GEN - Roles and Responsibilities

Question 1

What are the 5 joint responsibilities of tacticals and planners? (P, P, V, N, E)

Answer 1

• Provide a safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic within their area of jurisdiction
• Provide an ATC service, and may provide a Basic, Traffic, Deconfliction or Procedural Service, to aircraft flying within the appropriate areas of jurisdiction
• Verify the accuracy of flight data relating to the aircraft that are being provided with the above service(s)
• Notify unserviceabilities of equipment as necessary
• Ensure that sector tasks are carried out in accordance with the specified procedure

Question 2

What are responsibilities 1 to 5 of the tactical? (M, C, A, I, M)

Answer 2

• Maintain a listening watch and conduct standard RTF communications with aircraft and remain at the operational position
• Conduct CPDLC with suitably equipped aircraft
• Acknowledge any magenta boxes as appropriate
• Issue instructions to ensure that when aircraft exit the sector airspace it is in accordance with the terms of a SA, co-ordination or release. When aircraft cannot comply with defined procedures for transfer of control to adjacent sectors/units ensure that co-ordination is effected
• Maintain an up-to-date set of TDLs, which should at all times reflect all clearance instructions issued, all communications received and amendments made to co-ordination by the tactical

Question 3

What are responsibilities 6 to 10 of the tactical? (R, W, A, I, A)

Answer 3

• Respond to, and clear if necessary, any CPDLC timeout/unable/standby/fail/reject indications
• When workload permits monitor the actions of the planner and assist as required
• Agree co-ordination when requested by the planner
• If necessary, and in consultation with the planner, vary or suspend SAs for a limited period
• Alert the GS when there is a requirement to vary/suspend a SA for an extended period or to reduce tactically the number of aircraft entering the designated airspace

Question 4

What are the 5 tactical tasks?

Answer 4

• Tactical may make late co-ordination changes without reference to the planner. Such revisions shall be recorded in the system and notified to the planner as soon as practicable
• The incomm and outcomm function must be used to indicate communication status of a flight. On first call, the tactical shall verify that any clearances applying to the flight are consistent with data displayed in the iFACTS HMI. Any inconsistent data shall be rectified
• The tactical must wait until the flight has been accepted by the next sector before transferring the aircraft. Before transferring comms, the tactical must check that the co-ordination conditions will be met
• If a flight is showing as not accepted out, then it should not be assumed that the next sector has flight details
• The tactical must use ‘flight level’ as stated in procedures when referring to flight levels so as to avoid confusion with sector names

Question 5

What are responsibilities 1 to 4 of the planner? (C, E, E, E)

Answer 5

• Co-ordinate the passage of aircraft which are not operating under the terms of a SA into and out of the sector
• Ensure that separation exists at the time of acceptance between the NFL of aircraft entering the sector and the NFLs/SFLs of other accepted traffic/XFLs of other co-ordinated traffic. If less than PRS exists, except between aircraft entering from the same sector, agree co-ordination with the tactical
• Ensure that separation exists at the time of allocation between the XFLs of aircraft leaving the sector and the NFLs/SFLs of other accepted traffic/XFLs of other co-ordinated traffic. When less than the specified separation exists, agree co-ordination with the tactical
• Ensure that any co-ordination conditions applying to an aircraft, or to be applied to an aircraft, are notified to the tactical

Question 6

What are responsibilites 5 to 8 of the planner? (M, I, E, E)

Answer 6

• Maintain an accurate electronic display of NFL and XFL data known to the planner on all sector traffic unless the offering sector tactical determines this to be unnecessary
• Issue joining and crossing clearances in consultation with the tactical
• Ensure that crossing and joining clearances, releases and any changes to co-ordinations are reflected in the co-ordination tools as necessary and that any such changes to co-ordination are notified to the tactical
• Ensure that estimates and revisions are passed to the appropriate unit.

