WEBVTT - Air Traffic Control Technology 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.680 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello, everyone, 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.119 welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette and 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.560 I am an editor here and how stuff works dot Com. 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:24.720 Sitting across from me, as he always does, is senior 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:29.280 writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, so, uh you know we 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:33.800 were looking at for podcast topics too hard. Well, no, 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.120 that's true, but for a while we were kind of 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.239 up in the air on this one. Yeah, but fortunately 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.279 a listener managed to uh to to get us on 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:45.280 target targets. So let's go to a little listener mail. 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.760 This listener mail comes from Paul, and Paul says, Hi, 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.000 John and Chris, I enjoy your podcasts and those of 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.000 your associates and How stuff Works very much. I thought 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.040 this might make an intra sting topic, the technology behind 0:01:02.240 --> 0:01:05.440 air traffic control. I was told that at one time, 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.240 and perhaps this is still true, that the US is 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.720 using very old computer technology for air traffic control and 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.400 that plans to upgrade the system have been bogged down 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.880 for decades. But appreciate your insight into this. Thank you. 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.360 So much for keeping me entertained over long hours in 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:23.120 my car. Paul. Alright, Paul, Well, we're gonna talk a 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:25.840 little bit about air traffic control and what goes into 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:30.440 keeping everybody safe up in the skies and uh, well, 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.640 to talk about the old technologies. It's true that a 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.640 lot of the technology used in air traffic control has 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:40.839 been around for for a while. Um, there are plans 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:48.960 to eventually automate the system, but that still not here yet. Yeah. Yeah, 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:50.920 I don't know why he'd be concerned about that. I mean, 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.320 it's not like fifty thou planes are in the air 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.160 every day over the United States. Wait, oh wait, yes 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:01.200 they are on a good day. Um. Yeah. The the 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:03.760 automated thing, well, I'll go ahead and get this all 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.760 the way first. One of the there's several reasons why 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:08.680 it would take a while to move to a fully 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:12.120 automated system. One is that while you're upgrading to the 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:16.119 fully automated system, the existing system would have to continue 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:18.400 to operate. Because it's not like we can just say, 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.560 you know what, we're gonna take a i don't know 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.919 six months and not fly all right, you guys look 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.480 out for yourselves out there. Well yeah, we're gonna paint 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.800 all the planes a bright day glow pink or green 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.400 and uh and yeah, good best of luck. Now that 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.200 that's not the way it's gonna that's not the way 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.200 it can work. So obviously, if you're going to to 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:42.639 upgrade a system as huge as the air traffic control 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.560 system is, and we'll get into how big it is 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.600 in a minute, um, then it's gonna take a lot 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:49.240 of time, and you're gonna have to you're gonna have 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.440 to duplicate systems uh while you are ready getting ready 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:55.760 to switch over to the other side. And then if 0:02:55.800 --> 0:03:00.000 there's an element that requires airplanes to also get upgrade, 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.080 it's that's an entirely different issue because now you're talking 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:06.520 about two totally different multiple systems really, because you've got 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:08.880 the government system, which would be the air traffic control 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.480 because that's overseen by the f A A, right, so 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.960 that's a government agency. And then you have all the 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.560 private companies that are the you know, the private airlines, 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.800 not to mention private pilots and uh, and you know, 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.720 to upgrade their equipment. That also is going to take 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.799 a really long time. So it's it's one of those 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.560 where the the the job is very complex, it's huge, 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:36.160 and it's the government. I think if you talk about 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:40.120 huge complex and government, you you realize that means lots 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.480 of time is going to go by before it ever happens. Yeah. Yeah, 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:45.800 but that's not because you know, people just don't want 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.400 to do it. It's it's complex, so right, and it's expensive, 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.200 it's you know, and again this money comes from taxes. 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:57.440 Turns out people aren't thrilled about paying taxes, so anything 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.640 that requires tax money it ends up being a clitical battle. 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:02.880 So I mean, the complex, like we said, goes well 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.480 beyond just the technology. But now that we've covered that, 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.080 let's talk a little bit about what is involved in 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.840 the air traffic control system. As a matter of fact, 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:14.720 speaking of complex, the air air traffic control system itself 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:17.760 is very complex and this probably will give you a 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.800 better idea too, in the types of technology we're talking about. 