Originally Posted by dsham
The problem associated with the non-standard level debate is that unfortunately they are sometimes required to facilitate an expeditious flow of traffic. During the night over central australia there can sometimes be up to 30+ aircraft in a congo line heading to YSSY/YBBN/YMML... Without non-standard levels we would have people cruising at FL280 ect ect... However it must be said that whenever a controller assigns a clearance then seperation becomes HIS/HER responsibility. We can say we are all pissed off/fatigued ect ect but once we plug in and assume control then we are bound by law/duty to perform our role.
Absolutely.
So, having, say, chosen to approve a non-standard level at, say, 3 in the morning (or any time, really) what are
you personally going to do to mitigate against the possibility that you might not notice someone coming the other way?
Are there any tricks you use? Does the unit give you any guidance, or a procedure to follow? Are there any automated warning systems? Or is it just down to you keeping your eye on the ball? (Lets face it, that's what is often the case.) There are a handful of controllers around the world who probably relied on that last method, sometimes in adverse conditions, (Like eqp outages, or poor display design) who probably have a few serious regrets.
Not to get too maudlin, here, but really, what do you do?