ASCI - Aviation Science

Air Traffic Control Entities           For this week's blog, I want to discuss the roles played by ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Centers) and TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) stations in managing air traffic and their relationship with each other. The main purpose of the different controllers is to maintain safe separation during all phases of flight, but the responsibilities vary depending on which phase a flight is in. The main purpose of ARTCC is to manage in route flights up to 60,000ft or low/high altitude airspace. These controls support pilot requests, such as altitude changes to mitigate turbulence, provide weather updates, and other air-traffic information. There are several ARTCC locations all over the United States, all responsible for monitoring their respective areas. This can be observed in the image below. For aircraft traveling on a flight plan in any one of the areas below, if transitioning into another sector, the ARTCC controll...

  Environmental Impact of Airport Operations           I'm sure by now you have heard of the initiative for airports and airlines to achieve zero emissions by 2050 (Reuter & Hyde, 2021) and the challenge to lower their carbon footprint by producing less CO2.  This is a major factor when considering the environmental impacts of airport operations. The emissions produced range from transport vehicles, fueling trucks, ground support equipment, and other operating equipment. All are directly related to the raising concerns about the changing climate and surrounding environment They make up additional gasses within the atmosphere, ultimately causing the temperatures of the earth's surface to rise and causing harsh environments for plants and wildlife to survive in.            From the position of an airport manager, it is important to evaluate and understand the impact the operations are having on the environment....

  The Creation of the NTSB           The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) originated from the Air Commerce Act of 1926, where the responsibility was provided to "investigate, record and make public the causes of accidents of air navigation in the United States" (1926). This responsibility was given to the Civil Aeronautics Board's Bureau of Aviation Safety in 1940. It wasn't until 1967 by the signing of the Department of Transportation (DOT) Act by President Johnson officially created the NTSB by "consolidating" (NTSB, n.d.) all transportation agencies and allowing the NSTB to operate independently within the DOT. It was later designated by Congress in 1974 that the NTSB would be a completely separate entity from all other agencies in the United States, primary focus on accident investigation and objective oversight recommendations (NTSB, n.d.).           I think that this action by the US Congress and the suppo...

  Human Factors           As a multidisciplinary field around human capabilities and limitations, human factors apply to all aspects of the aviation industry for the "safe, efficient, and effective human performance" (FAA, 2017). It is here that the dirty dozen are so commonly known in the industry. These 12 most common causes play a key in understanding and mitigating risk throughout each job function in relation to the actions and effects of a human being.           From my experience, I have witnessed and experienced almost each of the dirty dozen. More recently in the MRO shop I work in, it seems to be a constant presence of these 12 factors. From the lack of knowledge, miscommunication, distraction, or stress, there is always the presence of potential failure. We manage these factors by applying basic and proactive actions to the team to help with risk mitigation. For example, for the factors that are not so easy to c...

  Facial Recognition - Another layer of security         One of the latest advancements in layers of security used by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the use of facial recognition and biometric technology. This is a process that uses photos to match passengers as they check-in and board. This technology was first introduced in 2017 (Schaper, 2021) with the intention to better identify passengers throughout different checkpoints. It allows for both faster verification of identity and a simplifying check-in process to reduce the long wait times, and lines. The use of facial recognition was chosen due to the simplicity of the process. Simply put, just link the DMV in many cases. Though this is a process that is still under development in most airports, the photo attached to the boarding pass is first processed at check-in, where it is approximated to be around 10 seconds compared to the 30 seconds to verify identity that would traditionally...

  Pitot-Static failure      The pitot-static system provides information to the instrument panel, specifically the airspeed indicator, the vertical speed indicator, and the altimeter. The information provided helps a pilot understand the aircraft's performance while in flight. But what if this system were to fail? Given that system redundancy is available in most aircraft, failure might be possible if your aircraft is only equipped with one pitot tube and one static port. In the event of loss, because of the connections to each instrument, the display characteristics would vary based on the source that has failed. For instance, if the tube were to fail, the airspeed indicator would still be functioning, but it would not be accurate. If a static port were to fail, the displayed information in the altimeter and vertical speed indicator would show the last information before failure, and the airspeed indicator would be inaccurate. Failure of this system can be managed, ...