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Don Brown |
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| About the Author ... |
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Don Brown
worked his way through high school and college as a lineman at the
Spartanburg (SC) Downtown Airport (SPA),
graduating from the University of South Carolina (Spartanburg) in 1980.
Hired by the FAA in November 1981, he
graduated from the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City the following February
and was certified as a Full Performance
Level Controller in August 1984, at the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center.
Don has spent his entire career at
ZTL, earning numerous Letters of Appreciation and four Letters of Commendation,
including an Outstanding Flight
Assist, during his tenure. Don was also one of the initial founders of the
National Air Traffic Controllers
Association and was the very first general (non-officer) member.
He was appointed the NATCA Facility Safety
Representative for Atlanta Center in 1997 and has served in that position since.
He also serves on NATCA's Southern
Region Safety Committee.
A full-time controller, you can find Don in front of a scope and on
the frequency five days a
week, just like every other controller at the Atlanta Center.
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Welcome back, class. For those that cut the last session, you can review it
here.
For the rest of you, here's a quick review of the highlights from the last
session. We covered beacon code assignments, handoffs, initial callups and
student pilots using ATC services. In this session we'll build upon those
subjects, explore some new ones and cover some very common situations that you
thought you understood. After we're done, hopefully you'll know a little more
about what you're doing, even if you might not sound like it.
Mike Fright
I've always said that I made it through the FAA ATC Academy because I
sounded good. I know I passed at least one problem because the instructor
missed an error. Many trainees come to the Academy with a serious case of
"mike fright." Otherwise intelligent individuals are struck dumb
when someone places a microphone in front of them. I'd been talking on the
radio (unicom) for years. If you sound like you know what you're doing, people
think you know what you're doing and don't pay as much attention.
While that might have been a good thing for me, it isn't for you, the low-time pilot. It's actually beneficial that you don't sound like an old-timer so
quit worrying about it. If you don't sound quite so sure of yourself,
controllers will pay a little more attention to you. When you start thinking
in terms of safety, that's not a bad thing.
In time, you'll start sounding better and better. Notice I didn't say you'd
start sounding like a "pro." I really don't want you to. There's
enough mumbling, grumbling and whispering already. I want you to speak
distinctly and enunciate clearly. You don't have to yell and you don't have to
try to sound like James Earl Jones. Don't try to be cool; just follow the
rules.
I Just Called To Say...
If you'll remember, in the last lesson I covered how to call up for VFR
advisories. "Atlanta Center, Cessna 12345 requesting VFR
advisories." Simple, right? Okay, how do you call up the Center to get
your IFR clearance? If you're like most people you'll say, "Atlanta
Center, this is Cessna 12345." Now if that's not particularly useful when
asking for VFR advisories, what makes people think it's useful when asking for
an IFR clearance? How does, "Atlanta Center, Cessna 12345 requesting
clearance to Avery County." sound?
Those two phrases may
not sound very different to you but they're like night and day to a
controller. If a pilot says "requesting VFR advisories" the
controller knows he doesn't have any information about your flight. If the
controller hears "requesting clearance" he knows that he should have
a flight plan on you. If the controller is on the ball and has reviewed his
proposal strips, the call sign stated with the destination will jog his memory
and you'll hopefully hear "Cessna 12345 is cleared to..." instead of
"Cessna 12345 go ahead." Five seconds and one transmission saved,
multiplied by 1,000...oh, you know the spiel.
Effective communication doesn't have to be lengthy. Review the contact
procedures in AIM
4-2-3.
On/Off Switch
While we're here, there's another thing that comes to mind. When an
aircraft calls the Center for clearance the first thing a controller wants to
know is if you're still on the ground or airborne. Please notice the selection
of words. I didn't say "on the ground or off the ground." I once had
an aircraft call for clearance and I swore I heard "off." I was
behind the power curve (what else is new) and just issued a beacon code,
intending to get back to the aircraft with radar identification and a
clearance at the same time. Once I finished talking to a couple other
airplanes, I went back to him but couldn't find the code. "Cessna 12345
say altitude." "We're still on the ground, waiting for
clearance."
Now that we have that straightened out, you've got your clearance, you lift
off the runway and you call the Center with a check-in straight out of the
book: "Atlanta Center, Skyhawk 12345 leaving one thousand six hundred
climbing five thousand." Good job. You didn't add anything extraneous
like "with you," "runway heading" or "direct to."
"Skyhawk 12345 Atlanta Center roger." What? No "radar contact"? No "climb and
maintain"? Maybe the Center doesn't have
radar coverage at 1,600. He didn't say "radar contact" because he
doesn't see you yet. He didn't give you a higher altitude because he's using
non-radar rules to separate you from the rest of his traffic. Those rules
require large margins for separation and he's not going to give away any more
airspace than he has to. Patience Grasshopper, this ain't an Approach Control.
Five minutes later you're approaching 5,000 and you're starting to worry.
The controller still hasn't said anything to you. "Skyhawk 345 radar
contact eight miles west of Elkins climb and maintain eight thousand." Whew!
