In 1986 all aircraft flying Octa in full radar coverage in the J curve were prohibited by the regulations from talking directly to the person with the radar screen. It was the prime reason the pilot of MDX was not told that he was heading for over 20 minutes at right angles to the correct path . 6 dead!
That was my main driver for the changes.
Now all IFR pilots in all radar covered airspace communicate directly to the person with the radar screen and VFR pilots can request a radar service .
I am proud of these changes and the $1.6 billion saved by the industry since then.
We now need to finish the transition to a modern airspace system.