AHA - the vagaries of itsaslut have finally deigned me to be worthy of responding!
As one of the aforementioned radar bods, I would first like to state that yes - we are aware that airbuses
like (NEED) to slow down, boeings
DON'T like to slow down and everyone wants to fly the most efficient / easiest profile for
THEM. However,
IF you want us to tighten up the sequence, then we all have to be reading from the same crib sheet.
So, to answer a few questions -
I believe the "norm" for speed instructions is 1kt per second. I await your corrections...
VBRULES FYI, on my watch alone, we have ex LHR tower AND radar controllers - so I'll venture to say that the bods in the seats are not neccessarily the problem!
As for a few knots here or there, I am prepared to admit that I myself was recently suspended for a wake vortex loss of separation on final. It transpires that aircraft 1 (emirates A340), having been instructed to fly "160 kts to 4 DME") reduced to 135 (or thereabouts) kts at 5.5 DME (of course, without a word) - meanwhile, the following aircraft (emirates B777), having been instructed to fly "160 kts to 4 DME"), was found (by his own admission) to still be flying 180 kts 5.5 miles after the instruction - 7 miles final. As a result of this, my 4.8 mile gap reduced to below the
REQUIRED 4 miles and I spent two days sitting at home while my wife wondered if I still had a job to go back to.
I say this
NOT to have a go at those who "interpret" speed control instructions as they see fit - but to demonstrate that
IF you want us to provide the best service that we can, with the optimal runway utilisation available, we all have to play by the same rules. I
KNOW that the airbus wants to slow down. I
KNOW that the B777 doesn't. 160 to 4 is (to the best of my knowledge) the best compromise between the two. It may mean that you have to drop the gear earlier than required etc. etc. - so be it. I'm sorry , but if you wouldn't do it at LHR (where they have much more leeway than here), then give us a fighting chance and don't do it here!
iflytb20
Anyone who vectors your 737 a scant 5 miles behind an A380 doesn't deserve to have a license. As previously stated, the minimum is 7 miles
AT TOUCHDOWN, so if you don't get them - a) go around and b) report it.
Hopefully, we can all make it work a bit better!!
Guy.