAS and mandating trans-
ponder operations at all times by
all aircraft is essential.
Now, this CONTROLLER issue is mostly
about increasing airport capacity and about
Mongolia. Increasing Runway capacity is a
difficult problem, especially with the arrival of
the A380 and its proposed ICAO increased
spacing (3 minutes!) but Ok the good news is
that the aircraft will be delayed.(I know this is
not funny for everybody) and Mongolia is a
very, very beautiful country still untouched
with a basic primitive nature, unfortunately
so is their ATC.
Happy reading,
THE
CONTROLLER
^
Editorial
Still Colliding Despite TCAS
by Philippe Domogala,
Editor
P
h
o
t
o
:

M
i
c
h
a
e
l

H
a
in
e
s

5
The public (and the airlines) were
wrongly told that with TCAS there
would be no more collisions. At least
this is what they wanted to hear.
The Boeing 737-800 collision with a
Embraer Legacy was on 30 September
2006 at FL 370 over the Amazon. The
Legacy managed to make an emer-
gency landing at Cachimbo airbase
between Brasilia and Manaus, no one
was hurt on board. The B737 crashed
in the Amazon killing all 154 on board.
The collision between an Hawker XP800
and an ASW27 glider was on 28 August
2006 at 16.000 feet above California. The
Hawker managed to belly crash land in
Carson City airport. No body was hurt in
the landing. The pilot of the glider bailed
out and parachuted to safety.
P
h
o
t
o
s
:

C
a
r
s
o
n

a
i
r
p
o
r
t

Photos: FAB
ed@ifatca.org
4 Airports
AIRPORTS CAPACITY
ENhANCEMENT TOOLS

by Raimund Weidemann, IFATCA

Airport Domain Team Coordinator
Photo: DP
For many years the en-route part of a flight has
been the bottleneck of the entire ATM sys-
tem. The successful implementation of RVSM
in most parts of the world, increasing sector
capacity, has lead to the effect that the ap-
proach sector and the airport itself have be-
come the most restricting phases of a flight.
Approximately 2 years ago, and for the first
time, airport delays were more than 50% of
the total ATFM delays in Europe. The focus of
the capacity models changed from a gate to
gate view towards an en route to en route
view. R&D was tasked to find solutions which
are suitable to solve the airport capacity prob-
lems. It soon became clear that runways were
the most restricting resource. This is why many
of the proposed solutions focus on runway ca-
pacity. What are the proposed solutions?
The construction of new runways is very
costly, but it gives a significant increase of ca-
pacity at an airport. Madrid has just doubled
its runway capacity by building two new run-
ways, Amsterdam completed its 6th runway,
Munich, which was designed completely from
scratch, has an option to build its third runway.
For many other airports in Europe, however,
this solution doesnt work it may be too ex-
pensive, too environmentally unfriendly or too
close to populated areas. The use of so called
secondary airports is another solution, which
are mainly used by some low cost airlines.
These airports are often remotely located and
the infrastructure to get to the city of destina-
tion is minimal.
What are the other options available for use?
ATFM slots are used to smoothen peaks in
the daily capacity demand and to shift parts
of the air traffic into less constrained hours.
Situational awareness packages are used to sen-
sitize both pilots and controllers to the impor-
tance of minimized runway occupancy times.
Approach and departure managers are
intended to be integrated and combined
with surface management, stand and gate
management tools, so as a result the entire
airport traffic is fully managed.
Airport collaborative decision manage-
ment CDM (in the US this is known as air-
port operations management AOM) will
optimize the services of all major airport
stakeholders, this will improve the SLOT
adherence, the departure sequencing and
minimize the taxi times for aircraft.
Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and
Control Systems (A-SMGCS) will not directly
increase the airport capacity. In low visibility
conditions, however, the eventual capac-
ity decrease will be significantly less when
these systems are implemented.
Time based wake turbulence separation on
final research work is currently ongoing,
and it is hoped that especially in strong wind
conditions, the runway capacity can be in-
creased by 2 or 3 movements per hour if the
separation on final is based on times instead
of the traditional separation by distance.
This list is not complete, but it gives you an
overview about some ongoing projects aim-
ing for increased airport capacity. Where are
the problems for controllers with these new
procedures and tools? Often when new pro-
cedures or tools are introduced controllers
training was less than optimal in the worst
case we get a short briefing, a handout of the
keys of the new tool, and the rest is learning
by doing. New procedures are sometimes
found on the day of their implementation.
Due to limited space, new tools such as mon-
itors, keyboards or touch input devices are
often displaced, and besides these ergonom-
ic aspects the growing number of screens is
sometimes even restricting our outside view
from the tower. When we start to operate
new tools we sometimes realize that we have
been provided with something that is a unvali-
dated; a real time testing of the system could
not have been done for various reasons, and
we are basically doing this testing in the post
implementation phase with live traffic. Some
of us are members of project teams, and we
spend parts of our working time providing
our expertise and knowledge to the devel-
opment and implementation teams. This is
excellent, and we all profit from this, as we
end up with tools that better fulfill our needs
and expectations. In addition to this I would
like to encourage you to use our Federation
to get information about new procedures and
tools early and also to give input. Our IFATCA
Airport Domain Team is always open for con-
trollers that want to give input to projects,
procedures and proposed changes to ICAO
documents. It is easy to complain about an in-
sufficient working environment, but we have
it in our hands to influence the development
of new procedures and tools lets face the
challenge!
^
we are basically doing
[new tools] testing in the post
implementation phase with
live traffc .
Photo: Murat Ozdil
4 Istanbul airport
THE
CONTROLLER
4 Raimund Weidemann
4 Airports
7
AFRICAN AFFAIRS
STATUS OF AIRPORT CAPACITY ENhANCEMENTS IN AFRICA
by Moetapele Dauphin Matale
Africa & Middle East Regional Editor
THE
CONTROLLER
Africa is comprised of fully developed interna-
tional standard airports that are well equipped
with all sorts of imaginable airport capacity
enhancements as well as airports with similar
level of operation characterized by heavy in-
ternational traffic volumes but with safety and
efficiency levels that leave a lot to be desired.
In the average, there is a common believe that
development of capacity enhancements are
desirable practices only to be considered in in-
stances of budget surpluses. But in the actual
reality, operations of aircraft at airports where
capacity enhancements are adequately pro-
vided enjoy the benefit of reduced delays and
reduced risk of runway incursions.
Just as pundits expressed in recent years,
if you think safety is expensive, try an ac-
cident. This may have sounded too harsh
but what else can we say? These are serious
expressions relating to serious situations con-
cerning lives of the flying public. The phrase
Airport Capacity Enhancement itself is virtu-
ally a simplified expression used in modern
days to politely symbolize realistic application
of safety and efficiency standards. The end
results of failure by airport authorities to ade-
quately equip airports with necessary capacity
enhancements tools lead to undesirable situa-
tions in which air traffic controllers are placed in
the forefront to bear the brunt. Delays leading
to financial losses on the part of operators are
frequent and runway incursions prevail. Such
delays lead to haphazard incident reports or
instantaneous threats launched directly to duty
controllers falsely portraying them culprits of
the shortfalls under the circumstances.
This is much more pronounced in cases
where air traffic controllers are forced by pre-
vailing circumstances to apply excessive time
intervals in effort to provide adequate spacing
between successive arrivals, or between such
arrivals and departures. In the modern days
where the use of RADAR has become part and
parcel of every major airport of the continent,
separations reduced by use of RADAR end up
being fruitless due to unsupportive runway
and taxiway structures. In one particular case,
the second aircraft in the approach sequence
following successful RADAR vectoring, is still
to be held in the air anyway. Since there are
no parallel or rapid exit taxiways, the previous
landing aircraft has to roll all the way to the end,
back track the runway in use and vacate via a
taxiway located at the mid point of the runway.
This may take up to 10 minutes before the next
landing or take off can be safely made. Most
African airports were initially developed by co-
lonial governments as part of their basic will to
have easy access to the world. Emphases were
not much in interests of business but services
were rather provided freely for the good wel-
fare of operators of the day. Standards of serv-
ices provided were therefore likewise not as
high as one may have wished.
Over the years the initially free service air-
ports transformed into profitable resources that
served as viable sources of national revenue.
Despite these changes some of the airports to
this day still maintain the old shape and levels
of services provided have not been modified
or aided with enhancements to reflect the new
status and purpose for which they currently
stand to serve.
Revenues collected from airports are being
used for other national priority developments
instead of being paid back into further devel-
opment of the airport. This practice has nega-
tively affected provision of necessary enhance-
ments and the system does not appropriately
match the constantly growing traffic volumes.
The on going process of transforming govern-
ment Departments of Civil Aviation into auton-
omous Civil Aviation Authorities is last hope
that all African airports will ultimately be pro-
vided with adequate capacity enhancements.
Commercialization is the good option so
far but precaution is still necessary to ensure
that we are not taken back to the monotonous
topic relative to the correlation of safety to
profitability in the aviation industry. In ordinary
industries, cost cutting has absolutely no harm
to human lives and if anything one would defi-
nitely be appraised for placing profitability in
the forefront of all priorities. It is a true fact that
our aviation organizations need financial re-
turns to survive but at the same time we need
not overlook the fact that safety and efficiency
are priority factors and the industry literally can
not carry on without them. In summary, the sta-
tus of airport capacity enhancement in Africa
is satisfactorily improving alongside improving
socioeconomic situations. Efforts are being
made by authorities especially where CAAs
have already been established. More airports
are being modified and there is growing hope
for a better future.
^
mdmatale@yahoo.co.uk
Photo: DP
4 No capacity problems here yet.
Revenues collected from
airports are being used
for other national priority
developments instead of
being paid back into further
development of the airport
4 Airports
3 YEARS AGO I COULdNT
EvEN SPELL RNP
Firstly, increased computing power in the
modern FMS combines accuracy of GPS with
continuity of Inertial navigation to provide
high accuracy, reliable navigation solutions;
Secondly, increasing traffic densities in many
parts of the world, notwithstanding the dips
post 9/11 and SARS, are straining tradition-
al route structures and traffic management
systems;
Thirdly, ever tightening environmental re-
quirements with respect to noise and pol-
lutants around airports are significantly im-
pacting operations; and
Finally, for this article at least, extremely tight
financial margins have rendered fuel effi-
ciency and flight time predictability make or
break matters for many aviation businesses.
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) is not a
new technology in aviation. It is not even a new
concept. RNP was first introduced by ICAO to
provide standards for long range Area Naviga-
tion systems; Satellite, Omega, Loran and early
Inertial. The concept is that standards (aircraft
certification, procedure design and ATC sepa-
ration) are tied to a level of performance rather
than specific navigation technology. RNP was
initially less than successful because airframe
and equipment manufacturers developed sys-
tems independently, leading to each aircraft
having different capabilities. Standards were
developed for lowest common denominators
only. Often old technology based standards
were more useable. Hopefully, as the avia-
tion industry collectively leaps on to the RNP
bandwagon and ICAOs proposed Performance
Based Navigation (PBN) as a standardised
approach of notifi-
cation,
ATCOs
can stop
scrolling through ever
expanding navigation equipment
lists and navigation tolerances, simply us-
ing the PBN to determine the applicable stand-
ard so we can get on with stopping aircraft from
running into each other or obstacles. Here in
Australia, a major efficiency and safety thrust
for the aviation industry is into the realm of
RNP-AR approach/departure procedures. AR?
Authorisation Required. The Australian regu-
lator (CASA) approves operators combining
aircraft capability, specialist Approach/Depar-
ture Procedures and specific flight crew training
to conduct RNP-AR operations with naviga-
tion tolerances down to 0.1nm. In the past the
Australian ANSP, Airservices Australia and its
predecessors, has designed and implemented
all terminal area procedures. These procedures,
publicly available, are suitable for all aircraft (but
not optimised for any specific aircraft). There
have been some limited private procedures at
uncontrolled locations but the advent of RNP
has marked a considerable change in the way in
which business is being done.
The advantages are enormous. Procedures
are not reliant on ground infrastructure, mean-
ing virtually every port can become an IMC
destination with minima as low as 250 feet.
Aircraft can safely operate in a much broader
range of weather conditions with reduced
power and increased payload all of which
translates to significant revenue benefits. They
include missed approach path and extraction
routes in case of failures one engine loss, FMS
failure etc; all pre-loaded in the FMS. Including
the ability to fly curved approach and depar-
ture path segments, aircraft can safely operate
significantly closer to terrain than is available in
traditional terrain clearance plane procedures
(TERPS and PANS-OPS). Indeed the environ-
ment so eloquently described by Westjet
as obstacle rich is where RNP procedures
shine. For example, one proposed departure
procedure for Cairns equates to a fuel saving
of 330kg for each B738 departure. With 47
Qantas B738 departures weekly, this equates
to over 860 000kg saved per annum at a sin-
gle port, for departures only. Increased uplift
in some locations is in the order of 4 5 tonnes.
Reduced power settings mean less wear and
tear on engines and lower rotational energy
means reduced damage if something does fail
or is ingested. It also yields significantly smaller
noise footprints and reduced emissions. RNP-
AR procedures, designed by specialist com-
panies, are specialised to a specific airframe
(ie B737-800 with 24K engines) and are op-
timised for safe, efficient operation of that
aircraft. It is possible there could be many
variations on a theme, perhaps resulting in
a proliferation of boutique procedures. So
where does that leave the ATCO, or for that
matter the ANSP, in the equation? Encour-
agingly, Airservices is sticking to its guns and
rationalising procedures so there should only
be one approach/departure path for a given
runway and track combination. With proce-
dure design for several locations already com-
8
by Robert Mason,
Vice President technical Civil Air
THE
CONTROLLER
My name is Robert Mason and I
have the honour of serving the
IFATCA member association
in Australia, Civil Air, as Vice-
President Technical. It all began
when an association member
asked what I knew about RNP
approaches RNP stands for Re-
quired Navigation Performance.
Australian controllers have uti-
lised RNP10 for some time now,
initially between Australia and
New Zealand in oceanic air-
space, subsequently expanding
into all Australian administered
airspaces. Implementation of
RNP4 followed quickly. Like
many across the world, I have
been aware of RNP for some
time but within my own radar ar-
rivals environment it has mainly
been a peripheral issue. All that
is changing rapidly, driven by
several significant factors:
Required Navigation
Performance (RNP) is not a
new technology in aviation. It
is not even a new concept.
Photo: John A
bsolon
4 Boeing 737-800
departing against
terrain at Cairns
(Australia)
4 Airports
plete, in the ATC world, we are significantly
behind in our preparation and the ANSP is in
the position of scrambling to catch up. The
challenge is redeveloping our traffic manage-
ment strategies to accommodate the new
procedures. Ultimately RNP approach/de-
partures are just new terminal procedures but
the ATC support systems still need significant
work. Australia currently has radar, ADS-B,
ADS-C and shortly Multi-Lateration surveil-
lance available, although much of the airspace
remains nil surveillance. In non-surveillance ar-
eas, providing separation of traffic conducting
RNP approaches with other traffic is problem-
atic. At present there are no specific separation
standards applicable to RNP approach/depar-
ture procedures. Given the design principle of
containment within twice the RNP figure in use
for separation with terrain, it seems draconian
that, for aircraft flying RNP 0.1 or 0.3 proce-
dures, all we have available for separation are
12CEP/14RNAV or VOR/DME standards where
they can be applied. The Australian aviation
regulator has indicated willingness to consider
standards ahead of ICAO. Airservices project
team is working aggressively for an early reso-
lution but legislative changes required are nei-
ther in place nor currently drafted awaiting en-
actment. In the short term existing standards
will need to be applied. There is little doubt
that these procedures are the direction in
which we have to move. The advantages to
industry (both safety and economic) are too
great to ignore. Unlike previous technological
changes, the take up will be widespread and
rapid. Already Qantas has stated that theyd
prefer to move to a terminal environment
where RNP procedures are used exclusively.
The reasons for this are obvious but it adds
significant ATC complexity whilst we are in the
transitional phase. At the moment the number
of eligible aircraft is relatively small. Over the
next couple of years the balance will tip, with
most of the jet fleet capable, approved and
operating these procedures preferentially.
Advanced capabilities of airborne soft-
ware and hardware may assist as we come
to better understand them. For example, Re-
quired Time of Arrival (RTA) allows the aircraft
to achieve an accurate time crossing a nomi-
nated fix. This can be utilised to offset inflex-
ibility of the procedures in terms of tracking.
For instance, we are unable to use MAIN-
TAIN RUNWAY HEADING to adjust spacing
with circuit traffic as the aircraft must remain
on the nominated path to fly the procedure.
So if the aircraft can meet an RTA of 5 sec-
onds this should help significantly, shouldnt
it? The problem lies in that most of the other
traffic cant comply with the accuracy of times,
reducing the value of the function. Tactics
such as increased spacing within a sequence
may be utilised initially to allow margin for
reductions in flexibility of tracking and speed
control. Sequence positioning will have to be
completed further out from the destination.
This also bears a positive fuel benefit but re-
duces flexibility for the ATCO. Lower minima
should mean fewer missed approaches but
the advantage of published missed approach
procedures for all arrivals may be offset by
these being different from conventional
approach procedures. Aircraft flying RNP
approach/departure procedures may be
significantly closer to terrain than current
technology safety net alerts (ie. MSAW) allow
and software is currently unable to discrimi-
nate which aircraft are flying approved RNP
procedures. Under Australian regulations the
ATCO does not have any discretion with re-
spect to issuing safety alerts following valid
system warnings. The surveillance presently
available does not provide discrimination
to a degree that provides a realistic ability
to monitor aircraft tracking with respect to
the procedures in use. At present Australian
RAM alerts when an aircraft exceeds 7_nm
off track. ICAO has addressed this issue in its
draft Performance Based Navigation Manual
stating that approved RNP Approaches:
do not require any unique communication
or ATS Surveillance considerations. Adequate
obstacle clearance is achieved through the
aircraft performance and operating proce-
dures. (Vol II Part C, para 6.3.2 if youre playing at home!)
So what next? Qantas has completed crew
training and airframe certification for all
B738s. Our other two major domestic opera-
tors, Jetstar and Virgin, will follow suit early
in 2007. RNP-0.3 is already available for non-
precision approaches using RNAV(GNSS)
procedures. RNP-1 will be introduced as
standard for Terminal Areas; RNP-2 for en-
route. There is a concerted effort to transition
from ground based Nav Aids to satellite navi-
gation, ultimately providing all aircraft with
RNP capability. The airborne technology has
existed since the 90s. Development of RNP-
AR Approach/Departures procedures for
Australia commenced a couple of years ago.
Whilst we would have been better placed
had the ANSP had visibility into the design of
procedures significantly earlier, we will get to
a stage where all necessary ATC procedures,
standards and training are in place. As always
in our complex industry, a collaborative ap-
proach helps ensure all factors are consid-
ered in a timely manner. Airservices Australia
continues to actively encourage Civil Airs
involvement in the project. Exposure, by way
of a number of trials currently underway in
Australia, is helping us understand issues of
managing traffic mixes and develop proce-
dures and techniques to ensure a safe and