Finally! You're so relieved you respond, "345 climbing to eight
thousand."
Validated Flying
That by-the-book phraseology didn't last long did it? "Cessna 345,
say altitude leaving." Dang it! "Skyhawk 345 is leaving four
thousand seven hundred climbing eight thousand." I'm not trying to give
you a hard time. It's important. Controllers are required to verify your Mode
C readout to be able to use it for separation. We can't verify your Mode C
while you're not in radar contact now can we?
(Authors note: If you want to see how complicated such a seemingly simple
thing as beacon codes can be, take a look at this whole chapter from the 7110.65.)
Okay, back to your trip. You level at 8,000, trim everything up, kick back
and relax. Did you report level at 8,000? Are you supposed to? Hey, I can't
teach you everything. You have to read the book too.
Nothing But Blue Skies
It's a nice view up there today isn't it? "Atlanta Center, this is
Cherokee 23456." Excuse me a moment while I handle this VFR.
"Cherokee 23456 Atlanta Center, go ahead." "Cherokee 456 is
requesting six thousand." Huh? Looking back at the scope, I realize that
I'm already working N23456, an IFR at 8,000. As I throw away the blank strip I've already
started writing on, I clear Cherokee 456 down to 6,000.
I really hate that. Some people just sound like they're calling out of the
blue. Think it's easy remembering everyone you're working? Call up 10
strangers on the phone and see if you can keep all their names straight. You
can help me with my short-term memory problems though. All you have to do is
follow the book. (Is anyone else tired of reading that phrase yet?)
4-2-3. Contact Procedures
c. Subsequent Contacts and Responses to Callup from a Ground Facility.
Use the same format as used for the initial contact except you should state
your message or request with the callup in one transmission.
Missed Him By That Much
Where were we? Oh yeah, it's a nice view up there isn't it? There's not a
cloud in the sky and I bet you can see 50 miles today. (You folks out West
stop laughing. Fifty miles visibility is a great day in the East.) Have I ever
told you that those are the worst VFR days to try and see traffic?
It's true. Well, at least in my experience it is. You can call traffic all
day long when it's clear as a bell and it seems like no one ever picks up
their traffic. The first time I ever noticed it, I had a VFR and an IFR nose
to nose. The IFR was a 7,000 and the VFR was at 7,500. I wasn't doing much so
I was able to watch it closely and call the traffic out two or three times. I
called the traffic right as the VFR was passing overhead the IFR. They never
saw each other. I mean, all the guy had to do was look up and see an airplane
500 feet away, for crying out loud.
I was really surprised. And over the years I've seen it happen again and
again. On the other hand, if there are a few clouds around pilots seem to pick
up their traffic much faster. I think it might have something to do with the
eye's ability to focus on something (a cloud) in the distance and then detect
movement in the distance. Without something to focus on, there's a limited
ability to detect motion far away.
I don't really know the reason. It's just something I've noticed and
thought you might like to know. You can file it away for the next time you're
flying VFR to help you decide if you'd like VFR advisories or not.
I think I've mentioned it before but I call a lot of traffic if I have the
time. I figure that seeing traffic is a skill like any other and you get
better at it the more you practice. For those that find that annoying, here's
a way to separate the wheat from the chaff (so to speak). If the controller
calls traffic three times and the relative position (say 10 o'clock) stays
constant, you're going to be close. Of course, even I don't call traffic three
times unless I think you're going to be close.
On the other hand, if I'm busy you may only get one call. As a matter of
fact, you may not get a call at all. That's something that you should never
forget. We can only talk so fast and I don't care how hard we try, we can only
talk to one airplane at a time. And sometimes, we just flat miss the traffic.
We don't like admitting that, but we only have two eyes and they can't be in
ten places at once.
FLIB Avoidance
Right here would be a good place to mention vectors around VFR traffic.
I'll also remind you of something else that you're tired of hearing: This is
the Center we're talking about. First, we are not required (under normal
circumstances) to separate VFR traffic. We will advise you (if feasible) of
the traffic. We may even suggest a vector or altitude change. But we won't
vector you unless you ask.
Here's a hint. Ask early. If you get under about two miles from your
traffic you can just about forget it. I know two miles looks like a lot out
the window, but your target is a mile wide. Once you get under a certain
distance, we may not be able to tell which way to turn you.
That advice goes double if you're receiving VFR Flight Following and your
traffic is VFR. We're not going to turn you unless you ask. Another good
reason to ask early is that you're never quite sure what a VFR is going to do.
I've turned an airplane around a VFR before, looked at it again about 60
seconds later and discovered that the traffic had turned too. Ditto for
changing altitudes to avoid a VFR. And yes, I've called VFR traffic to IFR
traffic that was "in the soup."
IFR pilots get real upset about that one. "Center, there's no way that
guy is VFR." That's usually answered with one word, "Roger."
Some pilots think we don't get it. "Center, I'm telling you, there's
really no way he can be VFR. There's not a mile visibility up here."
You'll probably get that one word reply again: "Roger."
