I have written about Air Traffic Controllers in the beginning of my stay here, in a detached, official way, making it perhaps a little more boring than I wanted it to be.
I also wanted to present the airport jobs, which are currently being very hard to fill with professionals, and the educational system either can't promote these types of jobs very well or they are just misunderstood. Also having worked with technicians from across the globe made me realize that this problem is widespread, especially in developing countries where the diversity of jobs is not fully covered by education. In short and generalizing a bit, everyone wants to be a footballer and nobody even knows what an ATC Controller or an Airport Technician does. Sadly, career counseling is not actively implemented in the developing countries so I am doing my best to cover this area, knowing that my exposure is still too low, but once present in the blockchain, it might be used in the future.
In the previous article we have talked about Ground Operations and what happens on the ground when you board your plane. Today we will talk about what happens after the plane starts moving.
My own 3D simulation of an airport. I even get paid for playing with it :D
The Ground Controller is supervising everything
On the ground, nothing happens without his knowledge. After you have boarded your plane and the doors have been closed, the aircraft's Captain will ask Ground Control for engine start. Usually a single engine is started because its alternator can supply enough energy to the plane in this stage, it's economical and makes less noise and is generally less dangerous. A common rule of thumb is to start the engine on the right part of the plane, since most of the gate equipment is usually stored on the left, where the passengers are also boarding.
After aircraft pushback, which is also initiated and allowed by the Ground Control, the aircraft can start all of its engines and prepare for departure. The ATC Tower gives coordinates to the departure runway and the route that the aircraft needs to follow via radio contact. The discussion uses a special vocabulary, callsigns and obviously, the aviation alphabet.
Understanding this "Controller-ish"
First of all we need to understand why a special aviation alphabet. The ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) designed a special alphabet which can minimize the amount of pronunciation misunderstandings. Failure to do so would result in severe accidents and loss of life. This alphabet is a radio-telephony spelling alphabet and was in fact later adopted by NATO as a standard.
Source
Furthermore, the use of a special vocabulary was needed, in order to standardize the commands and indications given to the pilots. The aircraft might be given the following indication via radio:
SteemAir 172, taxi via taxiway India, Bravo, Alpha and hold short of runway zero eight right
Public Database - Airport Information Service Romania
To make sense of what was said is pretty easy. The SteemAir 172 is an unique aircraft identifier, which might also be the transponder code, in a shortened way (STA 172).
The green line is the pushback direction which was the action done prior but still advised by the ATC. The command to taxi is the command to move the aircraft along the route given, in our case, India, Bravo and Alpha, which correspond to the aircraft movement chart that the pilots always keep handy or know by heart if they are regulars to that airport.
The term hold short is the action of stopping on the runway marking without crossing it. You can see it marked on the chart as a series of red dots. This allows other aircraft to take off and land in the meantime.
Runway zero eight right is the designation of the runway which has the magnetic orientation of 08 degrees, and "right" means that it's a two parallel-runway airport, so this is the one in the right while looking in the magnetic orientation direction.
The pilot has to confirm all the movement orders by repeating them to the controller, and end it with the aircraft callsign. After following the route and having reached the point specified, the pilots must radio Tower and communicate the need for new orders.
Tower, holding short of runway zero eight right, SteemAir 172
The ground and tower controllers keep track of whoever is inbound and outbound in the airport and after making sure that no aircraft is on the runway, the Tower can clear the aircraft for takeoff. As the maximum number of controllers giving orders to a single aircraft is exactly one, Tower and Ground controllers actively hear two channels in the same time. While this is not a rule, it is something that the controllers are training for. Wearing stereo headphones and paying attention to both mono channels at the same time is something that is expected from an Air Traffic Controller. This also gives them head-up and insight into what aircraft will get under their control soon. The clearance command would be:
SteemAir 172, cleared for takeoff runway zero eight right
The ground controller has access to various tools for doing this job. Each of the vehicles present on the airport movement area has a transponder to make them visible on the primary radar or on the airport ground monitor which uses a mixture of radar and transponder overlay for a complete view.
Airport ground situational awareness monitor.
