ATCO: Day in the life
For those of you who ever wondered what it`s like to be sat in front of a radar display at a busy Air Traffic Control Center this section describes the kind of situations we face every day.
The situation is this. We are sat on London Terminal Control`s TMA North West Departures sector. The sector is bandboxed and is also doing TMA Bovingdon sector duties as well.
The traffic flows are Heathrow (LL) outbounds on WOBUN SIDs,Heathrow inbounds through Bovingdon,Stansted (SS) outbounds on BUZAD and Compton SIDs,Luton (GW) outbounds on OLNEY and Compton SIDs,Luton and Stansted inbounds through LOREL,London City (LC) outbounds via Brookmans Park,and inbounds via ALKIN,normal overflights,and any traffic from smaller airfields like Southend,Cranfield,Oxford etc.
Busy,you bet....
We are in black text
Aircraft in red text
Other controllers/phones in blue text
We plug in,there are a string of pending LL outbounds,as well as several LL inbounds.
Our first task is to phone Heathrow Approach with some inbound releases:
"Heathrow"
"Bovingdon,BAW155 at 8,ICE451 at 9,SHT2X at 10 and BMA6TW at 11"
Which is read back by the LL Director
"London,BAW155,heading 155,descending FL150"
"BAW155,roger,continue on the heading,descend FL110"
"FL110,BAW155,any holding?"
"At the moment less than 5 minutes,speed is at your discretion"
"OK,coming back to 250knots"
"Roger"
"London,ICE451,heading 155,passing 197,for 150"
"ICE451,thank you,on the heading,reduce to 250kts,delays 5 minutes at most"
"On the heading,speed 250 ICE451"
At this moment an SS outbound calls us,handed over from SS Director climbing to FL70,which is the min stack level,we have to climb it to 160 and hand over to LMS (London Middle Sector).
"London,it`s the GOE106,climbing level 70,requesting higher"
It`s on a Compton SID,so as we`ve come down to FL110 on the LL inbounds we can go up to 100 underneath.
"GOE,106,roger,climb FL100,fly radar heading 265"
"Climb FL100,heading 265,GOE106"
We have put this traffic on a heading,we have our inbound traffic on a heading as well,and by monitoring the outbound traffic`s rate of climb,and the fact that our inbounds are out of 160,I am happy to keep it going,the sooner we get the level change on the conflicting traffic,the sooner the problem is solved.
"GOE106,climb FL160,good rate through 120"
By adding the phrase good rate on the end,we expect the pilot to increase the rate of climb,beyond his normal climb rate.
"Climb 160,good rate through 120,GOE106"
"BAW155,Descend FL80"
"Descend FL80,BAW155"
"ICE451,Descend FL110"
The level the preceeding aircraft,the BAW155 is out of
"Down to 110,ICE451"
"London BAW172,passing 2200 on a WOBUN"
An LL outbound,we check the level the GOE is out of,FL122,as the tracks will cross.Next we check that LL approach have not brought traffic off the Bovingdon stack.There is only one aircraft and it is sufficiently out of the way,so we can go to 100,initially to stay under TMA North East airspace.
"BAW172,London,No ATC Speed restriction,Climb FL100"
"Climb FL100,no speed,BAW172"
The strips tell us there is an overflight at FL170,VLM120 due in.We look at the radar,and see that it could possibly delay the climb of the GOE106.As we can`t go above 160,as that is LMS airspace,we phone them to help out.We will do the separation against the VLM overflight,by jumping the GOE above it:
"LMS"
"NorthWest,off Stansted,the GOE106,request higher to jump the VLM"
"Okay,you can have 180,132.45, you do it on with Midlands"
"180,132.45,thanks"
The coordinator ties this up with TC Midlands as we will be pinching a bit of their airspace and they agree.
"GOE106,Climb FL180"
"FL180,GOE106"
"BAW155,own nav direct Bovingdon,contact Heathrow Director on 119.72,bye"
"Own nav Bovingdon,119.72,BAW172,good day"
"ICE451,own nav Bovingdon,descend FL90"
"Own nav Bovingdon,descend FL90,ICE451"
"GOE106,turn left heading,240"
"Left head 240,GOE106"
Another LL outbound calls,it`s getting busier
"London,ACA464,climbing 6000"
A quick check of the CCTV monitor,shows that LL are bringing off the BAW155 on a heading,so we have to hold the ACA under the stack"
"ACA464,London,No ATC speed restriction,maintain altitude 6000 ft"
"No speed,maintain 6000,ACA464"
The BAW172 is clear of North East airspace,so up we go to the agreed level,140
"BAW172,Climb FL140,fly heading 335"
"Climb FL140,heading 335,BAW172"
We can see from our radar,that there is other traffic working the Daventry sector,that later on will affect the 172,so we will tactically position the flight,against this traffic,to make life easier for the next sector.Presentation of traffic is a major part of ATC.Often you will put aircraft on headings,not for separation,but against other traffic you aren`t even working,to make life easier further down the line,when they will be a problem to each other.
