Area Radar Recency / Currency

[Jumbo Driver]

Would someone please be kind enough to explain to me the recency/currency requirements for Area Radar Controllers at Swanwick and TC, and whether such requirements are general to the unit or specific to individual group/sector validations ?

Also, in terminology, is there a difference in meaning between the terms "recency" and "currency", or are they interchangeable ?


Grateful thanks,

Jumbo Driver

[Defruiter]

From what I understand, the roavies at the college, have to do either 14 or 16 (don't remember which) hours a month to retain their validations

Someone will probably correct me though

DF

[Jumbo Driver]

roavies ... ?

[BOBBLEHAT]

ROVI's = Retention Of Validation Instructors. These are valid (no jokes please!!!) controllers who work the majority of their time instructing student controllers in Hurn and return to their operational unit to maintain their validations. I think they require 16 hours per month.

Generally speaking a controller must exercise his validation within 30 days, go over that and they and their Local Competency Examiner (LCE) must have a little chat about whether they are up to it, new procedures etc and the LCE will make a decision on whether he/she is happy for the controller to work. If you go over 45 days you must sit with an examiner until he/she is happy for you to go solo again. Over 90 days - you've lost your validation and must retrain and sit a full validation board.

This is London Terminal Control, others will differ. There are also some other little rules and caveats that I wont bore you with.

[Jumbo Driver]

Thanks for the explanation, BOBBLEHAT.

Are these intervals (i.e. 30/45/90 days) specified locally by the unit or are they contained within legislation, i.e. a CAP, or similar?


JD

[Lon More]

IIRC the 90 day rule is an ICAO standard

[Spitoon]

I can't be certain whether you'll find any useful stuff in either of these because I've never had to read them...........and, unless there's some darn good reason, I plan to keep it that way!
But CAP744 gives the national rules for controller licensing in the UK. The UK document is based on a Eurocontrol one. You'll probably find some differences between the two but the Eurocontrol one is more likely to be what you'll find everywhere else in Europe if this is ever of interest to you.

[eyeinthesky]

Currency: the legal requirements (30/45/90 days) as set out by the regulator

Recency: the need to remain in practice at a certain task, usually defined by a certain number of hours in a certain time limit.

At Swanwick, (and this is for the whole unit, not sector-specific), the rules are:

For watch-keeping ATCOs based at LACC whose primary function is a T and/or P: 10 hours per month

For LASs with 2 validations or less: Minimum of 8 hours per month then another 4 for each validation (T or p) held beyond 2.

For non-watch keeping ATCOs based at LACC: 12 hours per month

For ATCOS who maintain competence but who are not based at LACC (eg DATS): 16 hours per month.

All of these are minima and should be evenly spread across the month.

[Jumbo Driver]

Spitoon, thank you for the two references. I had already seen CAP744 and it appeared to me to provide only guidance, but with the requirement that each Unit publish its own rules concerning the required hours and the relevant period(s) of time. As you say, the EATM document (another rather dry read!) is similar.

eyeinthesky, I am grateful to you also for the specifics for Swanwick. Just regarding your last sentence,

All of these are minima and should be evenly spread across the month.

would the figures you mention still apply around a period of (say) 3-weeks' leave (or sickness), with just the "evenly spread" aspect waived ?


JD

[eyeinthesky]

One needs to be sensible. If you are sick or on leave, then you need to ensure you maintain recency as much as possible. The LCE will be able to help in this case. What the guidelines are trying to prevent is the case where you do no radar for 28 days and then 8 hours in two days. It would be preferable to do 4 hours every 14 days.

[Jumbo Driver]

Understood, thanks.


JD

[Regular Cappuccino]

In preparing our own 'Currency Scheme' we were encouraged by SRG to graduate the response to the length of absence - for example, up to 24 days absence no effect on Currency, 25 - 34(ish) days possible effect, thus OJTI check to see whether Operational support needed, over 35 days, probable effect, thus LCE check needed and so on.
These 'Schemes' have replaced the old '90 day rule'.
RC