New series on Roger-Wilco. The tower with a soul…
On 31/12/2009, in The tower with a soul, by steve
If you enjoyed reading the sometimes incredible stories in Same Time, Same Place, Same Level…, keep your seatbelts fastened! The last part of Same Time having just been published, we are bringing you a new series under the title: The tower with a soul. This will be the story of the first 25 years in the life of the new control tower at Budapest Ferihegy airport.
Presented in several chapters covering the professional as well as the human interest aspects that characterized the first 25 years of the new tower, the series is not trying to be an official history of the edifice or the control unit it houses. It will be the picture as seen through the eyes of a controller who has been there right from the start. Factual, often moving, sometimes a tad subjective… but at all times a real life rendition of life in a tower with a soul.
Part 1 will be posted in the first week of January 2010.
Same time, same place, same level…22
On 30/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
Epilogue
We have come to the end of this irregular overview of the life of air traffic control. If it told you anything new, very well, if not, you must be a controller yourself… I hope I have not frightened you away from flying, on the contrary, I trust next time you step on board an aircraft you will give a thought to the controllers who, in spite of the human failings they might have, will be watching every move your flight makes, to make your journey as safe and quick as is humanly possible.
My time with the microphone is over, but there is a new generation of air traffic controllers working the airways, and I haven’t the slightest doubt, they will carry the flame as high as we did, and probably higher still. And in time, they will have their own crazy stories to tell….
Same time, same place, same level…21
On 29/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
Flying to freedom
This chapter had been written well before the fall of the Berlin wall and the famous opening of the border by Hungary, allowing thousands of East Germans to flee to the West. It is a nice quirk of history that the place where this story took place is just a few miles East of the place where the mass escape happened several years later.
That with a bit of ingenuity a small airplane can be used to beat an oppressive regime was amply demonstrated by the crew of the West-German Cessna that came visiting one Sunday afternoon.
Hungary had long been the gate to freedom for some of those poor souls whose fortune (or rather misfortune…) had left them east of the Iron Curtain after WW2. The trick had been fairly simple. Meet your West-German friends or relatives in Budapest, do a bit of surgery on their passports and off you go. The real nationals of the Federal Republic, who a few days later reported having “lost” their passports were promptly issued temporary papers and after one more goulash at beautiful Lake Balaton, they too would make their retreat. Of course, these earthbound souls did not have friends with an aircraft handy.
Click here to read the full article
Only heroes and luck stop terrorists today
On 28/12/2009, in Battle stations, by krisztian
It has been a long time ago since the media last brought us news concerning the airlines and terrorism. Until Flight 253 of Delta Airlines departing Amsterdam bound for Detroit came in the news. Second day of Christmas brought us back to reality. If you want to know what happened, you can read all the news items concerning this event. What interests me more, is what went wrong and why. Even more interesting, how can we prevent this in the future.
A lot of comment has been given concerning the fact that the passenger who now is labeled as a terrorist, was on Terrorism Watch lists, that his father had warned the US government about the activities of his son. People pose the question: how could such a passenger board a US bound flight? But why try to find the blame in a paper carousel that is so far away from the operations on the ground and the true security measures that have been put into place.
Consider the following. All US bound passengers have to go through profiling. Passengers coming from connecting flights from anywhere must at some point before heading towards US territorial airspace go through the profiling process. This process was set up to filter passengers with evil intentions. Airport security, the x-ray people, are there to filter all equipment which might be dangerous for the flight. So, what happened?
Click here to read the full article
Environment. The Copenflop – Is aviation better off now?
On 27/12/2009, in Environment - Without hot air, by cleo
We all remember how seriously aviation had been preparing for the UN environmental conference held earlier this month in Copenhagen. Led by IATA, the aviation industry arrived with concrete proposals and plans which were seen by several non-aviation experts as templates suitable also for other industries.