THE
CONTROLLER
orderly traffic flow. Controllers
are increasingly aware of the
advantages of the RNP proce-
dures and, far from taking the
Luddites approach, are ac-
tively seeking ways to make the
traffic mix work effectively. Im
sure there will be a time when
well look back and wonder
what all the fuss was about but,
as it stands today, we have a lot
hard work ahead of us.
^
The challenge is redeveloping
our traffc management
strategies to accommodate
the new procedures.
Photo: Naverus
4 Airports
TERMINAL AREA REqUIREd NAvIGATION PERFORMANCE
A FLIGhT OPERATIONS PERSPECTIvE
10
by Captain Alex Passerini, Technical
Pilot Boeing Fleets, Qantas Airways Ltd.
It is a common misconception that PANS-OPS
or TERPS procedures provide guidance in the
event of a non-normal operation such as en-
gine or associated system failure. Unfortunately,
these conventional procedures only cater for
the normal all engines scenario and are not
required to assess, nor provide guidance, in the
event of such a situation. The procedure de-
signer is completely divorced from the world of
the performance engineer. Accordingly, in the
scenario described above, the Flight Crew are
left to establish an acceptable course of action
to safely extract the airplane from the situation
and climb to Minimum Safe Altitude in a normal
situation, let alone a partial or complete engine
failure situation. Whilst good operating policy,
procedures and training serve to mitigate the
risks involved, there are an infinite number of
variables involved that are virtually impossible to
comprehensively predict. The conventional pro-
cedure designer is unable to account for these
variables because they are airplane dependant
and require thorough understanding of aircraft
performance. These operational problems and
risks are solved by the use of RNP procedures.
So what is RNP? Required Navigation Per-
formance is a statement of the navigation per-
formance necessary for operation within a de-
fined airspace. RNP procedures in the terminal
area are made possible by two key technology
developments GPS and the Flight Manage-
ment System (FMS). RNP is characterized by a
linear designation measured in nautical miles (or
a fraction thereof). Actual performance against
the requirement is also measured in a similar
liner metric of nm. Current RNP procedures use
the capability of the modern FMS to define and
provide steering commands to the Flight Con-
trol Computers (FCCs). This allows the airplane
to fly an accurate path around obstacles instead
of over them. Modern FMS also integrate the
accuracy of GPS allowing for a linear perform-
ance containment methodology to be applied
(unlike conventional ground based navigation
beacons whose accuracy diminishes as a func-
tion of distance from the navigation aid). The
Radius to Fix (RF) leg capability and navigation
accuracy combine to provide for tremendous
flexibility in procedure design at the high end
(commercial jet transports). Combining the flex-
ibility of FMS based lateral and vertical paths
with the accuracy and integrity of the installed
RNP capable navigation system allows airlines
to fly custom designed instrument procedures
anywhere in the world. Conventional PANS-
OPS and TERPS procedures are designed for
the lowest capability airplane and do not take
account of the capabilities available on most
modern jet airplanes (from either manufacturer).
The most capable airplane in terms of navigation
performance currently available is the B737NG.
As the highest performance system, the Aircraft
Flight Manual (AFM) describes a demonstrated
RNP capability of RNP 0.10nm, provided the
Navigation Performance Scales display option is
installed. All Qantas B737-800s along with their
Flight Crews are approved to take advantage of
this capability. The B787 will also be capable of
this type of navigation performance, with most
other Airbus and Boeing models equipped with
GPS being capable of performance between
RNP 0.11 to RNP 0.30nm.In general the Boeing
models have a more developed RNP capability
thanks to the pioneering work carried out in the
early 1990s by Alaska Airlines utilising B737-
400s, but the Airbus models are catching up.
Required Navigation Performance (RNP) pro-
cedures are designed according to criteria
contained within FAA Advisory Circular (AC)
120-29A Appendix 5. The expansive criteria de-
veloped by Naverus (a Seattle based RNP pro-
cedure design specialist) have been accepted
by CASA, CAA New Zealand, Civil Aviation Au-
thority of China and Transport Canada. These
procedures require accountability for normal sit-
uations, but more importantly describe require-
ments that must include evaluations of non-nor-
mal (engine failure, GPS failure and other critical
systems failures) and rare-normal (extreme wind
gradients) conditions. The FMS integrates GPS
information with navigation information pro-
vided by the onboard, self contained, Inertial
Reference Systems (IRS) that provide continuity
in the event that GPS is no longer available or
invalid. The criteria also includes a requirement
to complete a Go-Around Safety Assessment to
THE
CONTROLLER
4 Queenstown, New
Zealand, became
the launch port
for RNP in the
context of Qantas
operations during
September 2004.
Photo: Ken Kvalheim,
Naverus.
The airplane becomes visual ap-
proaching the Minimum Descent
Altitude (MDA) below the low
overcast late in the evening and
the Flight Crew commence a cir-
cling approach in reduced visibility
conditions caused by the continu-
ous drizzle. The Flight Crew are
wary of the excessive downwind
component expected during the
base leg that serves to push the
airplane toward the rising terrain
they know exists not far beyond
the centreline of the runway. As
they commence the base turn
and select landing flaps, the vis-
ibility deteriorates below circling
minima and the Flight Crew elect
to initiate a missed approach. The
workload increases further as the
thrust levers are advanced to the
Go-Around setting as a bird dis-
appears down the right side of
the airplane and one engine al-
most immediately begins making
unusual noises
This allows the airplane to
fy an accurate path
around obstacles instead of
over them.
4 Airports
complete the comprehensive safety assessment
that is applied during the design and operation-
al implementation of these procedures. RNP
procedures provide definitive lateral and verti-
cal course guidance throughout the approach,
missed approach and departure. The guidance
is provided through to touchdown, unlike con-
ventional non-precision approaches which ter-
minate course guidance at the MDA which can
be several miles from the touchdown point. It is
timely at this point to remind the reader that a
great number of Controlled Flight Into Terrain
(CFIT) events occur with the airplane established
on runway centreline, yet someway short of the
runway. RNP procedures will, in the vast majority
of cases, provide for Decision Altitudes (DAs) as
low as 250 feet Height Above Threshold (HAT).
Consider then that the course guidance is sig-
nificantly more comprehensive than conven-
tional approaches (RNP approach procedures
are always runway aligned during the final
segment thereby provisioning for future au-
toland operations using ILS or GLS), coupled
with the performance assessment involving
normal, non-normal and rare-normal events,
thereby providing the Flight Crew with a safe
path down to touchdown and out above the
MSA or relevant Lowest Safe Altitude (LSALT)
from any point in the procedure. This provision
alone provides for a significant step change in
the overall safety level for the operation. There
are simply no other procedures (including
precision approach procedures like ILS) that
require such comprehensive accountability of
these scenarios. So at this point, lets review
the benefits attributable to RNP procedures:
1. Safe, predictable flight paths throughout
the approach, missed approach and de-
parture phases;
2. Full accountability for normal, non-normal
and rare-normal events;
3. Far simpler, more accurate and predict-
able procedures for Flight Crew, ATC and
the local community;
4. Final approach segments that are runway
aligned, with no level segments and stand-
ard (i.e. not steep) descent gradients;
5. The ability to navigate around, not over,
obstacles;
6. The ability to avoid noise sensitive areas;
7. Lower approach and departure minima (few-
er diversions, improved schedule reliability).
The RNP procedures themselves can be flown
using decelerating (or noise abatement) pro-
files that result in reduced fuel burn, emissions
and noise. Using the example of the revised
Cairns departure procedure for runway 15, each
southbound departure can save up to 600 kilo-
grams (about 720 litres) of fuel com-
pared to the conventional procedure.
This fuel saving equates to a reduc-
tion of CO2 emissions of more than
5,000,000 kgs per annum in the case
of NOx (Nitrous Oxide), the reductions
equate to more than 45,000 kgs per
annum. The payload improvements,
if not utilised, result in takeoffs that al-
low increased utilisation of engine der-
ate (lower engine thrust settings for
takeoff), the results of which include
less fuel burn, noise and emissions.
Increased use of engine derate also
improves the safety of each departure
by reducing the probability of an en-
gine failure on that takeoff, since internal oper-
ating temperatures and rotational forces within
the engine are reduced. There is also greater
excess thrust available to the pilot in the event
that a situation may require it. From an Air Traf-
fic Management (ATM) perspective, RNP pro-
vides for more efficient use of airspace (more
flexible route structure), improved direct track-
ing capability (therefore a reduction in enroute
track miles to destination) and optimised SIDs
and STARs. These procedures are also consist-
ent with future plans to reduce the dependence
on the ground navigation aid infrastructure, al-
lowing a reduction to a skeleton contingency
structure. This will ultimately serve to reduce the
costs associated with maintaining these expen-
sive, obsolete systems.
11
THE
CONTROLLER
The reader can no doubt by now
judge for him/herself that the
benefits associated with imple-
mentation of RNP are many and
varied truly one of the few ad-
vancements that provide benefits
wherever one chooses to look. In
an industry where we all (Airlines,
Navigation Service Providers,
ATM providers and Regulators)
must continually strive to im-
prove safety and efficiency to
do things better and smarter
RNP procedures are completely
consistent with this philosophy
and must be the future direc-
tion for the Industry. It is in no
way acceptable in the modern
age to continue to allow circling
procedures, or NDB approaches
that are subject to night, coastal,
thunderstorm and quadrantal ef-
fects (amongst other errors), or
offset VOR/DME procedures that
take us directly over or very close
to significant terrain or obstacles.
The revolution that is perform-
ance based navigation is upon us,
and Qantas, Naverus and Airserv-
ices Australia are proud to be at
the forefront of this new world.
^
4 In the case of Townsville Runway 19,
RNP procedures avoid overfying
Magnetic Island (unlike the conven-
tional RNAV/GNSS and VOR/DME
procedures) and provide for a Decision
Altitude of 250 feet AGL. Naverus.
4 High resolution Liquid Crystal Displays
provide tremendous situational
awareness to the Flight Crew.
The RNP procedures
themselves can be fown
using decelerating (or noise
abatement) profles that
result in reduced fuel burn,
emissions and noise
Photo: Lewis Benham,
Qantas Avionics
Engineering
4 A Qantas B737-800 lands off
an RNP approach to runway
05 at Queenstown, New
Zealand. RNP procedures
have been in operational
use by Qantas at Queens-
town since September 2004.
4 Airports
ThE MOST COMPLICATEd TERMINAL
AIRSPACE IN ThE WORLd
The problem with the terminal airspace in
Hong Kong is that it is jammed against the
coast of China at the point where the Southern
coast turns South-South-West in an area called
the Pearl River Delta or PRD. Within 65 km of
Hong Kong are 4 airports. Hong Kong itself,
Macao, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. Guangzhou
is 140 km to the North and shouldnt affect
Hong Kong, but does because of Letters
of Agreement where Northbound through
Hong Kong airspace bound for Guangzhou,
go straight over the top of Hong Kong on de-
scent to a very low transfer level. These air-
craft conflict with all of our departures going
North through this single entry point, except
for the South Eastern and South Western cit-
ies, for all aircraft going into China. There are
a total of 3 entry points into China from Hong
Kong airspace. DOTMI, 100 nm East, SIKOU,
150 nm South-West and BEKOL around 12
nm NNE of Hong Kong airport. BEKOL is the
busiest entry point with DOTMI the next busi-
est. All airports in the PRD have conflicting
runway alignments.
There are 3 ATC Centres. Hong Kong, Zhu-
hai and Guangzhou. In the PRD, each of the 4
airports has their own tower of course. Macao
and Hong Kong use feet, while Zhuhai, Shen-
zhen and Guangzhou use Metres for vertical
separation. China is all Metre levels and CVSM
while Hong Kong is RVSM and therefore aircraft
going over the top of Hong Kong at higher lev-
els, mean that we act as a
transition point from feet
to metres and from RVSM
to CVSM. Northbound aircraft for Shenzhen
and Guangzhou have to be descended to metre
levels through our arrivals and departures in De-
partures Terminal airspace to reach a required
level by BEKOL. Departures out of Hong Kong
going North through BEKOL must be climbed
to a metre level above Northbound through
area descending aircraft before crossing BEKOL.
Unfortunately, these aircraft conflict with arrivals
into Macao arriving from the East on a route just
South of BEKOL. The ATC systems of Macao,
Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Guangzhou
interact. We have some very complex proce-
dures in place to handle the flights to and from
these airports through our airspace. These pro-
cedures generally affect the Approach, Depar-
tures, and another sector which is part of Hong
Kong Terminal radar and looks after the initial
transfers coming from or through China, includ-
ing long hauls from Europe and some from
North America routing over the North Pole.
They also look after approaches into Macao.
Approach Control mainly handles approaches
and sequencing from FL130 down. Departures
Control has airspace from Sea Level to FL 250
& from FL 140 to FL 250 over the top of Ap-
proach airspace. Departures is also responsible
for all arrivals through Hong Kong airspace to
Shenzhen, Guangzhou and to Macao.
With the Macao traffic, Departures looks af-
ter them until handed over to the Hong Kong
Macao Sector. Macao departures from runway
34 (the most used runway) enter Hong Kong
airspace from the Northwest at 6000 and Shen-
zhen departures, also from the Northwest at
12
by Phil Parker, Asia- Pacifc Regional Editor
THE
CONTROLLER
As controllers, we all like to think
that where we operate is unique
compared with other airports or
airspace around the world. This
is in fact true. Some airports have
complicated layouts. Some have
terrain and weather problems.
Others have airspace restrictions
with neighbouring airports and
airspace. Some places are busier
than others. Hong Kong is just
like the rest of you. There is no
way that we are the busiest ter-
minal area in the world, however
with respect to all other airports,
I would like to put our collective
hands up to say that we have the
most complex approach/depar-
tures airspace in the world com-
mensurate with the volume of
traffic handled.
Within 65 km of Hong Kong
are 4 [major] airports
4 Honkkong airport.
Photo: Phil Parker
Photo: Phil Parker
4 Airports
7000. They virtually go straight over the top of
Hong Kong airport; the Hong Kong SIDs climb
to 5000 ft, below the through sector traffic to
ensure initial vertical separation. There are four
operational combinations with Macao, 07/34,
07/16, 25/34, 25/16, each requiring different
procedures. RWY 34 is favoured for approaches
because of the lower minima for the 34 ILS. The
letter of agreement with China stipulates that
Hong Kong will provide a radar control service to:
All Macau RWY34 arrivals.
Departures from Macau RWY34 and RWY16
that transit Hong Kong airspace.
Missed approaches while in HK airspace.
Zhuhai ATC provides approach control service
and radar monitoring to:
Departures on Macau RWY16 & RWY34
transiting Zhuhai airspace.
Macau RWY16 Arrivals
Missed approaches while in Zhuhai airspace.
Macau Tower provides an aerodrome control
service, flight information service and alerting
