ASCI 202

              When it comes to keeping our pilots, passenger and aircrafts safe, Air Traffic Controllers play a major role in accomplishing this on a daily basis. According the Federal Aviation Administration, approximately 14,000 Air Traffic Controllers manage about 45,000 daily flights and upwards of 5,000 flights during peak operational times.      Gander Oceanic spans 905 nautical miles. Airspace covered is Controlled Airspace Class A above 5,500 ft and Uncontrolled Airspace Class G below. There are no radars in this area as there is nowhere to put them due to the massive area above water. The lack of radar coverage over the North Atlantic gave room to new methods of figuring out aircraft position. Pilots are required to give their position reports directly to Air Traffic Controllers via high frequency transmissions. They are twenty two Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) in the United States, each ...

                I am one who enjoys the convenience of living twenty minutes drive from the major airport in the city I’m currently living in. However, how much did we have to sacrifice for this convenience? How much did this impact the environment? From a planning stage, environmental impact brought up. Wildlife strikes with aircrafts have been a continuous problem in Aviation. Deforestation for airport constructing is a definite negative impact to the environment. The destruction of wildlife habitats, displacing wildlife due to the removal of their food and water, and also loss of fertile land are a few negative environmental impacts. Also with daily airport operations, there will be an increase in carbon emissions, noise pollution and a decrease in air quality. The above image is of an American Airlines aircraft after hitting a deer during takeoff from an airport in North Carolina. Fuel was seen spraying from the ri...

  14 CFR 135.227, Operating in icing conditions. This law has been amended a few times since its first publication but the overall message is still the same, safety comes first. This law is still instrumental in aviation industry because it explains in detail what is required for safe operation of aircrafts during icing conditions. This includes current and forecasted weather reports along with pre takeoff contamination checks are used in the determination of safe to fly. No pilot is allowed to takeoff if there is frost, ice or snow build up on any rotor blade, propeller, windshield, stabilizing or control surface.  USAIR Flight 405 crashed when attempting to takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, NY on   Mar 22, 1992, 14 years after the first publication of 14 CFR 135.227 . The aircraft was on the tarmac in snow condition, just below freezing temperature. One hour and forty minutes behind schedule, the aircraft was notified that they would be delayed for another twenty th...

  This can be described as understanding human capabilities and limitations and how they affect decision making and performance while on the job. There is a lot of room for errors when it comes to us as humans performing our day-to-day jobs. Understanding human factors and how they can affect a specific aviation activity can help us identify the issues when they arise and correct them or even address them before they become a problem. The overall goal is to get the job done correctly and safely, protecting equipment and personnel while creating an environment that encourages maximum safety and minimize the effect of human factors.             Some challenges a maintenance team could face whilst replacing a landing gear could be fatigue, level of knowledge, stress, procedural compliance and the aircraft being grounded waiting on this maintenance task to be accomplished. Some causes of fatigue could be due to lack of sleep,...

  Whenever Aviation Security comes to mind, insider threat is always at the forefront. This is one of the biggest threats to the Aviation Industry, and if presented with the opportunity to execute their plans could be disastrous to the industry, the facility, the safety of customers and other employees. With just the showing or the swiping of a badge, employees have access to almost all of the facility. A good example of an airport employee having this kind of access is the 2018 Sea-Tac Airport worker Richard Russell, a baggage handler at the airport who just showed his ID and walked through security, stole a Horizon Airplane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport . He later intentionally crashed the plane on a small island and killed himself. How does this even happen? How did the system fail this bad? Another case of an employee using their access to attempt to cause harm is the 2019 American Airlines incident where a mechanic in Miami was charged with sabotaging a plane’s navi...

    The ignition system is one of the most important systems in the aircraft. It consists of four major components:  two magnetos, spark plugs, ignition switch and ignition wires. Magneto operation is controlled by a five-position  ignition switch which is located in the flight deck. The magneto uses a rotating magnet to generate the voltage required by the spark plugs to ignite the fuel/air mixture for combustion in the engine cylinders. Magnetos are typically geared to the engine and require no outside power to make them work. During normal operation, magnetos will keep the engine running even in the event of a loss of electrical power. This is due to the ignition system being completely independent of the aircraft’s electrical system and each magneto being independent of each other. Why do they fail? Failures in the ignition system can be identified during pre-flight checks, during and after flight checks and during scheduled maintenance. When both magnetos ...