Hello? ML Centre? Yoohoo! Anyone home?
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Hello? ML Centre? Yoohoo! Anyone home?
Was it just staff shortages again this evening on ML Centre throughout WA or what? Poor bugger on flightwatch (6565) was copping a flogging as usual but at the end of the day, it seemed nobody was freaking out. Any one else witness this?
Hell yes, today sucked on the radio.
I've been away from WA for 5 years or so and I'm surprised to find the radio waves today are worse than they were then.
Was going head to head with other sizeable traffic today and ML couldn't get in edgeways to let us know, hell we couldn't even talk amongst ourselves.
It's alright tho we missed by miles.
I've been away from WA for 5 years or so and I'm surprised to find the radio waves today are worse than they were then.
Was going head to head with other sizeable traffic today and ML couldn't get in edgeways to let us know, hell we couldn't even talk amongst ourselves.
It's alright tho we missed by miles.
TIBA procedures? Fair enough, but the low area frequencies should not have been combined. That did make the situation worse than it should have been. The last thing I need, when having to closely listen to each broadcast, is to hear aircraft 600nm away (not to mention ZLT doing multiple GEL CTAF calls on the Area freq
)
)
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Last night won't be the last time TIBA procedures will happen either. The only way it doesn't happen more often is by the goodwill of the controllers being willing to work incredible amounts of overtime. The money is nice for a while but eventually you have to be able to have some kind of life.
There has been warnings from staff that this would happen but it seems that it is cheaper to run rosters tight and cover gaps with overtime than it is to have enough staff to cover emergencies.
Cap'n Bloggs, I can understand your frustration about the frequencies being combined but they need to monitored in case of emergency and there are not enough bodies around to monitor more than one console. Of course there's not a lot we can do about aircraft transmitting on the wrong freq!
There has been warnings from staff that this would happen but it seems that it is cheaper to run rosters tight and cover gaps with overtime than it is to have enough staff to cover emergencies.
Cap'n Bloggs, I can understand your frustration about the frequencies being combined but they need to monitored in case of emergency and there are not enough bodies around to monitor more than one console. Of course there's not a lot we can do about aircraft transmitting on the wrong freq!
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mmm money
The money is nice for a while
Capn Bloggs - I also heard the said citation making calls on the wrong freq. I'd like to think by the time I was driving something that shiny, I'd have the comms sussed.
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So why the shortage of staff? Lack of recruitment?
Come the revolution; when G is G ie no service then we will have heaps too many. The big restructure that is going on right now is to shift as much cost as can be found into the "Regional Services" arm; thus the Cost Benefit Analysis when conducted will clearly show that the cost of service provision far exceeds any safety benefit. Factor in a little E corridor here and there to absolve the issues and hey presto no issues left and massive staff/costs reductions.
Good side is that when the bills are all accounted for RS will cost probably somewhere near $250M per year; RS is Flight service + some towers, right? So the RHS claim of reducing the FIS bill may just blow up; the cost has gone up heaps; but I suspect we all knew that anyway.
Meanwhile, ATCs should stop feeling guilty about staying home (get a life) on their days off and the problem may actually get addressed as opposed to being lifted into the OT bucket; where we can blame sick-leave for the increase; time to counsel those naughty sick-leave abusers.
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increases in traffic; especially in WA.
Factor in a little E corridor here and there
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Usually give it a wide berth if it's anywhere near me.
At least you can be fairly sure where they aren't!
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Traffic Information Broadcast Area
You're on ya own! ... Anyone there? .... Anyone there now?
You're on ya own! ... Anyone there? .... Anyone there now?
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....'smoking hole'.............it's often the guys/gals in the 'shinny planes' that make the icorrect RT calls........121.5 is at time a joke with not only fingered troubled calls but general 'chit chat' !.........& these pilots are meant to be at the end of the professional tree !.........still humans will always act first, then think !
Restructuring............that word is now rife in all industries.........more work for less staff !
............Capt Wally :-)
Restructuring............that word is now rife in all industries.........more work for less staff !
............Capt Wally :-)
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From the ATC manual (MATS)
Traffic Information Broadcasts by Aircraft (TIBA): A procedure that permits the transmission of reports and relevant supplementary information by pilots to provide information to other aircraft in the vicinity when no air traffic services are available in a given airspace.
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Seeing as most pilots would have, or can at least access (via AA web site), AIP instead of MATS....
AIP GEN 3.3 - 18, 4 Contingency Procedures - Air Traffic Services Temporarily Not available ; and ,
AIP GEN 3.3 - 21, 5 Traffic Information Broadcast By Aircraft (TIBA)
would appear to be more relevant references for the wider community and go beyond the mere definition listed in MATS.
AIP GEN 3.3 - 18, 4 Contingency Procedures - Air Traffic Services Temporarily Not available ; and ,
AIP GEN 3.3 - 21, 5 Traffic Information Broadcast By Aircraft (TIBA)
would appear to be more relevant references for the wider community and go beyond the mere definition listed in MATS.
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Better get used to this
A mate in the know told me that MEL Centre went TIBA for much of the Goldfields, Pilbara and Central West on the Low sectors last night.
Apparently NOTAMs were issued, but it may have caught some guys/gals off guard when they taxied and/or arrived to learn from Flightwatch (who at least were still staffed) that there was NO ATC service in the Class G airspace.
Some seemed to think that they had a continuous Sarwatch even though ATC were not providing same. A few figured it out to nominate a Sartime to be held in CENSAR and managed by Flightwatch.
The word in the ATC circles that this is likely to happen again on an increasing basis due to their staff shortages. Flightwatch is also pretty short staffed. It probably won't be long til they are on contingency at the same time as ATC.
I wonder what the insurance angle is for this scenario?
Apparently NOTAMs were issued, but it may have caught some guys/gals off guard when they taxied and/or arrived to learn from Flightwatch (who at least were still staffed) that there was NO ATC service in the Class G airspace.
Some seemed to think that they had a continuous Sarwatch even though ATC were not providing same. A few figured it out to nominate a Sartime to be held in CENSAR and managed by Flightwatch.
The word in the ATC circles that this is likely to happen again on an increasing basis due to their staff shortages. Flightwatch is also pretty short staffed. It probably won't be long til they are on contingency at the same time as ATC.
I wonder what the insurance angle is for this scenario?
This SAR thing has got me interested!
Let me ask you -
1) I'm in an IFR turbo prop cruising higher than FL180
2) the TIBA is only "G" airspace below
3) in my last position report prior to descent, I advised my estimate for arrival at the destination
4) I was never told "Sarwatch Terminated"
Do I have SAR coverage to my destination? Or upon entering TIBA airspace on descent, is my SAR coverage terminated?
CR
Let me ask you -
1) I'm in an IFR turbo prop cruising higher than FL180
2) the TIBA is only "G" airspace below
3) in my last position report prior to descent, I advised my estimate for arrival at the destination
4) I was never told "Sarwatch Terminated"
Do I have SAR coverage to my destination? Or upon entering TIBA airspace on descent, is my SAR coverage terminated?
CR