Air route traffic control centers

September 26, 2014, Chicago, IL. An employee of a contractor deliberately started a fire in a critical area of the Federal Aviation Administration s Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center and then tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide. The fire destroyed critical communication equipment. The system enabled processing of flight plan data for a 91,000 square mile area in the Midwest and supported communication between controllers and aircraft. 

Air traffic control is the means by which separation of aircraft in flight and on the ground is maintained. This service is provided by ground-based personnel utilizing electronic systems and two-way communication. Present-day air traffic control rehes primarily on radar. Radar allows air traffic controllers to identify aircraft and to determine altitude, speed, and course. This, in turn, provides the controllers the information required to maintain separation and guide aircraft to their destinations. Air traffic control is divided into three distinct entities air traffic control towers (ATCTs) terminal radar approach control (TRACON) and air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs). Each has a distinct function, but all activities are coordinated among the sections. Flight service stations, an advisory service, are also a part of the air traffic control network. 

Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs). The air traffic control system is divided into twenty-two ARTCCs that manage traffic within specific geographical areas. The ARTCCs are responsible for all traffic other than that controlled by the terminal radar approach control (TRAGON) and the control tower facilities. Primarily utilizing constant radar surveillance, the ARTCCs provide separation for aircraft operating in controlled airspace under instrument flight rules. 

Administration Air Route Traffic Control Centers across the nation use images from satellites as well as real-time information from observation units at major airports and from Doppler radar to create reliable forecasts. 

Rodgers, M.D. and Nye, L.G. (1993). Eactors associated with the severity of operational errors at Air Route Traffic Control Centers. In M.D. Rodgers (Ed.), An Analysis of the Operational Error Databasefor Air Route Traffic Control Centers, DOT/FAA/AM-93/22. Oklahoma City, OK Human Factors Research Laboratory, Civil Aeromedical Institute, Federal Aviation Administration. 

In 1995, the Air Route TrafQc Control Center, Fremont, CaUfomia, lost power, causing radar screens covering Northern California, Western Nevada, and 18 million square miles of Padlic Ocean to go dark for 34 min while 70 planes were in the air, almost resulting in two separate midair collisions. In another incident, a worker in downtown Chicago cut into a cable and brought down the entire Air Route Traffic Control Systan for thousands of square miles. 

The DOM model uses time windows, in ground and in flight, to enable an adequate distribution of the demand in all sectors involved. These sectors can be controlled by the Approach Control APP (terminal control areas) orby the Area Control Center ACC (en-route air spaces sectors). The main aim of this model is to decrease the workload of the air traffic controller in each sector and, at this way, increase the correspondent safety level. The time windows are divided in Sample Intervals (SI) to facilitate the computing in the DOM. 

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