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:25.640 Um As it turns out the h the air traffic 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:29.520 control space is divided up really in three dimensions, which 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.119 is appropriate, but it's kind of it's kind of weird 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.240 to think about when you're not I guess, when you're 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.480 not thinking about how air traffic control works on a 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:40.560 data right basis, because um the United States is divided 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:45.920 up geographically into twenty one different zones also known as centers, 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:48.800 and each of those zones is divided into sectors. While 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:52.240 those are two dimensions, uh you know, the with the 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:56.680 United States and the length, and then you have the 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:01.160 altitudes in those zones, and they're are different groups of 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:04.560 people who are managing aircraft as they move from one 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.680 zone to the next. Um So, which is kind of 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:10.360 weird to think, like I said, and it's kind of 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.360 weird to think about it because you're thinking, Okay, well 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:15.280 I got it. You know, you're flying from say, Dallas 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.960 to Chicago. You know, you say in Dallas, hey I'm 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.240 going to Chicago, and Chicago says, okay, well come on, 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.760 we're ready for you. That's not really that simple, right, 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.919 it's you know, from from a passenger experience, what it 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.040 seems like to us is that you have when I 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:30.640 don't know about you, Chris, but when I think air 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:34.280 traffic control, I'm thinking of the towers at the airport, right, 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.560 So you're the only part of it, yeah, exactly. But 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:38.880 you're at the airport, you see the air traffic control tower. 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.159 You know that the pilot is talking to air traffic 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.320 control and saying, hey, I got a bunch of people here. 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:46.640 They want to get off the ground, and air traffic 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.719 control is like, well, we're gonna make them wait around 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:52.279 a while because we're jerks. And then the pilot says, 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:54.240 but we're the ones who get all the blame, and 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.960 the air traffic control says ha ha ha, And then 0:05:57.600 --> 0:05:59.560 actually that's probably not how it works. But at any rate, 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.240 the pilot contacts air traffic control, they get the clearance 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:06.160 to take off, and then you're in flight, and then 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.279 you you pretty much don't really think about air traffic 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.159 control as a passenger until you get close to landing. 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.040 So you're thinking of the starting point in the endpoint, 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.599 uh as like the air traffic air traffic control tower 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:22.200 in both airports. Turns out there actually several stations along 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:26.800 the way that UM monitor your flight for the entire 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:32.120 duration of the flight. UM. Now, the the tower that 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.600 you're talking about, Jonathan, is the air traffic control tower 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.240 a t c T. And that's you can find one 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:41.000 of those that basically any airport that has regularly scheduled 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.080 flights and they you know, managed to take off and 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:44.960 landing in the ground traffic to make sure that they 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.680 know what's going on. But once the plane well, okay, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:50.880 we'll talk about the other parts. Um. The other parts 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.640 are the Air Traffic Control System Command Center a t 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:58.359 C s c C, and that's uh basically that's in 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:02.000 charge of all air traffic can roll UM you know 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:06.120 we're talking about. They manage things, you know, routing traffic 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.800 and bad weather and and trying to figure out what's 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.800 going on with the UH UM traffic patterns and how 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.680 the runways are dealing with on the ground. But um, 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:19.040 locally you have Air Route Traffic Control Centers a r 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:23.440 t c C s UM. Each center has its own 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:27.000 r t c C and they manage traffic within the 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:31.600 sectors UH in that area except for the next group 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:36.000 the tray con terminal Radar Approach Control and they handle 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.480 the departing and approaching aircraft within that space that they 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:43.400 are assigned. And that space is around fifteen miles and radius. 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:46.440 So UM. Yeah, So what we're doing is we're going 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:50.240 from very large and getting progressively smaller here, right. Yeah. 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:53.000 So we've got the center, which is the big one. 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.960 You've got the you know, the air Route Traffic Control 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:59.880 Centers which that controls a zone or that's what we 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.320 you know, the center slash zone, however you want to 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.080 call it. So there are multiple sectors within that. Then 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:09.000 you've got the tray con, which can actually overlap sectors 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.280 depending on where it is geographically. But um, it's got 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:16.960 the fifty mile radius. And then what's next after that? Um? Wait, 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.760 after the traycon? Yeah, I guess the tracon is technically 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.920 the air traffic control tower because at that point you're 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:25.800 dealing with the airspace around the airport itself. And then 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:28.240 there's you know, the flight service station. So if you 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:31.680 need information about whether or the route or flight plan 0:08:32.120 --> 0:08:35.840 for private pilots, um, then you would consult with the 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:40.200 flight service station. But those are in smaller, smaller areas, 0:08:40.679 --> 0:08:45.680 and there are people like rural rural airports I'm sorry, yes, um. