Interview Q
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Interview Q
Hey Guys,
I've got my interview for NATS in a couple of weeks and i've been trawling through all the old posts for tips - all very helpful I must say! I wonder if anyone could help with the answers to a couple of Q's that I may/may not be asked:
If a plane has broken down at the end of the runway what do you do if there are other wanting to land/take off?
Do I need to know anything about the atlantic track structure/transatlantic flights - levels - speeds - time scale for a flight say LHR-JFK, that sort of thing? Anyone point me in the right direction?
Sequencing of aircraft on approach?
I'm now off home to read the Ian Allen book......again
I've got my interview for NATS in a couple of weeks and i've been trawling through all the old posts for tips - all very helpful I must say! I wonder if anyone could help with the answers to a couple of Q's that I may/may not be asked:
If a plane has broken down at the end of the runway what do you do if there are other wanting to land/take off?
Do I need to know anything about the atlantic track structure/transatlantic flights - levels - speeds - time scale for a flight say LHR-JFK, that sort of thing? Anyone point me in the right direction?
Sequencing of aircraft on approach?
I'm now off home to read the Ian Allen book......again
Join Date: Oct 2000
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1. Used to be a favourite on ADC oral boards - What do you do? A. Ask lander where he'd like to divert to... Q. But he declares a fuel emergency, etc, etc.. Obviously not much can happen until a) you have another runway or b) the u/s a/c has been cleared - and that should only take a short while.. If it's a long runway maybe the landing distance could be revised and some a/c might be able to land - check with airport authority... For other landers think about other nearby airfields... There is no real answer... they'll just be seeing how your thought processes work.
2. Dunno anything about Atlantic tracks but seems a bit complex for you to be expected to know about. Having said that, in my very first ATC interview I was asked what sort of separation standards are applied over the ocean!
3. What do you want to know about approach sequencing? It's basically a system using radar applied at busy airfields to achieve the best landing rate.
2. Dunno anything about Atlantic tracks but seems a bit complex for you to be expected to know about. Having said that, in my very first ATC interview I was asked what sort of separation standards are applied over the ocean!
3. What do you want to know about approach sequencing? It's basically a system using radar applied at busy airfields to achieve the best landing rate.
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Re: Interview Q
Mr. Fog,
You can never land over top of another acft so other acft on final must land on another runway or divert. As for departures, with the concurence of the airport there is no reason that you can't depart down field (next intersection) from the disabled acft.
Mike
You can never land over top of another acft so other acft on final must land on another runway or divert. As for departures, with the concurence of the airport there is no reason that you can't depart down field (next intersection) from the disabled acft.
Mike
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FWA Mike
I hate to split hairs with a fellow seasoned professional, but in the UK, the airport authority is allowed to revise runway distances to take into account any obstruction which is either in the approach path or on the actual runway.
In the aerodrome manual there a standard set of formula, and they just insert the height of the obstruction, the original runway length and the normal glidepath, and, as if by magic, the revised runway length appears!
I've experienced it during the work to extend a runway, when contractors plant and equipment was at one end of the runway, and we landed aircraft over the top of them. The really spooky bit was when we were landing the other end, and aircraft had to stop a certain distance from the start of the WIP!
Another example, is a permanant dispalcement, which is what we have on one of our runways.
We are allowed to line aircraft up at the a holding point, which is the beginning of a take off starter extension for that runway, and then land aircraft over the top of them, who touch down some 400m further up the runway itself.
It doesn't look right from where I sit, but it's legal
I hate to split hairs with a fellow seasoned professional, but in the UK, the airport authority is allowed to revise runway distances to take into account any obstruction which is either in the approach path or on the actual runway.
In the aerodrome manual there a standard set of formula, and they just insert the height of the obstruction, the original runway length and the normal glidepath, and, as if by magic, the revised runway length appears!
I've experienced it during the work to extend a runway, when contractors plant and equipment was at one end of the runway, and we landed aircraft over the top of them. The really spooky bit was when we were landing the other end, and aircraft had to stop a certain distance from the start of the WIP!
Another example, is a permanant dispalcement, which is what we have on one of our runways.
We are allowed to line aircraft up at the a holding point, which is the beginning of a take off starter extension for that runway, and then land aircraft over the top of them, who touch down some 400m further up the runway itself.
It doesn't look right from where I sit, but it's legal
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Poor old Stansted, it must be starting to feel a bit like a visitor centre, the number of potential ATCOs getting the guided tour recently [I just sent my cousin up there for a similar reason last month].
These questions are not designed to have a finite answer. They are designed as an opening gambit to assess your problem solving abilities. For every answer you give, you will then be fed another question referring to the solution you have proposed. This gives the interviewer an idea of how much thought you are putting in to your answers, and whether you are considering the ramifications of your solution, or simply taking a stab at a reasonable guess.
