M609,
IMHO, one of the most important things operating in a tower is to be able to see the runway and holding points..............or have procedures in place that are designed to prevent infringements (LVPs).
One can get away with not being able to see the airborne traffic provided one does not try to provide the reduced separation in the vicinity of an aerodrome.............and since Edinburgh is Class D, VFRs are not separated from IFRs anyway.
The CAA approved the building of the terminal knowing that the view from the tower was going to be obstructed and have continued to permit ATC to operate from a tower with a limited view of the active runway supplemented by CCTV.
Thus I believe that with current technology and the low costs of computing and telecoms, it is possible to demonstrate a similar level of safety (if not higher) in providing an ADC service at Edinburgh using CCTV (more of them though)..........and the use of CCTV is already in part approved and has demonstrated to be safe.
One of the most tiring things about the tower is constantly looking in this direction and that to spot traffic.....that can't be labled with it's transponder code. With technology, we could have a display showing CCTV derived visual information showing more than can be seen from the tower and the traffic could be labled.
It will not be as cheap as building a glass box though and the staffing levels will be the same..........so while it can be done.....it costs too much.
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Heathrow Director,
I know what you are talking about regarding the cul-de-sack system at Heathrow..........however, the responsibilities of ATC when dealing with apron traffic and when dealing with traffic on an active runway are vastly different..........even if they use the same cheap system!!
Regards,
DFC