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.200 And you know, in the case of emergencies and uh, 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.040 you know, if there are search and rescue operations that 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.120 need to be managed for a missing or overdo aircraft, 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:57.760 the flight service station us involved with that. But um, yeah, 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:00.760 I mean small small aircraft that are lying by vision 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:05.120 only visual flight rules. Um. You know, they don't really 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:08.000 they're not required by the f A to file a 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:12.520 flight plan. Um. So the mainstream traffic control centers don't 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:15.719 deal with these smaller aircraft, right. They they have specific 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.679 rules they have to follow which prevent them from getting 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.280 within the same sort of flight space as the massive 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:27.240 larger aircraft. But as long as they are following the rules, 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.920 than they don't have to to do a flight plan. 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.040 They don't have to check in as often as the 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:39.160 commercial flights do. Um. The ones that are the big boys, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:43.080 like the commercial flights, Uh, they do. They follow the 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.959 instrument flight rules, right, which means they can fly in 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:48.960 all kinds of weather because they're they're using instruments to 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:53.480 guide them. Uh. Not just it's not just you know, 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:58.600 oh I can I I have good uh visibility. Yeah, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.280 it's like I could see where I'm going going right, 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:06.480 that's part of it, right. Um And uh all I 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:10.400 f R flight rule pilots, Um, that was redundant. Thanks 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:14.160 um My file a flight plan within thirty minutes of 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:18.240 pushing back from the gate. Basically, what you don't see 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:21.360 the pilot doing is checking the weather, making sure that 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:25.160 the route is okay, and filing a flight plan. And 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:28.240 that's got all the information in it that the air 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.120 traffic control folks are gonna need to know like the name, 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.199 flight number of the air the airline, the type of 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:37.080 aircraft they're flying in, the equipment on board, the intended 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:41.600 air speed and cruising altitude, and the route of the 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.560 flight right and this is of course, all this information 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.880 is necessary for air traffic control to make sure that 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.520 there are aren't any uh there's not gonna be any 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.600 real congestion in the flight space about the United States, 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.040 not that kind of congestion, but to make sure that 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:00.280 you're not gonna have any potentially dangerous situations due to 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:04.320 too many aircraft occupying the same space at approximately the 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:07.880 same time. So that's why all these flight plans have 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:09.920 to be filed. It's uh, it's really to give air 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.160 traffic control the the big picture look at what is 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.360 going on at any given time above the United States airspace. 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.160 Should I go on? Please do? In the tower, We've 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.200 got a flight data person who's checking the weather and 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.880 flight plane information, um and then put it into the 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:29.480 f a a host computer and UM the computer comes 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.160 up with a flight progress strip that goes from the 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.679 controllers to you know, to the flight from different station 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:39.680 to station. Uh. So that it's possible to track a 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.319 particular plane, right, So as a plane travels from one 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:48.400 zone into another, the controllers for those zones have to 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.959 be able to pass the information along to the next 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:54.520 controller so that everything remains up to date and everyone 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:58.880 knows where everybody is. Uh. So it turns out that's important, right. 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:01.760 So for for a flight from one coast to the other, 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:06.520 you will cross through several zones, so many different controllers 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.320 will have their hands on that on your flight's information 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:12.880 as you go from one side to the other. So 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.920 let's say like Atlanta to l A. I'll be taking 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.400 that flight in June. So as I'm taking that flight, 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.679 you're I'm going to you know that that flight's information 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.240 is going to pass through not just the local air 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:29.559 traffic control uh team that's that's there at the Atlanta Airport, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:34.360 but through many different centers as we fly across the country. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.240 That's right. Um, I mean the ground controller is managing 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.160 the ground traffic, the traffic you know what's going on 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.600 on the literally on the ground where all the different 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:46.079 planes are with regard to the runways and taxi ways. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.360 Um and um. You know the local controller is in 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.920 the tower as well, watching the sky around met the 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:58.440 immediate area around the airport. Yeah. And as for what 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:03.040 kind of technology, these guys are using binoculars also radar 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:08.000 and so, you know, pretty dated stuff, but it works, right. Yeah, 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.280 it's it's one of those things now. Great, if visibility 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:11.840 is limited, they're going to be relying more in the 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:15.360 radar than the binoculars. Uh. And if it gets too limited, 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:17.240 that's when air traffic control says, you know what, the 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.839 conditions are too dangerous for flights to take off and 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:23.080 land out of this airspace, and so we are going 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:27.920 to delay any flights, uh for the you know, for 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.680 as long as the weather remains