ATC Speed Restrictions FAJS

[Goldfish Jack]

Well here comes the Goldfish!! Orgasmotron you want a reply and I am going to try my best!!

I share you frustration – how many times have I flown into FAJS only to hear on passing UVUKA that we are cleared for the GESIN arrival, then told to hold at WM then recleared to HGV to hold, then recleared for the Heidelberg arrival and then vectored to land on 03L!! Believe you me, just about every time I go north, and spend time in a cockpit, this is what I hear!!!

To solve the problem, one has to go back many years. FAJS and FACT are very different, but times are changing. FAJS has always specialized in one discipline, that is you either work area or approach. Not so at FACT, but this is changing – we are now training the new staff in one discipline, so I am sure we are going to have the same problems at FACT as at FAJS, but not for long and I will address that later.

The main problem is that the area controllers do not fully understand the approach controller’s work and vice versa. How do I know? I have worked both for almost 20 years and it is VERY evident with the new specialized controllers we are producing. This leads to a situation in which the area controller down south is making the aircraft fly very fast (why do some people use such high speeds? – the slower they fly the more time you have and the more aircraft you can handle), to keep you ahead of aircraft behind you and you are given over to approach which is also accepting aircraft from the north. Suddenly approach becomes very busy and they have to slow down all the aircraft – so you are going flat out and then you have to slow down to avoid hauling in aircraft on the ILS ahead of you – because approach has also got all the aircraft from the north that the south sectors did not know about. (I think that is what you are getting at orgasmotron – correct me if I am wrong)

We do not have this problem at FACT, as we only have 1 sector for app and area and we are all cross qualified, well we were until recently, hence we have an idea of how the sectors work and what is trying to be achieved. It goes a long way to making the system work well. (another analogy – you don’t mess me around today and I won’t mess you around tomorrow!!!!)

The solution is to try and have some sort of flow control. At present it is done by the controllers on duty – there is a CAMU office at FAJS, but they deal with everything else except traffic management and only seem to work during the week. I have just done a course through Eurocontrol on flow control and their CAMU and boy, do we have a lot to learn in this country. The flow control we have, is frankly, a bit of a joke. We, at FACT, get these fancy messages that say there is flow control into the FAJS FIR and all aircraft must be co-ordinated prior to dep. Then you phone them about an aircraft into FADN and they say it only applies to the FAJS TMA!. So straight away you have confusion. The telex is not even right! Then a common situation develops, in that they want the aircraft 10 mins apart of dep. Now picture the situation – a BE20 goes first, 10 mins later a C550, then 10 mins later a B732, then 10 mins later a B744!! And guess what – they all meet each other over UVUKA!!!! Or we get asked to match their mach numbers, but the a/c are at different levels, or as sometimes happens, we get asked to match their groundspeeds!!!!! Now how do you do that? I have always maintained that when they want flow control into FAJS, they should issue times for UVUKA for each a/c and then we calculate back the take off time and depart aircraft to ensure they arrive at UVUKA without any delays!! But then I failed std 6, so what do I know??

But the good news is that this should all be coming to an end soon. Two issues are being addressed to solve the problem – the first is the acquisition of a flow monitor tool, which will tell the ATCs which a/c must be where and when to avoid delays and ensure max utilization of the runways. This is an Aussie based tool (not that thing silly!) and it works there, so it should work here. The problem here is that it will require discipline by both ATCs to trust and use it and also pilots to comply with their restrictions. It will require very accurate flying and discipline. Don’t try and beat the system, as you will only wait and hold somewhere or be chased out of the queue and go to the back and try again later. If you are issued a RTA, do it, otherwise you will just stuff the system up and cause further delays. It is a system that monitors the radars and traffic to a certain point and is constantly updating itself.

The second issue is the removal of straight-in approaches and the use of feeder fixes. This is common overseas now and we are moving that way in SA as well. These fixes are away from the airfield and all aircraft will route via these points and then be vectored to be on final at the same speed – allowing for handling of more a/c. These should hopefully be around soon – maybe even this year when all the Sids and STARs are changed as we move to our new equipment.

So we are trying to do something.

Now anatc2, I must take issue with some of your comments. There is only 1 landing runway at FAJS. Which one is it? 03L or 03R? How many times have I sat at 03L and waited to take-off whilst aircraft are landing on it, yet 03R is also being used for landing. Please tell us which one it is and stick to it!!! You speak about slowing 2 a/c down and then going to the big picture. Maybe the big picture should be addressed first and then slow down the 2 a/c. Madness, methods, etc etc – I am sure I will understand it one day. Come to FACT – we have 50% of your movements, sorry not yours, a/c movements!! and 1 runway and we deal with anything from a piper cub doing circuits to a lightning also trying to do circuits all at the same time – far more fun than being an aerodrome controller at FAJS!!!! Oh and did I mention that we only have 1 airfield with an ILS in the western Cape, so EVERYONE does IF training there as well?

Little one – u are new – good luck and enjoy it – please edit your posting and correct your spelling mistakes – pilots will hope your controlling is better than your spelling!!!!!!!

Orgasmotron, I agree with you about the behaviour of some pilots. I know the ones you are going on about and many of them are yellow tails flying big aircraft. We are trying out best and if you want to take out your frustrations, do it elsewhere – not on our frequencies – they are busy and we have not got time to listen to your problems. The airspace is getting busier by the day and gone are the days of the yellow tails being the only aircraft flying high and fast. Just remember you can do it with many of my colleagues and all they will do is ask you to phone in (and u wont do that). I prefer to do the easier thing – file and increp and let the CAA sort it out – we recently had an outburst here by a pilot that had the student in a state of shock – was not on duty to witness it – only heard about it third party but I am sure that the relevant parties have sorted that pilot out. At least I hope so. It is amazing what an increp can do to correct a pilot’s attitude.

Here endeth the lesson!!!!