Once the conference kicked off, aviation experts must have felt like adults thrown into a kindergarten with a very poor teacher at the helm. Kids shouting all over the place, getting into fights, leaving the playroom when not granted their favorite toys… Those who ventured outside to escape the worst of the circus fared no better. There was another kind of kindergarten out there, albeit with destruction and tear-gas thrown in to increase the fun.
Of course the kids inside were the same politicians who are convinced that electric cars charged from a public utility produce virtually no emissions and also who had promised to shutter nuclear reactors while having no idea how to replace their generating capacity. It was no surprise to see them come together after having brandished the environmental flag at home and then fail to agree on the time of day, let alone actual environmental action.
Click here to read the full article
Pilot fatigue – The views of the Flight Safety Foundation
On 25/12/2009, in View from the left seat, by pbn
The issue of fatigue in the cockpit, and outside it among maintenance personnel for example, has been on the agenda for some time now and
things were brought to a head by the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo on Feb. 12, 2009.
Predictably, the reactions are varied and range from the studied to the opportunistic. Clearly, something as complex as human fatigue can only be addressed on a scientific basis applied in the specific aviation context. Traditional ways of regulations and compliance monitoring may also need to be reviewed before they are pronounced as the solution to this very real problem.
For some airlines fatigue risk management is nothing new and they have long ago adjusted their crew scheduling and fatigue reporting practices to mitigate the risk as much as possible. For others, the task is still looming large.
Mr. William R. Voss, President and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation gave a testimony on 1 December 2009 to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Aviation Hearing on Aviation Safety: Pilot fatigue.
He too argues for a balanced and well reasoned approach, something that is scaleable to suit both major and smaller operators and points out that some measures that do not necessarily require a regulatory approach can be implemented now. Which is not to say that there is no need for new rules that reflect the latest scientific knowledge about fatigue and the risks it entails.
You can read the full text of the testimony here.
Performance and its measurement – some coaching aspects
On 23/12/2009, in Managers' corner, by andras
The author is a member of the Business Coach Association in Hungary. More information about the Association is available here (the English language page is under construction).
I don’t think anyone having worked as a manager for any company in any profile whatsoever has had the luck to avoid being the target, or the executor, of PERFORMANCE-MEASURMENT (PM). This category seems to be an above-all factor in many an organisation, and even the survival of the company itself can depend on whether these figures meet the EXPECTATIONS.
Figures, charts and spreadsheets dominate. Headcount and HR-decisions are based on results from PM. But is there an alternative? Can top-notch executives be persuaded to apply other ideas and depart from these fundaments? This question can become an exceptionally exciting issue once a company (or, rather, its management) faces problems that cannot be solved by traditional methods, and when the decision is made to ask the assistance of a coach.
Click here to read the full article
Same time, same place, same level…20
On 22/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
Loading in the shadows
Controllers and pilots are really a big, worldwide family. True, we have our differences, but then, which family does not? We all serve the flying public and we help each other wherever we can, on and off duty alike.
We also like to think of the world as a big, free place where airspace is there for all to use and enjoy and for us political borders are mostly just lines on a map… Flying, this wonderful invention of humanity, is basically a peaceful business and that it is sometimes abused to bring sorrow and destruction to those below is really the shame of some of our political masters.
That we, flying people, remain friends who respect each other to the bitter end even when pitched against each other is amply demonstrated by numerous events that live on in our common memory. Take for example those flying heroes of the First World War, where, after an ace of the Austrian-Hungarian air force had been shot down, the British fighters dropped a wreath of flowers from the clouds when he was being buried.
In our present world, torn as it is by strife and enmity, aviation is once again called upon to do its bit. But as you will see, the old spirit lives on, even today.
Click here to read the full article
CAA Radiotelephony Manual – free download
On 21/12/2009, in Bookshelf, by steve
There are certain books that should not be missing from any pilot’s or controller’s kits. Among these is the UK CAA’s Radiotelephony Manual (CAP 413). Now in its 19th edition, it has numerous additions and clarifications (including the call sign suffix “Super” for the Airbus A380) that we all must be aware of.
