Entering the control room

Entering the main room was surreal in many ways. There was such a stark contrast between the facility, where everything and the amount of technology that was packed in such a small space. The very first point I’ve noticed was the lack of natural light. Everything was very dark and all the lights were fairly dim. Not sure why exactly but it is presenting an interesting look for sure and then the next thing that shocked me was the number of screens. Tons of screens, everywhere. A little bit like some of the Hollywood movies except that this time, you know it’s for real and the apps running don’t look like Flash animations! You can feel that it is serious applications running.

From pods to pods

As we are starting the tour of the control room, I can see that everything is organized in pods. Each pods has a team. The first one that we meet is the military pod. There, all the military activity is tracked and I’m assuming that they are getting all the info to understand the type of activity and translate it for the traffic control in the MOAs.

Then we went to the next pod. The next pod was different from the previous one. For one thing, it was including civil planes so we were definitely out of the military area. This is in this area that Anna is going to explain me the spacing and streaming. The group is in charge of maintaining the streams and making sure that the planes are spaced properly. Overhead, I can see a large screen showing an airport diagram with icons representing planes and some extra information (flight name…). It doesn’t take too long to identify the airport has being the Minneapolis Saint Paul airport. The display is actually of great use to the controllers because they are this way capable of predicting  what the traffic is going to be just by looking at the display. But at that point, I’ve realized one thing. I haven’t  seen anyone talking to a plane! I know I’m not at the end of the tour but I’m starting to wonder if the people talking to the planes are actually on this site! After several explanations on the traffic management, we are ready to move on. After talking to the group, I’ve come to realize how complex and extensive the air traffic control is. Obviously, each center can not act alone! They are relying on information coming from many different sources (other centers, airlines, airports …) and a very strong infrastructure spread all over the country.

We then went by the weather guys where they presented me with a little of the work they are performing: forecasting the weather but more importantly, predicting the winds strength and direction.. Then we went on the next pods but before reaching them, Anna pulled me into a an empty pods. There she picked a station  and presented me the different element composing it.

The station, similar to picture on the right side,is actually a station used by the Air Traffic Controller, the one that do talk to pilots! Anna is driving me through the different  screens and symbols and explain what I should look at. Their station compared to the picture have a few upgrades and have a couple more screens that do replace some of the paper strip. The main screen is not a traditional LCD or CRT projection. It looks like a rear projection system. This is bringing a large display while offering a luminosity that’s very easy on the eyes. The keyboard looks pretty old but in fact it is extremely rugged and there are no mouse, just a trackball. The two little screens under the big screen and in front of the keyboard are in fact touch screens and they are not used to display information but are just alternative inputs. I did not pay too much attention to them as most of the action was on the main screen. Several connectors are on the edge of the horizontal surface where the keyboard lies. This is where the headset is connected.

Anna is showing me the different planes in her sector, explaining how to read the cartouche associated with them and explain some of the challenges. It is was very interesting to see how all the work done in the background comes to the controller and how it is influencing the decision of the controller and see the repercussion to the pilots. Anna is concluding the presentation and it is time for her to start her tour. Instead of finishing the tour, she brought me to her station to follow her at work.

As we are approaching the pod she is working in, she explains how the duties are distributed. Each controller checks in when starting to work at a station. All the times are getting calculated and maintained visible  to everybody. When a “fresh” controller arrives, they just have to look at the list of controller currently assigned and see who has been on the station the longest and they can go relieve him/her.

“Divide et impera”

Latin for “divide and rule”, the areas as we have seen are divided into 3 layers each layer is then broken down into several sectors. The sectors in each layers do not necessarily match. A controller is assigned to each sector and each pod has about 12 sectors covered.

Anna is going to take over someone at a station but takes the time to setup my position. I will be seating next to her, having a perfect view on everything she is doing and she is giving me a old style telephone handset to listen on her conversation. Of course, the microphone will not be active. I will be able to listen only!

I’m now seating looking at a screen and watching the ATC in position. A few minutes later, Anna is taking  her place. I can see how the transition is made. It is a quick but efficient briefing about the activities in the sector. They are extending the discussion on a couple of planes in the upper right corner of the sector but I’m not catching all of what is going on. Apparently, a couple of planes had made request for flying at a different flight level too.

The transition being over, Anna took over the sector and assumed the control for the next hour being before replaced. During that time, I was suspended to my headset and looking everywhere. Here are a few things that I’ve come to notice:

• Like microphone in the planes, you need to push a button to talk. ATCs have a large handle with a paddle like trigger that allows them to enable their microphones. While there is nothing surprising here, they are holding this handle all the time. This means that they have only 1 hand to do everything else. All the typing is done with one hand, so is the control of the cursor on the screen. Pretty impressive.
• Every single instructions provided to the pilots are consigned in the system and relayed on the screen. All these commands are entered using keywords, which makes for a fast information entry but increase the level of training to remember all the keywords and their associated pattern.
• Once in a while, I could see a lot more airplanes on the screen that were appearing then disappearing. Anna explained me later that she was actually using one feature of the system. Basically, the main view allows to view only the plane in the sector. This means all the plane within the geographical boundaries of the sector and the near surrounding but also between two altitudes. This means that several planes are actually filtered from the display. Planes that are deemed not relevant because not a the appropriate level. The option that Anna was using was just removing the altitude filtering to be able to see all the planes.

Needless to say that I did not see the time going! Before I got a chance to realize, I had been sitting next to Anna for almost an hour and it was time to close the tour. As she was finishing her duties, I sat with another controller taking over Anna’s place.

Anna wanted to show me something else too: Flight following for VFR flight but since we were under marginal VFR, no plane had enough of a good weather to take off… It was now time for me to be escorted back to guards booth and to say good bye and thank you for this tour. I have learned a great deal on Air Traffic Control during this visit for sure!

Conclusion

It was a fantastic experience that I’m recommending to anyone interested in aviation and especially pilots. The opportunity was too good to pass and I was finally able to meet the faces on the other side of the mic’. Understanding the challenges and the needs of the ATC would definitely help me for acquiring my IFR certification one day! And now, I can appreciate a little better what is going on if I get denied a flight following!

Extra reference

• ARTCC
  • Explanation and definition :Wikipedia
• ZMP ARTCC
  • Zones and frequencies can be found at: Freq of Nature
• FAA documentation:
  • AIM : http://www.faa.gov/atpubs
• Approach Control/Departure Control - TRACON:
  • Explanation and definition: Wikipedia
• JFK Airport:
  • General information : Wikipedia