service to aerodrome traffic. They do have radar
at Macau but they only use it for monitoring traf-
fic; Macau ATC do not provide radar services.
Macao arrivals from the East (85% of their traf-
fic) route via LKC VOR, just North-West of Hong
Kong airport, and then turn to the Southwest
descending to FL110. The Departures sector
works them from about 60 nm to run to LKC and
then usually transfers them to the Hong Kong
Macao sector in the vicinity of overhead Hong
Kong airport. The aircraft descend over the top
of the 34 approach and do a left teardrop to
intercept the ILS. Macau Sector transfer arrivals
to Macau Tower at PAPA (10 nm from touch-
down) 10nm in trail. Macao RWY34 departures
into China are normally of no interest to us as
they remain in Chinese airspace; weather devia-
tions can however cause us to take a lot of inter-
est at short notice. The departures that transit
Hong Kong airspace use SIDs that enter West of
LKC VOR at 6000 and then join the Hong Kong
departure stream. Macao and Hong Kong tend
to be busy at the same time so the Departures
sector workload is high. The business of order-
ing the two departure streams means that we
often use vectors off the SIDs and step climbs
to order traffic before transferring it to an en-
route sector.
Inbound aircraft from China go through
SIERA (S), around 20 nm West-South-West
of HK, and are usually transferred at odd lev-
els starting from FL170 to be at by SIERA in
accordance with a Letter of Agreement with
Guangzhou. We normally get the S transfer
on inbound aircraft from Guangzhou ATC via
a land-line around 15 minutes in advance. Our
radar systems are not compatible with the
Chinese systems requiring identification of
inbound aircraft just before they enter Hong
Kong. All transfers to Shenzhen are through
BEKOL. Transfer altitude is M0180 (1800
metres). Shenzhen departures through Hong
Kong airspace route via overhead Hong Kong
airport at 7000 with a requirement to be at
7000 before entering Hong Kong airspace.
Zhuhai aerodrome is not a problem as it is des-
ignated Domestic only. Our movements from
Hong Kong are usually going there for train-
ing flights. Where we do have to be careful is
with aircraft in our airspace near the boundary
as some of their aircraft are very close to the
other side and we have no details on them.
We have other problems apart from our
closeness to Chinese airspace. We have high
terrain near the airport. (Over 3,000 feet just
SW of the airport, 2,000 feet to the North and
3,300 feet just to the North of the 25R ILS) This
terrain dictates how our airspace is designed. In
fact the MVA over the airport is 4,100 feet. The
base leg for 07R/07L is 2.3 nm wide. Too far East
and youre in the 4100 MVA. Too far West and
you conflict with the Macao ATZ. There is NO
manoeuvring room North of the extended cen-
trelines of the runways and the missed approach
procedures are extremely complex procedures.
All departures go SE or South conflicting with
nearly all arrivals, depending on the runway in
use. All BEKOL departures off 07 (used 70% of
the time) have to cross the arrivals from the East
(60% of traffic), twice before they get to BEKOL.
In addition, the design of the airspace for 07
use, means that 60% to 70% of arriving traffic
has to be handled by the Departure controller
before hand-off to the Approach controller and
the Approach controller has to handle all of the
SW bound traffic off 07 as they turn into Ap-
proach airspace just after departure.
Lets now talk about weather. Yes we dont
get snow and all of its problems and we dont
get dust storms, although the pollution here is
a major low visibility contributor. What we do
get is thunderstorms, typhoons, turbulence and
windshear which all have a large effect on out
already complicated procedures. How much
traffic is handled in Terminal airspace daily?
At the moment around 800 a day at Chek Lap
Kok, (VHHH). A further 150 to 200 through
Terminal airspace to Macao and China destina-
tions. If we now add in the fact that for 50%
of pilots using this complex airspace, English is
not their mother tongue, you may understand
why we in Hong Kong think that we have the
most complicated airspace in the world.
^
13
THE
CONTROLLER
Macao and Hong Kong use feet, while Zhuhai, Shenzhen
and Guangzhou use Metres for vertical separation.
Photo: Phil Parker
Photo: Phil Parker
^
Spotlight
on Corporate Members
14
THE
CONTROLLER
Once more I would like to welcome our
readers to the last Corporate Members
feature of `Spotlight for 2006. The focus
in this issue is on HELIOS and IATA.
About Helios
Helios is an independent consultancy spe-
cialising in air traffic management (ATM),
airports and navigation. The UK-based
company helps its customers deliver tech-
nology, operational and business improve-
ments. Since its foundation in 1996, Helios
specialised in ATM systems development
and validation, but today the companys
skills and track record have expanded to
include all air traffic operations, from pre-
flight to airborne, en-route to approach
and landing, as well as a growing portfo-
lio of economic, regulatory, systems and
safety work. Perhaps the best way to in-
troduce the work of this Queens Award
winning business is to focus on some re-
cent projects, which bring to life the skills
of the people and the applications of their
work:
Franco Swiss have FAB vision:
magnifying benefits of cooperation
Last March Helios Economics completed
a Functional Airspace Block (FAB) study
for DSNA and Skyguide, the air naviga-
tion service providers of France and Swit-
zerland. The study was an independent
review of the costs and benefits for the
proposed FAB and of options for charg-
ing and financing in the FAB. The work
built upon a series of joint working groups
between DSNA and Skyguide staff, which
identified the likely sources of benefit and
potential cooperative actions. A particular
feature of the DSNA-Skyguide discussions
has been to seek a FAB attitude, where-
by benefits are magnified by a shared vi-
sion between staff in both organisations.
Our work was to review the proposals and
analysis carried out by the internal work-
ing groups, and consult widely among
users, employees, regulators and the mili-
tary. We made quantitative estimates of
the benefits where possible, which includ-
ed assessing the potential impact on flight
efficiency and delay. We concluded that
the FAB could produce substantial user
benefits in the crowded area shared by
the two ANSPs. These could arise from:
joint exploitation of available capacity to
reduce delays; collaborative route de-
velopment to increase flight efficiency;
joint arrivals management at airports near
borders to improve vertical profiles; and
collaborative capacity planning to reduce
the cost of providing future capacity and
reduce future delays. All these measures
could be achieved at modest transi-
tion costs and without making disruptive
changes to institutional arrangements.
ICB Support:
supporting the stakeholders
For the past two years Helios has provid-
ed technical support services to the Indus-
try Consultation Body (ICB) for the Single
European Sky. The team aims to provide
the ICB Chairman and members, includ-
ing IFATCA, with impartial advice on all
developments in Air Traffic Management.
The principal role of the ICB is to assist the
Commission in the implementation of the
Single European Sky. It is the only stake-
holder forum that is formally part of the
SES process. The ICBs 26 members come
from all stakeholder groups: air traffic serv-
ice providers (4), associations of airspace
users (8), airports (2), manufacturing in-
dustry (4), professional staff representative
bodies (5) and CNS and meteorological
service providers (3). The ICB acts as a fo-
rum for the industry to establish balanced
and consolidated advice to the Commis-
sion on the development of the future
European ATM system. It provides advice
on all Implementing Rules proposed under
the SES legislations and takes a specific in-
terest in the SESAR project in particular
to ensure the adequacy of governance ar-
rangements for the proposed SESAR Joint
Undertaking. Helios provides technical
support to the ICB via a tasking contract
with the European Commission. As part of
this contract, the study team supports the
consolidation of stakeholder comments on
ICB position papers and provides secre-
tarial support to ICB and sub-group meet-
ings. Helios has also provided analysis of
the Implementing Rules and Community
Specifications proposed by the European
Commission under the Interoperability
Regulation and conducted a comprehen-
sive analysis of proposed ATM system
enhancements to identify any additional
by Kevin Salter
Contributing Editor,
Corporate Affairs
Spotlight
Implementing Rules. Helios are currently
preparing a review of ongoing R&D in
ATM.
Accuracy of Trajectory Prediction
Helios recently completed a project for
EUROCONTROL studying the impact of
Aircraft Derived Data (ADD) on a ground
trajectory predictor. A trajectory predictor
is a software tool which estimates the lo-
cation of an aircraft at a future time given
its current location and additional informa-
tion like velocity. Trajectory Prediction (TP)
has become a hot topic with various con-
troller support tools including arrival man-
agers (AMAN) and Medium Term Conflict
Detection (MTCD) highly dependent on
the workings of their internal TPs. Working
with partners LFV, Avtech Sweden AB and
Pesys, Helios led the study characterising
the importance of ADD including aircraft
mass, aircraft maximum bank angle, local
meteorological conditions and FMS intent
which could be downlinked to the ground.
Simulated and recorded data from Boe-
ing 737s flying into Stockholm Arlanda
airport were used. The study found ADD
parameters to have a significant effect on
TP accuracy.
Spotlight
15
THE
CONTROLLER
GPS for non-precision approach
In 2005 Helios completed an independent
review for the UK CAA of information and
evidence to support the safety of the Global
Positioning System (GPS) for non-precision
approaches. GPS is the US satellite naviga-
tion system that is already widely used in
aviation and many other areas.
Normally, non-precision approaches use
traditional ground-based navigation aids
like VORs and DMEs. However, the UK
CAA is considering whether GPS would
also be a suitable navigation system for
them. We gathered and reviewed the
evidence that GPS is safe for this opera-
tion. We also collated technical data on
the technical performance of GPS using
CAA-sponsored work by Leeds University
and Imperial College. Finally we gathered
information from those States that have
already approved GPS for non-precision
approaches. Says Helios Director Nick
McFarlane: At least 20 States have al-
ready approved GPS for non-precision ap-
proaches and we have been looking into
how they have done it. There are some
differences between them. France, for
example, and some other States have im-
plemented a service that pilots can use to
predict the expected quality of GPS when
they arrive at an airfield. We highlighted
this sort of difference to the CAA. The
CAA used the study to support its decision
to start trials in the UK of GPS for non-pre-
cision approach.
A-SMGCS safety case:
NATS partners Helios
Many airports safely use Surface Move-
ment Radar (SMR) to control the traffic on
the airport surface but, as the traffic rises
and complex movements are performed,
SMR becomes limited in performance. A-
SMGCS Level I enhances SMR displays by
providing the controller with an improved
situation picture (by combining SMR and
multilateration surveillance) and by auto-
matically labelling aircraft with their iden-
tification (eg callsign). A-SMGCS Level II
further builds on A-SMGCS Level I by pro-
viding the controller with a runway alerting
function, which is aimed at giving the con-
troller sufficient warning of a runway incur-
sion so he may act to prevent a collision.
In late 2004, the EUROCONTROL airports
programme launched a contract to devel-
op a safety case for A-SMGCS Levels I and
II. The purpose of the safety case is to dem-
onstrate that the concepts and procedures
are safe for implementation throughout
Europe. Because of the complex nature
of A-SMGCS and the specialist knowl-
edge required to develop a safety case,
EUROCONTROL awarded the contract to
Helios and the National Air Traffic Services
(NATS) team at London Heathrow. Heath-
row was one of the first major airports in
Europe to implement A-SMGCS and has
been successfully using it for several years.
Helios and NATS have developed the safe-
ty case by using the operations at Heath-
row as a case study. The project team have
applied the EUROCONTROL Safety As-
sessment Methodology (SAM) in order to
provide evidence that should the system
^
1
THE
CONTROLLER
fail, the risk of an accident is acceptably
low. Over the course of the project, the team
held workshops with a number of airports to
validate the approach and to ensure that it is
well understood by stakeholders. The Project
leader, Chris Machin, stated: This project
has proved both challenging and exciting for
the team. New ground has been broken in
airport safety assessments and these lessons
will benefit others who develop similar safety
cases. For further reading on A-SMGCS, see
the EUROCONTROL website:
www.eurocontrol.int/airports/public/
standard_page/projects_asmgcs.html.
In summary
Helios consultants are expert in develop-
ing and applying technology solutions in
safety-critical industries. They have an in-
depth understanding of aviation and navi-
gation issues, and a wide range of finance,
operations, technical and safety skills.
To find out more contact Paul Ravenhill,
Director on +44 1276 452 811 or visit
www.helios-tech.co.uk.
IATA
At the heart of the industry, IATA is at the
forefront of all aviation activities, ensur-
ing that passengers and cargo are trans-
ported safely, securely, efficiently and
economically.
IATAs commitment to leadership cuts
across all aviation segments and their stra-
tegic outlook involves all stakeholders. As
a responsive, forward-thinking and neu-
tral association, IATA is ideally positioned
to provide a wealth of business solutions
tailored to your global, regional or local
needs. IATA is a leading supplier of avia-
tion training, offering a comprehensive
portfolio of more than 300 scheduled
classroom courses in the fields of Civil
Aviation, Air Navigation Services, Airports,
Airlines, Cargo, Safety and Security, as
well as Management Skills. Whether your
area of expertise is law, finance, revenue
accounting, sales, ticketing, operations,
safety or professional training, you will find
the course you need to hone your particu-
lar skills. The IATA Training & Develop-
ment Institutes faculty consists of over
250 of the industrys leading experts, pro-
fessors and business leaders from around
the world. Through classroom, in-company,
distance-learning and e-learning training
programmes, the Institute delivers train-
ing in English, French and Spanish at more
than 200 locations worldwide, to some
26,000 students annually from around the
world.
The IATA Training & Development Institute
offers the four following training options:
- The IATA Diploma programme available
for 16 disciplines, including
the Diploma in Airport Operations,
the Diploma in Safety Management,
the Diploma in ANS Management,
the Diploma in Aviation Security,
the Diploma in Airport
Management,
the Diploma in Civil Aviation
Management,
the new Diploma in Advanced
Air Traffic Control,
and several others.
- Distance-learning and e-learning courses
for the busy professional
- Customised training adapted to your
organisations requirements
delivered onsite to groups of 10 or more
www.iata.org/training
ATC Maastricht 2007
The 2007 event will be bigger and more
comprehensive than ever with new seminar
and workshop content and of course the
usual ATC Maastricht Conference, which
has been recently acquired by the Confer-
ence Organizers (CMPi) from the Janes In-
formation Group. The dates: 13 to 15 Feb-
ruary 2007 in Maastricht (Netherlands)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON
ATC MAASTRICHT 2007 VISIT
WWW.ATCMAASTRICHT.COM
This concludes Spotlight for 2006 and I
would like to thank Laurette Royer, HELIOS
for supporting Spotlight with her companys
contribution. May I also take this opportu-
nity to wish all of you a very Happy Festive
Season and wish you a safe transition into
the New Year. As normal, to our corpo-
rate membership readers, if you would like
your company to be featured in `Spotlight
in 2007, and likewise to any reader, who
would like further information on any topic
that was covered, please do not hesitate to
contact me using the following address:

