A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/572176
o The team demonstrated the MIT/LL website and what the process was to move forward. The group visited the Lake Charles Specialty to actually see how the sectors operate. ZHU has a large non - radar area that they work that bord ers Mexican airspace. The controllers stated that during weather events it was hard or near impossible to reroute aircraft coming out of Mexico due to their route structure and the fact they are placing aircraft onto non - radar routes. The other sector they have that also lacks adequate radar coverage is the sector that works the oil rig traffic. o There are rigs out to 300 miles or more and have no weather radar coverage due to altitude and range from the radar sites. o In addition with plans to make the Gulf j ust like domestic airspace once ADS - B is fully functional , there will be a requirement for weather on the controller's displays. o This product still needs to go through testing and a legal determination on its use. VOR MI NIMUM OPERATIONS NETWORK (MON): Joh n Vogelsang (P31) serves as NATCA's Article 48 Represen tative for the VOR MON project. • The group h as not been that active lately. Mr. Vogelsang participated in a telcon this week, the first one in six weeks for the group. • It appears the FY17 budget has be en reduced from $10M to $2M and this will make the initial goal of dec ommissioning 101 VOR's a dream. This number has been cut back to 70 VORs. • Meeting now in planning stages for late October or November to come up with a new waterfall using the amended bu dget amount. • The program is scheduled to submit its Final Investment Decision (FID) on September 30. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS): Steve Weidner (ZMP) is NATCA's Art icle 48 Representative for UAS. This week Jeff Richards (ZAU) was designated to assist Mr. Weidner with the increasing amount of meetings and conferences associated with UAS activity. Mr. Weidner's report for this week is below. • Reviewed a document prepared by AJV11, comp aring the exemption process vs. the waiver process f or FAR 91.113 (See and Avoid). o This document was prepared as a position paper for the Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) Pathfinder activity. • Met with Randy Willis (AJV115 manager), John Page (AJV115), Eric Lautenschlager (AJV115) , and Wendy O'Connor (AJV7) to discuss code 7400 as a designator for UAS Lost Link situations. • Met with Scott Gardner (AJV115) to discuss instrument approach issues with the Customs and Border Protect at CRP. • Participated in a Pathfinder #3 - BVLOS SMS Hazard Analysis Worksheet telcon. • Participated in a Pathfinder #3 - BVLOS update meeting . • Met with James Sizemore (AJV73) t o discuss UAS. Mr. Sizemore formerly worked in the UAS Integration office. • Met with Michelle Duquette (MITRE) to discuss UAS support at MITRE .