Overcoming Fear of Flying
Lesson 3: The People
Air Traffic Control
We often read sensational items in the newspapers that report a “near miss”. How many times have you read anything about a flight going smoothly from start to finish? There are many planes in flight at any given time, but they don’t come close to each other because of the people you never see in the towers and in various locations near the airports – air traffic control (ATC).
Every commercial flight is subject to incredibly strict regulations and constant monitoring from before it takes off to the time it parks at the terminal at the destination airport. Air traffic control is always watching every single plane no matter how busy the airport. In fact, busier airports are no less safe. Only the most experienced ATC people are assigned to them.
There are many people involved in air traffic control from the people in the tower to the dispatchers and controllers off site. Oddly enough, most air traffic controllers don’t even need to be at the airport. Their radar, communications, and other available technology, can be used from anywhere and they usually choose a spot that gives them a certain amount of space in its radius.
The world is actually divided into sectors and air traffic control all around the world, from every country, works together to ensure the safety of air travel. An important thing to note is that all around the world, air traffic controllers go by the same clocks and language. The international language of ATC is English and all clocks are set to Universal Coordinated Time, thus ensuring pilots don’t have to worry about different time zones. If, for any reason there are language problems, to make sure there’s no misunderstanding, ATC will give one part of the instructions at a time instead of the whole complicated series.
Controllers are assigned a specific sector and when the plane flies through their sector, they monitor it. As the plane leaves their sector, they pass the plane to the next sector controller who takes over. There is no time at all when the plane isn’t in communication with the controllers.
Before the flight even starts, a dispatcher plans the route and checks for weather and turbulence and decides how much fuel is needed. He or she also reports information about the airports at both ends of the trip, such as a closed runway and possible alternate airports in case there’s a chance of bad weather or only one runway. When that’s done, the dispatcher enters it into the computer for ATC to approve it. Then about half an hour before the flight, the captain of the plane examines it and can request any changes he or she feels are needed.
The flight plan doesn’t become a legal flight until the dispatcher, ATC and the pilot all agree and then the pilot signs his acceptance. Flights are not dispatched into heavy turbulence or into a thunderstorm, and must always have enough fuel on board to fly to their destinations and land. The equipment on the minimum equipment list has to be functioning perfectly too.
Many people who are afraid to fly worry that the plane might run out of gas. Fuel is very conservatively calculated and that won’t happen. There is always extra fuel to allow for holding patterns, missed approaches, alternate airports and then some. If somehow there was a fuel emergency, airspace around an airport would be cleared and the plane would be allowed to land immediately.
Airport controllers watch the planes both at the airport and in the vicinity of the airport, and make sure they don’t get close to each other. There are specific times between takeoffs (that also protects the planes from wake turbulence) and planes are routinely told to hold position on the ground while another plane crosses, lands, etc. There is no time that each plane isn’t being watched by intensely trained, highly competent people. And all that occurs before the plane even leaves the ground.
Planes in flight have specific “lanes” they’re allowed to fly in. They are not allowed to deviate from that position unless they get permission from ATC. There is a certain amount of space between planes both horizontally and vertically and that space is calculated extremely conservatively too.
At altitudes lower than 29,000 feet, the vertical separation is usually 1000 feet apart. Planes traveling east cruise at odd numbered altitudes while planes traveling west cruise at even numbered altitudes. As they get higher than 29,000 feet, the system can vary a little but there is always a minimum of 2000 feet separation. There are other ways of maintaining separation and there is equipment that also monitors the sky for approximately 40 miles around the plane.
Most of the near misses you sometimes hear about are a media interpretation of a plane that might infringe on another plane’s lane momentarily. Because every incident is logged and reported, they make it into a story. In Flying Without Fear, Duane Brown tells us that anytime a plane deviates from its spacing the computer automatically registers it as a near miss. But the planes are, in reality, nowhere near each other.
The charted separation between planes leaves a huge amount of space between them. Even if a plane drifts into someone else’s space, it’s not close enough to be dangerous. It’s rare for a plane to slip into someone else’s “lane” and there are heavy penalties for pilots who do so. But those planes aren’t in danger of hitting each other. Near misses aren’t really.
Some people worry about air traffic controllers getting sick, tired, hung over, taking drugs, and all sorts of things. At the beginning of their training, air traffic controllers are told never to come to work if they’re not feeling well or taking medication that can make them drowsy. They are subject to ongoing drug screening as well as yearly physicals.
The applicants who make it to the job are highly skilled, well trained, psychologically tested and put through exam after exam, including time in simulators. They don’t get distracted even for a minute and always stay with the planes for which they're responsible.
Like planes, air traffic control has backup systems and redundancies so any power failure or system failure will not cause a dangerous situation. Even some of the backup systems have a backup system. Safety is never compromised.
Like pilots, air traffic controllers have their performance assessed regularly and have more testing and training throughout their career. If a controller doesn’t do well, he or she can’t work until they’ve gone through remedial training and passed another assessment. Refresher training includes time in the simulator and dealing with emergencies. If for any reason they don't pass, their career is probably over. Mistakes are not tolerated in this business.
When you’re driving there are almost always other cars on the road with you. They change lanes, pass other cars, cut in, change speed, stop short or go through lights, and do all sorts of unpredictable things. Even though there are approximately 100,000 people flying over the United States each day 1, the planes carrying them don’t bump into each other, don’t cut each other off and don’t do anything without warning. That's because of the diligence of the ATC.
Air traffic controllers work as a team and they always have each others’ backs. That makes sure they always have the plane’s too. It’s a huge job with huge responsibility but each and every one of them are up to it.
1Daylight flights – number doesn’t include night flights
Optional Reading
For this section, please read at least one of the following:
- Fearless Fliers Handbook, pages 121 - 142
- Flying Without Fear, pages 60 – 62, 79 – 80 (top), 90 (middle) – 92 (middle)
- Conquering Your Fear of Flying, pages 21 (Media), 51 – 54 (top)
You can also find more information at the following web sites:
- How Stuff Works – Air Traffic Control
http://www.howstuffworks.com/air-traffic-control.htm - Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD)
http://www.caasd.org/proj/tcas/
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