Kevin Salter
IFATCA Contributing Editor
Corporate Affairs
Flugsicherungsakademie
Am DFS-Campus 4
D-63225 Langen
Tel: + 49 (0)6103 707 5202
Fax: + 49 (0)6103 707 5177
E-Mail: kevin-john.salter@dfs.de
Spotlight
)FTHISMAKESSENSETOYOU
rectoVersoVs3.indd 1 2006-09-29 15:46:18
SOWILLTHIS
!$6!.#%$!)242!&&)##/.42/,$)0,/-!
www. | ul u. or g/l r u| n| ng/uns _s u ol y l r u| n| ng. y mq_| ul u. or g
Refres|er !ra|a|a
fer k|r !raff|c 0ealre||er
Ensuros lhul u|| conlro||ors huvo u|| uno curronl
|now|oogo o ossonl|u| lop|cs ro|ul|ng lo ou||y
oporul|ons lo |mprovo prov|s|on o u|r lru|c sorv|cos.
k!0 !eam Researce Haaaemeal & 8afel
Mochun|sms ussoc|uloo w|lh ATC orrors uno
slrulog|os lo |oonl|y uno munugo lho consoquoncos
|n un oporul|onu| onv|ronmonl.
Reace \erl|ca| 8eparal|ea H|a|mam [R\8H)
For on-roulo conlro||ors huno||ng u|rcrul
|n u|rspuco ubovo FL 28C.
P|rasee|e & 8afel fer k|r !raff|c 0ealre||ers
How |nuppropr|ulo phrusoo|ogy cun conlr|bulo lo
|nc|oonls or ucc|oonls.
k|r|erae 0e|||s|ea kte|aace 8slems /
!-0k8 !ra|a|a fer k|r !raff|c 0ealre||ers aa P||els*
How T-CAS u|orls uno uov|sor|os uro gonoruloo,
w|lh cuso sluo|os oovo|opoo spoc||cu||y by
Euroconlro| uno lho Fronch DCAC.
0ealre||er P||el 0ala ||ak 0emmaa|cal|eas [0P0|0)*
Anu|ys|s o curronl uno uluro oulu ||n| upp||cul|ons,
|nc|uo|ng CPDLC, Aulomul|c Dopono Survo|||unco
(ADS) uno D|g|lu| F||ghl lnormul|on Sorv|cos (D-FlS).
k|r !raff|c ||ew aa 0apac|l Haaaemeal*
Ovorv|ow o ATFCM uno how lo copo w|lh uluro
chu||ongos, us lho munugomonl o ATC Cupuc|ly
bocomos moro |mporlunl.
8ale|||le Nat|al|ea
ln-ooplh v|ow o CSS, lho ussoc|uloo nuv|gul|on
pr|nc|p|os, wou|nossos uno bono|ls or c|v|| uv|ul|on.
k!0 Uaasaa| / Emereac 8|laal|eas !ra|a|a
Wuys lo huno|o slrossu| s|luul|ons, w|lh cuslom|soo
lATA ATC nusuu| / Emorgoncy S|luul|ons Choc|||sl.
Rea|re
E|ecl|tes
Koop puco w|lh lho conslunl chungos uno ouy-lo-ouy chu||ongos |n
A|r Tru|c Conlro| wh||o guurunloo|ng u h|gh |ovo| o suoly uno o|c|oncy
w|lh lho lATA Tru|n|ng & Dovo|opmonl lnsl|lulo's oxporl, quu||ly lru|n|ng.
* ln purlnorsh|p w|lh Euroconlro|
rectoVersoVs3.indd 2 2006-09-29 15:46:18
4 Mongolia
The meeting was attended by nearly all
Controllers Members association of the region.
80 air traffic controllers from the region with
the biggest traffic growth on the planet met
in Ulaan Bataar, the capital of Mongolia. Prob-
lems in this large region are immense and cover
all types of operations from totally procedural,
to Radar high density, to ADS-B, with trials in
techniques such as ADS-C and Mulitlateration.
The level of sophistication in equipment
should not shadow the fact that the region
also harbors a vast difference in treatment
of its Controllers. The relatively well treated
and paid (everything is relative I know!) New
Zealand or Australians are meeting the poorly
paid and poorly treated colleagues from, for
instance the Philippines or Nepal.
The meeting was extremely well organized
and the social contacts and time off around
the working sessions was very well managed
by MONATCA the Mongolian Controllers.
Various visits to places around the city to
show what the country can do and what the
culture is were organized after the working
sessions, and it was fabulous. This year was
the 800th anniversary of the great Mongol
empire of Genghis Kahn, and it is amazing
to remember that a few centuries ago, the
Mongol empire reached almost from the Pa-
cific to the Atlantic, (they stopped in Vienna,
OK but that was close!) They looked quite
impressive in their army gear and I was glad
that today these warriors were escorting us
to our Dinner rather that planning to visit us
again at home
The theme of the Meeting was set by David
Cheung the IFATCA region Vice President as
Enhancing Air safety with Increased capacity.
But many of the various controllers Associations
reports painted a very different picture. Lack
of Controllers almost everywhere is hampering
that goal. We heard that even NEW ZEALAND
has an acute lack of controllers that led to the
closure of Wellington and Dunedin Towers for
short periods.
1
THE
CONTROLLER
by Philippe Domogala
ThE ASIA PACIFIC
REGIONAL MEETING OF IFATCA
ULAAN BAATAR MONGOLIA SEPT 2006
The theme of the Meeting was:
Enhancing Air safety with
Increased capacity
4 The Mongol warriors. Photo: DP
4 Traditional
Mongol musi-
cians opening
the meeting
Photo: DP
4 Mongolia
MACAU also reported a very
difficult situation, where the
recent privatization of ATS
resulted in lack of staff, cost
cutting measures to the point where they
have now a uniform salary structure where
controllers are paid the same as follow-me
car drivers. They say they have to perform
175 hours/month on shifts of 6 to 10 hours
without breaks. There are apparently no lim-
its on the hours you can work in a given day
and no safety management in place. The traf-
fic is booming (14% raise in traffic this year)
and 2 new airlines are going to be based
there in the coming months!
SRI LANKA also reported an acute lack of
staff, with foreign funded ATC training pro-
grams being diverted to military controllers
instead of the intended Civil ones. Recently
they planned to recourse to Industrial action
but had to postpone it as they were fears
that adjacent units (in India) would take over
their airspace in case of a strike.
NEPAL also reported a poor working environ-
ment with lack of staff, low remuneration, lack
of training, inconvenient shifts, poor or faulty
equipment. This poor working environment,
combined with no career prospects and poor
salaries are creating an ambiance of very low
motivation, not very compatible with safety.
JAPAN reported on the final trial (appeal)
of the two controllers involved in the near
mid air in 2001 (see previous issues) due to
start in December 2006. Hopefully the earlier
hearing clearing them will be confirmed so
that our two colleagues can go back to work
and put all this behind them.
AUSTRALIA reported about multiple failures
of their ADS-B system in June 2006 affect-
ing the whole of Australia. This resulted in
failures of all the computers that display traf-
fic information to controllers. This caused a
reflection on the use of computers and the
ability of controllers to safely take over man-
ually from such failures.
Further roll out of ADS-B has now officially
been deferred. The coverage has been re-
duced from the original plan, with intended
coverage now being primarily above FL200.
IRAN made a presentation on the results of
the crash of a C130 last December and the
subsequent prosecution of 4 controllers as
a result. More details on this crash is to be
found in this issue.
20
THE
CONTROLLER
This caused a refection on the
use of computers and the ability
of controllers to safely take over
manually from such failures.
4 Ulaan Baatar runway
in the mountains.
Photo: Michael Haines
4 A typical sector in the ACC. Photo: DP
4 The Organizing committee
saying good bye. Photo: DP
4 Mongolia / Asian News
THAILAND: A brand new airport has opened
in September, Suvarnabhumi, with the tallest
Tower in the world according the controllers
a very nice architectural achievement but they
say that from the TWR cab a 747 looks like
an ant! They also complained about a lack of
training received to move to the new airport.
The meeting generated much debate and
the social events around it allowed everyone
to discuss in detail and learn from each oth-
ers problems and fears. Next Regional meet-
ing in 2007 is planned to be held in Kuala
Lumpur in Malaysia.
^

