Airport as a Dispatcher Sees It

Daily record of takeoffs and landings at the Domodedovo International Airport is 724. Maximum hourly capacity of two runways working simultaneously is 43 aircrafts. All this air traffic is controlled by dispatchers working day and night at the air traffic control tower. Profession of air traffic controller is among the most difficult ones speaking of psychological stress. Let’s spend some time with professionals who control tens thousands of lives.

 

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Domodedovo has two runways and each of them is controlled by the separate dispatcher teams. There is a total of 6 shifts, 10 dispatchers each. 

 

 Probably first what you imagine hearing about an air traffic controller is a typical movie image of a severe man with huge headphones shouting something in a microphone and staring at a round monitor with a green line going round. Movies are not always true. They don’t use headphones, displays are neither round, nor green and not only men can take their seats in the tower but pretty girls too.

Each display shows all the aircrafts near the airport. Dispatcher can control if they are climbing or descend, at which altitude and with which speed they are flying. 

The whole airport territory is clearly visible from the tower. A complex of modern equipment including automatic visualization system is installed here. Wide field of view of the airfield allows controlling every vehicle movement. If a dispatcher has any suspicions he uses binoculars.

If a runway is busy controller switches on a special indicator with sound signal.

 All controllers’ actions are controlled by a senior dispatcher. He’s always moving from one controller to another supervising their activities.

 Each dispatcher is supposed to have a 20-minutes break every 2 hours. While having a rest he is replaced by a substitute dispatcher.  

 Minimal time between aircraft landings is 2 minutes and between takeoffs - from 1 to 3 minutes depending on the aircraft class. Atmosphere on the tower is very calm and quiet. When one of the dispatchers holds radio exchange with the aircraft’s crew all others keep silent or speak in a whisper.

For getting up to the tower air traffic controllers pass through this windowed door. They use their special electronic passes and a fingerprint scanner to get in.

One of the payments for this kind of hard work is the beautiful view from the any side of the tower.

 

The Airport as Pilots See It

Pilots attend a medical examination, flight briefing, obtain an outbound clearance and do many other things at the airport. See what they usually do in detail.

 

 

 

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Pilots enter a service building through a separate entrance in the airport terminal. The airport is divided into two areas - “normally occupied” and “nonoccupied” ones. “Normally occupied” area is an area inside the airport, in order to get there it’s necessary to pass checking. All other part of the building is called “Nonoccupied” area.

 

Right after the checking all the crew should attend a medical examination.

Here pilots receive a flight assignment where all other information about the flight is noted. Medical examination must be attended not sooner than 2 hours before departure and not later than 1 hour. A doctor measures pressure and takes a pulse rate. He assesses a pilot’s condition and in case he has any suspicion additional tests may be taken.

In the next room chief stewards receive first-aid sets. After the flight they bring them back. The contents of the set is being constantly renewed and a special doctor checks expire dates of medicines.

After medical examination the pilots go to the briefing room on a lower floor.

At the end of the room, in a window, a co-pilot receives documentation for a plane in a large suitcase.  It is always carried by a co-pilot - some kind of hazing.

The pilots are studying routing documents, approach patterns, checking airway weather report, choosing the best route, estimating the needed amount of fuel etc.

Here the pilots receive information about the weather on all parts of the route,  wind direction and speed,  possible turbulence.

An aircraft commander may see extra information concerning the flight at a separate table in the briefing room.

If he has any doubts regarding the weather he may consult a meteorologist on duty.

At a centering dispatcher window a co-pilot fills in a form with information about the flight. Based on this information a center of the plane’s mass is defined.

Chief steward guidance.

Philosophy of AIRBUS company is that the crew should be renewed. That is why an aircraft commander and co-pilots are different each time. The same situation is with cabin crew. They become acquainted before the flight in the lounge.

Chief steward conducts instruction of the crew.

Upon the preparation the pilot comes to the dispatcher and informs if he decided to carry out the flight.

The pilots go to the plane by a special minibus. By the way, each trip of this kind costs 1000 rubles for the airline.

On the apron’s territory everyone should wear green vests and the pilots are not an exception.

Initial check of the system operation.

Walk-around inspection of the plane.

Sensors shouldn’t be icy in no circumstances.

Vanes of the engine shouldn’t be icy as well.

If they are, a technician is sent for to warm them.

A filler hatch must be tightly closed.

