Originally Posted by
haltonapp
Are RAF air traffic controllers, trained at Shawbury, up to the standard required to control traffic at Northolt? This is in regard to the airprox last year between an A380 and a Gulfstream, the controller became distracted and concerns were also raised at the manpower levels.
Firstly, and most importantly, they are.
The incident in question was a simple case of distraction. The controller was operating band boxed due to manning issues, and was engaged in a coordination phone call with anothe sector. It is an extremely tight bit of airspace, where it is imperative that the offset base/finals turn is made at exactly the right time; too early, and the PAR will not be able to lock on (the dog leg is at the extreme of the PAR azimuth coverage), too late, and you end up potentially interacting with Heathrow.
The incident highlighted that the task should have been split, thus man I is required to achieve this; something that is not sorted over night as you need to train the new people. Secondly, it highlighted the dangers of distraction, something that has been used to good effect with our HF sessions. Thirdly, it proved that the safety nets; Controller scan (from Fin), STCA and now PIT work to reduce the chances of an aircraft accident.