Time Based Separation for Aircraft on Final
Cut and paste from the the worlds favorite sandpit destination.
DXB is not the model to pin up, no big airport is.
Why does an A380 that has been airborne in excess of 12 hours get a 15 minute delay into Melbourne.
The long range slot co-ordination they have in Oz does not work. I have been asked to drop around 30 minutes en-route once hitting the FIR. The problem is the Oz FIR is so big, 90% of the traffic at the destination has not even departed. The problem is domestic carriers have saturated the slots in the capital cities and everyone has to pay.
I've heard lots of guys and girls tell Director that they can only do 160 to 5.
Dumb ATC speed requirements were partially the cause for the 777 crash at SFO, the report never mentions that ATC asked them to maintain 180/5 with no traffic. You can see who got hung out to dry. Sure the crew stuffed up, but they did not deal the deck.
There is a time and place for everything, and ATC SHOULD have contingencies planned for additional monitoring is they want to have higher rates. However what we are seeing worldwide, is more movements per controller, accident happening, and pilots left hung out to dry. ATC management need to have great ideas like this time based separation, but also the associated contingencies. It will not be the people that use it every day, its the people that use it once a decade.
What puzzles me sometimes is when ATC say "Cancel STAR speed restrictions", often once I'm already below 10000'.
Where the STAR plate says Max 250KT below 10000, cancel STAR speed restriction should also cancel the general requirement in AIP for 250 below 10 - probably needs clarification.
I say Cancel speed restriction below 10000 and this to me cancels both restrictions.
If the aircraft is already below F120, I don't bother cancelling the speed restriction, except at pilot request or if aircraft is given track shortening.
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Interesting tidbit in the BBC article on the procedure
Heathrow is full. They are not legally allowed to process any more flights per year, having reached their government imposed cap of 480,000 take-offs and landings.
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So does "Cancel STAR speed restrictions" include cancelling 250kt below 10000', or does it just mean cancel the other speed restrictions such as 230/20, 185-160/10 and 160/5.
of any general requirement to maintain 250KT or less below
A100.
It will actually cost me (or my Company) fuel and therefore money to cancel these restrictions, so do you: want me to; need me to; or is it just that you don't need to restrict me any longer. I don't know what you actually want or need me to do so I often end up asking something like "do you want or need me to increase speed?" because I'd actually rather just stay with the original plan at this late stage.
On departure though, if I cancel speed restrictions (without being requested), it's always because I want you to start accelerating (but still meet any height requirements).
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'Cancel speed restictions' (on the STAR/below A100) means 'go fast if you want to/speed is at pilot discretion'. It doesn't mean 'Max speed above and below'. If you are getting 'cancel speed' inbound you are probably number one, or there is no specific requirement to slow you down. If you are given 'max' or a specific speed, there is probably someone up your date.
Navaid Inspections
VC9 - The problem with Navaid flight inspections was brought up when I used to work for Airservices. The operator is well aware of the issues they cause but they also have their own issues. The flying is quite intense - multiple accurate ILS approaches are required, not all of them being via the centreline. This can cause fatigue amongst the crew members particularly when their approaches are delayed by ATC due to scheduled movements requiring holding and extended flight times. Their capital city priority is Airwork and even though they are required to discuss the flight test with ATC this does not change their traffic priority. I believe their mitigation is crew member watching crew member - if a call is made by one crew member on another or themselves for sounding/looking etc fatigued then the company requires the captain to abandon the sortie and land.
It was suggested that the testing could be done at night (daylight is not a requirement but at the time I was there VMC was) but this would require negotiations between the airports and DoT as it would not comply with current noise abatement procedures at the major airports. (Curfewed or not - they all have noise abatement procedures.) I do not know what became of this proposal but it sounded eminently suitable to me considering that the test aircraft is a BE-350 Super King Air.
A specific issue in Sydney concerns a test of the "edge" of the ILS envelope that requires the aircraft to virtually fly down final of the adjacent parallel runway, so closing both approaches. I believe that the test personnel did not consider that particular test to be necessary, however it would be CASA's call.
If problems are still occurring perhaps more negotiation is required.
It was suggested that the testing could be done at night (daylight is not a requirement but at the time I was there VMC was) but this would require negotiations between the airports and DoT as it would not comply with current noise abatement procedures at the major airports. (Curfewed or not - they all have noise abatement procedures.) I do not know what became of this proposal but it sounded eminently suitable to me considering that the test aircraft is a BE-350 Super King Air.
A specific issue in Sydney concerns a test of the "edge" of the ILS envelope that requires the aircraft to virtually fly down final of the adjacent parallel runway, so closing both approaches. I believe that the test personnel did not consider that particular test to be necessary, however it would be CASA's call.
If problems are still occurring perhaps more negotiation is required.
and the pilots of the 3 x 350's do a great job to minimise disruptions here in Aus and elsewhere in S/E Asia ( no I'm not one of them )
Some of their work in Singapore is at night
Some of their work in Singapore is at night
Been controlling Auscal (navaid testing) for 20 years - Have never had a problem with any of them. They have always been accommodating in helping keep other traffic moving and to all their pilots I say thanks and very well done. 