21
THE
CONTROLLER
4 Tower Controller in
Ulaan Baatar.
Photo: DP
4 Ulaan Baatar ACC
and control Tower
Photo: DP
Subscription Form (Valid from June 2006)
The CONTROLLER is 4 issues a year, usually published on 1st March, June, September and December. Subscriptions
will be automatically renewed for one year on 31st May of each year. Can- cellation or amendements to numbers of issues
must reach the Subscriptions Manager (offce@ifatca.org) by 1st April. A reduced rate is available on request for large orders.
Magazines are despatched using priority airmail worlwide. Costs for a year (4 issues) inclusive of mailing are as follows:
^ IFATCA members .. 1 year subscription = 32 USD
^ Others ........ 1 year subscription = 42 USD
Payment for large numbers can be made by cheque or bank transfer in US Dollars, or for individual subscriptions by visa/master-
card in US dollars.
Further information available from the Subscription Manager:

e-mail: subscribe@ifatca.org

web sites: www.ifatca.org

www.the-controller.net
Order Form
Please Return to: The CONTROLLER Ma- gazine Subscription via email: subscribe@ifatca.org or mail to: IFATCA, 1255 University
Street, Suite 408, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 3B6, Canada or fax: +1514 866 7612
BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE
Family Name ________________________________________________ First Name(s) ____________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________ Country ____________________________________________
Number of copies required: ________
Method of Payment: (please indicate) Cheque enclosed visa mastercard request invoice
Cheques to be made payable to The CONTROLLER in US Dollars
If paying by visa/mastercard: Card Number: __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ expiry date __ __ __ __
Signature of cardholder _______________________________________________________________ Credit Card Security code (on reverse) __ __ __
Name of cardholder __________________________________________________________________
Address of cardholder ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(if different from above) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tel of cardholder _______________________________________ Email of cardholder _____________________________________________________
4 Mongolia 2
INTERvIEW WITh YA ARIUNBAT, GENERAL
MANAGER ATM, MONGOLIAN CAA
Ph: How are you controlling traffic in such a
huge country as Mongolia ?
YA: Procedurally. Our country has currently
5 NDBs, 1 VOR and a good VHF coverage
to enable us to do the en-route control over
our whole FIR. We also have ADS-C opera-
tional, but not enough aircraft are equipped
to make a difference (only 28% of our over
flying traffic is ADS-C equipped.)
Ph: What are you planning to do in the
future?
YA: We are also testing ADS-B (but based
on VDL Mode 4, the Swedish STDMA type)
for our domestic airlines. We are also testing
multilateration, we have just made a contract
with a US firm and the plan is to cover all the
main air routes over Mongolia.
Ph: Do you have any plans to use radar:
YA: No. Multilateration looks promising as it
costs much less compared to radar and no
extra airborne equipment is needed, but we
will have to see the results of our tests.
Ph: How are you going to finance your
projects?
YA: Of course via the over flying charges,
but as we are a Government Service Admin-
istration, the State will have to bear the cost
of investment. But with a traffic rise of 12%
a year, double the world average. We should
have no problems.
Ph: Do you plan to recruit more controllers:
YA: We plan to increase our staff by 4%
every year.
Ph: Your main international airport in the
capital Ulaan Baatar is wind restricted (only
one runway direction usable due mountain
at end of other side) and causes many di-
versions and cancellations. Do you have any
plans to move the airport, or perhaps to use
the main military base in UB for diversions?
YA: No plans for a new airport and we can-
not use the military bases for diversions. This
is not possible, they do not have any facili-
ties, no passenger handling, etc.
Ph: are your relations with the military good?
YA: Oh yes, very good cooperation, but they
are not very busy you know! ( smile )
Ph: How is your co-operation with your big
neighbors Russia and China?
YA: Cooperation is good with them. We have
bilateral agreements that work between the two
Russian Adjacent ACCs and the three Chinese
ones. The only problem we face is that they
both use a different Flight level metric system.
We constantly have to adapt between the two.
To make things a bit easier we adopted the Rus-
sian system. We would have no problems going
to feet, but that would make our job even more
difficult! China plans to introduce RVSM (in me-
ters) in 2009 and maybe Russia and China could
agree on a new single FL system.
We also have a small border with Kazakhstan
in the Southwest but no fixed air routes be-
tween the two countries, although we have a
few direct flights between the 2 countries in
the Summer to Bainul airport, as we have a
small Kazakh community over there.
^
22
THE
CONTROLLER
4 Ya Ariunbat Photo: DP
4 Mongolian landscape. Photo: DP
[Russia and China are both
using] a different Flight level
metric system. We constantly
have to adapt between the two.
4 Mongolia
23
THE
CONTROLLER
Philippe: There are very few women in ATC
in Mongolia?
Enkh-Od: Yes, we are only 10, from about
100 controllers. The main reason is that se-
lection to become a controller is very hard
for women and also that very few women
controllers stay after they have had children.
Ph: Why is this?
EO: Our Top management is perhaps not
aware that the psychology of women is differ-
ent, especially during pregnancy, as whether
you are pregnant or not you still have to work
your full 8 hours without a break. When you
are pregnant this is very hard. After your
pregnancy it also is hard to stay even if you
want to. Lately two women controllers had
children, and after their baby was born could
not come back to work at their previous posi-
tion as controllers. The top management did
not say they could not return because they
had been pregnant, but because they were
not validated and made some small mis-
takes while working, but it is a fact that none
of them had access to refresher training be-
fore they came back. So it is a bit unfair. Also
working part time is not yet allowed.
Fh: Is it difficult to be a Supervisor and a
woman?
EO: Some men do not like to work under a
womans authority. Many men think they are
superior to women, and I am all the time trying
to show them that this is not true. Many men
have a gender problem I try to tell them that
I am different but not inferior. Even if a woman
is a good controller, a good professional, she
will not be considered equal by some men. But
not everybody thinks like this fortunately.
^
INTERvIEW WITh FIRST ANd ONLY
WOMAN SUPERvISOR IN MONGOLIA
INTERvIEW WITh dAvId ChEUNG
IFATCA EvP ASIA PACIFIC
Philippe: How was the meeting for you?
David: This meeting was the best Regional
meeting I have seen in 4 years. This is no ad-
verse comment on previous ones, but I say this
because the Mongolian Controllers got sup-
port and resources from their administration
in organizing such an event and it showed. Of
course MONATCA has to get the credit for the
work, and participation was very good as well.
Ph: Is your objective for this meeting en-
hanced safety with increased capacity been
achieved?
David: Past regional meetings in this region
have generally been rather passive, even mo-
notonous as MAs did not produce any particu-
lar papers of substance to discuss. By papers
of substance I mean real issues of concern for
controllers. But this time we were lucky, we
had good presentations and debates on this
subject. This meeting also demonstrated the
geographical dimension of our region. We had
here the leader in ADS-B and with modern
technology as a standard, (Australia) debating
with another country some 10-11 flying hours
away which has no radars, and only 1 VOR and
5 NDBs to control their traffic.
Ph: Was it important to have the meeting in
Mongolia?
David: Mongolia is between China and Russia
and we see the effects of the tremendous ex-
pansion of Chinese aviation. You have to realize
that China today has 850 transport aircraft but
in 2020, they plan to have 4000! Mongolia ATC
will have to adapt fast to be able to accept all
this traffic above their airspace, that will be tran-
siting to and from Europe. As they are also stuck
between 2 different metric Flight levels systems,
the introduction of RVSM is also going to be a
challenge for them. RNP routes are also going
to knock on their borders, so, yes it was very im-
portant to have the meeting here.
Ph: What would you keep as a result of this
meeting?
David: The apparent excellent relations be-
tween the Controllers in Mongolia and their
by Philippe Domogala, Editor.
management in wanting to solve
the problems and offer the best
for the future. It was a pleasure to
see both working together toward
that aim. The Regions problems
are many and very similar, but the
lack of sufficient resources (i.e.
controllers) is almost a standard
feature in most Asia Pacific States
and this is going to be a challenge
in the near future.
^

