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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 NATCA DAILY DISPATCH 5 PANEL RECAPS Tuesday's voluntary reporting panel provided a very positive update on the array of safety reporting and sharing systems now flourishing. Some highlights: Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP): "ASAP is alive and well," said Mike Schilz, ALPA Safety Information Analysis Programs. "Is it perfect? No. But we are all reaping the benefits from these programs; pilots, management of airlines, controllers, management of FAA and the flying public." Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP): "We are over 110,000 reports," said NATCA NSC Chair Steve Hansen, who announced the launch of a new ATSAP mobile site at atsapsafety.com. "It is very important to understand that you should report. Get your information into the system. If you do not report your information, your input is not heard." Confidential Information Share Program (CISP): Hansen said, "We have that agreement with 20 airlines now, sharing enormous amounts of data." Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS): "We can see through ASIAS whether safety risks are going up or down," FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan said. "If down, then we can track that. If up, our options are to go back and do what we committed to do. If we did what we thought would manage the risk but [risks] went up, we missed it and we have to go back and supplement it." Air traffic controllers, pilots, and weather experts gathered for the aviation weather panel discussion yesterday afternoon. NATCA NSC Chairman Steve Hansen moderated. Storm chaser Reed Timmer provided a unique first-hand experience of weather and how he prepares for forecasting and chasing storms. While in the storm, Timmer communicates directly with meteorologists so they can disseminate the locations and intensities of the storms. "Once the tornadoes are going on and the storms have moved away from the airport, there's the recovery aspect," he said. "You have to get all of those airplanes on the ground. The teamwork is even more important when you have all of these lives in the air." Keith Gordon, director of aviation for Flynn-Gallagher Associates, explained the great progress made in weather prediction from when he began flying to now. He used to only get weather from a Flight Service Station, then two or three hours into the flight got the weather as he was flying through it. Now pilots get weather information from experience, weather radar, and air traffic controllers. "If [the weather is] on your scope, display it," encouraged Matt Tucker, NATCA's National Weather Rep. "If a pilot gives it to you, pass it on." "It's all a great big puzzle, and if one piece of the puzzle is missing, then we haven't painted the picture for the pilot," said NATCA NSC member Andy Marosvari. Tuesday's panel analyzed the story of how 32 facilities over 17 days responded to the Chicago Center (ZAU) outage last fall. Panelists presented a compelling case of collaboration and professionalism. "We've been talking about professionalism this whole time at CFS. This was the epitome of professionalism," NATCA South Bend FacRep Matt Walters said. Minneapolis Center Staff Manager Ron Sekenski said the feeling of teamwork and camaraderie was "palpable." "They had this overwhelming desire to step into the fray and help out in this recovery," he said. "The story is about all of the facilities coming together and doing something they never trained to do," ZAU Air Traffic Manager Bill Cound said. "When Administrator Huerta came to visit he said, 'I cannot tell who is management and who is Union, who is Tech Ops and who is ATC.' It was air traffic and it was one team." NATCA ZAU FacRep Toby Hauck recounted his personal experience after the evacuation on the day of the fire. "To walk onto the control room floor, and it's empty, but there's data blocks still on the scopes and the lights are still down … it's eerie." After the panel, NATCA EVP Trish Gilbert recognized attendees from affected facilities and presented them with a framed gift commemorating the collaboration and teamwork that kept the airspace safe and efficient during the crisis. Aviation Safety Weathers the Storm ZAU Outage: Panel Looks at One of the Most Unbelievable Events in ATC History Voluntary Reporting Systems: Great Progress in Advancing Safety

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