It's nice to know, but what do you want us to do about it? If you want to
file a complaint, we can usually track the aircraft down. Do you really want
to do that? More important, do you want us, representatives of the Federal
government, to do that?
It's a real sticky wicket for me, as a safety rep. It's obviously
dangerous, but do I want to go down that road? The vast majority of
controllers don't. Despite the horror stories you hear in the hangar flying
sessions, controllers work real hard at avoiding the role of policeman. You
wouldn't believe the things we overlook on a daily basis. I've told you how I
feel about pilots that file direct to places like DCA. Sloppy phraseology
drives me nuts. Do you want some nut job working your flight with a copy of
the FARs in his lap looking for trouble? I didn't think so.
What Goes Up...
Let's move on to more pleasant subjects. It's about time to land this thing
isn't it? "Atlanta Center, Cessna 345 is requesting lower."
"Cessna 345 descend and maintain 7,500 report Avery County in
sight." Before you read this clearance back let's think about what you're
going to say, shall we? You know that you want to read back the altitude. Do
you really want to read back, verbatim, the entire clearance? Especially the
"in sight" part?
This is where people get all twisted in knots about phraseology. Some want
to have a pat answer for every situation. It's not possible. Some want to act
like a parrot and repeat everything that a controller says. If you say,
"Cessna 345 descending to seven thousand five hundred report the airport
in sight," I might answer, "Cessna 345 did you say you have the
airport in sight?" Parroting won't work in all situations either.
Cessna 345 descending to seven thousand five hundred, Roger.
Cessna 345 descending to seven thousand five hundred,
Wilco.
Cessna 345 descending to seven thousand five hundred, looking.
Any of the above is fine. You've read back the important part (the
altitude) and acknowledged the rest.
Okay then, you're level at 7,500 and you're looking for the airport.
"Cessna 345 Avery County is twelve o'clock and one zero miles." All
that is required of you is to say "Roger." Controllers started this
practice back before you had GPS. It was helpful for pilots to know where to
look for the airport back when navigation wasn't so precise. It most
definitely is not a prompt for you to say you have the airport in sight when
you don't.
Have you got the airport now? Okay, let's hear it.
N12345: Atlanta Center Cessna 345 has Avery County in sight.
ZTL: Cessna 345 cleared visual approach Avery County.
N12345: Cessna 345 cleared visual approach Avery County leaving seven
thousand five hundred.
The countdown has begun. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5... What? Think about it. What's
about to happen?...4,3,2,1:
ZTL: Skyhawk 345 radar service terminated eight east of Avery County,
no traffic observed, report your cancellation this frequency or your down time
to Raleigh Radio, frequency change approved.
N12345: Cessna 345 cancel IFR.
ZTL: (GRRRRrrrrr) Cessna 345 squawk 1200 good day.
If you intend to cancel IFR that far out then let's do it on the front end.
N12345: Atlanta Center, Cessna 345 has Avery County in sight, cancel
IFR.
Or, if you don't understand that we're going to call traffic to you anyway
(VFR or IFR) and you're worried about it...
N12345: Atlanta Center, Cessna 345 has Avery County in sight.
ZTL: Cessna 345 cleared visual approach Avery County.
That assures you that there isn't any conflicting IFR traffic.
The Uncontrollable
Uncontrolled airports are "one in, one
out."
N12345: Atlanta Center Cessna 345 cancel IFR.
ZTL: Cessna 345 Roger, VFR traffic two north of the field, southwest
bound indicating 6,500, intentions unknown. Radar service terminated squawk
1200 frequency change approved.
N12345: Cessna 345 Roger, copy the traffic have a good day.
At the risk of stating the obvious, at uncontrolled airports, you have to
be clear of all conflicting IFR traffic before we can issue a clearance for
the approach. Therefore, if you call the airport in sight and aren't issued a
visual approach clearance, chances are there is IFR traffic in the way. There
are a few other considerations.
Occasionally we'll have a pilot call an airport in sight when the aircraft
is still in another sector's airspace and we haven't accomplished the
coordination to use that sector's airspace. Some airports do lie on the
boundary of facilities/sectors and we have to coordinate. That doesn't mean
there's IFR traffic in the way. It just means we don't know if other IFR
traffic is in the way. So we may withhold an approach clearance until you are
out of the other sector's airspace or we have coordinated between sectors.
There's a couple of more items and we'll wrap this up. Please don't use the
phrase, "Center if you don't see any traffic between us and the airport
we'll cancel IFR." I hate conditional cancellations. I'd explain it in
detail but if you'll read and study all that's above you'll be able to figure
it out.
And last but not least, don't ever feel pressured to cancel IFR. Yes, most
times it helps speed up the system. But I'm a safety guy, remember? Safety
comes first. If your comfort level of safety requires that you hold onto your
IFR until you're on the ground then that's what you should do. I know if I was
flying into the middle of nowhere at 2 a.m. I wouldn't be canceling until I
got on the ground. It's your safety. Don't let anyone else make the decision
for you.
Have a safe flight!
Don Brown
Facility Safety Representative
National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Atlanta ARTCC
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