Air traffic control's role vital in planes' safety

[Abbas Ali]

ISLAMABAD, July 2: Ziaullah Sheikh, a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) and senior air traffic controller, explained a number of ropes about the air traffic control (ATC) system at a meeting of the Scientists Club here on Saturday.

The meeting was presided over by Brig M. Karim, the man who flies hot balloons over Islamabad skies. He talked about passenger and aircraft safety which he said was the first priority for the ATCs.

He asked the Scientists Club members “not to fret if you are at the airport to see off a relative to Skardu and the plane is delayed”. Skardu is a restricted flight area full of high mountain ridges and may be always under thick clouds, and it is the job of the ATC to ensure that the aircraft and passengers are safe from the point of take off until landing in equable weather conditions.

The Civil Aviation Authority must accept and operate under complex regimes and legal instruments that control the movement of civilian planes worldwide, where safety of passengers and the aircraft is the first priority of air traffic controllers, (ATC) mandated in a set of rules laid down in the annex of the International Civil Aviation Organization, established in 1947, Mr Sheikh said.

From take off to landing, several air traffic controllers supervise a plane’s movement. Step by step, the plane is passed over to the care of a number of controllers, and even in the hand of a senior regional controller.

They remain always in touch with the pilot, watching his movements and ensuring that the plane did not collide with any other, headed the same way in the airspace, after taking off from a different airport that even may be as far as Delhi, Kabul, Mumbai, Qatar, Tehran.

For reasons of passenger and aircraft safety, the ATCs of domestic as well as international airports of the region remain in communication with the pilot. For safety precautions, Pakistan came under the control of Bangkok hub of international flights.

Civilian aircraft are governed under Flight Information Regime (FIR) and restricted to an air corridor, he said.

Weather is an important consideration in civilian flights. The pilot is mandated to seek advice of the Meteorological Department before take off, and also to ensure that he had fuel enough to reach the destination, with something to spare, so as to enable him to make detour, and land safely at the nearest airport.

Mr Sheikh said Pakistan’s air space has been divided into north and south zones, depending on airports location.

Balochistan and Sindh come under Karachi airport in the south zone and the Punjab, the Frontier Province in the north zone with Lahore airport as the headquarter.

Airports are also categorised according to their facility. The highest grade (9) airports are Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, followed by Quetta (7), Multan (5), Peshawar (7) and Skardu (3).

Gwadar has limited facility but it is still designated as an international airport because of international obligations.

Responding to a question, Mr Sheikh said flights were banned when missiles were flying. Recalling May 28, 1998, he said that the flights were closed for well over hour. “I did not know the reason but I could guess”.

A flight ban is not unusual, he said, remembering that planes are not permitted to fly over President’s House, Parliament House or over Nilore.

Brig Karim in his concluding remarks said that a number of facilities are available today to help pilots since he learnt to fly in 1941, when he had access only to good map reading to reach air destinations.

Source: DAWN