A publication of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Issue link: http://natca.uberflip.com/i/885933
Established on Departure Operations (EDO) The EDO Safety WG met on Sept . 26th and 27th at the FAA Headquarters in Washington, DC. We received briefings from the by the William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) regarding the EDO Human - In - The - Loop - Si mulations (HITLS) and Fast - Time Simulations they conducted. At this point, we are still in discussions with the FAA on the feasibility of EDO and no decision has been made yet. Washington National Airport (DCA) and Baltimore Washington International (BWI ) Full Working Group Meeting based on Roundtable Recommendations Their second Full Working Group (FWG) was conducted at PCT on Sept . 26th - 28th with additional meetings schedule for Oct . 17th - 19th, Nov . 14th - 16th, and Dec . 12th - 14th. These meetings deal wit h recommendations made by DCA and BWI Roundtables regarding community concerns with current Standard Instrument Departures (SIDS) as well as some Instrument Approach Procedures (IAPs). A lot of information has been presented and discussed, but more work is required before any of the designs are at a state that can be presented to either the DCA or BWI Roundtables for consideration. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) Steve Weidner (ZMP) is the NATCA Article 114 Representative for UAS. Jeff Richards (ZAU) is a ssisting Mr. Weidner on this project due to the workload and activity associated with it. Below is the update for the membership. NATCA/FAA WORKGROUPS The NATCA/FAA Lost Link Standardization sub - workgroup held its first meeting in Washington , D . C . on Sept . 1 2 - 14. Five NATCA SME s ( two en route, two terminal, and one oceanic) traveled to Washington , D . C . and participated in this activity. The SME s are Danny Watson (ZAB), Jeremy McGinty (ZAU), Jamie Sanders (COS), Joe Klimes (TRI), and Abigail Anderson (ZOA). This workgroup began the work of formulating recommendations to the FAA on standardized UAS lost link procedures. Jeff Richards (NATCA) and Randy Willis (AJV - 115) are the leads for the workgroup. In addition to NATCA and FAA participants, the workgroup included participants from DOD, MITRE, NAV Canada, Northrup Grumman, and General Atomics. Our thanks to all who volunteered to participate in this workgroup. The next meeting of this workgroup is tentatively scheduled for February 2018. CHANGES TO UAS FACILITY MA PS (UASFM) A recent change to the 7200.23A has prompted Air Traffic Services (AJT - 22) to send out requests to some facilities to make changes to their UAS Facility Maps. These requests are being sent to the facility manager. Mr. Richards and Mr. Weidner ha ve been coordinating these change requests with the affected facility reps. Please remember that the development of the UASFM for your facility was intended to be a collaborative effort. Any changes made to the map should also be done in a collaborative fa shion. LOW ALTITUDE AUTHORIZATION AND NOTIFICATION CAPABILITY (LAANC) Again, the vast majority of Mr. Richards and Mr. Weidner's time this past month has been spent on the development of LAANC. Mr. Richards and Mr. Weidner and their FAA counterparts hav e begun traveling to the prototype facilities to provide initial training on the LAANC tool. The following facilities will receive the initial version of LAANC and will provide testing and feedback: MIA, CVG, ZMP, LNK, RNO, SJC, PHX, ANC/LHD , and MRI.