dublinpilot
11th Aug 2006, 15:29
The VFR thread got me thinking about priorities. It seems as if ATC and pilots see this as being different.
The VFR thread is centred around a specific incident and I don't want to hijack that thread, so am starting this one.
Looking in MATS Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 9, there is a table of flight priorities.
Category Type of Flight
A Aircraft in emergency (e.g. engine fault, fuel shortage, seriously ill passenger). Aircraft which have declared a 'Police Emergency'. Ambulance/Medical aircraft when the safety of life is involved.
B Flights operating for search and rescue or other humanitarian reasons. Post accident flight checks. Other flights, including Open Skies Flights, authorised by the CAA.
C Royal flights Flights carrying visiting Heads of State which have been notified by NOTAM/Temporary Supplement.
D Flights notified by the CAA carrying Heads of Government or very senior government ministers.
E Flight check aircraft engaged on, or in transit to, time or weather critical calibration flights. Other flights authorised by the CAA.
NORMAL FLIGHTS
i) Flights which have filed a flight plan in the normal way and conforming with
normal routing procedures.
ii) Initial instrument flight tests conducted by the CAA Flight Examining Unit.
(RTF callsign EXAM)
Z Training, non-standard and other flights.
It would seem to me from reading the above, that commercial scheduled aircraft would fall into the Normal Flights.
It would also seem to me that VFR traffic on a VFR flight plan (whether filed in advance or an abbreviated one over the R/T such as when entering controlled airspace) would also fall into the category of Normal Flight.
This would seem to imply that they both get equal priority.
Now we all know that in practise this isn't what happens.
So my questions are:
1. Am I missing something....some other regulation which gives priority to commercial traffic, faster traffic, IFR traffic some some such?
2. Or is it simply that a controller working for an airport, while in theory is supposed to give equal priority, will have a lot of explaining to do to his boss if a commercial is delayed, but no explaining to do if a VFR is delayed? Obviously people are human, and would take the line of least resistance if this were the case.
If no 2 is the answer, is there not some part of the CAA that checks ATC standards which would provide a counterweight?
This is not intended to be a criticism. I have often offered to hold to let a commercial through first. If one of us has to go around, or orbit, it's a lot easier and efficient for me to do so in my PA28, and I don't really expect a B737 to do it instead. I simply wish to understand what is happening here, and why it doesn't seem to go according to the book.
dp
The VFR thread is centred around a specific incident and I don't want to hijack that thread, so am starting this one.
Looking in MATS Part 1, Chapter 4, Section 9, there is a table of flight priorities.
Category Type of Flight
A Aircraft in emergency (e.g. engine fault, fuel shortage, seriously ill passenger). Aircraft which have declared a 'Police Emergency'. Ambulance/Medical aircraft when the safety of life is involved.
B Flights operating for search and rescue or other humanitarian reasons. Post accident flight checks. Other flights, including Open Skies Flights, authorised by the CAA.
C Royal flights Flights carrying visiting Heads of State which have been notified by NOTAM/Temporary Supplement.
D Flights notified by the CAA carrying Heads of Government or very senior government ministers.
E Flight check aircraft engaged on, or in transit to, time or weather critical calibration flights. Other flights authorised by the CAA.
NORMAL FLIGHTS
i) Flights which have filed a flight plan in the normal way and conforming with
normal routing procedures.
ii) Initial instrument flight tests conducted by the CAA Flight Examining Unit.
(RTF callsign EXAM)
Z Training, non-standard and other flights.
It would seem to me from reading the above, that commercial scheduled aircraft would fall into the Normal Flights.
It would also seem to me that VFR traffic on a VFR flight plan (whether filed in advance or an abbreviated one over the R/T such as when entering controlled airspace) would also fall into the category of Normal Flight.
This would seem to imply that they both get equal priority.
Now we all know that in practise this isn't what happens.
So my questions are:
1. Am I missing something....some other regulation which gives priority to commercial traffic, faster traffic, IFR traffic some some such?
2. Or is it simply that a controller working for an airport, while in theory is supposed to give equal priority, will have a lot of explaining to do to his boss if a commercial is delayed, but no explaining to do if a VFR is delayed? Obviously people are human, and would take the line of least resistance if this were the case.
If no 2 is the answer, is there not some part of the CAA that checks ATC standards which would provide a counterweight?
This is not intended to be a criticism. I have often offered to hold to let a commercial through first. If one of us has to go around, or orbit, it's a lot easier and efficient for me to do so in my PA28, and I don't really expect a B737 to do it instead. I simply wish to understand what is happening here, and why it doesn't seem to go according to the book.
dp