NATCA ZDC March 2010

NATCA ZDC
March 2010
FAA Reauthorization Update
Monday, March 22nd, the Senate passed it’s version of the FAA Local BBS
Reauthorization Bill. The next part of the process will be for Not yet a signed up to the BBS? Go to
the House and Senate to agree on one bill that will pass with www.zdcnatca.com and register
both before going to the President for signature. today! At the very top of the home
page is a link to “create an account”.
The biggest fix for us would be the amendment of Title 49. To sign up you will need your
This would include a fair dispute resolution process for FAA NATCA ID #. To obtain your ID #,
Contract negotiations, ensuring that our workforce will never please see your Area Rep, President,
find itself working under imposed work and pay rules again. Vice President or Webpage
Administrator.
It is expected that the House and Senate will come to a
resolution on the bills over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Message from the President

The last couple of months have been extremely busy.
Our Contract Training went very well and it was a
great time for all who participated. The Contract
Training was followed up by a very successful
Solidarity Meeting. I can’t thank our National
Leadership enough for all of their support. Paul
Rinaldi, Trish Gilbert, Barry Krasner and Kelly
Richardson from the National Office, Steve Weidner
NLC Chair, the entire National Legislative
Committee, Joe Zimmerman our Eastern Region
Legislative Representative, Phil Barbarello Eastern
Region Vice President and Dean Iacopelli for coming
down and making both of these events a great
success. We also had guests from Potomac TRACON,
Dulles Tower, National Tower, Manassas Tower,
Command Center and New York Center
participating. I can’t thank Beverly Cook enough for
all of her hard work in coordinating and setting up
these events for us!
The Eastern Region will soon be participating in the
ATSAP program. We will be receiving briefing and
training from the Agency in April or May. We are
also very fortunate in that Doug Schunter from Bay 8
has been selected as the Regional ATSAP
Representative. I believe Doug will represent us very
well.
By the time this newsletter is published we will have
a National Airspace MOU and we will be back in
National Airspace Redesign. Walt Winston and Paul
Cook are our ZDC Airspace Representatives. I will

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NATCA ZDC March 2010

Message from the President

Continued from Previous Page
be assuming the role of Eastern Region Airspace On a sad note, Steve Kippenburger passed away this
Representative. On April 7, 2010, we will receive an past week in his sleep. Steve was staying at a hotel
airspace briefing from the Agency in New York at the while spending time with members at Jacksonville
Regional Office. Locally, we have been meeting to Center to discuss their insurance options. If you
develop the ground rules for local work groups to don’t know Steve, he is the gentleman who would sit
start working on our in house airspace and possible in the NATCA trailer from time to time telling you
resectorization. I look for us to be in full swing about insurance options through our NATCA
within a month. Benefits Program. Steve was a great guy and will be
greatly missed.
Hopefully, the snow is behind us for this year. We
had some challenges through the snow event. Thank I’m looking forward to the next couple of months. I
you to all of you who stepped up to get us through it.will be attending the Communicating for Safety event
Many of you put in some very long hours. Thank sponsored by NATCA in March and attending a
you! Center FacRep meeting in May. I am trying to put
together additional training opportunities in the near
100 % of the Developmentals who reported to the future so keep your eyes open for the date and times.
Center in December, January, and February joined Things are starting to come together. We have a great
NATCA! That is great. I want to welcome all of you!! E-Board and I am looking forward to us
accomplishing a lot together.
Barry Krasner our former National President and
current Chief Operating Officer was diagnosed with If you haven’t already signed up, please take a
Pancreatic Cancer. Barry recently underwent surgery moment to sign up on the new web page at
and has just come home from the hospital, he is doing www.zdcnatca.com. It’s a quick way to get
well. Please keep Barry and Sallie in your thoughts information and stay in touch.
and prayers.
Until next Newsletter,

Tim

Fun Fact:
December, 1935, the first Airway Traffic Control Center
opened in Newark, NJ. This came from the principal airlines
using the Chicago, Cleveland, and Newark airports wanting
to coordinate the handling of airline traffic between those
cities.

While the en route controllers had no direct radio link with

aircraft, they used maps and blackboards to help them keep
track of the position of the aircraft. In July, 1936, en route air
traffic control became a federal responsibility.

