Unidentified Known Traffic?
 

Hello All,

What on earth is Unidentified Known Traffic?
MATS Part 1, Section 4, Chapter 2, Paragraph 5.1
And isn't 5.1 b) simply saying:
"Separation may be deemed to exist... ...when authorised procedures are in operation whereby... ...separation is deemed to exist."?
Is this not a slightly pointless "state the obvious" paragraph?

Please enlighten me!
:ugh::confused:

How about this scenario.

The unidentified known traffic is operating in a Special VFR Lane not above 1500 feet and IFR traffic is being vectored and descended to 2500 feet above the lane.

Standard separation MUST be applied so therefore it is deemed to exist even though the lane traffic is NOT identified.

unidentified known traffic , is traffic that you have details on which, due to its height or other reason, is not yet displayed and identified on radar.:ok:

I'd go with Ayrprox. Sounds like it was written as C YA for stuff like the old Loganair Beech 18 departing Stornoway before it opened. Usual procedure was a phone call before dep (IIRC) followed by a radio call when airborne and high enough to be received.

The traffic may even be visible on radar, but not formally identified. eg an aircraft squawking 7000 receiving a flight information service.

The traffic is known...ie level, route & intentions, and the ATCO may have a very good idea which contact he believes it to be, but it is not positively identified using one of the accepted methods.

This is a normal situation, and many flights are handled in this way.

think about procedural control!

You can't ident the traffic but you have to apply seperation!

a nice weekend to all of you!

flighsearch

The name says it all.
any Traffic That enters your scope & you have its estimate,level,squawk code, etc previously known through EST message. Before Identifying it by any of the prescribed method( if not radar handover) It is called unidentified known traffic.
There are other examples also.

This is the actual paragraph from the UK MATS Part 1.

[B]5.1 Unidentified Known Traffic
Separation minima are detailed in Section 1, Chapter 3.

In addition, separation may be deemed to exist between aircraft under Radar Control or receiving Radar Advisory Service and unidentified known traffic in the following circumstances:

a) When authorised procedures are in operation whereby the known traffic is under the control of another controller, who is utilising an ATS surveillance
system, and separation can be maintained by direct co-ordination;

or

b) When authorised procedures are in operation whereby track or vertical separation is deemed to exist.

I think the original poster was referring to situation (b)

This covers radar corridors and buffer zones etc, as in the scenario I quoted in my first reply.

Unidentified Known Traffic?
 

Hello everyone,

Thank you all very much. I think I understand this now.