Originally Posted by
fujii
Thank LB, You’re right. I have been out too long. As for Dick’s comment, someone pays somewhere. Doesn’t it come out of taxes so everyone pays?
But again, the current system is more efficient than having individual units holding the SARWATCH. Nominate a SARTIME on the plan, CENSAR keeps the watch.
Anyway, this has nothing to do with airspace reform and frequency boundaries.
I think there is a relationship with airspace reform, fujii.
Let’s see if you think this is “efficient”: I submit a flight plan to fly VH-ABC from Oogabadooga to Canberra, VFR. I nominate a SARTIME in that plan. I fly the plan and land safely in Canberra.
So overwhelmed am I at the joy of being in Canberra, I forget to call CENSAR and cancel my SARTIME. CENSAR sees my SARTIME lapse.
Does CENSAR (in Airservices) call Canberra Tower or Canberra Ground (in Airservices) to ask whether VH-ABC has landed safely in Canberra? Nooooo. That would be
crazy.
CENSAR calls AusSAR. Does AusSAR call Canberra Tower or Canberra Ground to ask whether VH-ABC has landed safely in Canberra. Noooo. That would be
crazy.
ATC doesn’t ‘do’ this stuff. They might be distracted for 30 seconds to have to say “yes”, “no” or “I don’t know, I just came on shift”.
Would it be possible to build a system that automatically cancels a SARTIME for a VFR aircraft that is issued a landing clearance at a destination in controlled airspace? Piece of piss. Has the system been built? Nooooo. That would be
crazy.
To an objective outsider, this is complete nuts.
To someone who’s seen the ‘evolution’ of the system, it makes complete “sense”. “Sense” in the sense that the design of the system is, as I have observed earlier, as much about politics and industrial relations and bureacratic self-interest as it has to do with safety and efficiency. The relationship between CENSAR and ATC - or, more accurately, the complete operational disconnection between CENSAR and ATC - notwithstanding that they are part of the same organisation, is a hangover of the FIS/ATC status divide.
Airspace “reform” is similarly affected by factors other than safety and efficiency.