this bad as or 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.360 as of the day that we're actually recording this. This 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.240 guys are full of volcanic ash, right, So if you 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.240 are in the UK and you want to fly someplace 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.960 and you realize that, you know, or the eight air 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.520 Traffic Control realizes that the air is completely filled with 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:51.480 ash and it's really impacting visibility, you might be grounded. Yeah, 0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:54.240 it's funny. Just as an aside that I was listening 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:56.200 to a report on that this morning and they said, yes, 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.200 you know, there are bits of glass in the air 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.040 thrown up there by the volcano. So yes, as it 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:06.720 turns out, flying through that is not very healthy, all right, Uh, 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:11.080 aside from a volcano story, yes, we've got um, we've 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.640 got the local controllers basically keeping an eye on things. UM. 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:19.640 And they're basically the ones giving clearance to the aircraft 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:24.040 for it to take off. UM. And as the as 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:25.960 the plane leaves the ground, the local controller is going 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.600 to hand off the plane, if you will, to the 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:32.800 departure controller at the tray con facility. UM. It's still 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:34.680 going to keep an eye on it within five miles 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.600 from the airport, but the pilot is now in communication 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.520 with the departure controller rather than the tower on the 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:44.920 ground with whom he or she was just speaking. And uh. Actually, 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.000 also as the plane is taking off, here's another piece 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.600 of technology for you, the transponder aboard the aircraft. The 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:55.600 pilots are are you know, engaging that and um, it 0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:00.080 is identifying radar signals coming in and broadcasting radio a 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:03.240 signal of its own in the direction of the radar 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.880 waves that are coming to it. So it's locked on 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.080 to the radar and is saying, hey, here, I am here, 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:12.320 this is who I am, right, I am so transponder. 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:15.120 When you when you beam the radar signal at the plane, 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.600 the plane says, hey, there's a I've detected the radar signal. 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:23.400 It's from this direction. I am going to identify who 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:27.320 I am where I am and uh. It actually has 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.840 an amplifier as well, so it can amplify that signal 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:34.480 send it back to the radar facility. And then that's 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.360 how the ground can keep track of where planes are 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:40.600 as they're in the air. And as it turns out, 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.640 aircraft are equipped with radar detectors, although they very infrequently 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:49.400 get pulled over. Okay, then so the departure controller just 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:53.040 getting stared at the departure controller is is working at 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:56.120 the track on facility. Um and uh. You know, the 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:59.440 track on facility may actually be in charge of several airports. 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.920 We're not just talking a single airport because you know, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.560 like we said, fifty mile radius, that's a big radius. 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.440 And if you know, if you're in a there, I 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.080 can think of like two airports in the Atlanta area 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.240 right off the top of my head that would fall 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:16.240 into that depending on where the traycon U was stationed. 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.680 That's right, um and uh. And here again we're talking 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.920 in three dimensions, So not only as the departure controller 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:27.760 looking for you geographically, he also wants to know what 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:33.720 the distance is uh vertically, to identify how the distance 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.920 between any ascending and descending aircraft um, because that is 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:41.520 again important to know. And they have specific ascent corridors 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:45.680 in various geographic regions. If you've ever taken off from 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:50.480 there's certain airports where you have a very steep ascent corridor, 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:55.119 that's true. I've where it's usually because of noise ordinances. 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.200 And then there's the geographical well there's also yes, there's 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:00.320 some that are geographic as well. But the mountain here 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:04.320 you need to pull up right, yeah exactly, But there 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.639 there are several where the the local area has a 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:11.080 noise ordinance where the in order to to obey that ordinance, 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:14.640 aircraft have to take off at a much steeper incline 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:18.880 than normal. And if you've ever experienced this, it's kind 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.840 of fun. None if I mean, I enjoy flying, so 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:25.280 for me, it's for those who are afraid of flying 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:29.080 the enjoy so much so. Um. Then the plane leaves 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.520 a trayon air space and enters a sector of the 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.399 A R T C C airspace where at least two 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:36.639 air traffic controllers are keeping an eye on the plane. 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.760 The radar associate controller is looking UM basically correlating the 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:45.080 flight plane information UM to what's going on, and the 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:48.359 associate controller is working with the radar controller in charge 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:52.199 of that sector UM basically that that person is in 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.760 charge of all the air to ground communication and trying 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.120 to make sure that planes are located in a reasonable 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:02.000 enough distance apart that they are operating safely. Right. And 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:06.320 you know, these controllers could be monitoring dozens and dozens 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.840 of planes at any given time because it's they're the 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.520 ones in charge of monitoring it over their particular center. 