Carl Westin

C-1 Prequel briefing 203 C-1-3 Your tasks Your task will be to play the role of an air traffic controller. As described below, your two main tasks will be: 1) to resolve conflicts between aircraft, and, 2) also to clear aircraft to their respective sector Exit Point. Each task is considered to be equally important . The Exit Points are shown as yellow triangles with four-letter names around the perimeter of the sector. The designated Exit Point of each aircraft is also shown the flight label of the aircraft. Exit task. When you begin each session, you may notice that one or more air- craft are not heading toward their cleared Exit Point. The deviating aircraft are displayed in a light grey color (Figure C-1). The green aircraft are the ones that are already heading toward their designated Exit Point. When clicking near the plot of an aircraft, a ring appears around the aircraft (Figure C-3). This ring is a graphical representation of the SSD mentioned above. On this ring, a magenta line can be seen that indicates the direction toward the designated Exit Point. If the current aircraft velocity vector is not aligned with the magenta line, the aircraft is not heading toward its intended Exit Point. In this case, you must vector the aircraft. Try to be as accurate as possible in this heading clearance. To activate the new vector, press the ENTER key on the keyboard. For a complete overview of the interaction with the SSD, see Table C-1. C-1-4 Resolving conflicts From time to time there may be conflicts between aircraft. A conflict occurs when aircraft are predicted to close within 5 nmi of one another. The protected zones of 5 nmi around aircraft are shown as a dotted circle (Figure C-2). When the system predicts a loss of separation, a warning will be provided. Given uncertainties in trajectory prediction, it could be that the system seems to alert“late.” A potential loss of separation is first visually signaled by both conflicting aircraft turning amber . This occurs roughly 60 seconds before the loss of separation. Both aircraft turn red when a loss of separation is predicted within 30 seconds , and is accompanied by an aural alert . A conflict involves at least two aircraft, but might sometimes involve more than two. Your task is to resolve such conflicts, by issuing a heading and / or speed clearances. When (or before) an alert occurs, you may open (one at a time) the SSD for a given aircraft, to examine the nature of the conflict. In the simulator, the SSD ring shows three colors: grey, amber, and red (Figure C-4). Grey zones indicate a possible conflict more than 60 seconds ahead in time. Amber zones indicate the regions that will result in a loss of separation occurring between 30 to 60 seconds ahead in time. Red zones indicate the regions that will result in a loss of separation