Static electricity dischargers are to be inspected too.

And the engine’s exit too.

The tail group should be set to zero.

Brake lining and wheel stop condition is to be checked too.

The airplane system inspection.

The pilots use a “pony”.

If everything is OK, no light should be on.

They check safety devices.

Orange curtains if the sun is too bright.

 

Instrument landing system

An instrument landing system (ILS) is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), such as low ceilings or reduced visibility due to fog, rain, or blowing snow.

Brief description

The ILS usually consists of a Localizer, Glide Path, and Markers(OM, MM, & IM).

Localizer: This equipment provides lateral guidance to the runway centreline from about 5nm out.(five nautical miles).

Glide Path: This equipment provides the aircraft with a glide angle - usually 3 degrees. The Localizer and Glide Path combine to bring the aircraft to a point where the aircraft is 50 feet high at the runway threshold (decision point).

Markers:
1. The Outer Marker at approximately 5nm helps the a/c adjust its course and height.
2. The Middle Marker is located at approximately 3500 feet and used similarly.
3. The Inner Maker at 1000 feet is used only for Category II operations.

Exceptions:
There are always exceptions and here are some main exceptions.
1. DME & GP (Distance Measuring Equipment & Glide Path) when it is impossible to have Markers.
2. DME & Localizer when there is no GP for whatever reason.
3. Offset Localizer. In this case the Localizer is not on the runway centreline, but offset and lined up to bring the aircraft over the threshold at decision height. Decision height is 50 feet at threshold.

Double Check Your FMS and the GPS Waypoints

Want to be a pilot? Think twice, then think again!

The desire to fly high is in all of us whatever field we may choose. However, when it comes to becoming a pilot in India , the road is a very bumpy one.

Darius Moose* graduated in science and then decided to become a pilot. He wanted to go to the USA and learn to fly. So he applied to one of the many pilot training schools there and they sent him a letter stating that he had been admitted. He filled in an I-20 form for which he paid $500 (approx Rs 23,000).

He paid $43,000 (approx Rs 20 lakh) as school fees for the entire course. He was told that accommodation, travel from school to the hostel and food was included in this fee. And so he left for the States, confident that he would return after the six-month course qualified to fly. But things weren't as simple as they seemed.

The first shock he received was when he reached the States and the promised transport was not available. The distance from his hostel to the air field was 4 km. "Public transport in that part of the States is pathetic and so I had to rent a car for $500 a month. The legal formalities to buy a car there are too many," he says.

Fatigue and flight operations

Fatigue is a threat to aviation safety because of the impairments in alertness and performance it creates. "Fatigue" is defined as "a non-pathologic state resulting in a decreased ability to maintain function or workload due to mental or physical stress." The term used to describe a range of experiences from sleepy, or tired, to exhausted. There are two major physiological phenomena that have been demonstrated to create fatigue: sleep loss and circadian rhythm disruption. Fatigue is a normal response to many conditions common to flight operations because of sleep loss, shift work, and long duty cycles. It has significant physiological and performance consequences because it is essential that all flight crew members remain alert and contribute to flight safety by their actions, observations and communications. The only effective treatment for fatigue is adequate sleep (1).

In a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) safety study of US major carrier accidents involving flight crew from 1978 to 1990, one finding directly addressed the concern about fatigue. It stated: "Half the captains for whom data were available had been awake for more than 12 hours prior to their accidents. Half the first officers had been awake for more than 11 hours. Crews comprising captains and first officers whose time since awake was above the median for their crew position made more errors overall, and significantly more procedural and tactical decision errors (2)."

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) False Target due to improper suppression circuitry interface. 

An operator reported a high rate of “false target” displayed on TCAS system. The “false target”, either a resolution advisory (RA) symbol or a traffic advisory (TA) symbol, would be displayed on the “nose” of the airplane symbol on the electronic horizontal situation indicator (EHSI). 

 Everybody thinks that all airmen have a great life but it's not true. All we know the difficulties we are facing day by day. As an helicopter Pilot i am facing trouble to get a decent job, all we know the worldwide crysis and the results of this in the industry.

I would like to hear others points of view of you guys, I'm from Nicaragua and I hold and ICAO CPHL rated in B-205 and Mi-17 Rotorcrafts. ICAO English Proficiency Level V.

Best Regards for everybody and i wish you great flights.

Yours sincerely;

JB.