Quick Study: Air Traffic Control

How does air traffic control work? RD takes a look at the history of controllers and how flights get delayed.

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The sky is one giant chessboard for air traffic controllers. In 314 control towers and navigation centers across the country, they hunker down in windowless rooms, staring at color-coded radar screens that show aircraft moving through thousands of square miles. Radio headsets crackle nonstop with pilots requesting course changes, asking for higher or lower altitudes, and, on a bad day, declaring emergencies. Each controller communicates with as many as 30 aircraft at a time, issuing commands that dictate each plane's movement.

A half century ago, flying was a much simpler affair. Pilots navigated by pointing their planes where they wanted to go, and it was up to the captain to steer clear of other aircraft in the sky. But with the surge in air travel following World War II, the Federal Aviation Administration stepped in to regulate commercial flight paths around major airports, and the responsibility for navigation shifted from pilots to air traffic controllers.

Remarkably, navigation technology has changed very little in the 50 years since its debut. Despite flying modern planes stacked with computers, pilots lack the capability to "see" the traffic around them and must rely on ground-based controllers for directions. The controllers, in turn, use a patchwork quilt of ground-based radar and radio transmitters to keep planes away from one another. The truth is, your car's GPS system has more precision than the air traffic control technology in use today.

Time Line

Early 1900s -- After the Wright brothers' first powered flight in 1903, aviation technology takes off. With the advent of airmail in 1918, the number of flights (and concerns about in-air collisions) soars. In 1921 the Post Office creates a system of rotating beacons, or transmitters, on towers to guide pilots.

Late 1920s -- The Air Commerce Act of 1926 ushers in airline regulation. In 1929 the city of St. Louis hires Archie League, the country's first air traffic controller. He uses two signal flags to direct planes. Red means hold; black-and-white means go.

1930s -- Airlines begin putting radios in planes; radio transmitters are installed at airports. Ground-to-air communication is now possible.

W. L. Smith flew in rain and fog to test new radio technology in 1929.

1940s -- World War II brings radar and the first women to air traffic control.

1950s and 1960s -- Congress creates the FAA to oversee air traffic. With new computer systems that can pinpoint a plane's position, speed, and altitude, controllers can now see air traffic in 3-D.

1970s and 1980s -- After Congress passes the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, fares drop and air traffic increases. This leads to a strike by the air traffic controllers' union in

1981 -- On day three, President Reagan fires 11,000 strikers. The FAA hires new workers.

1990s -- Color displays replace monochrome screens in the control towers.

2001 -- On September 11, 2001, controllers can't prevent planes from crashing in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania-but they do guide 4,500 planes carrying 350,000 passengers to safe landings (75 percent within the first hour). In the months afterward, air travel plummets and five airlines declare bankruptcy.

2002 to the present -- By 2003, sales are back up and planes are 90 percent full. The number of passengers reaches a record high in 2007 -- the same year the number of fully certified controllers (11,140) hits a 15-year low.

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THE FAA TURNS 50! The Bone-Yard Of Bone-Heads, And “50 Ways To Fire Sturgell”. A copy of this message with accompanying photographs is posted at: http://ejectsturgell.blogspot.com http://removesturgell.blogspot.com http://indictsturgell.blogspot.com http://SouthwestAirlinesAlmostKilledYou.blogspot.com “50 Ways To Fire Sturgell ‘The problem is all inside your head’, she said to me ‘The answer is easy if you take it logically I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free There must be 50 Ways To Fire Sturgell’ She said ‘It’s really not my habit to intrude Furthermore, I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued But I’ll repeat myself, at the risk of being crude There must be 50 Ways To Fire Sturgell 50 Ways To Fire Sturgell” To recap recent postings on the above-cited blogs, on Friday July 18, 2008 Quiet Rockland scooped the story that FAA temporary Acting Administrator “Bobby” Sturgell told senior aviation personnel that he had already given notice of his November-or-sooner departure from his post as failed FAA Head, and that FAA’s Ruth Leverenz would be acting in his absence. Quiet Rockland’s response? That’s Not Soon Enough. We want Bobby Sturgell lawfully and forcibly removed from office now. He could possibly hurt and even kill people if left in office for 4 more months. It is in the public interest that he take his ball and go home now. Hence this blog. Some of the items of publicist-swill spewing out of the Failed Aviation Administration (FAA) would actually be funny, but for the fact that it emanates from the habitually-death-defying turkey-vultures comprising that Tombstone Agency and the 3rd-rate publicists that seek to enable them and feed from their trough. This latest one is simply UNBELIEVABLE! Witness the State Fair-esque pomp-and-circumstance of FAA’s new “Birthday Celebration” publicity balloon issued to the aviation press, indubitably complete with office sheet-cake marking the occasion internally, and reading in relevant part: http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?a=8225&z=6 “The FAA Turns 50! Monday, July 28, 2008 / FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is having a 50th birthday party - and you’re invited! Starting August 1, the FAA will offer reporters an exciting range of media opportunities to highlight the agency’s extraordinary achievements since 1958 in making air travel today’s fastest and safest means of mass transportation”. Of course, the most astounding part of FAA’s “Birthday Celebration” is the FAA’s own glorification of the wreckage and human agony FAA itself caused over the past 50 years. One must ask why would the FAA need a “boneyard” as a physical exhibit, if air travel is indeed the “safest means of mass transportation”. I kid you not - the following text is literally FAA-planted ghoul-text, in an aviation publication: http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?a=8225&z=6 “Roam the ‘Boneyard’. The National Aircraft Accident Investigation School at the FAA’s Aeronautical Center has trained aerospace accident investigators since 1963. Report from the “boneyard”, where a wide variety of wreckage and aircraft/rotorcraft parts are available to examine. School instructors will be available for informational briefings and interviews. Additional details at: www.tsi.dot.gov/divisions/Aviation/default.aspx Get up close with an airport firefighting and rescue truck. Airports around the nation and the world use sophisticated,

By jtormey3, on 08/01/2008

With over 24 years of ATC experience, I have 252 days left and WILL NOT be taking any FAA bonus offered. Draconian work rules A 5-year pay freeze for veteran controllers, new controller pay bands reverted back to 1998 pay scales, while the Nation’s costs have risen, leave very little incentive to stay. So readers know, that bonus has caveats, it is broken down over time (26 pay periods), and if the FAA decides they do not need your services anymore, the agreement is terminated. In today’s FAA,

By snowman8, on 06/23/2008

As a pilot for over 40 years, I've seen new technology introduced. This always costs more but It does make flying safer. What happens when everyone goes to the gas station at once, tries to get on the freeway at the same time, schedules 10 aircraft to depart at 0900? Technology cannot solve any of the above examples. Build another runway or another airport is the simple answer. That will cut the delay in half.

By plcreary, on 06/23/2008

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