If you think this is nothing for you, think again. A leading cause of runway incursions the world over is improper radiotelephony usage… It is easy to slip into “slang” when we repeat the same limited set of expressions over and over again, especially when our friends on the other end of the radio tend to do the same. The result? Incident reports aplenty in which radiotelephony figures in a prominent place.
Browsing a volume like CAP 413 is an easy way to remind us of the many things we thought we knew as well as to learn about the new things in town.
You can get your free copy of the Radiotelephony Manual here.
Air France 447 – Second Interim Report published. Cause still unknown.
On 18/12/2009, in SKYbrary News, by steve
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary
The loss of AF447 over the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009 is proving to be every bit the nightmare of accident investigators and safety experts alike. The French accident investigation bureau BEA has now published their second Interim Report which includes new findings and makes a number of safety recommendations but the cause of the accident remains undetermined.
Further investigation will be needed to figure out what exactly has happened on that fateful night. Accidents with their cause undetermined hang like a Damocles’ sword over the industry… We can try to initiate mitigating actions in a general sense but only focused action has a guarantee of hitting its target. It is exactly this target that is missing in cases with the cause undetermined and hence there is not much to focus on.
Luckily, not many accidents remain unsolved even if in some cases a repeat of the problem cannot be avoided before the cause is found. A famous case concerned the Boeing 737, two of which were lost to the same cause before the third one managed to land safely and the culprit (a part worth a few bucks but prone to freezing) was found.
Let’s hope AF447 will reveal its secrets soon…
You can read the AF447 Second Interim Report here.
Same time, same place, same level…19
On 18/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
EmergencyLight – Phantom Menace
Winter flying in real, cold continental climate is hard on pilots, aeroplanes and controllers alike. The somewhat lower traffic volume is frequently offset by the delays resulting from snow and ice on the runway, or the occasional broken-down snow-sweeper…
As you will see, cold winter air has a number of its own tricks up its sleeve. Darkness had been with us for some hours when the last departure of the day, a cargo 707 roared into the air, leaving a flurry of snow swirling above the frozen runway long after the plane was gone. Alone in the air, they climbed swiftly in the thick, cold air and it looked like another routine end to the day. In no time at all, however, departure control was shaken out of its peaceful reverie when the pilot of the Boeing announced in a shaken voice that he was taking avoiding action due to another large aircraft sighted immediately below their own. A quick look at the flight progress board confirmed what we knew already, namely that there was no other aircraft within a hundred miles. Radar seemed to bear out the same, with only the cargo machine’s blip inching along on the screen, albeit on a heading almost 90 degrees away from its original course. They were making an avoiding action, all right.
Click here to read the full article
Staff associations officially involved in SESAR – essential but…
On 17/12/2009, in SESAR's Palace, by cleo
As made known by SESAR News 2, five major staff associations representing a wide range of professional operational and technical skills across the ATM domains (e.g. pilots, air traffic controllers and assistants, handling staff, flight and air traffic safety electronics engineers etc.) are currently signing framework contracts with the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) through EUROCONTROL for their participation in the SESAR work program.
The associations concerned are the Air Traffic Controllers European Union Coordination (ATCEUC), European Cockpit Association (ECA), European Transport Workers’ Association (ETF), International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations (IFATSEA), and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers’ Associations (IFATCA).
Their professional expertise is sought for the SJU work program regarding issues such as safety, security, and human factor aspects when developing and validating new procedures, methodologies, and technical elements. At the kick-off meeting on 4 December, representatives of the associations discussed with the SJU the key aspects of their future participation in order to finalize the more precise details during January/February 2010.
This is an important development since without the endorsement and support of controllers and pilots represented by these associations SESAR cannot be a success. However, a word of caution is in order here.
Click here to read the full article
Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes to the air
On 16/12/2009, in The aircraft we fly, by steve
Late by 28 months but finally in the air! 15 December 2009 will no doubt be a memorable day for Boeing and the whole industry for that matter: the 787 has finally taken to the air, its maiden flight hopefully bringing an end to the series of problems the program had to contend with over the past two and half years.
