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Old 4th Sep 2008, 16:27
  #92 (permalink)  
ajet32
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Canada
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Beech 1900 DRC

Having flown A/C based in Bukavu for the last 2 years I can attest to the abysmal ATC and weather services. It is a confusing situation at the least. The A/P is operated by the UN/RVA. The UN supplies a tower and it is manned by a DRC controller with very little training and no access to weather reports other than what he is handed by the UN weather reporter/observer. Weather is available to MONUC crews from Air Ops , why it is not public I don't know, it isn't always great but it is better than nothing. There are also 2 STAR arrivals available on ICAO produced RVA charts. They are not updated on the 28/56 day schedule but can be obtained from operators who are using them now. They are up to date enough that the A/P diagram shows position of old NDB tower along with coord's of its former location.
The current Jepp FMS data base does not include the listed GNSS approach , the waypoints exist but the missed APP waypoints do not. This makes it both dangerous and most likely illegal to fly. ( Also your in enroute mode not approach as mentioned)
There is a JJ let down developed by an operator of medium A/C available and it starts over the lake at an altitude above the MSA/MORA.
Why as fellow operators / pilots don't we share this information with crews. Just because the registration isn't from the same country doesn't mean we shouldn't work together to help prevent these unfortunate accidents.
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