Telstar
26th Jan 2007, 15:26
Hi, Working for an airline based out of the Milan area and spend a lot of time transiting through Swiss Airspace. I am more familiar with the rules in the UK and the R/T proceedures contained in CAP 413 (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP413.PDF) . I need to ask a few questions on what seems to happen daily in Swiss airspace. In the Uk for example I believe that it is not allowed for a controller to issue a heading and a FL at the same time due to the risk of a level bust. A very typical exchange on first contact with Swiss radar goes like this:
Airline: "Swiss good morning Airline110, climbing FL260 Abesi"
Swiss Radar:"Morning Airline110, squawk 4100"
Airline""squawk 4100 Airline 110"
(Straight Away)Swiss Radar " Climb 290, direct Kudes Lokta Tango, change frequency 133.075"
I have to say that first thing in morning on first contact to have so many instructions, three waypoints, a FL, a squak, and a frequency change in two transmissions can be a little overloading sometimes. I have the callsign number in my head, a FL and a freq, I sometimes feel it is a matter of time before I put the FL into the transponder and the climb to the squawk!:eek: Our company is suffering from a rise in level busts and for me it seems that exchanges on the radio like these are maybe a contributing factor. We also have a lot of new F/Os line training who are not familiar with the waypoints and for who English is not a first language and they often get overwhelmed by all the info.
I find that I am trying to keep the squak in my head as I get issued another two numbers ( A FL and a Freq change) which I have to dial in and readback before I forget them. I know this sounds like a minor complaint but I have discussed this with colleagues and all have brought it up.
I have also counted that from take off to top of climb in 95 or so track miles one can have up to 7 frequency changes. It seems sometimes that you have to change frequency every 1500 feet or so?
I guess the two questions I have for you are:
1. Is it allowed to issue so many instructions at once, including a combined climb and Freq change? Is it a rule that is just being ignored?
2. Do you feel that so many different sectors and frequency changes is a genuine improvment to safety, or like I feel, that it has a negative impact on safety?
Airline: "Swiss good morning Airline110, climbing FL260 Abesi"
Swiss Radar:"Morning Airline110, squawk 4100"
Airline""squawk 4100 Airline 110"
(Straight Away)Swiss Radar " Climb 290, direct Kudes Lokta Tango, change frequency 133.075"
I have to say that first thing in morning on first contact to have so many instructions, three waypoints, a FL, a squak, and a frequency change in two transmissions can be a little overloading sometimes. I have the callsign number in my head, a FL and a freq, I sometimes feel it is a matter of time before I put the FL into the transponder and the climb to the squawk!:eek: Our company is suffering from a rise in level busts and for me it seems that exchanges on the radio like these are maybe a contributing factor. We also have a lot of new F/Os line training who are not familiar with the waypoints and for who English is not a first language and they often get overwhelmed by all the info.
I find that I am trying to keep the squak in my head as I get issued another two numbers ( A FL and a Freq change) which I have to dial in and readback before I forget them. I know this sounds like a minor complaint but I have discussed this with colleagues and all have brought it up.
I have also counted that from take off to top of climb in 95 or so track miles one can have up to 7 frequency changes. It seems sometimes that you have to change frequency every 1500 feet or so?
I guess the two questions I have for you are:
1. Is it allowed to issue so many instructions at once, including a combined climb and Freq change? Is it a rule that is just being ignored?
2. Do you feel that so many different sectors and frequency changes is a genuine improvment to safety, or like I feel, that it has a negative impact on safety?