Of course when you set out to follow a revolutionary path, problems are expected. The point is: how far are you able to foresee the problems and how quickly you can react to them, foreseen or not.
The 787 is nothing if not revolutionary and in more ways than one too. Its composite structures built as complete fuselage barrels (as opposed to the more traditional approach of the Airbus A350XWB which uses ribs and composite panels) is a huge challenge, something that has never been tried on this scale. Then the degree of outsourcing Boeing has elected to use is also unique (and asking for trouble if you listen to union leaders in Seattle).
Click here to read the full article
Same time, same place, same level…18
On 16/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
EmergencyLight – Uninvited guests
There is no doubt about it, flying to-day is the safest means of transportation. The numbers are well known and to most of us people whose bread comes from one or the other area of civil aviation, driving to and from the airport appears far more dangerous than being up in the air.
This is not to say that statistics do not occasionally catch up with us. If you work the airways long enough, there are bound to be aircraft which will never again come home, having met their fateful end at some remote (or not so remote) corner of the world. Some of us have even experienced the horror of seeing a blip disappear from our own radar screen. It is no fun having to write a report on an accident in which friends, even if only known over the radio, had perished. At times like that we mourn our dead, but we also learn to live with it, our training telling us to work even harder to beat the numbers.
Click here to read the full article
Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
On 15/12/2009, in Interesting people, by steve
Patrick Ky – From Wissous to the helm of SESAR
Patrick Ky is the Executive Director of the SESAR Joint Undertaking.
What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid?
At first I was dreaming of becoming a football star! In time this changed to pilot… I wanted to be a commercial pilot. We were living in a small place called Wissous, not far from Orly airport in France and I remember going out there at least once a week to watch the planes come and go.
Come to think of it, I remember always having wanted to work with aircraft but flying them was more a kid’s initial fancy. For me the knowledge of how they worked, how they were built, what made them fly in the first place was more exciting than the left seat. It was learning about the technical and engineering aspects that really made my heart beat faster…
I did get a VFR pilot’s license but flying was not the thrill I was expecting. As a student pilot I was very impressed by air traffic control, how they gave you instructions, how they helped you back when you strayed… Actually it was a rather stressful experience and I had to admit to myself that the engineering side of things was more for me.
Wissous is really near Orly...
What were the most significant sideways jumps in your professional life?
Although I have worked in aviation all my life, there were curious sideways moves nevertheless.
Click here to read the full article
What is wrong with Performance Based Navigation (PBN)?
On 14/12/2009, in Viewpoint, by steve
Exactly one third, that is what! The P is ok, the B is ok but the N? That is what is wrong and in a big way too! Let me explain.
Recently we had a very successful workshop on PBN and the agenda included a presentation on modern surveillance techniques and another one on cost-benefit analyses tailored to performance based systems. It was soon clear that several experts (mostly outside the workshop) thought that the surveillance presentation was out of place in a meeting on PBN. After all, PBN is dealing with navigation and not surveillance.
There you go, the good old silo mentality again! Thou shall not mix things from different silos!
Do a local reality check. How is your organization set up? Do you have separate departments for navigation, surveillance and communications? Ask someone from surv or com what PBN stands for… Are you getting the picture?
Click here to read the full article
Runway incursion prevention – know your hot spots
On 11/12/2009, in SKYbrary News, by steve
News from EUROCONTROL’S aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary
It is well known to pilots and air traffic controllers alike that some parts of the runway/taxiway complex at aerodromes seem to attract incidents. As if they were jinxed in some way, mistakes are made regularly at these singularities of the airport universe.
On roads internationally standardized traffic signs are used to warn us of falling rocks, of stray cattle or deer chasing their mates. How can we warn of the dangerous spots at airports?
Click here to read the full article
Interesting people, unusual flight plans…
On 10/12/2009, in Interesting people, by steve
Anna Kurlanc – Brace for impact!
