Airport Control Services
The main purpose of control services.
Issue clearances and instructions as necessary to maintain a safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of traffic under the control of your unit.
Complete the MATS reference:
"Provide MANOT information to an aircraft if..."
Provide MANOT information to an aircraft if its intended route overlies any part of the search area at an altitude and in weather conditions that are suitable for visual observation by the pilot.
Forward any response related to a MANOT to the operations duty manager or appropriate JRCC without delay.
On receiving a forest fire report, obtain the following information, if known:
- Location of the fire
- Approximate size of the fire
- Colour of the smoke
- Direction of the smoke
Process the information per local procedures and relay the information to the operations duty manager or designate.
Where CARS are located.
Community Aerodrome Radio Stations are located at certain isolated aerodromes in the Arctic and Northern Quebec.
Controlled Aerodrome
An aerodrome at which an ATC unit is in operation.
Provide airport control service to:
- Airport traffic operating on the manoeuvring area
- VFR aircraft operating within the control zone or TRA
- IFR aircraft for which the tower has control responsibility
Give priority to providing control service. Provide other services to the fullest possible extent.
Provide flight information service to all known aircraft operating within a flight information region, unless any of the following apply:
- The aircraft operator provides flight information service
- An operational factor such as workload or equipment limitations prevents you from providing the service.
The two conditions where you must issue the ATIS message to pilots, even if the ATIS message is being broadcast.
- Rapidly changing conditions
- The pilot does not acknowledge receipt of the current ATIS broadcast.
(Inform the pilot of any new and pertinent information that differs from the current ATIS message.)
March Airport and Airspace Elevation, Geographic coordinates, Magnetic Variation, Control Zone, and TRA.
Elevation : 750 feet ASL
Geographic coordinates : N 51 14 48' ; W 96 00 12'
Magnetic Variation : 5' E
Control Zone : Class D; 5 NM radius centred on the intersection of runways 09/27 and 14/32; Capped at 3800 feet ASL.
TRA : Class D airspace
TRA
(Decode and Define)
An area of defined dimensions surrounding a controlled aerodrome within which ATS surveillance services are provided.
Do not deviate from a rule or a separation minimum. You may deviate from a procedure if the situation warrants, however deviations for the purpose of expediting air traffic should be avoided.
Reasons for deviation from procedures include:
- Air-ground communications failure
- ATS surveillance component failure
- Inter-unit/sector communications failure
- In-flight emergencies/contingencies
Base wildlife or bird activity information on any of the following:
- A visual observation
- A pilot report
- A report from other reliable sources
- Observation of targets on a situational display confirmed by a visual observation or a pilot report.
Complete the following MATS reference about Flight Hazards:
If you observe, or if responsible agencies, individuals, or other pilots report...
If you observe, or if responsible agencies, individuals, or other pilots report conditions that may affect flight safety, inform pilots.
If you notice or are aware of a hazard to the safety of aviation, immediately inform your supervisor.
If you observe, or if responsible agencies, individuals, or other pilots relay to you information about aerodrome conditions that may affect flight safety, inform the aerodrome operator.
If information is available, advise pilots if their aircraft has entered, or is about to enter active class F airspace, airspace restricted by the Minister, an MOA, active American special-use airspace, or a TFR.
ATOS (Decode and Define)
Air Traffic Operations Specialist
Specialist responsible for receiving and reviewing data for air traffic control operations. They are also responsible for search and rescue coordination for IFR aircraft. In general term, they are supporting the operation of an ACC.
CIRVIS
(Decode and Define)
A plan developed for the reporting of vital intelligence sightings to extend the early warning coverage of the North American continent.
This term is derived from the words Communication Instructions for Reporting Vital Intelligence Sightings.
According to the Canadian NOTAM Operating Procedures, the following criteria must be met before a Voice NOTAM can be disseminated:
- The duration of the Voice NOTAM is anticipated to be less than one hour.
- An extension to the original Voice NOTAM's duration must not exceed one hour.
- The total duration (including any revisions) of the Voice NOTAM must not exceed two hours.
Inform pilots of IFR aircraft of pertinent information, including any of the following:
- Weather conditions reported or forecast at destination or alternate airports
- Icing conditions
- The status of special-use airspace outside controlled airspace along the flight planned route
- A collision hazard if the aircraft is operating outside controlled airspace.
Accept a pollution report from a pilot sighting a vessel discharging pollutants in Canadian waters, fishing zones, or Arctic shipping control zones.
