Posted on 09/16/2004 11:27:49 AM PDT by BenLurkin
"Handheld radio....". Well, Snoper, the problem is most centers have in excess of 30 sectors (controller areas of responsibility) active at any time. Each sector will be handling 10 to 20 aircraft or more, as much as 300-400 miles away. Now the guy with the handheld standing outside would be REAL busy. And the guys running the messages back & forth to sectors would have multiple fights to get their messages priority. Also more that 100 frequencies active at any one time. Might be workable in a tower on one freq, but NOT in a center.
But we're talking hundreds of airplanes. The guy steps outside the building and contacts one airplane on one frequency and tells him, what? Gives him a laundry list of the several hundred airplanes to contact on a half dozen frequencies? Nope, won't happen.
I've forgotten more than most people know about IFR, but I believe that when comm is lost, the AC procedes according to his last clearance. It sounds like some controllers almost lost it when they saw airplanes come close, but they shouldn't have. The odds of "blue sky" theory along with TCAS worked here as advertized.
Now if they can get over their dinosaur thinking and distribute genuine "highway-in-the-sky" technology so that there is no single-point failure possible, then we'll be a lot better off. And it will become impossible for ATC to become a terrorist target, because they won't exist.
>>They provided no additional information, other than to say one incident involved separation that was only slightly below the required 5 3/4 miles.<<
A few years ago on a flight from Dallas to Reno I observed a 757 pass beneath my flight at no more than 3000 feet. It approached from approx. 320 degrees and went directly below us.
I didn't feel or see any course alterations of the aircraft I was on.
Above 29,000' vertical separation required is 2,000', with no lateral separation needed. If less than 2'000', five miles lateral is needed. Below 29'000', only 1,000' is needed. This will soon change to 1,000' at all altitudes for aircraft equipped with modern atlitude sensing/navigation gear.
Yes, with out your ICOM avation radio and say "hold the planes at the outer markers.....rack 'em, stack 'em and pack 'em"
I used to work with a (fired) patco controller who told me that when things got busy, there were two types of controllers: hair-twisters and ball-grabbers. LOL!
Apparently that's what happened. The system shut down without any warning because of this "safety feature".
Brilliant system design.
Have I been hanging around FR too long, or is that suspicious?
I know "Ham" Gharaffi and can say that his comments, though awkward sounding to conservatives, truly reflect the Union response to another FAA screwup. In other words, he spouted a bit of hyperbole so that maybe someone would take notice. Sadly, the public often sees such rhetoric as hyperbolic and soon forgets that cracks in the dike of a vaunted government institution is a harbinger of a worse calamity in the offing.
A sad comment on this situation is that one doesn't need a terrorist plan enacted to wreak havoc on the FAA. The FAA is fully incompetent in enough areas of management and technology to crumble on its own. Putting the Union rhetoric to one side, our systems are fraught with internal glitches that compromise the electronic components of air traffic control. Most of these are quickly corrected by the personnel component of air traffic control.
Nonetheless, in the compound maze of patch work technology, built over decades of one computer system and programs overlaying a previous generation, it's not uncommon to see the lizard ganglia beneath the surface momentarily arise and take a bite out of the mechanism.
Nope, my friends, this is not a test run by terrorists or some trial run conspiracy at work. This is the FAA, underfunded and understaffed, having a bad hair day.
disclaimer: The above dissertation in no way is meant to impugn the public impression or integrity of the FAA. The author believes the FAA to be an excellent organization, fully deserving of the public trust.
Sounds like their CYA team hadn't heard of the Google cache or the Internet Time Machine.
Ha! Apparently you do not know of government job security. ..No longer employed? *snicker* Unless there are pictures of the responsible tech doing unmentionable things to an endangered animal, this guy/gal can look forward to a long career and good retirement.
Separation standards at the time of your incident were 5 miles or 2000 ft. (at flight levels, above 18,000'.) Ergo, nothin to report, no loss of separation. :-)
Hey diogenes, you work at SoCal?
Yes she can...
Makes sense to me.
You Rang??
Sorry to bust your bubbles the report is correct. We don't use reel to reel tape anymore. All channels are recorded digitally then archived on DAT tapes. I work in a terminal and use a different system but am familiar with whats involved. A ARTCC will have approximately 2-300 radio frequencies recorded 24/7. We are not talking your basic Radio Shack system here. They also have 'Hot Lines' to every sector within the center and to all positions with the terminal facilities within their airspace which are recorded also. Also a few dial type telephone lines. Starting to get the picture. If not properly maintain it can and will come crashing down. Now, as to why they weren't done? I can hear some people packing bags as we speak.
Thank you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.