Factor
Woodstock, VA
Male, 65
My life in ATC began with 4 years Air Force then another 30 years with the Federal Aviation Admin. working tower & radar at some big international airports. I fought in the 1981 war with PATCO, survived the strike and kept a job that was just too exhilarating to walk away from. While there was nothing better than working airplanes, I did move on through several air traffic supervisory and management positions. It was a long, crazy career but I wouldn't trade a moment of it for love or lucre!
Thanks for writing. I worked with a guy everyone called “Jimbo” but I don’t know why. His first name was Harrison.
Your question is a good one. As you probably know; all communications with air traffic control are recorded on the ground. These recordings are an indispensible source of information during accident/incident investigations. Cockpit conversations between crew members are not currently recorded on the ground. They are recorded on the aircraft’s so-called ‘black box’ but, as I recall, only on a continuous 30 minute loop. Who knows? With the advent of digital recording; the duration of these recordings may have changed somewhat.
The ability to examine the last thirty minutes of cockpit dialogue can be extremely helpful in reconstructing the circumstances leading up to an accident or incident. However, I hesitate to say it would be a good idea to remotely record all cockpit conversation from a flight’s start to finish. As with most other workplaces; conversations may take place that could be embarrassing or worse if heard by unintended ears. Imagine what fun the news media would have with a conversation between the Captain and First Officer about their love life – even if it took place six or seven hours before the accident/incident. People start judging. In my opinion; there is already too little privacy left in this world. Private conversations, as the song goes, “Ain’t nobody’s business.”
Cheers,
Factor
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Hello Jim and thanks for asking another ‘above average’ question!
The average airport surveillance radar (ASR) has about a 60 mile reach from its rotating antenna. Anything that stands in the way of the radar beam (terrain, buildings, bridges and such) will keep it from seeing objects behind and below that obstruction. The radar will, however, see the airplanes flying above it!
Think of your radar antenna as flashlight. From the street, it would light the front of your house but not the back yard. Shine it over the roof of your house and it will illuminate the tops of the trees growing along your back fence. The propensity of radar to reflect off everything in its way actually created a big problem for controllers until someone invented “moving target indicator” (referred to as “MTI”) technology. MTI tells the radar system to display only moving targets on ATC radar scopes. Stationary objects are filtered out so that we can ‘see’ airplanes flying over top of them. As you know, airplanes takeoff and land over cityscapes, mountains and other obstructions all the time, yet they remain in constant radar contact with controllers.
When a new radar system is installed, much attention is given to where and how high the surrounding obstructions are. A process known as “panoramics” is done; whereby a camera is mounted on the radar tower. Then a series of photos are taken in a 360 degree sweep. Distances from the antenna and heights of all obstructions are mapped. From this, technicians can determine where areas of no radar coverage will exist. Sometimes raising the height of the antenna will make a significant difference in coverage. Eventually, air traffic controllers are provided with those maps so they’ll know where the radar blind spots are.
As for the strength of the radar? ATC always uses the “full strength” product, regardless of the airport’s size. As a public service, milder versions of radar can be found in police cars so they can let you know how fast you were going.
Cheers,
Factor
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Hijacking attempts or actual events are a matter of national security and require special handling, which will likely be different for each event. There is no standard formula. When you look back at the history of aircraft hijackings you will see many variations in how they were handled and how they turned out.
Cheers,
Factor
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Yes. Depending on their operating altitude; airplanes, commercial or private, using ATC services, use the same control frequencies. Generally; ATC areas of jusisdiction are stratified, so that pilots flying at lower altitudes are talking to different controllers than the ones working high altitude flights.
Most small private planes are unpressurized and usually remain below ten thousand feet. Climbing much higher than that could lead to hypoxia or "altitude sickness." You never want that to happen while you're trying to fly an airplane.
Thanks for writing!
Factor
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Radio program/music director
What's the secret to actually getting through when you call in for a radio contest?
Toll Collector
What's the rudest thing a driver ever said to you?
Inner City English Teacher
What was the saddest student journal entry you've read?
Howdy Copperhead and thanks for the question with a very “seasonal” theme! Those red, green and white lights you see while hurtling through the night sky could mean one of two things. Either there’s another plane out there somewhere or you are about to fly into someone’s Christmas tree. Unless you’re flying daringly low; it’s probably the former. That being the case; it’s a good idea to know what those lights ahead are telling you!
Aircraft are equipped with “navigation lights.” These consist of a red light on the left wingtip (in relation to the pilot), a green light on the right wingtip and a white light. That one is normally located on the vertical stabilizer and can be seen clearly from behind the plane. So, basically, if you look out the cockpit window and see another plane’s navigation lights; you will immediately be able to tell whether it is flying toward, away from or in your same general direction.
If you see the red light on the left, green on the right and a white light in the middle? You are approaching from behind. If, on the other hand, you see that red light on the right, green on the left and no white light? You may be in for a head-on collision; which takes all the fun out of a beautiful night of flying. Those lights will also reveal whether the traffic you see is crossing your flight path from right to left (you see only the red light) or left to right (you see only green). This is also good information to know if you’re as determined as I am to avoid an embarrassing crash.
Those bright, white strobe lights you may see on airplanes are simply there to get your attention. What you do next depends on whether you’re laying in a hammock with your beer or piloting another plane.
Thanks for writing and have a happy holiday season!
Factor
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Hello again! I really wish my answer could be more intriguing; like maybe the floor beneath the tower cab is where controllers change into Super-Heroes, bake cookies or visit with their psychiatrists but, sadly, there is usually nothing more than a stairwell and elevator shaft.
There are exceptions. I have worked in towers where some of the communications equipment was located just below the cab. One tower had the weather reporting station one floor down from us. A few newer towers have their administrative offices located just below the tower cab. After all; the boss should at least have as good a view as the workers do. Overall though; most of the action takes place on the top floor!
Thanks again!
Factor
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Hi Staley. Thanks for writing! First off; I have to say that whatever happens in the control room is expected to remain only in the minds of those who were involved. So I couldn’t possibly comment on such things as the guy who showed up for work drunk. Nor could I mention the various sexual escapades that were known to occur. Fights between controllers? Unless they made the national news; they couldn’t have taken place. Of course there are rumors of very inappropriate verbal exchanges between controllers and pilots but I am not in a position to substantiate them.
Now; there are those nasty incidents that are caught on tape and/or captured in a supervisor’s log entry. There, they become a matter of public record for all to hear, see and misinterpret. But if you ask me; I know nothing!
Factor
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