The Tower Controller
Sharing the airport movement area as the Ground controller, he has the same tools as well as another radar which shows the aircraft taking off and approaches. On busier airports, there are more controller positions like Radar or Ground radar and Clearance Delivery. These positions can either be filled by other controllers or they can be set up as assistant positions.
Another tool is the Strip Tower which acts as a backup in case of a power out and a generator failure. This physical monitor involves having a custom flight strip printer that prints thin bands of paper which are then clipped in a logical order according to the actions being performed by the aircraft.
In the last years, because of the reliability and the energy efficiency of handheld tablets, the very expensive strip printer, along with its lengthy roll of paper and useless consumables are being phased out. In case of a blackout, the tablet can still work for hours and provide reliable situational awareness without the need for any consumables.
Digital procedural view of incoming and outgoing aircraft. No paper is being wasted. Personal screenshot of one of my projects.
Only a Tower Controller has the power to issue orders on the runway or even authorize aircraft and vehicle movements across an active runway. The term active means that is in operational use and not that it is actually in use in the same moment. If two aircraft are on the same time on a runway, except some particular cases, it is considered a Runway Incursion and thus filed and investigated as an incident which might have repercussions on the controller's file, if he is found to be at fault.
Routing your aircraft safely from the runway to the high altitude airways
You guessed it (or not), the Tower - Departure Controller's main job is to also make sure that your aircraft will ascend and fit into the traffic out of the airport while avoiding the incoming traffic. They do a good job usually :D
Each airport has a standard departure chart with the most popular departure routes according to aircraft general destinations and according to each aircraft's capabilities. While the big jets already have their flightplans filed way before the actual flight, they can be changed by the controller to maintain what is called separation.
Keeping it short
Each controller has a sector in which he operates. The red edge is the operational area of the airport and the area in which controllers have jurisdiction. The controller will route you to pass at specific altitudes and air speeds thru each of the points mentioned, according to your destination. Aircraft must be kept at sufficient distances according to weight (maximum take off weight) because of wake turbulence, small vortices which are created by another aicraft's wings cutting through the air. These can and in the past had contributed to crashes so are avoided at all costs.
Keeping the aircraft evenly spaced vertically and horizontally is one of his tasks, issuing orders for specific planes to either pick-up speed or change altitude or slowing down, to fit in the traffic pattern. An informative radio command would be:
SteemAir, turn left heading 343, climb and maintain FL45. Contact Center on 123.4.
What this does is advising the aircraft to turn to a heading of 343 degrees on the compass and to climb to a 4500 feet, each hundred of feet corresponding to a Flight Level, abbreviated FL. After he does this the pilot should contact the Center for further routing by tuning his radio to the frequency of 123.4 Mhz.
Now imagine doing this with a storm brewing off or with a moving cloud with severe downdraft or crosswind along the way, just to spice up that controller's day :D . It actually happens all the time, just look at this gif that went viral a few years back. A lot of skill is needed to juggle a lot of aircraft, but it was probably the work of many skilled air traffic controllers over many sectors.
Area Controllers
They are the ones that regulate traffic between the airports and along the high altitude airways. They still have sectors but their interaction with individual aircraft is minimal, thus allowing a bigger number of supervised aircraft. They operate from large centers and are relying on radar and transponder data.
Performing handouts from sector to sector, monitoring separation and conflicts between aircraft at different altitudes and guiding aircraft around storms and around temporary no-fly zones that are not present in charts.
The systems they use can allow them to keep an eye out for specific aircraft, special transponder codes (sic), filter the flights by altitude and provide alerts. The automated systems of MTCD ( Medium Term Conflict Detection) and STCA (Short-Term Conflict Alert), MSAW ( Minimum Safe Altitude Warning), RAIW (Resctricted Area Infringement Warning) being just a few of the systems that aid them in their job.
Screenshot of STCA - Short Term Conflict Alert from a simulated environment.