Question 7

What are responsibilities 9 to 13 of the planner? (T, T, I, E*, W)

Answer 7

• The planner should monitor the RTF when primary duties permit in order to facilitate efficient operation of the sector
• The planner should monitor CPDLC dialogues for any alerts that require specific action to be taken, as well as any requests from aircraft
• If necessary and in consultation with the tactical, vary or suspend SAs for a limited period
  (- Ensure that the local area assistant has carried out appropriate FDE amendments)
• Where necessary, alert the GS when there is a requirement to vary or suspend a SA for an extended period or to reduce tactically the number of aircraft entering the designated airspace

Question 8

What are the planner tasks 1 to 4? (T, T, W, A)

Answer 8

• The planner uses planner bays and tactical bays to maintain awareness of flights that are offered or auto-accepted
• The planner is alerted to a new offer by the appearance of a strip in the offered bay and the arrival of a pending TDL
• When assessing co-ordination the planner is to use a combination of radar, ‘look-see’ and iFACTS tools including the interaction vector
• All accepted co-ordinations shall have an electronic presence within the iFACTS tools

Question 9

What are the planner tasks 5 to 8? (I, T, W, T)

Answer 9

• If the planner is alerted to an accept-overdue flight in the offered bay it is recommended that they give this flight appropriate priority
• The planner is to set/check/blank the XFL as soon as possible after accept so that the XFL does not default to an inappropriate level
• When planning XFLs the planner is to use a combination of radar, ‘what-if’ and iFACTS tools
• The planner shall support the tactical by: routinely scanning the radar and SM for potential conflicts; considering the tactical workload; and only sending CPDLC messages when requested

Question 10

When operating with a support controller, the primary controller retains overall responsibility, but what are the 4 responsibilities of the support controller? (M, L, A, A)

Answer 10

• Monitor the RTF frequency, CPDLC, radar displays and the general tactical situation of the sector and offer assistance to the Primary Tactical or the Planner
• Liaise with the Planner or GS at the request of the Primary tactical
• Assist in ensuring that tactical data is accurately updated by the Primary Tactical and read back correctly
• Assist the Primary Tactical in prioritising outstanding tasks, for example, transfer of communications, late climb and descent clearances

Question 11

When operating with a support planner, the primary planner retains overall responsibility for co-ordination of traffic and maintenance of electronic displays, but what are the requirements and responsibilities of the support planner? (T, A, M, L, R, C)

Answer 11

• The support planner shall not interact with the primary planner’s electronic displays without agreement
• Assist the primary planner in prioritising outstanding tasks and ensure that all planner tasks are carried out in accordance with standard responsibilities
• Monitor the electronic inputs to ensure accuracy
• Liaise with the GS where necessary
• Responding to tactical requests where the Primary planner cannot
• Carry out telephone co-ordination with other sectors/agencies when requested by the tactical/primary planner

Question 12

What are the 5 responsibilities of the tactical during holding scenarios? (E, E, E, E, W)

Answer 12

• Ensure that the planner is alerted if it becomes apparent that en-route holding may be required
• Ensure that en-route holds are kept as level compact as possible. Radar monitor the lateral extent of the holding pattern to detect gross navigational erros
• Endeavour to monitor level availability in the inner TMA holds and alert the planner to prompt the TC co-ordinator if required
• Ensure that an OCT is transmitted if an aircraft is held en-route. EATs, if available, or an estimate of the current delay at the inner stack, are also to be transmitted
• When delays are 15 mins or greater, endeavour to reduce the speed of affected aircraft in order to enable aircraft to absorb delay en-route. Not withstanding this, aircraft must still achieve their SA level

Question 13

What are the 6 responsibilities of the planner during holding scenarios? (E, F, A, A, I, I)

Answer 13

• Endeavour to monitor the tactical traffic situation within TC airspace and alert the tactical of any need to commence vertical separation of inbound traffic or en-route holding
• Following co-ordination by the TC co-ordinator, suspend or modify inbound SAs when required
• Advise the GS when holding at AC levels
• Advise the GS when the inbound SAs have been suspended or modified by the LTC co-ordinator
• If necessary, prompt the TC co-ordinator to accept inbound traffic if it appears that levels have become available
• In low visibility operations, collate individual aircraft IRVR requirements and pass these to the TC co-ordinator to allow adjustments of the arrival sequence