Mongolia ATC will have to adapt
fast to be able to accept all this
traffc above their airspace
4 David Cheug in Ulaan Bataar
P
h
o
t
o
:

D
P
4 Enkh-od, Supervisor
Ulaan Baatar ACC.
Some men do not like to work
under a womans authority.
P
h
o
t
o
:

D
P
4 Mongolia
BEING A YOUNG CONTROLLER
IN MONGOLIA IN 2006
24
by Philippe Domogala
THE
CONTROLLER
During the Regional meeting in Ulaan Bataar,
I met some young controllers from the ACC in
a pub. They had all been trained in Thailand or
Sweden.
They are all young and very motivated, ea-
ger to do their best as controllers, but they say
they have to work under difficult conditions.
Although there have been talks to buy a radar
system for more than 10 years, the ATC in the
whole of Mongolia is still done procedurally
(see separate article elsewhere in this issue).
If the working conditions look pretty normal
(8 hours shifts in a 3 days on / 2 days off system)
with 15 days of holiday leave per year) they say
the way they actually work is quite demanding.
The 8 hours shifts doe not include breaks, and
although Supervisors try to provide some relief
for meals, they say they often find themselves
obliged to work 8 hours in a row.
With 10 aircraft at the same time on the
frequency more the norm than the exception
(with peaks at 20 !) in procedural ATC, work-
load a big issue for them. Retirement age is 60
years old, but they say that in fact nobody so
far has enjoyed that old age as a controller. So
far permanent illness or premature death has
prevented anyone from reaching pension age!
Relations between controllers and man-
agement is also an area where improvement
is due according to them (but where in the
world is it not the case!) When an operational
error occurs, controllers are generally punished
heavily. They mentioned the case of a young
TWR controller involved in a incident who
was immediately demoted and sent to the
countryside as they call the wilderness around
Mongolia, with his young pregnant wife forced
to stay behind, only to find out after a year that
he was not responsible for the incident, (a pilot
was) This case, and some other similar ones are
creating a bad environment and even fear at
work among young controllers. Just culture
is an unknown area there apparently.
There also seems to be a big difference be-
tween the so called old controllers and the
young ones. This situation is creating tensions
in the ops room according to them. Complain-
ing officially seems to be very difficult and have
an effect on ones career, and their controller
association MONATCA, although very active,
is not a trade Union. The salaries is also an is-
sue: although their salary (about 500 USD a
month following a recent raise of 30% nego-
tiated with their association MONATCA) are
quite above average in the Government scale
of salaries, due to the cost of living in Ulaan
Bataar, they cannot do very much with it, much
less sustain a family on that income alone.
The private companies which have flour-
ished in Mongolia after 1990 are offering far
higher salaries and possibilities (like having a car)
Of course, being young and very well educated,
with high English language skills, the controllers
are comparing themselves to them. They also
see the new private airlines which are starting to
operate in the country and regards their work-
ing conditions as a dream of a better future.
Mongolia has been under communist rule
for 70 years, only ending some 15 years ago.
Some of the older generation are still firmly
anchored in the past, but for the younger gen-
eration (who was only 10 years old on aver-
age when this happened) it is a different world
they are aiming at.
^
So far permanent illness
or premature death has pre-
vented anyone from reaching
pension age!
P
h
o
t
o
:

M
i
c
h
a
e
l

H
a
i
n
e
s

4 Side Views
25
THE
CONTROLLER
SIDE VIEWS: This is a topic where ideas and controversial subjects are discussed.
These ideas do not refect the position of IFATCA but only that of the author.
This story could happen at any time, at any
place where there are flights in the sky and air
traffic controllers on the ground. I was flying to
Paris with my bride to spend our honeymoon.
After tizzy weeks of wedding preparations,
Im finally going to the airport in a car which
has just married written on it.
When we arrived to the airport we were
hit by an air traffic control strike. All flights
were either cancelled or delayed for at least
15 hours. I heard from the employees that it
wasnt the first one and it was the fifth day of
slowing down the traffic. I dont know how
long we will stay at the airport so I bought
the newspaper to see whats going on and
to know the history of this issue. It revealed
that a few months ago the controllers took
action by organizing a sit-in and slowing
down traffic, in pursuit of higher wages,
better retirement package, better working
conditions and providing more job security
for their colleagues, who are increasingly on
temporary contracts that feature a clause al-
lowing the employer to terminate the con-
tract at any time.
They requested to meet with the authori-
ties to satisfy their requests but authorities
refused to listen or negotiate with the con-
trollers. The controllers sent their written de-
mands to the authorities, but none of their
demands were met. The authorities threat-
ened to hire foreign air controllers paid at
least 10 times more than the local control-
lers salaries, hire retired controllers, or hire
air force controllers. Disciplinary actions were
taken against the strikers, they fired some of
the strikers and now the controllers have to
find a way to feed their families.
The situation rapidly escalated and cost the
CAA and airlines millions of dollars. Thou-
sands of passengers were kept waiting at
the airport for hours, while others were trans-
ferred to nearby hotels for an overnight stay.
It was written that at the last strike the CAA
received a warning from IATA. Some air-
lines had also requested compensation for
the delays that damaged their business and
disturbed their passengers. It was written
too that International Federation of Air Traf-
fic Controllers Associations (IFATCA) wrote
to the authorities urging them to solve this
problem and issue a press release. My bride
asked me a question that popped up while
we were walking at the airport Isnt it that
crazy job where the President just fired eve-
ryone, as happened in 1981 strike in USA?

I said yes, it was one of the major labor
strikes in recent history, it also happened at
many other places like France, Bulgaria, Spain,
Kenya, Zambia.

She said I dont agree with how far the mat-
ter has escalated, but I think that they are
a very special people and they have a very
important and critical job and the authori-
ties have to deal with them according that.
She added the most important thing to
me in this whole thing is not whos right or
wrong, but how the government is dealing
and interacting with the controllers, and how
the controllers are responding. There are ap-
parently no channels of communication be-
tween them.
I said yes, you are quite right; you know I
heard that the executive board of IFATCA is
preparing a user guide on industrial actions.
She said I hope they could make another
one to raise the controllers salaries.
Finally they called our flight. I think it will
be a good memorable event and it will be a
very good story to tell our children and our
grandchildren.
^
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL STRIKES
by Ayman Mahmoud
I hope [IFATCA] could make
another [user guide] to raise
the controllers salaries.
4 The Controller strike
in the streets.
P
h
o
t
o
:

A
M
4 Ayman Mahmoud
Photo: AM
4 Legal affairs
ThE CRASh OF A C130 IN IRAN
In December 2005, an Iranian Air Force Her-
cules C130 crashed shortly after take off from
Mehrabad (Iran) following an engine failure.
4 controllers on duty at the time of the acci-
dent are now being prosecuted for careless
operations of their duties.
WHAT HAPPENED?
On Dec 6, 2005 an Iranian Air Force C130
departed from Mehrabad airport for a flight
to Bandas Abbas. Although the flight plan
mentioned 10 persons on board, it carried in
fact 84 civilian press correspondents as pas-
sengers to witness a military exercise. About
9 minutes after take off the pilot declared an
Emergency due to loss of engine number 4,
and requested to return to Mehrabad airport
via an ILS approach. The APP controller in
charge of the flight at that moment cleared
the pilot to proceed as requested.
Six minutes later as the aircraft was ap-
proaching the NDB used for the Approach
fix, the APP controller informed the pilot of
his position, cleared him to start descend
and asked him to report established on the
ILS. One minute later the APP controller ob-
served the aircraft was descending below
the glide slope and advised him: You seem
below glide path and asked him to confirm
established on ILS. The pilot confirmed. Then
the Military Operations officer called the APP
Cell asking to talk to the pilot. The APP con-
troller replied that the aircraft was now 8 NM
from touch down and was changing to the
Tower Frequency.
The APP controller then told the crew to con-
tact the TWR. The pilot then called the TWR
and reported being fully established on the
ILS. The TWR controller issued a landing
clearance and the latest weather information
as reported by a preceding aircraft (a Fokker
100, 4 minutes before reporting 1,5 NM visi-
bility) The pilot read back the clearance. One
minute later the Military Operations officer
called the TWR and asked permission to talk
to the aircraft. The controller agreed, and at
the end of the conversation with the OPS of-
ficer, the pilot said: Presently everything is
normal, thanks.
One minute and 20 seconds later the aircraft
crashed into the 10th floor of a building lo-
cated about 700m left of the extended cen-
tre line of the runway, killing all on board and
some on the ground.
BRIEF COMMENTS:
In this accident, the pilot did not request ra-
dar vectoring. On the contrary, he requested
to fly on his own navigation and asked to
perform an ILS approach. According to ICAO
PANS-ATM: Manoeuvring instructions to an
aircraft experiencing engine failure should
be limited to a minimum, so the Controllers
judgment to approve the requested ILS APP
was logical.
In an ILS approach, it is also clear that the
responsibility for terrain avoidance lies with
the pilot. The radar in Mehrabad is adjusted
to a 100 NM range and is not certified for ra-
dar vectoring below 6000 ft. What happened
during the military investigation, is that the
radar track of the aircraft was blown up to 10
NM range and there the last minute devia-
tion from the localizer was visible. But that
is not what the APP radar controller saw, as
such tiny deviations on a 100NM rage display
are not visible.
What the blown up track showed, was that
during the time the Military Operations of-
ficer talked to the pilot, the aircraft veered
to the left, when the pilot, realized he was off
track a few seconds later, (perhaps by visually
acquiring the runway) he banked excessively
to the right, into the engine failure side, and
probably stalled.
THE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION:
The Investigation Team consisted of 29 Mili-
tary staff (none of them was an ICAO expert).
A few hours after the crash everything was
removed from the accident area by air force
personnel, and the Iranian Civil aviation ex-
perts were not permitted to see anything.
A military Court Martial was called to appor-
tion blame. A group of Foreign experts
were invited to contribute, but those experts
were all from the Pakistani Air Force and none
of them was a radar controller. The group of
experts confirmed the initial Iranian Air Force
conclusion that the air traffic controllers and
the ATC management were guilty of causing
this accident.
2
By Alireza Mahkam, President Iranian Air
Traffc Controllers Association
THE
CONTROLLER
Photo: AM
Photo:
Courtesy FARS
news Agency
4 The crash site
some 3 hours after.
4 Mehrabad TMA
4 Legal affairs
THE CHARGES AGAINT THE
CONTROLLERS:
4 persons are being prosecuted: The APP
controller, the TWR controller, The ATC su-
pervisor on duty that day and the Manager
of Meharabad ATC.
They are accused of:
a) Careless operation of Air traffic Control
b) Insufficient hand over between Approach
radar and Tower
c) Lack of providing radar monitoring service
and to inform the aircraft of its deviation
from localizer within 4 NM of touchdown.
d) Lack of sufficient management and super-
vision by Mehrabad ATC direct manager.
Normally a military court martial should not
have jurisdiction in this case, as the persons
accused are not military and the vast majority
of the dead are civilians. But the 4 controllers
prosecuted have to live with this. The Iranian
Airport Company (IAC) has hired a very good
lawyer to defend them. IFATCA has also tak-
en the case on board and is watching the de-
velopments very carefully, and will intervene
if necessary.
^
Four persons are being
prosecuted [for..] Careless
operation of Air traffc Control
4 Photo legend: A C130, a similar
type of aircraft that crashed in
Iran (here in the livery of the
Egyptian Air Force)
P
h
o
t
o
: G
. H
e
lm
e
r

Photo: Ph. Parker 27
4 OASIS HONG KONG
Boeing 747 practicing
engine failures.