Your aircraft finally closing to its destination
A last handout from the Area Controllers to the Approach Controllers which will essentially do what the Departure Controller did when you first took off, but in reverse. The only mention is that the airport airspace becomes more crowded on the incoming side, so the controllers will pull their secret maneuver, the Holding Pattern, basically wasting your time on purpose :D, at least until the aircraft in front of you have safely landed.
The holding pattern takes fuel into account and it sometimes is the reason for abuse, as flight crews usually will read their instruments "wrong" in regards to the fuel they have to gain priority landing. This has sparked another fabulous aviation humor joke (found it on Airliners.net but it's hard to pinpoint its original source):
The controller working a busy pattern told the 727 to make a three sixty (a complete circle, usually to provide spacing between aircraft). The pilot of the 727 complained, "Do you know it costs us two thousand dollars to make a one-eighty in this aeroplane?" Without missing a beat the controller replied, "Roger, give me four thousand dollars worth!"
Landing and traveling to gate
The final step in the flight is the landing, in which the controller works closely with the pilot to position the aircraft on the correct glidepath. In the last years, with the development of technology more and more of it can fit the cockpit, making the pilots more and more self sufficient, having to rely on controllers less, but they are still needed as part of the procedures. Another controller position is the one of PAR, the Precision Approach Radar, which monitors the aircraft lateral and vertical deviation from the ideal glidepath. Helper systems are in place, and I will write a separate article about airport lighting and navigational aids, but the Precision Approach Radar is best explained and useful in the case of an airport residing on a river valley, surrounded by mountains everywhere. A narrow path is the only way in, while also descending and keeping clear of the near airport obstacles like power lines and tall masts.
Conclusions
Applaud the landing or not, but don't stand up in your airplane as soon as it comes to a full stop. You will just stay there like a crazy hunchback for another 15 minutes, until the stairways are connected and bus arrives =)
Air Traffic Controllers are in fact a series of jobs that help you and your traveling needs by making it feel natural and easy to travel, but in order for you to get from gate to gate, at least a number of people equal to the one in your plane are involved, either by direct contact, radio or otherwise, through handovers and working in centers, towers and across borders, talking the same language (English is the official language for Air Traffic Control).
Working in an extremely standardized and safety centric environment is also very rewarding and interesting.
Sources and further reading:
ATC Phraseology - http://wiki.flightgear.org/ATC_phraseology
About ATC Controllers - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_traffic_controller
If you are thinking of becoming one - https://www.nats.aero/careers/trainee-air-traffic-controllers/
And if you still want to become one but you live closer to the EU: https://atco.eurocontrol.int/
What did you want to know about airports but never got to ask?
I could never be an air traffic controller - if they have to have two conversations going on - on in each ear - my brain would explode. I can't have a phone conversation and respond (at all) to someone right in front of me, so apparently, this will NOT be my next profession.
Great post - you never really consider all that is going on each and every time you board that plane. Thanks for the education!
Tango-Alpha-Mike-Alpha-Lima-Alpha - Over and Out
This is a cool series of posts!
Thanks a lot!
I thought it would be easy to write about it, but I think I need more education in writing attractive stuff.
Or making information attractive :)
What an article alex bro! Never knew all these in depth functionalities of air traffic control. A lot of information in a single post. U rocked it bro, I'm sure this will be featured on distilled.
Please continue this series, general people like us have a lot to know about airport and aviation industry. A big thanks to u for the write, bro.
Cheers!
Thanks! You humble me!
There are a lot of things that are fun to know and interesting to explain, but i have tried to gather them somehow, and keep a narrative line.
I will write at least another about airport lighting, that one should have a lot of info and stuff that I am sure that nobody knows.
Plus that I am asking a private client if I can use the photos made there. Airport pictures are cool!
wew! That would be great. Waiting for the next article, bro. Hope they allow u to use their images.
hahaha I haven't thought about that. Is there a way to remotely check the plane fuel level?
I wonder if there have been cases of pilots disobeying the controller?
And what would be the consequences for doing that for the pilot besides the risk of having an accident? I mean, could he lose his job or something like that?
Interesting article @alexdory I enjoyed it a lot!
