Originally Posted by Take up the Hold
Since this I have been told by a pilot through a colleague that when an aircraft is given a heading it negates the STAR arrival and therefore the SLPs, somewhat akin to clearance to a new level negating the previous level restriction.
Any comments from TC controllers on what aircraft do in LTMA when on headings towards the hold.
Also any comments from our pilot friends on flight deck procedures and aircraft speed when given a heading to separate from other traffic, which is also approaching the same holding fix, but still roughly following the STAR.
TUTH
There is certainly some ambiguity here.
On another thread
http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=212064 there has been discussion about whether a change in flight level given when flying a SID cancels other constraints (such as published step climb levels) within that SID. The definitive answer seemed to be tucked away within a CAA Safety Leaflet - RTF Discipline - Advice to Pilots,
http://www.levelbust.com/downloads/s...eaflet_rtf.pdf, which says on page 4:
"When an amendment is made to a clearance, the new clearance must be given in full to the pilot by the air traffic controller, and this new clearance automatically cancels any previous clearance.
Thus, when an air traffic controller issues a clearance, which amends the route or vertical profile of an aircraft on a SID, e.g. 'climb FL 120', this automatically cancels the vertical profile of the SID. If the profile contains a restriction which provides vertical separation from conflicting traffic on another SID, air traffic controllers must reiterate the restriction, e.g. 'climb FL120, cross XYZ 5000 feet or above'. Similarly, when air traffic controllers issue instructions which amend the SID route, they are to confirm the level profile to be followed e.g. 'fly heading 095, climb FL 80' or 'route direct to ABC, stop climb at altitude 5000 feet'.
Similarly, if the original clearance included a restriction, e.g. ‘cross XYZ FL180 or below' then the issue of a revised clearance automatically cancels the earlier restriction, unless it is reiterated with the revised clearance."
It can be argued that giving an aircraft a heading away from the horizontal profile of the STAR is the same in principle as the example above and therefore a radar heading effectively cancels the STAR, together with any vertical or speed constraints of the STAR, unless specifically reiterated with the revised (i.e. heading) clearance. It is also a very short logical step to say that, if the published STAR requires, for example, "250kts 15nm before XYZ" and you are then put on a heading such that you are no longer routing via XYZ, then the SLP clearly cannot still apply - unless of course it is restated with the revised (i.e. heading) clearance.
It does seem that the critical question is whether the SLP is just a constraint of the STAR or does it apply to all inbound flights to that destination. By way of an example, the chart for EGLL STARs via Bovingdon (
http://www.ais.org.uk/aes/pubs/aip/p...s/32LL0702.PDF) would seem to show the SLPs drawn as a distance to (or radius from) the inbound holding facility (i.e. BNN in this case) - and this would seem to be confirmed by Note 2 on the chart, which says "Cross SLPs or 3mins before holding facility at 250kts IAS or less".
However, it is not definitive and we certainly could do with a clarification statement similar to the SID case above. Until this happens, surely the simplest solution is to reiterate the SLP requirement with any radar heading off the STAR for, as they say, "the avoidance of doubt", e.g.
"Speedbird 123, radar heading 160 degrees, be at 250kts or less by 17dme Bovingdon."