changed CLT WAM from having eight critical radios to only three. A critical radio failure
means the entire WAM system is out of service so a reduction in critical radios would
likely mean greater availability. This change was made after surveillance coverage was
found to be operationally acceptable during a flight inspection July 23-27.
• A Fusion planning meeting with N90 took place on Sept. 11. The outcome was a time
line and strategy to get the approach control to Fusion by late February. Another
discussion is needed with the underlying tower facilities. The transition to Fusion is
needed soon to ensure all are well ahead of the Jan. 1, 2020 deadline to equip with ADS-
B. Without Fusion, STARs facilities cannot take advantage of ADS-B.
• NATCA and Ops Support SMEs from SBS have completed a review of numerous requests
for additional radar feeds across the NAS. Our team focused on those that benefit
Fusion tracking. Issues such as service expansion are outside of SBS scope and should be
worked through other channels.
Vehicle ADS-B:
• 1419 vehicles are equipped at 21 airports
Update for the Week of Nov. 19, 2018
AUTOMATED TERMINAL PROXIMITY ALERT (ATPA)
Mike Sanders (SCT) is the Article 114 Representative for ATPA. His report is below:
ATPA is now available for any facility operating under a STARs platform. To enable, Air Traffic
will determine airports/runways they wish to utilize and then work with the OSF on adaptation.
Training is required for all controllers at facilities using ATPA, through an eLMS course and a
brief lab demonstration of ATPA entries and features. Please provide feedback on training.
ATPA is voluntary on the part of the individual controller at his/her display. Facilities are not
permitted to make any portion of ATPA mandatory.
We fielded several questions this month on adaptation options for STARs facilities and Micro
EARTS. Keep the questions coming – it's a great tool for all to use.
If you have any questions on training or adaptation, please contact me below.
Mike Sanders
SoCal TRACON
National ATPA Lead
laxapproach@icloud.com
or
atpa@natca.net
913.904.6937