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NextGen Now: Volume 1, Issue 4

A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association

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REMOTE TOWERS REMOTE TOWER SERVICES 16 NextGen Now | Summer 2015 Over the past several years, the conversation on remote towers has been making its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the U.S. Several European countries have been testing this technology for years, and now Sweden is working an airport via its Remote Tower Services (RTS) system technology. The air traffic services at Ornskoldsvik Airport have been transferred to a Remote Tower Center (RTC) at Sundsvall Airport, which is about 60 miles away. In the U.S., the interest in remote towers did not really take off until the threat of closing federal contract towers became a reality. Many small communities faced the possibility of having their federally funded contract towers closed due to sequestration. The communities that were still hoping for inclusion into the Federal Contract Tower Program (FCT) have realized the possibility that may never happen. The construction costs associated with building a brick and mortar tower are approximately twice that of an RTS system. Discussions of possible locations for a remote tower demonstration have focused on benefits. Leesburg Executive Airport (JYO), with its unique location close to Washington-Dulles International Airport and the challenges of the Washington, D.C., airspace, may have much to gain from a successful RTS. The Virginia Small Air Transportation System (VSATS) group and the Saab Sensis Corporation have signed an agreement to test RTS technology at JYO. NATCA enjoys a good relationship with Saab Sensis, which started many years ago with the Airport Surface Detection Equipment project. So far, the Leesburg Airport Authority and Saab Sensis have briefed the local pilots at JYO about the benefits of the remote tower, and the local pilot community seems to have welcomed this demonstration with open arms. NATCA Safety and Technology representatives and staff visited JYO in June to see the RTS system first- hand. The system installation is moving forward as planned. The camera unit has been installed with the cameras performing as expected. Some issues are being addressed and corrected, such as getting the moisture out of the compressed air used to keep the camera lenses clean. NATCA air traffic controllers are involved in the demonstration at JYO and will participate in the data collection activities between August and November. While the system deployed in Sweden did meet all International Civil Aviation Organization 4444 regulations for air traffic control, controllers in the U.S. work a totally different type of traffic at airports such as JYO. The general aviation traffic in the U.S. offers some unique challenges to the RTS system, such as controllers being able to visually acquire the target on the video screens, and also the ability to observe the aircraft on the surface. While Saab Sensis does not have the only RTS system, it is the only one that has an agreement to demonstrate it in the U.S. Companies such as Searidge (Canada) and Frequentis have systems being tested in various stages

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