Originally Posted by orgASMic
my point is that it should not be necessary to have 2 ATC freqs on the go (the C2 and DZ freqs are clearly necessary for the task at the time). The 2 controllers might give conflicting instructions if they think they are both providing you with a service. Pick one and let the controller do the necessary liaison with other ATC units.
Basic Service isn't quite control, it's the old FIS. Control would have been provided by London Mil. The MC-130 would've informed Marham that they were in contact with London Mil, but contacting Marham as courtesy AND for situational awareness. Why wait for Marham to contact London to contact the MC-130 to advise them of traffic or deconfliction? With pink bodies hanging under silk, I'd rather have immediate notification of any potential conflict directly from the source (ie - Marham).
So, on the surface, I understand your concern, but in actuality, it is a non-issue. Bear in mind that neither were providing actual control and weremerely providing some level of service.
In the event of conflicting instructions, the crew would've hopefully had the situational awareness to make a safe decision and advised the agencies involved appropriately.
Originally Posted by party animal
Unless there was a compelling reason for other aircraft to be in that area, that is a very clear NOTAM and by extension, airmanship makes it a very clear avoid.
Concur. Further, it is a very routine (near daily) NOTAM and not something unusual.
Originally Posted by higthepig
A hole in the cheese in this incident was that the Herc was not squawking 0033, this has been addressed for future exercises.
Although addressed that they were, I will state that even had they not, the squawk issue would've been mitigated by talking to both London & Marham, so there would be no question regarding the activity. Does GR4 have TCAS? If not (like many FJ), it would've provided no extra clue other than Marham advising them.