Obtain as much of the following information as possible from the pilot submitting a pollution report:
- Name of airliner or aircraft owner
- Pilot's name
- Destination of aircraft
- Aircraft's identification
- Date and time of sighting
- Heading of vessel and name, port of registry, and type (if possible)
- Latitude and longitude of sighting
- Type and extent of pollution
- Current and wind direction (if possible)
- Sea state (height of waves, if possible)
Process the information per local procedures and relay the information to the operations duty manager or designate.
When accepting Flight Data, Advise pilots to contact...
Advise pilots to contact the FIC to file an FP/FI. If the pilot is unable to contact the FIC, accept a complete FP/FI and forward it to the appropriate FIC.
If you accept an abbreviated flight plan to issue a clearance, inform the pilot that a complete flight plan must still be filed with the FIC.
If you accept a flight plan that includes flight over any part of the search area, provide MANOT information to the pilot.
FIC (Decode and Define)
Flight Information Centre
Canada: A centralized ATS unit that provides services pertinent to pre-flight and the enroute phase of flight.
ICAO: A unit established to provide flight information service and alerting service.
Provide air traffic services to aircraft on a "first come, first served" basis, and give priority as indicated below and in the following sections.
Exceptions to "first come, first served" are permitted when they increase overall efficiency and reduce the average delay.
Give priority to:
- A MEDEVAC flight declaring an emergency will display both the red (+) symbol and the ADS-B emergency alert.
2. An aircraft that appears to be in a state of emergency but is apparently unable to inform you.
3. A pilot who reports the aircraft may be compelled to land because of factors affecting the safe operation of the aircraft, other than minimum fuel or a fuel emergency.
- A pilot's declaration of MINIMUM FUEL is handled in accordance with Minimum Fuel.
- A pilot's declaration of MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY FUEL is an emergency and is handled in accordance with Aircraft in Distress or Emergency.
4. Medical evacuation flights
- A MEDEVAC flight is indicated by the red (+) symbol on the display
- HOSPITAL and US Military (Air EVAC and MED EVAC) flights are granted priority on request.
5. Military or civilian aircraft identified by the radiotelephony call sign RESCUE and the designator RSCU followed by an appropriate flight number.
6. Military aircraft departing on active scrambles or operational air defence flights.
7. Open Skies Treaty flights with designators F and D.
8. Military aircraft departing on planned and coordinated air defence exercises.
Provide updates to an enroute pilot regarding any of the following information:
- Severe weather information
- Weather conditions along the route of a VFR flight that are likely to make operation under visual flight rules unfeasible or hazardous.
- A change in serviceability of a NAVAID
- Condition of an airport and associated facilities, including the state of aerodrome movement areas affected by snow, ice, or significant depth of water
- Release of radioactive materials or toxic chemicals into the atmosphere
- Pre-eruption volcanic activity, volcanic eruption, and volcanic ash clouds
- Any other information pertinent to flight safety, for example, lightning, bird hazards, forest fire areas, fuel dumping, unoccupied free balloons, or parachute descents.
If not alreay in a NOTAM, inform pilots of the following available aerodrome conditions that may affect their safety:
- New and pertinent information that differs from the current ATIS message
- Construction or maintenance work on or near the manoeuvring area
- Rough, flooded, or slippery parts of the manoeuvring area, and braking action (including Canadian Runway Friction Index [CRFI] if it differs from ATIS information) reports
- Obstructions or debris on or near the manoeuvring area, for example dry snow, piles of snow, fragments of blown tires, rocks, or branches
- Unserviceability or malfunction of any aerodrome equipment, such as the aerodrome lighting system
- Wildlife or bird activity
- Other pertinent conditions
According to CARs 602.73 - Requirement to File a Flight Plan or a Flight Itinerary
1) Subject to subsection (3), no pilot-in-command shall operate an aircraft in IFR flight unless an IFR flight plan has been filed.
2) No pilot-in-command shall operate an aircraft in VFR flight unless a VFR flight plan or a VFR flight itinerary has been filed, except where the flight is conducted within 25 nautical miles of the departure aerodrome.
3) A pilot-in-command may file an IFR flight itinerary instead of an IFR flight plan where
(a) the flight is conducted in part or in whole outside controlled airspace; or
(b) facilities are inadequate to permit the communication of flight plan information to an air traffic control unit, a flight service station, or a community aerodrome radio station.
4) Despite anything in this Division, no pilot-in-command shall, unless a flight plan has been filed, operate an aircraft between Canada and a foreign state.
Apron
That part of an aerodrome, other than the manoeuvring area, intended to accommodate any of the following:
- The loading and unloading of passengers and cargo
- The refuelling, servicing, maintenance, and parking of aircraft
- Any movement of aircraft, vehicles, and pedestrians engaged in services necessary for such purposes.
Also called: Tarmac, Ramp, Flight Line.