by Phil Parker, Asia Pacifc Editor
Accompanying the world trend for Low Cost
regional airlines is a new one to provide low
cost Long Haul options. This is certainly
what QANTAS is doing with their low cost
airline JETSTAR. We also have a new start-up
in Hong Kong called OASIS. They are start-
ing with 2 B747-400s (Ex SIA), and will be ex-
panding that fleet over the near term. Their
flights start on October 25th and they will
be initially flying between Hong Kong and
London Gatwick. Further expansion will see
them operating to and from Cologne/Bonn,
Berlin and Milan in Europe and San Francisco
(Oakland) and Chicago in the USA.
Why am I advertising all of this? Well their
Chief pilot and other aircrew visited ATC
only a few days ago to find out about our
problems before they commenced opera-
tions. How refreshing. It is their intention
to mandate all pilots to visit ATC while on
stopover in Hong Kong as all crews are U.K.
based. Hong Kong ATC wish them well.
Their first aircraft arrived on the evening
of 19 September and the carried out a test
flight on the afternoon of the 20th where I
caught that aircraft in a 3 engines low level
missed approach.
^
A NEW LOW COST
AIRLINE IN hONG KONG
4 Advertisement
28
by Gary B. LaGuardia, Director of Business Development
PAN AM International Flight Academy
THE
CONTROLLER
ThE AvIATION ENGLISh LANGUAGE
ASSESSMENT PROGRAM IS OPEN
Photos: Pan Am
The assessment process
will average 20 minutes
per person
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA)
is pleased to announce their Aviation English
Language Assessment Program (AELAP) for
aviation professionals. This program is de-
signed to measure the aviation professionals
knowledge and command of the English lan-
guage according to ICAOs Level IV definition.
AELAP consists of a web based interview
(video-conference) that combines an oral
examination and professional dialogue with
a qualified aviation instructor. PAIFA has de-
veloped two distinct assessment programs,
one for Air Traffic Control, and one for Flight
Personnel, in which the examinations are
specific to the different professions.
The assessment program was designed in such
a way as to provide a valid and reliable method
of testing Aviation English competence, and
generate a needs analysis of the workforce
based on an individuals level of English profi-
ciency to determine the time required for any
necessary training to attain ICAO operational
level. For those individuals who attain Level IV,
PAIFA will provide them with a Certificate of
Competence (Operational, Extended, or Ex-
pert.) The overall process is quite simple and
easy to administer as defined below:
The customers facility will need to provide
a conference room with a computer, we-
bcam, microphone, and broadband access
to the Internet.
At a mutually agreed time, the individual
will sign on to the given website, with a
pre-authorized pass-code. Once signed in,
the individual will be in a live teleconfer-
ence with a PAIFA instructor / examiner.
The individual first provides an acceptable
form of identification that is video taped
and made part of the recorded interview.
After initial introductions and interaction,
the interview consists of approximately 10
items pertaining to that individuals job func-
tions and includes extensive air to ground
or ground to air communications exercises
such as reading emergency checklists, writ-
ing ATC clearance, emergency dialogue,
and general questions relating to aviation.
During the interview, the examiner will in-
troduce non-standard conditions and con-
flicting terms that require appropriate re-
action and response, which is intended to
produce stress and anxiety. These factors
generally contribute to the lessening of the
capability of most non-native speakers.
During the interview, the individuals answers
are scored, and at the end of the interview,
the instructor will grade the responses and
interaction.
The individuals report is sent to the spon-
soring company along with the Certificate, if
qualified, and the video recording of the in-
terview is retained in our files for one year.
The assessment process will average 20 min-
utes per person, and multiple interviews may
be administered simultaneously. The cost of
the assessment program will depend on the
number of students enrolled, but will generally
average $75.00 to $125 per student. Pan Am
International Flight Academy is a Federal Avia-
tion Authority approved Part 142 Training
Facility located at Miami International Airport
in Miami, Florida. For further information about
this or our other aviation training programs,
please visit www.panamacademy.com, or con-
tact us by telephone at 305-874-6000.
^
Our address:
Miami International Airport, 5000 NW
36th Street Miami, Florida 33266-0920 /
(T) 305-874-6000 / (F) 305-874-6644
4 Americas
2
THE
CONTROLLER
This text is an adaptation of the text CHAT
WITH THE ARGENTINIAN AIR TRAFFIC
CONTROLLERS, which reflects the views of
the main characters involved in the process of
privatization of the Argentina ATC, and move-
ment away from the military. These characters
are ATCOs directly involved in the transition
phase. Among them, we find Mrs. Gabriela
Logatto, Deputy President of IFATCA; Mr.
Cesar Salas, President of ACTA-Argentina;
and, Mr. Marcelo Paredes, Air Force sub of-
ficer and ATCO.
A NEW APPROACH PLANNED SINCE 2003
The 42nd IFATCA World Conference, which
took place in Buenos Aires in 2003, resulted
in a giant leap forward for the Argentinean
Air Traffic Controllers in their relationship
with their employer, the Argentinean Air
Force. Shortly after the conference, the Ar-
gentinean controllers became the govern-
ments advisors in civil aviation matters.
IFATCA in fact made the government
realize that in order to provide a better serv-
ice, ATS must be transformed into a civilian
entity. Until now, the civilian Air Traffic Con-
trol in Argentina has been provided by the
Air Force and a large number of Air Traffic
Controllers are Air Force officers. In addition,
authorities express their will to align Argenti-
nas commercial aviation with modern princi-
ples. There are also several technical reasons
that support the governments initiative.
Needless to say, the majority of the control-
lers, pilots and other aviation professionals,
support the Argentinean initiative.
A SHOCKING DOCUMENTARY
ACCELERATES THE PROCESS
On September 1, the Ministry of Defense
announced its decision to separate the Co-
mando de Regiones Areas, the Civil Avia-
tion Authority of Argentina, from the Armed
Forces. This announcement came as a result
of a documentary film revealing an apparent
terrible state of affairs and depicting a totally
deficient ATS provision in Argentina.
The public reaction in Argentina forced
the government to act quicker than initially
envisaged. The film showed how insecure the
current Air Navigation System is. The docu-
mentary addressed the lack of safety in the
ground-based installations, outdated tech-
nology and the very low professional level
of many. This film was made using hidden
cameras in strategic places. It showed many
irregularities in the provision of most air navi-
gation related services, including ATC. The
Ministry of Defense (currently responsible for
the ATC provision) has ordered a complete
investigation to either confirm or reject the
accusations presented in the film, but it is too
late to change the governments decision.
The down-side is that unfortunately, contro-
versial news like this, add further pressure to
the Air Traffic Controllers, whilst they struggle
for professional recognition and the right to
be heard in the domestic aviation industry.
LEGAL ISSUES
The sudden decision of the government cre-
ated new pressures. Mrs. Gabriela Logatto
(IFATCA Deputy President and a lawyer her-
self) said the change will involve deep legal
modifications on the laws which currently rec-
ognize the Argentinean Air Force as the only
aeronautical national authority. The govern-
ment is now pressing the transition and look-
ing for ways to support the presidential act.
A new company is envisaged, where private
participation is being considered. The whole
process should not take more than 18 months,
according to the government.
WILL TO CHANGE
The current number of ATCOs in Argentina is
about 1 200, seventy percent of which belong
to the Air Force. However, a vast majority con-
firm they are willing to start a civilian life in or-
der to continue their careers as ATCOs. These
are not approximate numbers, but the result
of a survey performed among military control-
lers. The others wish to remain in the Armed
Forces, either as regular soldiers, or as military
ATCOs at the air bases. Mr. Cesar Salas, (Pres-
ident of the Argentinean Controllers Associa-
tion) said the greatest achievement because
of the change, is the recognition of the ATC
profession, which until now was only a techni-
cal career within the military.
AN EXAMPLE IN THE REGION?
What is now happening in Argentina could
be the start of a new trend in the region. Im-
proving the quality of Air Traffic Services and
reshaping it into a non-military organisation
is a bold move and the Argentinean govern-
ment is taking the lead in this in the region.
WINdS OF ChANGE IN ARGENTINA
by El Kadur Acosta,
Regional Editor Americas
Whether their neighbors follow
remains to be seen. Neverthe-
less, we should encourage both
the Air Traffic Controllers and
the authorities in their com-
bined action to raise the level
of the ATC profession in the
region.
^
a documentary flm
revealing an apparent terrible
state of affairs
The down-side is that unfor-
tunately, controversial news
like this, add further pressure
to the Air Traffc Controllers
4 Buenos aires EZEIZA Airport
clearly showing who the
terminal belongs to.
Photo: Rafael Reca
4 European News
WhEN ThE vIKINGS MEET
NORdIC MEETING 2006 IN hELSINKI, FINLANd
The people in the north have a long lasting
history in holding proper meetings where
besides talking business, social contacts
are also a main reason for getting together.
Wine, beer and good food as well as games
and fun are integral parts of these gather-
ings. In the same tradition the northern
countries of IFATCAs European Region meet
regularly for their Nordic Meeting. Usually at
the end of the summer season, one of the
Nordic cities is the venue for the member-
ship association representatives of Iceland,
Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. This
year, the meeting, hosted by the Finnish as-
sociation, was held in Helsinki in early Sep-
tember. A more recent tradition is to invite
the IFATCA Executive Vice-President Europe
to take part of the proceedings and provide
background information and feedback on
professional aspects.
The first day, we all gathered at Helsinki-
Vantaa airport where we, following a lunch in-
vitation by airport authorities, dealt with some
changes to the Nordic Manual, which facilitates
the cooperation of the Nordic associations. It
contains administrative details, like meeting or-
ganization, language and representation. After
this, the Nordic associations reported their diffi-
culties, changes and developments. For exam-
ple all participants shared leave allocation and
overtime problems, induced by staff shortage.
Several participants identified a trend towards
electronic login systems for controller working
positions as well as a higher degree of supervi-
sion and control of operational staff. The view
on increased efficiency and reduction in costs
were the driving forces in the dispute Iceland
was faced with. Motivated by those points the
employer implemented a duty roster, which
appeared unworkable to most ATCOs in Ice-
land. Frustrated and unmotivated control staff
was the result of the lack of understanding for
their needs. Already earlier this summer IFAT-
CA addressed the issue to the CAA. Following
the update, it was felt by all participants that
a statement from the Nordic meeting would
facilitate bringing this dispute to an end. The
subsequently drafted press release pointed out
that friction at work and a hostile atmosphere
inhibit the provision of safe and expeditious air
traffic service. IFATCA and the Nordic Meeting
expressed their concern about this undesirable
state and urged both parties to find an accept-
able agreement to ensure the well being of
staff and thus serve the flying public.
Sponsors of the Nordic meeting spiced
up the afternoon with several interesting
presentations. From Hannes Bjurstrm, Sen-
ior Vice President of Flight Operations at Fin-
nair, we learned how crucial fuel costs and
fuel burn are. For Finnair, fuel costs have
tripled in the last three years. In 2003 costs
amounted to about 10% of their total turno-
ver today they are estimated to be 20%.
Replacing the MD11 by more economic
A340 and A350 models and expansion of the
Embraer 170/190 fleet shall lower the total
fleet fuel burn.
Pertti Savisalo, Head of Operations at Hel-
sinki-Vantaa, introduced us to Finavias work
at their 25 airports and 2 ATC facilities (Tam-
pere and Rovaniemi). He highlighted the fact
that Helsinki-Vantaa airport handles 90% of all
of international air traffic. Proudly he quoted
Vantaa being a leader in punctuality and rat-
ed, next to Oslo, as the airport with the lowest
air traffic fees in Europe. After such an eventful
first day of work, we were invited to an evening
30
by Patrik Peters, European Editor
THE
CONTROLLER
all participants shared lea-
ve allocation and overtime
problems, induced by staff
shortage.
4 The Tram-PUB
(yes there is a bar inside!)
Photo: P. Peters
4 European News
at one of the leading companies for aviation
weather measuring equipment, VAISALA. With
a welcome drink in our hands we were given a
presentation about their work, followed by a
factory tour, which emerged into a Finish sauna-
and pool evening with cold buffet and drinks.
The Finnish hosts were rather surprised by our
(the foreigners) enthusiasm for the real sauna!
The second day started with a discussion
about the different LRSTs (Local Runway Safety
Teams) in the Nordic Region. The Finnish asso-
ciation was very interested in the work done by
the other Nordic teams as they are for the time
being not part of any such team at Helsinki-
Vantaa. Iceland reported not having a team like
this but also having had fewer problems since
US forces left. IFATCAs airport domain team is
undertaking work in the field of runway safety
and recently commented on the ICAO Runway
Safety Manual. Updates on the NUAC project
by DATCA, reports of a financial questionnaire
by all Nordic associations and an update and
introduction into the IFATCA work by EVP
Europe filled the rest of the day. The Nordic
Meeting 2006 ended with a very unique bar-
tram ride (yes there was a bar inside!) around
Helsinki and a fancy, exquisite dinner at a La-
pland restaurant with the most fantastic rein-
deer meet I have ever had. And as the Vikings
always end it with a last beer or two, we had to
visit one of the most famous bars for aviators
the Kaarle XII. bar, casino, night-club and
disco on several levels in the centre of town.
The Nordic Meeting 2006 showed that
sub-regional coordination and cooperation
bonds the people, combines efforts and or-
ganizes input to the federation and amongst
associations. I learned a lot about their con-
cerns and could also assist them with pointing
out ways to solve problems. I was invited to
let them know more about the work inside the
federation and to get to know them better as
member associations of my region.
It worked!
^
THE
CONTROLLER
4 Vikings at work
Photo: P. Peters
If you want to see every pos-
sible aircraft from his best
angle (like the Hollywood
movie stars) this book is the
one. It is unusual because
it is not made with static
photos like all the others,
but by very nice drawings.
If you want to recognize the type of aircraft
you just saw on your strip or if you want
to teach your controller students what
real aircraft in fact look like, this is a nice
book to have. The author is an Irish artist,
a private pilot (he built and owns a Rutan
Long-Ez) and an architect (one has to earn
money I guess). A recommended book for
the aviation enthusiast but also to have as
reference in the TWRs or control centers
as well as in ATC schools.
The AVIATION BOOK
(The worlds aircraft from A to Z)
By Fia O Caoimh
Thames & Hudson Editions
ISBN 0-500-513031
342 pages, more than 850 illustrations
Price: 24.95 GBP (for the hardback)
To order one, contact Heather at:
h.bawden@thameshudson.co.uk
31
^
by Fia O Caoimh
Review made by P. Domogala
BOOK REVIEW
The Aviation Book
(The worlds aircraft from A to Z)
4 Philip Marien features
UP, UP ANd AWAY
Meet Larry Walters. While most
of you have heard of him, you
probably dont know his name.
Larry is responsible for what
most people think is an urban
legend: in 1982, he explored the
Californian skies in a chair tied to
some 40 weather balloons
In the early 60s, when Larry
was 13 years old, he saw some
weather balloons hanging in his
neighborhood Army-Navy sur-
plus store. That got him think-
ing or rather dreaming
Over the next twenty years, his
fascination became somewhat of an obses-
sion. His plan evolved into wanting to cross
the desert and reach the Rocky Mountains
after a couple of days. Then finally, in 1982,
Larry went out and bought more than 40 large
weather balloons and his dream became re-
ality. But not quite the way he planned it
The chosen lift-off site was the garden of his
girlfriends house in San Pedro, California.
Well prepared after 20 years of planning,
Larry packed supplies, including food and
water, a parachute, a pellet gun to shoot
some balloons when he was ready to come
back to earth and a camera. He also took a
portable CB radio to stay in touch with his
ground crew and to alert air traffic of his
presence He also seems to have had an al-
timeter, as he reported his altitude a number
of times via the radio

