CM, it might seem a small thing, but the OCTA abbreviation is a carry-over from previous eons when there was just controlled airspace and uncontrolled airspace. It has no application in ICAO airspace. Flights in Class G, Class F and VFR in Class E (as Dick seems to consider as OCTA) have slightly different responsibilities and procedures, so the classification of OCTA has no meaning. OCTA was removed from official definition lists some years ago. While it is still used unofficially within the industry out of convenience, it has no official meaning. (In fact, its use appears limited to describing flight without talking with ATC, rather than in its previous reference to a particular airspace.)
If I had a guess, I would venture that some well-meaning person wrote those procedures referenced above in a hurry and under direction to just get them done. I doubt there was sufficient time to allow for anything but rudimentary copy checking or fact checking prior to NAS implementation. If a very basic error has been included in the NAS documents, what does this say about the more complex procedures? I think many in the industry have issues with the paucity of information when it comes to procedures.
Safety is enhanced with well understood and sensible procedures. As an armchair observer, it appears to me in this incident with the involvement of several pilots and ATC, that the participants suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves in this big procedural hole with no clear idea of the next step. The controller lost control of the situation and the pilots resorted to Class G traffic avoidance.
The statement that we were getting the North American airspace system has been a fallacy. My concern with NAS is that these holes have started to appear seemingly quickly and frequently so soon after implementation. The difficult part is trying to work out where the other holes may be before we fall in them and the scary part is knowing that there are probably going to be some that we won't find until we're in them.
Last edited by Lodown; 4th May 2004 at 20:09.