February 2001

By Lisa Kary, FAA Aviation Safety Counselor

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

Have you ever taken the time to visit a TRACON or a control tower? If you haven't, you've been missing out. A few weeks ago, I paid an impromptu visit to the folks at the Abilene Tower - just called them up and asked if we could stop by in 10 minutes or so. The response was, "Come on over!" I spent the next hour of my Saturday learning new things and refreshing myself on some of the basics of air traffic control.

Abilene may be somewhat unique, in that the TRACON and the tower are collocated. Before we get ahead, TRACON is Terminal Radar Approach Control. You may know them as "Abilene Approach" from the radio. Approach Control has the basic responsibility of controlling arriving and departing IFR/VFR traffic. They sequence arriving traffic to decrease the workload for the folks in the tower. They also provide traffic separation between IFR and participating VFR traffic.

I asked one of the supervisors what pilots could do to make life easier on the controllers. His response was "Don't make me pull teeth to get information out of you." What did he mean by that? Well, if you are approaching the airspace boundary of the Class C area, and you're planning to contact approach control, think about what you're going to say first and PREPARE!

Check the ATIS before you call approach, and remember the ATIS identifier. If you don't tell him you have Alpha, he's required to give it to you. Your next objective should be to use as few transmissions as possible. Tell him who you are, what you are (type aircraft), where you are, what you want, and that you have the current ATIS information. For example: "Abilene Approach, Cessna 123AB is a Cessna 172, 30 miles NE of Abilene, inbound landing with Echo." You just saved him from making calls like, "Say type aircraft," and "Confirm you have Echo." It's just a courteous way to cut down their workload. Refer to the AIM for more detail, but that is basically what they want to hear. Keep in mind that if you're using flight following, and you were just handed off from Center, they just need to know intentions and that you have current ATIS. Center will tell them your type and location.

One additional point to make to pilots who use the practice areas - if you talked to approach and are expecting radar service, don't turn your radio down so you can instruct or be instructed. It wastes their time when they have to make multiple calls to you with no reply. A technique I use is to terminate radar service (squawk 1200) and just monitor the approach frequency. This way, you still get some valuable situational awareness, but they're not waiting for a response from you. Either way, remember it is still your responsibility to see and avoid, even if you're getting traffic advisory service.

The folks in the tower need the same courtesy as the approach controllers: plan ahead, and know what you want to say. When you listen to the ATIS before you contact Ground, it tells you what information they need from you: initial heading and altitude requested. Have that figured out before you call and don't make them drag it out of you. Example: "Abilene Ground, Cessna 123AB at Abilene Aero, taxi with Bravo, heading 150, five thousand five hundred feet." An exception to this is if you're staying in the pattern, but be sure to tell them you want to stay in the pattern.

Ground will also want to know if you're requesting flight following. If you would like to use this service, they'll need to know your aircraft type and your destination airport. That would change the radio call to read: "Abilene Ground, Cessna 123AB is a Cessna 172 at Abilene Aero, taxi with Bravo, heading 150, five thousand five hundred feet, request flight following to Brownwood, Bravo Whiskey Delta." I know this seems like a lot of information to get out in one breath, but with just a little bit of practice, it becomes easier. The key is to know what information you need to provide. It may help to write things down until you get used to the flow of things.

This newsletter is intended as a monthly refresher on local flying hazards and topics that are relevant to all pilots. It is hoped that the issues presented here will help in your decision making process and ultimately help to prevent aviation accidents. If you have any questions or any topics you would like to see covered, please contact Lisa by email at bonegal@mindspring.com.