Sigwx

Yes, ATCOs get the opportunity every once in a while to sit in the Jumpseat for a Fam or Familiarisation flight. Very informative for both parties. NATS are very good and conduct TRUCE days at Swanick and other locations. It is a great way to meet the face behind the voice and exchange Q and A s to build a better understand of each others priorities etc. The ATC Vs Pilot list of priorities for handling an emergency are very different, but both have the same end goal. Airspace standing agreements can be understood better from a visit, and much more.

aahch

In addition to what Sigwx says, NATS ATCOs of a certain vintage were also trained to fly (either to solo standard or to PPL standard if you're really old ) and this was a great way of helping you understand how much a good ATCO (or FISO) can help a pilot at moments of [their] high workload or in high-stress situations.

I feel really lucky having had many trips over the years to loads of great places, and I've learned a lot and met lots of really great crews. In addition to learning about the difference in role between ATC and crew, I've also learned about other ATC units (at the far end of the trip) and also the pilots view of what we in UK ATC do that they value, and also what happens elsewhere that they'd like to see in the UK.

As Sigwx says, TRUCE days at the major units like Swanwick and Prestwick are great ways to learn and improve and I think seeing pilots in ATC Ops Rooms helps us all too. Their input to TRUCE adds a whole new dimension to understanding how the team, in the ground and in the air, are all critical in handling unusual events.

PETER01

Thanks very much for those detailed responses Sigwx and aahch, appreciated ^

Sounds like it is very beneficial for both ATCO's and Pilots which is reassuring as a passenger.

BillyBB

What happens if an extreme event were to occur and knock-out all the power / comms at Heathrow's ATC tower?

Heathrow Tower

BillyBB,

Power supplies into the tower and to other systems such as navigation aids and radio transmitters/receivers have redundancies built on top of redundancies, and then have battery back ups after that.

In the very worse case, there is a fully kitted out (and yes, redundant!) standby ATC facility to which we would evacuate.

BillyBB

Thanks, HT!

uk1

As I understand it, the recent Swanick problem was caused when the computer system wouldn't allow the telphopne system to be switched between night and day mode which caused a shortage of telephones giving line access.

Why wasn't there a simple back-up system using mobile phones?

uk1

Presuming no last minute technical problems, how far ahead is a particular craft scheduled and assigned to a particular flight and roughly what percentage of planes are then changed from the original plan.

Thanks.

Scott Pilgrim

It wasn't as simple as that and mobile phones wouldn't have provided a solution.

Nimrod1965

Deleted

T8191

Puzzled about timings.

So I'm on the 2262 tomorrow, KIN-LGW, departing 1840 local.
Looked at BA app this morning ... It says 1849, on time.
At OLCI, it says 1906, delayed.
The aircraft doesn't even leave LGW until 1130 UK time, arriving KIN 1630 local tomorrow.

So how/why are these few minutes of adjustments being made a day in advance?
Is it Flight Plan times due to weather? Or what?

Answers on a postcard, please!!

Waterhorse

I'll make an educated guess. The flight plan or CIRRUS is run several times in the day or so preceding the flight as the weight and weather gets update, so as the actual flight approaches, the estimates of flight time for that flight become more accurate.

1HourPhoto

Does arrivals landing on the 09's instead of the 27's make any difference to what time the first flight of the morning into LHR can land.

I was on BA26 last week and we landed on 09L just a minute or 2 after 4.30am.

Jordan D

Weight balance Q: my other half is onboard the LHR-AMM currently; she'd managed to secure row 9 (first row of Y on the A321 Mid-Haul aircraft), but annoyingly the IFE isn't working. She asked for a move two rows back (where there was a seat), but was told that that wasn't possible "until the cruise" due to weight balance issues.

On an aircraft of that size, would a move of two rows back really have caused a noticeable issue to the pilots or is this just 'policy'?

Sigwx

Flights with a STA of 0615 or earlier must not arrive before 0432 local. Flights with a STA after 0615 must not arrive before 0602 local irrespective of the runway in use.