"BAW172,report your heading to London on 130.92"
"Heading to London,130.92,BAW172"
Once the GOE106 is clear of FL170,it is safe against the VLM overflight,and we can transfer it.
"GOE106,report your heading to London on 132.45,bye"
"Heading,132.45,GOE106,bye bye"
As the ICE451in all likelihood won`t be holding,and the BAW172 has been brought back to 230kts,by LL approach,we can help them with their streaming,by reducing the 451 before we transfer it.
"ICE451,speed 230kts"
"230kts,ICE451"
"ICE451,contact Heathrow director on 119.72"
"119.72,so long ICE451"
I can see we have an SS inbound about to call and their track takes them across the path of LL outbounds.The SS inbound will come down to 150,but as the LL out is an ACA A340,it`s not climbing well.Now it is clear of the stack traffic,we`ll go to a trade off level,against the SS traffic.
"ACA464,climb FL100,turn left heading 330"
"Climb FL100,heading 330,ACA464"
By putting it on a heading we can achieve the pass quicker on the SS inbound by putting it on a heading as well.
"London,RYR316,on heading 150,descending FL150,high speed"
"RYR316,London,roger,maintain high speed" as there`s nothing ahead of it "Turn left heading 125,Descend FL110"
"High speed,Heading 125,FL110,RYR316"
"London,BMA6TW,heading 150,Speed 300,descending FL150"
"BMA6TW,London,Descend FL100,speed back to 250kts,delays around 5 mins"
"Ok,Descend FL100,speed 250,BMA6TW"
By looking at the CCTV,we can see the Lambourne stack is full,so LL approach will be prioritising that,and traffic inbound to Bovingdon will have to wait in turn,we can therefore anticipate that our traffic will have to hold.
The reason it came to us on a specific speed was,following right behind......
"London,SHT2X,passing 205,for 150,heading 150,speed 290"
"SHT2X,London,roger,speed back to 230 knots,hold at Bovingdon 5 to 10 minutes"
"Speed 230,and 5 to 10 minutes at Bov,SHT2X"
The ACA and RYR have passed
We phone SS approach
"Essex Radar"
"LOREL,RYR316 at 8,high speed"
"316 at 8,roger"
"RYR316,descend FL80"
"FL80,RYR316"
"ACA464,Climb FL140"
"Climb FL140,ACA464"
"ACA464,report heading to London,130.92"
"Heading to 13092,ACA464"
"RYR316,direct LOREL,contact Essex on 120.62"
"Direct LOREL,120.62,RYR316"
"London,BMA5EV,passing 3100,WOBUN departure"
This is a 737-500,great climber,we can see a small gap in traffic,we`re going for it,jumping the stack.
"BMA5EV,heading 360,Climb FL140,good rate all the way"
"360,Climb 140,BMA5EV,with good rate"
We leave the 250kt speed restriction on to get a better rate of climb.Aircraft can`t go down and slow down,they can`t go up and speed up.
"London,SHT5K,passing 3000,taking the turn"
The gap has gone,we can`t jump the stack with this traffic,even though it`s a good climbing 757.
"SHT5K,roger,maintain 6000ft,no speed,I`ll give you higher as soon as I can"
"5K,roger,maintain 6000"
The 5EV,is above our 2 LL inbounds,so..
"BMA5EV turn right heading 020,and report the new heading to London on 130.92,good day"
"Heading 020,130.92,BMA5EV,thanks for your help"
"SHT2X,descend FL110,own nav,Bovingdon to hold"
"FL110,direct Bovingdon,SHT2X"
"BMA6TW,direct Bovingdon to hold,call Heathrow director on 119.72,cheerio"
"119.72,6TW,bye bye"
Clear of the stack now.....
"SHT5K,Climb FL140"
"Climb FL140,5K"
"SHT2X,Heathrow Director 11972"
"11972,SHT2X,bye"
Next call is from our overflight,the VLM120
"London,VLM120,FL170,turning direct for Trent"
"VLM120,London,roger,turn left heading 340"
"Left heading 340,VLM120"
We have put it on a heading to position it on the left side of the airspace,because it is a slow Fokker 50,and by moving it `out of the way` we can allow faster jets off Heathrow to climb through it`s level without holding them up,by putting them on a heading to pass to the right of it.
As it is not operating on a standing agreement,we have to coordinate it with the next sector,Midlands...
We shout across..
"VLM120,FL170,West side"
"170,on the West,roger,130.92"
And it is now coordinated......
And so that`s about a 10 minute spell on the TMA,thats a fairly low-moderate rate of traffic,once it gets too busy,the Bovingdon sector is opened,and they deal with all the inbounds.
Still fancy the job?
© Garry Lewis 1998,1999, 2000