I think this is caused by a processing problem with the Swanwick system. The instruction (apparently from SRG) is that all aircraft within the affected area must receive four (not five) miles lateral separation when already vertically separated!!! What happens if this is not applied is that the STCA and SMF bits are triggerred and although separation was never lost it means more paperwork for the investigators. Now there is an instruction to do this ridiculous procedure the humble ATCO can be blamed for the system failure when these alerts are triggered.
It would seem that some watches have reduced the combined sector 11/33 TSF by about 15%. Do people think that this is enough or should it be even more restrictive?
Thoughts please.
Z