Applications of Digital Computers to Air Traffic Control in the United States

Computer ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
H.J. Kirshner
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Digital Computers

Miscommunication between pilots and air traffic control

2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Kent Jones
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
Common Language ◽  
Pilot Error ◽  
Air Traffic Controllers ◽  
The Common

Language confusion is a frequent cause of pilot error. Although English was made the common language of world aviation in 1951, miscommunication and crashes in which communication was a contributing factor are common. Standard phrases used by air traffic controllers in the United States contain numerous confusing elements. These include ambiguities, misnomers and illogicalities. Phrases are not derivations of a master plan as they should be. The inability of English to express specific directions to pilots without confusion disqualifies it as a language for permanent use by aviation.

The Automation of Air Traffic Control

1975 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
Jacques Villiers
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Digital Computers

Experience gained in the automation of air traffic control is of interest from more than one point of view, and not only because of the range and diversity of new and delicate problems to which this application of automation has given rise, and for which it is necessary to find simultaneous solutions. It has been necessary to design and develop new methods for the acquisition, processing and display of information and to link them with digital computers, for which a complex and voluminous ‘real-time’ software has had to be compiled and brought up to date without interrupting the procedure. But it is when it comes to visualizing the total pattern that the most difficult problems arise because the major decisions determining the success or failure of the operation have had to be taken without the possibility of acquiring any preliminary experience.Man and the computer have to work together in real time as harmoniously as possible to obtain the best results from the modern data processing systems that it was proposed to employ; it was therefore essential to consider very deeply the complementary roles which each was intended to play.To describe this research in detail or the solutions arrived at would not be of great interest to those other than specialists.

Air Traffic Control and its Influence on the Navigation Problem

1959 ◽  
Vol 63 (579) ◽  
pp. 175-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Satisfactory Description ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The One ◽  
New System

Navigation used to be solely concerned with the safest and most expedient means of directing an aircraft to its objective—either the destination airport or a military target. Nowadays, especially in civil aviation but increasingly in military transport operations, the need to comply with air traffic control (A.T.C.) procedures is tending to dominate both the technique of navigation and the kind of navigation aids used.In recent years great stress has been placed on the problem of air traffic control and now, with the imminent arrival of jet air liners in large numbers, the consternation is even greater. Reactions to the problem vary, so that on the one hand there are the down-to-earth realists who see no immediate prospects of any revolutionary improvement in A.T.C. methods; on the other hand there are the optimists who already speak of the present A.T.C. system as though it is a thing of the past and talk of the “ new “ system which will replace it when the jets arrive. Despite the most extensive studies of the problem, such as that recently undertaken by the Curtis Presidential Committee in the United States, no entirely satisfactory description of the “ new “ system of A.T.C. has materialised. Meanwhile the penalities of restriction and delay of jet aircraft by air traffic control need no emphasis, but to give one example, the Comet I, when operated by B.O.A.C., regularly arrived at London Airport with at least two hours fuel as diversion and traffic reserve. The weight of this fuel was of a similar order to the total payload of the aeroplane, so it will be realised that economic operation of jet aircraft can stand or fall on this single issue of air traffic control.

International Civil Aviation Organization

1960 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-664
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
International Civil Aviation Organization ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Navigation Service

The 39th session of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) extended from January 27 to April 14, 1960, during which time the Council considered several questions on air navigation, air transport, and technical assistance, as well as administrative and legal matters. In the field of air navigation, the two subjects that aroused the most interest were Amendment 35 to Annex 10 (Aeronautical Telecommunications), proposing new specifications for distance-measuring equipment, and the Secretariat's reports on investigations of major deficiencies in air navigation facilities and services on the main international air routes. After a debate in which the United States, the Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of Germany strongly supported the aforementioned amendment, with Australia, Canada, the Union of South Africa, and the United Kingdom opposing it, the following were adopted, to be approved or rejected by member states by September 1, 1960: 1) the new Standard making VOR (omnidirectional radio range) the standard aid for air traffic control and other operational purposes en route as well as in terminal areas; 2) the new Standard requiring the installation of DME (distancemeasuring equipment) as a complement to VOR where, for operational or air traffic control reasons, there was need for more precise navigation service than that provided by VOR; and 3) amendments relating to the “protection date” for VOR and DME. To determine whether joint financing might be a possible remedy for specific deficiencies in air navigation facilities and services, the Council established a working body to study the Secretariat's reports and present its findings to the June session of the Council.

The Design of Reliable Digital Computers for Air Traffic Control

1962 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-396
Author(s):  
J. C. Cluley
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Machine Failure ◽  
Single Attribute ◽  
Traffic Control System ◽  
Time Required ◽  
Digital Computers

A number of air traffic control authorities are now introducing electronic digital computers into air traffic control systems in order to speed operations and reduce the burden on controllers. These machines will initially be used for the routine clerical and data storage operations, but their full capabilities can only be used if they are given a much greater share of the control task and allowed to make logical decisions and intervene in the handling of the traffic. In such cases the computer will be performing a task that cannot be handed over to a human operator at a moment's notice in the event of a machine failure, and extreme reliability becomes probably the most important single attribute of a computer used in such a system.Although computers of adequate speed and capacity are being produced for commercial and scientific uses, with reliabilities sufficient for these purposes, the frequency of faults and the time required for routine maintenance are both far too large to permit their full-time use in an air traffic control system. The reliabilities of typical components and systems are discussed in the following section.1. The reliability of typical components and systems. The reports of a number of computer users suggest that ‘availabilities’ of 97–99 percent are readily attained, so that only 1–3 percent of the available working time is lost due to unscheduled maintenance.

Air Traffic Control and the Relative Position Indicator

1958 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-69
Author(s):  
R. Butler
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
Air Transport ◽  
Collision Warning ◽  
Post War ◽  
Position Indicator ◽  
Control Service ◽  
Warning Device

The post-war development of air transport has temporarily out-paced the ability of the air traffic control service to provide for safe conduct which is always expeditious, and it has certainly out-moded the concept of visual avoidance. To alleviate the situation in the areas of high-density traffic in the United States, the Air Transport Association of America outlined a requirement for an airborne collision warning device.

The American Plan for Air Traffic Control: A Description of SC31

1951 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic Control ◽  
Air Traffic ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Special Committee ◽  
States Government ◽  
Technical Division ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Cooperative Association

In May 1948 the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, a cooperative association of United States government and industrial air telecommunication agencies, issued a report outlining a comprehensive scheme for the development of air traffic control facilities in U.S.A. for the next fifteen years. This report was prepared by a committee set up by the R.T.C.A., Special Committee 31, and it is generally known as the SC31 Report. It was the result of a study undertaken at the request of the Technical Division of the Air Coordinating Committee, an inter-departmental committee established by the Secretaries of State, War, Navy and Commerce, and directed by the President to examine aviation problems of mutual concern and to develop and recommend integrated policies and actions to be taken for their solution.

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