Anna Kurlanc is currently an R&D engineer at the Dutch Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) Air Transport Safety Institute (ATSI)
What were you dreaming of becoming when you were a kid?
This may sound strange, but aviation was never on my mind back then… Architect, journalist and press photographer were the vocations that seemed the most attractive. But truth be told, I did not have any specific direction, just went from one thing to the next. I did like geography but aviation was never on the list.
What moved you to become part of the aviation family?
It was pure coincidence. I was not sure what to do and was about to start attending university taking journalism and geology when I heard about the new aviation faculty at the Polish military academy. My uncle was an air traffic controller and on impulse I decided to follow in his footsteps. Although medical reasons prevented me from obtaining an ATC license, I did discover at the academy that aviation was about more than pilots and controllers.
I was especially attracted to instrument procedure design and I became a designer myself after a stint at ENAC in Toulouse.
Click here to read the full article
Aerodrome control towers of the world – Vancouver Harbour, Vancouver, BC, Canada
On 10/12/2009, in Towers of the world, by steve
For some reason, the height of air traffic control towers has become almost a matter of competition between airports and even countries. With some very nice new airports popping up in exotic places, new and ever taller towers seem to be a requirement not to be ignored.
Of course the height of the tower is (or should be…) determined primarily by the need for controllers to see all the runways and associated taxiways properly. Build the thing too high and in some places with lots of fog and low clouds controllers will have to manage in IMC even if the rest of the field does not appear to be socked in… Of course, modern electronic wizardry enables controllers to see even when conditions are otherwise poor. This in turn begs the question: why do we need ever taller towers? But that is beside the point. National pride and who knows what else all play a role and let’s be frank: those new towers are nothing if not beautiful.
In our series on the aerodrome control towers of the world, we will now introduce to you the tower that is the tallest in the world. Ah, Kuala Lumpur with 130 meters (425 feet) I can hear you say… Wrong.
Click here to read the full article
Anniversary – Boeing 747 first revenue flight
On 09/12/2009, in Anniversaries, by steve
40 year anniversary on 22 January 2010
N736PA
Pan American World Airways is long gone but the 747, into its fifth generation, still strives. Forty years ago on 22 January 1970 it was a Pan Am clipper that introduced this undisputed king of large aircraft to revenue service. N736PA, a 747-100 flew from New York to London and became famous on account of the originally scheduled 747 having had to turn back from the runway due to engine trouble. This rather ominous start of revenue services was quickly forgotten, helped in no small degree by the now legendary reliability of all 747 variants.
Click here to read the full article
TITAN Kicks into high gear
On 08/12/2009, in TITAN, by steve
After several months of careful preparation, TITAN, a project in the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme, kicked
into high gear on 3 December 2009 when the TITAN Consortium held the kick-off meeting at INECO’s premises in Madrid.
The name TITAN stands for “Turn-round Integration in Trajectory and Network”. The project will analyze the aircraft turn-round process with a view to identifying opportunities for improvements as well as to pinpoint the influence of external actors and processes like passenger flow and baggage handling. The improved turn-round process will be modeled and validated and a decision support tool will be developed suitable for use by different partners, enabling them to manage the turn-round process more efficiently. This will be achieved primarily by providing predictive, common awareness of all the relevant influences, including those coming from the airport land-side.
Click here to read the full article
EUROCONTROL winter feature – the digital SNOWTAM trial
On 07/12/2009, in SWIM, by steve
Winter is coming…
After the earlier digital NOTAM trials organized by EUROCONTROL and the FAA, it is now time for trials with the digital SNOWTAM. The trials will run until March 2010 with the participation of several airports, airlines, NOTAM offices and the European AIS Data Base (EAD).
Click here to read the full article
Same time, same place, same level…17
On 04/12/2009, in Same time, same place..., by steve
Navigation, the art of getting lost – Part 2
A taxiway will do…
A few years later, however, we got our share of uninvited visitors, too. This time it was a Sunday and the observation terrace was crowded by people, some of them waiting for flights due in later, others just there to watch for the fun of it. Well, they were in for more fun than they had bargained for.
