Controllers oppose new ATC automation sytem

Chennai: The proposed automation of the air traffic control system at the Chennai Airport with the latest Autotrack-III is being vehemently opposed by air traffic controllers, who claim that the automated system has proved to be failure in Mumbai and Delhi.
The controllers accuse the Airports Authority of India (AAI) of being keen on implementing Autotrack-III in Chennai at a cost of Rs 40 crore even after knowing its deficiencies.
As part of the modernisation of air-traffic systems, the AAI had initially brought in Autotrack-II (of Raytheon of the USA) in 2006. While AT-II is well-recognised as one of the best in the world with a life span of at least 10 to 15 years, the AAI brought in the new and untested Autotrack-III in October 2008, within two years of buying AT-II.
Basically, automation is a process by which a system picks up data automatically and helps a controller in his functions of determining minimum separation distances between aircraft, among other things.
While AT-II picks up real-time information about the aircraft position in air through regular radar updates, AT-III is based on the standard flight-plans filed before an aircraft takes off, a controller said.
“.. An aircraft may file a flight plan but may not actually fly or even if flying it may not be as per the time, level or speed as given in its flight plan. This gives a false position of the flight and no real air traffic control functions can be performed. It will be highly unsafe and dangerous to use flight plan data as the basis of controlling flights. This is the fundamental lacuna in AT-III,” a senior controller in Delhi explained.
13/11/10 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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Categories: Airports Nov 2010, New Nov 2010