Control strips
Control strips ( English flight progress strips or strips , coll. Also flight strips ) are a fundamental and important aid for air traffic controllers in air traffic control . They contain the most important information about a flight for the responsible air traffic controller.
Control strips are narrow, elongated paper strips that are clamped into a plastic holder ( strip bay ) when used. For every aircraft for which the corresponding air traffic control is responsible, there is at least one such control strip per flight. If an aircraft leaves a flight sector, whereby the responsibility of air traffic control is taken over by another air traffic controller, the corresponding control strip is passed on to this air traffic controller. If this responsible air traffic controller is in a different control center, the flight data recorded on the control strip are transmitted to the accepting air traffic controller. This process is usually done by phone or fax, with the receiving device printing directly on control strip paper. More modern and more secure transmission channels in digital form are still being developed. The control strips must be available at least three minutes before the aircraft enters the sector; however, the control strips are usually printed about 20 minutes before entry. Thus, every air traffic controller can estimate when which aircraft will enter the sector of the responsible air traffic controller from which direction.
The control strips are arranged in a so-called strip pattern for the air traffic controller so that they can always have a quick overview. The control strips fulfill two important purposes: First, the air traffic controller can use this strip pattern to plan the traffic flow in advance. In addition, all instructions given to the aircraft are immediately handwritten on the control strip so that a later analysis of the flight is possible. The stripe images are updated on the basis of the radar data whenever the flight data changes.
Important information and flight details are noted on the control strips. This includes data such as the aircraft's call sign , transponder code , aircraft type , departure time and location as well as planned destination and destination, flight speed, flight level (and the resulting flight altitude ), known overflight points and their overflight times as well as the flight rules according to which the aircraft flies (e.g. Visual flight or instrument flight ).
Due to the technical possibilities, the handwritten control strips at DFS are increasingly being replaced by electronic systems. Control strips are digitized and displayed on a touchscreen and can be edited with a stylus. In order to be able to carry out emergency air traffic control even in the event of a possible failure of important systems, there is still the option of printing out control strips. At Skyguide , the control strips in the ACCs in Zurich and Geneva were completely replaced by an electronic system in 2013 .
Web links
- FAAO 7110.65 Chapter 2: General Control, Section 3: Flight Progress Strips
- UK CAP493 Manual of Air Traffic Services, Part 1 Appendix D
- Nav Canada's NavCan ATM, NavCan Strips system
- Saipher ATC - TATIC TWR
Individual evidence
- ↑ Skyguide introduces the next evolutionary step in modern Swiss air traffic control with electronic coordination - skyguide. Retrieved January 9, 2018 (German).