Quite unknown to us, high above in the skies a fully armed fighter on routine patrol duty was in trouble. Not in big trouble mind you, just enough to loose all his navigation capability and his communication with the ground. As his fuel state deteriorated rapidly, the poor guy started descending, no doubt searching for one of the “secret” military fields the location of which only he was supposed to know. As he popped out from the solid cloud cover, he saw a field, which happened to be us. He took us to be the military field, no doubt because he wanted to see a military field so much…
Click here to read the full article
TCAS Awareness
On 03/12/2009, in SKYbrary News, by steve
News from EUROCONTROL’s aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary
The latest addition to SKYbrary Solutions is “Clear of Conflict”, a series of 10 short videos developed by NATS in association with EUROCONTROL and Flight Safety International, intended as an aid to TCAS training.
Check out the videos here.
Legend & Legacy – The Story of Boeing and Its People
On 02/12/2009, in Bookshelf, by steve
By Robert J. Serling
Publisher: St. Martin’s Pres, New York
ISBN-0-312-05890-X
When we read about Boeing these days, it is more often than not something negative. The new version of the 747 and the Dreamliner delayed, repeatedly it seems and for reasons that make one wonder what is going on in Seattle and Chicago. It is easy to forget that with the Dreamliner they are working in uncharted territory where surprises are not that unusual, even with the best of planning.
It is about time you dropped the daily paper and read a book about Boeing the company and Boeing, the people who have built this icon of aviation. Robert J. Serling created a masterpiece, taking you behind the scenes with humor, objectivity and abundant anecdotes. Published in 1991, the book talks about a Boeing that is yet to endure the effects of 9/11 and the latest economic crisis but when we read that the company once went seventeen months without selling a single plane on the domestic market and almost went bankrupt, one cannot but wonder. Has anything really changed?
Industrial history books can be dry and a bore. Not Legend & Legacy which reads like a novel except that it feels real from the first page to the very last and even when you read about incredible characters and incredible deeds that helped win WWII and conquered the commercial skies.
What about the salesman who almost traded a used 727 for 12 million bucks worth of underwear or the test pilot who barrel-rolled a prototype jetliner representing one-quarter of the company’s net worth… He felt the stunt would help sell the plane!
You will read about the conception, gestation and birth of the legendary 747 which will forever wear the crown of very big
airplanes even if it was overtaken by new types like the Airbus A380.
This is a compelling, fascinating journey from William Boeing’s Red Barn to the 777 shown through the hearts and eyes of the people on all levels who are and will always be the essence of the Boeing Company.
Pick up a copy and expect to miss even your favorite football game!
Quote of December 2009
On 01/12/2009, in Quote of the month, by steve
To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything.
Anatole France
Should MALEV be saved?
On 01/12/2009, in Airline corner, by cleo
Do you remember the term “flag-carrier”? This was usually applied to the airline of a country which was seen as the object of national pride. As recently as a decade ago, when new States came into being, no matter how small, one of their first acts had been to create a national airline (often followed by an air traffic control centre… but that is another story). Of course the aviation marketplace has changed in a big way, there is intense competition between companies, and being a flag-carrier has all but lost its patina.
Airlines have disappeared from the scene, some are gone completely (SABENA) others live on wearing the guise of companies that took them over (Northwest) and still others have kept their colors and name but are now just a division in a mega-carrier (Austrian and Brussels Airlines in Lufthansa, KLM in Air France). Most of them had one thing in common: their long (and not so long) term prospects were all but rosy. Surviving on national pride was not an option.
The problem with Malev is that many in Hungary want to save it because they believe that a country must have a national airline. They also claim that a country’s independence is reduced if it does not have its own airline. These are the worst possible reason for trying to save an ailing company and it costs a lot of taxpayer money before the company folds anyway.
Click here to read the full article