If you want a solution to the runway problem, try and think of one yourself, and then try and run through all the possible consequences of that solution. This will give you a better idea of what to do should you be asked a scenario based question which you have not previously encountered. They are testing HOW you solve a problem, not whether you can learn a trick from a book [or website].
Atlantic tracks are covered widely in literature, and should be pretty easily researched. The tracks are published daily, and follow tracks across teh Atlantic based roughly on Great Circles, but placed so as to either gain benefit from [in one direction] or avoid [in the other] any Jetstream activity over the Atlantic.
Approach sequencing is the technical term for the particular brand of voodoo exercised by Approach Radar controllers in order to achieve maximum runway utilisation, [or most aircraft landing per hour.] They do this by putting the arriving aircraft into the correct order, correctly spaced according to either the minimum radar separation, or the spacing required to allow for Wake Vortex [don't mention this unless you can field supplementary questions on it] following the preceding aircraft.
These are pretty simplified answers. be aware that ANYTHING you bring up in answer to one question, they will likely quiz you about, to see how deeply you have researched your subject. They will eventually hit the bottom of your knowledge on a subject, so don't be phased if they end up asking you questions which sound like ancient Greek. It happens to everyone. Stay calm, think before you speak, and be ready to admit that you don't know something, rather than guessing.
Oh, and enjoy it.
These questions are not designed to have a finite answer. They are designed as an opening gambit to assess your problem solving abilities. For every answer you give, you will then be fed another question referring to the solution you have proposed. This gives the interviewer an idea of how much thought you are putting in to your answers, and whether you are considering the ramifications of your solution, or simply taking a stab at a reasonable guess.
If you want a solution to the runway problem, try and think of one yourself, and then try and run through all the possible consequences of that solution. This will give you a better idea of what to do should you be asked a scenario based question which you have not previously encountered. They are testing HOW you solve a problem, not whether you can learn a trick from a book [or website].
Atlantic tracks are covered widely in literature, and should be pretty easily researched. The tracks are published daily, and follow tracks across teh Atlantic based roughly on Great Circles, but placed so as to either gain benefit from [in one direction] or avoid [in the other] any Jetstream activity over the Atlantic.
Approach sequencing is the technical term for the particular brand of voodoo exercised by Approach Radar controllers in order to achieve maximum runway utilisation, [or most aircraft landing per hour.] They do this by putting the arriving aircraft into the correct order, correctly spaced according to either the minimum radar separation, or the spacing required to allow for Wake Vortex [don't mention this unless you can field supplementary questions on it] following the preceding aircraft.
These are pretty simplified answers. be aware that ANYTHING you bring up in answer to one question, they will likely quiz you about, to see how deeply you have researched your subject. They will eventually hit the bottom of your knowledge on a subject, so don't be phased if they end up asking you questions which sound like ancient Greek. It happens to everyone. Stay calm, think before you speak, and be ready to admit that you don't know something, rather than guessing.
Oh, and enjoy it.
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Dances with Boffins hit the nail on the head with the bit about "don't guess". An interviewer once told me of the candidate, on being asked what Concord was famous for, replied that it was faster than light. Suggestions that this feature might pose a small communications problem fell on stoney ground. Never found out what happened to the candidate - probably a manager of something by now.
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Declared distances are all well and good, but if I have 'committed' to the airport in question (ie, decided that I shall land there and burnt fuel accordingly, iaw current legislation), and then someone has crashed on the runway, I shall say 'Mayday' and land on the remaining runway length or a parallel taxiway or the apron or wherever I choose. That's what the rules now provide for. Of course, you won't issue me a clearance to land, but I have taken my decision! having informed you of my decision, you will provide me with a service, albeit probably just an FIS and AS at this stage, but you'll certainly give me the surface wind and other information.
In this question, the questioner has posed a multiple-failure situation, which the rules do not currently address. But, the 'powers that be' have decided that this is all fine and dandy.
What they haven't done is to address the problem of aircraft which are short of fuel but not 'diverting', and the lack of clues to ATCOs that the aircraft on final might be short of gas. That's regulation!
In this question, the questioner has posed a multiple-failure situation, which the rules do not currently address. But, the 'powers that be' have decided that this is all fine and dandy.
What they haven't done is to address the problem of aircraft which are short of fuel but not 'diverting', and the lack of clues to ATCOs that the aircraft on final might be short of gas. That's regulation!
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Sorry I didn't read every ones replies. But They may show you a drawn out diagram of the airfield for the scenario's. The runway designator may have something like 35L on it. BIG hint. You have another runway to play with '35R'
Good luck
Good luck
