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Operational Flow and Reports

What happens to an aircraft from entry to transfer, and how to keep the record that replaces the radar screen.

Entry by transfer

This is the normal case: the previous unit is online and coordinates the handoff.

What the coordination must include

Element What for
Identification Basis of the record
Entry point Where it crosses the boundary
Estimate over the point Basis of the separation calculation
Level Vertical separation
Mach number Mach number technique
Route after entry Following points and adjacent unit at exit
Capabilities RVSM, RNP 10, ADS-C, CPDLC and SELCAL
Communication means How the aircraft is being worked

Flow

  1. Check each element of the table above.
  2. Analyse the flight plan as described in Flight plan and capabilities.
  3. Look for conflicts with aircraft already in the FIR, before accepting.
  4. Accept or renegotiate. Being unable to accept under the proposed conditions is normal: ask for another level, another Mach or another time over the entry point1.
  5. Confirm the datalink. Coming from a FIR with datalink, the connection transfers by itself; if it did not, the pilot logs on again to SBAO2.
  6. Establish communication and confirm identification, position, time, level and Mach.
  7. Open the record with the estimate for the next point.

Do not accept without complete coordination

An aircraft must not enter another unit's airspace without completed coordination3. Whoever crosses the boundary without it is, for a few minutes, nobody's responsibility.

Entry without ATC online

The most frequent case on the network: the aircraft has flown for hours without any unit connected and there is no record.

  1. Identify it by callsign and filed flight plan.
  2. Assume nothing from the flight plan.
  3. Ask for a complete position report.
  4. Confirm the route, level and Mach it is actually flying.
  5. Confirm the capabilities and request the logon, if applicable.
  6. Assess conflicts now with real data.
  7. Establish the service: identify the unit, confirm the level and Mach to maintain and define the next reporting point.

On the network (Vatbrz)

When opening the position, do this with all aircraft already inside the FIR, one by one, before issuing any clearance.

Position reports

The report is what replaces the screen. Composing and transmitting it is the pilot's responsibility4.

Format

CALLSIGN, POSITION, TIME, LEVEL, MACH, NEXT POSITION and ESTIMATE, ENSUING POSITION

The six normative elements are identification, position, time, level (including the level being crossed and the cleared level, if different), next position with time, and the ensuing significant point5. The Mach number is always included whenever one has been assigned6.

Example

Fictitious callsign and fixes.

"Atlantico Center, EXEMPLO 123, position NIMAX at 1412, flight level 370, Mach decimal 82, estimating KOSAX at 1448, next TEBRO."

Record: NIMAX at 1412, FL 370, Mach 0.82, KOSAX at 1448, then TEBRO. The 1448 estimate becomes the basis for separation with anyone else crossing KOSAX.

When it is required

Situation
Over compulsory reporting points, or as soon as possible after passing them7
When crossing the lateral limits of the FIR7
When requested by the ATS unit7
On routes without compulsory points: after the first 30 minutes, then every hour7
On entering the FIR, via CPDLC, even with ADS-C8
In the AORRA, every 10° of longitude9

When it is waived

With ADS-C active and working, voice reports are not required unless requested10. The waiver holds only while the data keeps arriving: the moment ADS-C fails, reports are required again and it is up to you to tell the pilot11.

Wind and temperature are not part of it

They appear in the meteorological block of an ADS-C report and in a Special AIREP, not in the routine position report. Do not ask for them.

Estimates

A revision of more than 2 minutes requires action12. When you receive one, immediately recalculate every pair that depended on the previous estimate.

Example

EXEMPLO 123 had reported KOSAX at 1448 and now reports 1455. That is 7 minutes. If another aircraft was planned over KOSAX at 1500 with 10 minutes of separation, the minimum has been compromised and requires immediate action.

Report that did not arrive

Control must not be based on the assumption that the estimate was met. Take immediate action to obtain the report if there is any bearing on another aircraft13.

  1. Note the time at which the report was expected.
  2. Call the aircraft; with no answer, try SELCAL and the other means.
  3. Treat the aircraft as possibly being anywhere between the last confirmed report and the projected position, and keep other traffic clear of that band.
  4. Request an on-demand ADS-C contract or a CPDLC message.
  5. Tell the adjacent unit that the estimate is uncertain.

Progress record

Keep, for each aircraft:

  • last reported point, with exact time;
  • current level and cleared level, if different;
  • assigned Mach number;
  • next point and current estimate;
  • ensuing point;
  • communication means and confirmed capabilities.

On the network (Vatbrz)

Use the tag fields and lists of the profile distributed in the sector package. What is on the screen survives a reconnection; what is on paper does not.

Leaving the FIR

  1. Calculate the estimate for the transfer point and revise it when the picture changes.
  2. Coordinate early enough for the adjacent unit to analyse it14.
  3. Wait for acceptance, adjusting before the boundary if it indicates other conditions1.
  4. Instruct the aircraft with CONTACT or MONITOR, as appropriate15.
  5. Handle the datalink: automatic transfer if the next unit also uses it, otherwise terminate the connection2.
  6. Close the record with the time over the transfer point.

When the next unit is not online

  1. Tell the pilot that there is no ATS unit connected ahead.
  2. Instruct them to try to contact the following unit at least 5 minutes before the estimate over the fix, transmitting identification, origin, destination, route, level, transponder code, RVSM status and estimate16.
  3. Record the last position, level and Mach.
  4. End the service explicitly. The pilot needs to know they no longer have a responsible unit.

  1. ICA 100-37, Art. 825. ↩↩

  2. AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, item 9.2.3. ↩↩

  3. ICA 100-37, Art. 822. ↩

  4. ICA 100-37, Arts. 171 and 172. ↩

  5. ICA 100-37, Art. 178. ↩

  6. ICA 100-37, Art. 180. ↩

  7. ICA 100-37, Art. 173. ↩↩↩↩

  8. AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, item 9.5.2.1. ↩

  9. AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, item 8.8.2. ↩

  10. ICA 100-37, Art. 179, and AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, item 9.5.2.2. ↩

  11. AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, item 9.5.2.6.2. ↩

  12. AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, item 9.5.2.5. ↩

  13. ICA 100-37, Art. 174. ↩

  14. ICA 100-37, Art. 824. ↩

  15. AIP-Brasil, ENR 3.5, items 9.4.1.5 and 9.4.1.6. ↩

  16. AIP-Brasil, ENR 1.8, item 2.3.3.1.2. ↩