A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/876590
ASSC: CVG installation in progress. Initial training w ill begin the end of the year. Field Familiarization will begin in March of 2018. FMA in Fusion: Operational evaluation and SRMP have concluded. Sep Standards and Collision Risk analysis of IBI mode has delayed the completion of the SRMD. Operational sta rt of FMA use of Fusion is now planned for November 2017. NATCA continues to work to shorten the time frame as much as feasible. GIM - S: ZDV plans on going live with ZKC on Sept 12th. ZDV is also working on an agreement with ZAB to use GIM - S on the SE stre am into ZDV. MEARTS Fusion: 3nm Fusion in MEARTS is a complex undertaking, and involves bringing multiple Tower, Approach, and En Route sectors online with Fusion at the same time. The lessons learned in this undertaking will help the effort with future MEARTS and ERAM sites. Significant progress toward a return to Fusion at HCF was made the week of July 17. An OSD was conducted after software and adaptation changes were introduced. NATCA, HCF Air Traffic, and many others agreed that the system is operat ionally suitable. HCF re - started Fusion operations on Aug . 1, 2017. With over three weeks of use, the feedback from facility personnel continues to be positive. SBS remains in a monitoring posture for the month of August. Plans are being made for the co ntinued deploying 3NM Fusion in MEARTS at ZSU and ZUA. A Technical Interchange Meeting was planned with ZSU on September 6, but will need to be rescheduled when the facility has recovered from Hurricane Irma. Surveillance Portfolio Analysis Work Group Eri c Labardini and James Keith (NATCA AJV - 7) have been working closely with the Agency's multifaceted analysis of post 2020 radar infrastructure needs. The ADS - B business case was built on an assumption that today's robust radar infrastructure could be reduce d once ADS - B becomes the predominant surveillance source. The Agency built their business case on an assumption that 100+ secondary radar sources could be removed throughout the NAS. This causes concern in airspace that does not require ADS - B (many Class D or other Approach Controls). NATCA has been pointing toward another option, removing overlapping radar sources completely rather than harming operational capabilities nationwide. There seems to be an awakening to this idea and analysis of the benefits is underway. An SRM Panel was held August 1 - 3 to analyze the risks associated with partial or complete removal of radar systems in a post - 2020 environment. The conclusions of the Panel were that partial removal actually resulted in higher risks than complet e removal. This assumes that complete removal would only occur where the effects were minimized by other overlapping radar sources nearby.