On the morning of July 2nd 1982, he filled
42 balloons with helium and tied them to his
vehicle: an aluminum patio chair. Tied to the
chair were several canisters with water, which
he planned to use as ballast. While Larry was
getting ready, the balloon contraption, aptly
named Inspiration I, was tied to the bumper
of a friends car with two nylon ropes.
Larry had planned to take off gently, soar to
about 100 ft and float towards the northeast.
After donning his parachute and strapping
himself into the chair, his crew cut the first
tether. The balloons, chair and Larry shot up
and the force snapped the second line which
was still tied to the car. The jolt caused Larry
to loose his glasses, but luckily he had a sec-
ond pair with him. When his girlfriend later
reported over the radio that she had found
the glasses, Larry calmly replied: Well, thats
good news
Unrestrained, the balloons brought Larry up
to 16000ft, climbing at about 1000 ft/min.
Some reports say that Larry lost the pellet
gun on take-off, but thats not true: he was
too scared to shoot some of the balloons,
fearing that it would cause more trouble than
he was already in.
Using his CB radio, he maintained contact
with the ground. His initial path took him
towards the sea, but high aloft, the wind
blew him back inland, almost overhead the
place he had taken off from. When his girl-
friend asked whether he could see them, he
replied: Im, Im almost 6,000 feet over. I
cant see much of anything (laugh) except for
a lot of houses. Over.
A/C: Approach, 3.22
APP: 3.22 approach
A/C: youre no going to believe this but
theres a man in a lawn chair at
16000 ft
APP: 3.22 say again
(first report by a TWA flight that spotted Larry)
Continuing to the north east, his balloons
took him over Long Beach harbor and to-
wards the municipal airport (KLGB), not LAX
as some papers reported. Approaching the
airport, he was spotted by several airline pi-
lots, who couldnt believe their eyes, let alone
convince ATC what they were seeing. Larry
in the mean time had established contact
with REACT (Radio Emergency Associated
Communication Teams): they are volunteers
who monitor CB channels in order to assist in
32
by Philip Marien
THE
CONTROLLER
4 The lawn chair used.
Photo: Courtesy Mark Barry
when Larry was 13 years
old, he saw some weather
balloons hanging in his neigh-
borhood Army-Navy surplus
store. That got him thinking or
rather dreaming
4 The lift off caught on camera
by his ground crew.
P
h
o
t
o
:

C
o
u
r
t
e
s
y

M
a
r
k

B
a
r
r
y
4 Philip Marien features
any emergency. Spending quite some time
trying to explain the nature of his ordeal, he
asks them to inform the authorities and tell
them that hes okay.
After about two hours, with his fingers stiff
from the cold, he took his gun and shot
several balloons. Although he did drop the
gun, the craft was now descending. Eventu-
ally, the lose lines still tied to his chair got
caught in some power lines. This caused a
blackout in a neighborhood to the northwest
of Long Beach airport and allowed Larry to
climb down from his chair. He was promptly
arrested by police who had witnessed the
final moments of his historic flight.
REACT: What color is the balloon?
Larry: The balloons are beige in color. Im
in a bright blue sky which would be
very highly visible. Over.
REACT: [Balloon] size?
Larry: Size approximately, uh, seven feet
in diameter each. And I probably
have about 35 left. Over.
REACT: Youre saying you have a cluster
of 35 balloons??
Larry: These are 35 weather balloons.
Not one single balloon, sir. It is 35
weather balloons.
REACT: Roger, stand by this frequency.
(Excerpt from the CB communications.
For the full audio file, visit www.markbarry.com)
Before being taken away, Larry gave the
chair to a neighborhood kid who witnessed
his landing. For years, Larry regretted giving
away that chair, especially after the Smith-
sonian Institute requested to preserve it in
their museum. Years later, Mark Barry, who
became fascinated by Larrys adventure, was
contacted by the now grown up kid, who still
had the chair, with some of the tethers and
ballast containers still attached!
When asked why he had done it by a reporter,
Walters replied a man cant just sit around.
The FAA of course also was involved, or to
quote their regional safety inspector: We
know he broke some part of the Federal Avi-
ation Act, and as soon as we decide which
part it is, some type of charge will be filed.
If he had a pilots license, wed suspend
that. But he doesnt. Initially, he was fined
US$4,000 for violations of the Federal Avia-
tion Act, including operating a civil aircraft
for which there is not currently in effect an
airworthiness certificate and operating an
aircraft within an airport traffic area without
establishing and maintaining two-way com-
munications with the control tower. Wal-
ters appealed, and the fine was reduced to
US$1,500: apparently, a patio
chair doesnt need an airwor-
thiness certificate and while the
flight was potentially unsafe,
Walter had not intended to en-
danger anyone.
Larry went on to become a
short lived celebrity, appearing
on several TV shows. Sadly, Lar-
rys no longer around to tell his
version of the story: he took his
own life in 1993.
Rules and regulations are more
and more getting in the way of
our pioneering spirit. Or as Larry said it: If
the FAA was around when the Wright Broth-
ers were testing their aircraft, they would
never have been able to make their first
flight at Kitty Hawk. While I cant condone
Larrys actions, I cant help but to admire his
spirit
In writing this story, I am greatly indebted to
Mark Barry, who researched Larrys story and
who gave his permission to use the photos
from his website, http://www.markbarry.com
to illustrate this article. Amazingly, he has
been able to recover a recording of the CB
communications from REACT with Larry dur-
ing his adventure, which you can listen to on
his site.
^
33
by Philip Marien
THE
CONTROLLER
He was fned US$1,500 for
violations of the Federal
Aviation Act, including opera-
ting a civil aircraft for which
there is not currently in effect
an airworthiness certifcate
4 The fight path map.
Photo: Courtesy Mark Barry
4 The landing.
Photo: Courtesy Mark Barry
^
ATC AUTOMATION
Following the automation articles in the
last issue, a nice reminder that it will take
some more time before passengers are
boarding automatic airplanes:
The Belgian Air Force deployed two large
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Con-
go last July, to ensure security during
Congos presidential elections. The first
one was brought down by a small gunfire
after take-off, as locals did not like the
noise, and the second one crashed over
the city a few weeks later due to loss of
control by the operator on the ground.
The story does not say if they intend to
send more UAVs in the region.
A BEAUFIFUL AIRCRAFT
The most beautiful aircraft ever build is
certainly not the latest Boeing 747 large
Cargo freighter (see photo) But I liked the
remark made by Capt Joe McDonald,
Boeing Chief pilot 747,
in time. A cab driver was taken away by
ambulance, but police say he will be fine.
No one else was hurt.
Police say probably the wind blew the
plane across the tarmac, through the
fence, and stopped onto the normally
busy street.
The airport authority, fearing lawyers im-
mediately, declared the fence was meant
for security, not as a barrier to hold runa-
way planes. The fence meets the FAA
standards, said the spokeswoman. She
added that the hole did not go unattended.
She then said there were people there
through the night to make sure no one
entered the airport. She got her priorities
right! No one suggested that the pilot that
parked the plane might be a woman; nei-
ther did it come to the mind of anyone.
OVERHEARD ON THE FREQUENCY:
Control: BAW123 what is your departure
point Sir,
Pilot: Actually, it was not a point at all
PRACTICING MAYDAYS.
On the circuit of a not so busy airport
comes the usual training exercise:
Pilot calls on the normal TWR frequency:
Control this is Cessna 152, with a request
to perform a practice mayday.
Controller: Go ahead.
Pilot then without saying anything switch
to 121, 5 and start calling: PRACTICE
MAYDAY, PRACTICE MAYDAY, PRAC-
TICE MAYDAY this is Cessna 152 ABC
actually at 1500 feet overhead your air-
port etc ... etc blocking the guard
frequency for quite a while. Everyone in
the area follows the monologue of course.
Then the telephone rings in the TWR: Hi,
This is Air Defense, if you want us to stop
this guy we can also do a practice scram-
ble and intercept on him if you pay for the
fuel
CHRISTMAS STORY:
I am in a small private aircraft dozing at
30.000 feet when suddenly there is a loud
bang and the aircraft starts descending
abruptly ...
We are only two passengers in the aircraft,
then one of the pilots comes up with two
parachutes and says, we have enough for
everyone, as soon as we reach 15.000 feet,
we will depressurize and I will open the
door and you can jump. Good luck!
I cannot believe it, but everything goes very
fast, I strap on the parachute, and when he
opens the door and shout, Go! I jump
out, then I pull the handle of the parachute
but nothing happens! I try to pull the han-
dle many times without success!
While I fall down towards the earth at 250
km/h. suddenly, I hear the voice of the pilot
saying: If you want to be saved just shout
the words: I want to be a good control-
ler! I will never be unkind to pilots anymore
and will always do what pilots say.
What is this? I shout in return: But the pilot
voice responds do this or you will die in
15 seconds! As the ground is coming up
fast and as I have nothing to loose, I just
shout as loud as I can: OK I will be a good
controller, never be unkind to pilots and I
will always do what they say!
Then indeed the fall stops and I gently land
on the ground. I am shaking my head in
disbelief, when I suddenly wake up and my
boss is looking at me angrily:
Charlie, Not only you sleep during an im-
portant meeting with our stakeholders,
but you are telling stupidities during your
sleep!
Merry Christmas and
happy new year to all of you!
who first flew the plane on its test flight
last September: he said It was a beauti-
ful flight!
Yes, every time someone introduce you an
ugly person, he nearly always add, but
she has a beautiful personality!
FORGOT THE PARKING BRAKE
Last September, during the night, a brand
new Falcon 900X crashed though the air-
port fence in Las Vegas in the USA and
ended in an adjacent street, the famous
Tropicana Avenue. The plane, with no-
body on board, rolled on its own away
from its parking spot.
This caused a car accident on Tropicana
Avenue because three cars could not stop
Charlies Column
4 A Boeing 747 LCF
Photo: Boeing Co.
Charlies Column
THE
CONTROLLER
Next issue will be published on 1st March 2007
CHECK OUT WHATS IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF
4 REPORT FROM ThE IFATCA
REGIONAL MEETINGS
4 BRAzIL COLLISION
UPdATE
4 LEGAL ISSUES
4 JUST CULTURE
ANd MUCh MORE!
SUBSCRIBE and ADVERTISE IN THE CONTROLLER
For Subscriptions see page 21 for the details and the form.
For advertising, contact Tatiana at offce@iftaca.org
Closing date for advertisements for the March Issue is 15 January 2007.
4 Everybody around the world reads the Controller
Oel l|ere w|l| l|ese l|.e ||!| !r|s|sj J|j|am |rajrmmes.

!|aaj| s|.|| .|l|as al|ar|l|es, |r s.|jl|as ser.|se jra.|1ers,
|rjarls s1 |r||ses same lram 1|lleresl j|ses, we s|re sammas
1esl|sl|as: slel.
||!| 1es|jss, 1e.e|ajs s1 1e||.ers jarlla||a al s|ssraam s1
saslam|se1 |ssamjs lr|s|sj saarses la |e|j || .|l|as
jraless|as|s sasl|sa|| es|sse l|e j|a|| |e.e| al slel.

||s1 aal mare |aal l|e sjes|l|s saarses allere1 w|l||s es| 1|j|am
| ses1|sj s em||:
lr|s|sjQ|l.arj
ar .|s|l|sj aar we|s|le:
www.|l.arj/lr|s|sj/1|j|am_jrajrmme
J|lleresl |l|serr|es,
sme 1esl|sl|as...
lel.