I don't think there is a way to tell the amount of left fuel, but technology could be implemented, all the data is centralized in the Flight Data Recorder. To send all this data via a satphone shouldn't be that much trouble. But hey! If this would have happened, they wouldn't have searched for MH370 for years :(
As far as pilots disobeying the Controllers, it sometimes happens and as the Air Traffic Controllers are the regulating authority they can fine the pilots or at least open an investigation which will trigger penalties from the airline against the pilot. Nobody wants a risk taker. A bad enough incident has the power to bankrupt a whole company. It has happened.
Thanks for the feedback!
It charges my batteries for writing more :p
A vitally important job and I've been told also one of the most stressful jobs! My nephew considered this but became a pilot, finds that quite a lonely job as he's away from home a lot.
Great in depth post that will be valuable for many over time on the blockchain @alexdory!
Thanks! Yes it is very stressful because there are high stakes!
Congrats for him becoming a pilot. It usually is, I have a few pilots and flight attendant friends and I know how it can get.
Glad you liked it!
Uniform-Papa-Victor-Oscar-Seven-Three-Delta!
(ok my comment sucks :D )
:D LOL
It takes practice!
There was a table. Piece of cake ;)
😛😂
This is a very expository piece buddy.
People like us would just board a plane and travel without even knowing what air controlling entails.
Thanks for sharing buddy.
PS: The "Al-Fah, Brah-voh" stuff sounded like a scene from the movie "Lone Survivor" :D
Thanks a lot!
I know it's how people get used to things, it's why I wrote it, and why I generally write things.
I do research beforehand into what people think. I am not a smoker but I go out with my fellow smoker friends and we chat in work breaks. Good way to spice up the day, talking about things :)
This actually sounds like it'd be a basis for a fun game for certain hardcore simulation fans. Have you ever heard of an ATC sim?
Yes! I am developping an ATC Sim
What I get paid for! :D
That's awesome, I didn't realize that!
A long time ago, a company I worked for (but not my dept.) wrote a high-fidelity vehicle sim. The market is small, but super duper loyal. Best of luck to you!
If you ever want to write up a post about the development process (or have written it up and I'm unaware), I can guarantee I'd be interested in reading about it.
I'd have to ask for permissions to write about it.
It's a super small market (7-10 ATC sims worldwide) and the amount of software plagiarisers is great. Somebody copied half of our GUI and we attended the same Expo :D
But we'll see!
Oh man, why do people have to do stuff like that.
Well, if you do get permission, let 'er rip.
I'm guilty.
I also dreamed of being a footballer
:p
I'm not saying being a footballer is banned. Just that children should know there is much more out there.Promote our values in the world.
Hi @alexdory! Good work bro. Thanks a lot for bringing up this post! 😇
If would not have brought this up then I might have written about this after few days!! 😛😂
Really, awesome information you put it up. You even brought up the alphabetical coding too, you remember it! Thanks for it bro!! 😊
Bro if you are planning for next series of it then you can go for CNS and specifically primary and secondary Radar. That will be fun!! 😉
I know it by heart, I have to use it when training the guys.
As time will pass and I will cover the basic subjects, and more people will join Steemit, there might be a better time to go in-depth and present technical articles and data. I can deliver :D
Thanks for the encouragement!
And write about aviation, there is room for everyone!
:D
You even get paid for playing with it.... We all want such jobs that does not require much stress
Nice one @alexdory
Stress is in all jobs, especially if you care about the project and want to give the best in you!
But indeed, I am not stressed at my job at all!
Guess I am lucky!
Good for you 🍺
I love the aviation posts! You're definitely a lucky guy!!
Thanks!
I am just getting started!
However I have lost the id of your flight attendant friend, guess she will surface again when I will do my steemromania curation sessions. She might have more to say about the industry, it's up to her how she decides to pack the article, light and nice, or tech savy..
Her id is @denisa2cu.
I hope she will find time to share some insights too. Cheers
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Having a pilot, a flight attendant and an airline flight instructor in the family helped having a sort of familiarity with the aviation industry. Thanks for another amazingly documented post!
HAHA!
Nice! I find out new stuff about you everyday! Get them online, they would have a lot to share!