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:15.840 And as we said, you know there's just twenty one 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:17.600 of these across the United States. That means that these 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:23.480 are really big areas. So these guys are are men 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.480 and women. I shouldn't just say guys. Uh, they're keeping 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:30.320 eyes on on lots of different data all going on 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:32.040 at the same time. And again we've got like some 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:36.080 computers that are uh collating all this so that you 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:40.120 can look at a computer screen and see a data 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.760 representation of what's going on. But a lot of this 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:47.479 is still going with with humans monitoring tools directly like 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:53.840 the radar and UM basically the radar handoff controller is 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.520 helping out too with the radar and associate radar controllers 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.920 in situations where there's lots of traffic just to make 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.399 sure that that everything is is going okay, they got 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:05.760 another set of eyes on the situation. And as you 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.240 go from zone to zone, they hand you off, you know, 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.800 as you leave one space basically the next as as 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:13.960 part of the air traffic control system as a whole, 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:16.639 you pass over into the next space and then another 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.960 set of controllers helps you out right. And the data 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:22.920 from your flight is actually passed on ahead of your flight, 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.640 so it's not like you suddenly appear in someone's center 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:28.640 and then your data shows up and then they say, 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:30.959 oh crap, how do we fit them into what's going on? 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.040 Like occasionally aircraft have trouble or there's a or someone 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.480 makes a mistake and UM and the air traffic controllers 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.399 have to react to that and tell pilots to to 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.520 change their flight plan and uh, you know, especially like 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.240 if they if the weather at the destination starts to 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:50.320 get really bad and it was not expected and they 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:52.560 have to divert the flight. Uh, you know, you want 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:54.960 to catch the stuff as early as you possibly can, 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.240 and so um uh in order as part of that, 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.040 as the air air craft is getting closer to the 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.320 border of one center, uh, they'll go ahead and pass 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.080 that data on to the next center ahead of time, 0:20:08.160 --> 0:20:10.560 sometimes up to a half hour ahead of time. And 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:14.760 then the that way everyone knows where everybody is before 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.119 it becomes a problem. Uh. But yeah, then that the 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:22.240 pilot will then be communicating with a new radio controller 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:25.240 and uh a radar control or rather not radio And 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:30.280 this continues until you get close to your destination. And 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:33.520 then it basically happens in reverse. Right you you start 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:37.800 communicating with the tower who can relay the conditions on 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:39.679 the ground, let you know what's going on as far 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.600 as traffic is concerned. Yeah, essentially it would be you go. 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.240 You would start talking to tracon first, Yes, you would. 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.840 Tracon would would start to to guide the planes in 0:20:50.119 --> 0:20:53.680 so that they are coming in at the proper angle 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:57.640 for the landing strip. Um. And actually, if you've ever 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.439 seen there's certain movies that show this. I'm thinking of 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:06.119 Pushing ten in particular. But the air traffic controllers at 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.399 tray Con and the ones at your destination work together 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:13.520 to uh to get these planes to line up so 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:16.719 that they can land in an efficient and yet safe manner. 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:19.560 So you actually can see if you're looking at the 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:23.240 radar that all these flights that are coming from various directions, 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:25.560 I mean, like anywhere that you can imagine, you know, 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.040 they're they're coming in, are all lining up like in 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:33.320 a straight line. Um, this requires a lot of coordination. Yeah, yeah, 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:36.360 it really does. And it's um A pardon my earlier 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:40.280 oversimplification of the landing process. I just didn't want to 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:43.040 get that email. No, yeah, I understand, and you and 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:46.639 you're right, Um, but yeah, I mean it's it's funny 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:49.960 because the probably the biggest piece of technology in the 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:53.480 air traffic controller world is the air traffic controllers. The 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:56.679 human technology involved with it. Yeah, I mean we have 0:21:56.800 --> 0:22:01.960 the radar and and other computer information. But uh, that 0:22:02.000 --> 0:22:05.080 seems like what we were talking earlier about automating the process. 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:08.679 I'm not sure that you know, the human can we 0:22:08.680 --> 0:22:11.760 can completely automate that process. It seems like people are 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:14.639 a little too necessary. But uh, in general it seems 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:17.000 to work. Yeah, if we were to really break it down, 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:19.680 the actual computer system has lots and lots and lots 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.360 of different little components, each of which handles a very 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:26.919 specific set of tasks. But it gets so granular at 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:30.760 that point that it it's almost it's really difficult to 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:34.480 talk about because uh, you know, you're you you have 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:38.359