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NATCA ZDC
By the time you receive this newsletter, NATCA
will be hosting or will have hosted this year’s
Communicating for Safety Conference in Lake
Buena Vista, Florida. “Organized and orchestrated
by NATCA’s National Safety Committee,
Communicating for Safety is NATCA’s premier
safety seminar. It has grown from humble
beginnings to become an internationally-known and
respected event attended by aviation professionals
from many nations with all areas of expertise.
The conference is unique in that it is the only event
of its kind to focus o the specific air traffic needs of
all members of the aviation community who are in
any way affected by the National Airspace System:
from general aviation students to pilots at major air
carriers, from flight attendants and dispatchers to
engineers and airline executives, both military and
civilian” (NATCA). In addition to the many safety
forums offered at the seminar, NATCA hosts its
Annual Archie League Medal of Safety Awards
Banquet.
Named after the first air traffic controller, the Archie believe this has a lot to do with our members not
League Medal of Safety Awards is an award
program NATCA developed in 2004 to recognize
bargaining unit members for their superior
contribution to aviation safety and outstanding
performance in assisting pilots during emergency
situations. One flight assist or “save” from each
region is eligible to win the award each year, and
each nominee or group of nominees must be a
March 2010
Torrey Reich, ZDC NATCA Safety Rep
member in good standing. All saves made from
January 1st to December 31st each year are eligible for
the subsequent year’s award (ex. Saves made
1/1/2010 – 12/31/2010 will be eligible for the 7th
Annual ALMS Award to be presented in 2011). For
additional information on nominating someone for
this award, check out this link (you will have to log
on first):
http://www.natca.net/mediacenter/ArchieLeague
Event.msp.
“While many controllers often feel that they are just
doing their job, their hard work is often viewed by
others as remarkable and extraordinary” (NATCA).
This year’s award winners include bargaining unit
members from flight service, tower, approach, and
en route facilities. You can find a list of those
winners here:
http://www.natca.org/newsletter/archiewinners_0
11509.msp.
In the first six years of this program, a Washington
Center controller has yet to be named a winner. I
knowing about the program. You know about it
now, and in order to help you keep this awards
program in mind throughout the year, the 5x5 Team
will try to show one of these save events each
month. We have many controllers at Washington
Center doing remarkable and extraordinary work
everyday, so let’s make sure we are recognizing
them for it. Perhaps we can watch one of our own
award winning scenarios next year.
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NATCA ZDC
Aviation History
On December 1, 1974, just after 11:00 am, a TWA
Boeing 727 (similar to this one) crashed into the
mountain top near Mount Weather (just South of
Route 7 on Blue Ridge Mountain Rd), while on
approach to IAD, killing all 92 persons on board.
The NTSB determined that the probable cause of
this accident was “the crew’s decision to descend to
1,800 feet [msl] before the aircraft had reached the
approach segment where that minimum altitude applied.”
So what would cause the three crewmembers, who
had more than 12,000 hours of combined flight
experience, to descend prematurely?
The flight was originally scheduled to land at DCA,
but diverted to IAD because of excessively-high
cross winds at DCA. The majority of the time,
prevailing winds tend to favor either landing
towards the North, or the West. On this day, the
winds were blowing from the East with gusts up to
40kts. The ride was bumpy and the weather was
IMC, with rain and wet snow. They were advised
by ZDC to expect the VOR RWY12 approach at
IAD.
[Sidebar: In 1974, Dulles was still a very sleepy airport for its
vast size, despite being open for 12 years. The year of this
crash, it had served only two and a half million passengers,
compared to more than twenty-three million passengers in
2009.]
About 40 miles W of Front Royal VOR, ZDC took
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March 2010
Mark Trent
the handoff from ZOB. The ZDC controller told
TWA514 to cross 25 NW of AML at 080. The aircraft
was also instructed to fly a 090 heading until
intercepting the AML 300 radial which would set
them up for a VOR RWY 12 approach. Shortly
thereafter, the aircraft was switched to IAD Apch,
and the flight was cleared for approach. The
captain commented that “Eighteen hundred was the
bottom”, meaning that he thought 1,800 msl was the
lowest altitude he could go. Three minutes later,
however, he commented that he was having doubts
about that, saying that “You know, according to this
dumb sheet it says thirty-four hundred to Round Hill.”
The flight engineer asked to look at the chart from
the captain. The co-pilot started to elaborate about
it as well, but was cut-off by the captain saying
“When he [ATC] clears you, that means you can go to
your ---“. An unknown voice says “Initial approach”
and someone else said “yeah!” It is apparent from
this dialogue that none of them were aware of their
exact position, in relation to the approach plate. It
can also be assumed, that they were convinced that
once an approach clearance was given, they could
descend to the altitude published on the segment of
the approach they were flying (even if they weren’t
at that point of the approach yet).
In looking at the VOR/DME RWY 12 approach
plate current for that period, it shows 1800 feet on
the published segment of the approach, beginning
at the Round Hill intersection. However, they
hadn’t gotten to Round Hill yet, and they weren’t
on a published segment of the approach, so that
number was not applicable.
Several things to note:
1.) The crew was apparently unfamiliar with
the approach.
2.) The flight was cleared for an approach
with no altitude instructions.
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NATCA ZDC
Aviation History
3.) The crew –mainly the captain – appeared
to have been bothered by something on the
approach plate that didn’t add up. Yet, it
wasn’t resolved in time. Moments later, in
IFR conditions, the plane crashed. It missed
clearing the top of the ridge by about 50 feet.
This was a textbook case of CFIT –
Controlled Flight Into Terrain.
4.) This crash highlighted an apparent gray-
area with regards as to who was responsible
for terrain and obstruction clearance. In the
NTSB accident report, it was noted that
controllers often cleared pilots to “descend to
altitudes below the published minimum altitudes
on the approach plates” [using Minimum
Vectoring Altitudes]. It was also noted that
“pilots have no way of knowing the minimum
vectoring altitudes except through experience.”
Even more revealing is this: “pilots have
become so accustomed to this sort of service and
frequently did not know exactly where they were
in relation to the terrain and obstacles depicted
on their charts”. This is huge! Remember,
this is 1974 – no GPS, no moving map
display, and no Ground Proximity Warning
System to alert them of the impending
terrain.
5.) Officially, in addition to the crew’s
decision to descend to 1800 feet prematurely,
the NTSB also lays blame with “inadequacies
and lack of clarity in the air traffic control
procedures which led to a misunderstanding on
the part of the pilots and of the controllers
regarding each other’s responsibilities during
operation in terminal areas under instrument
meteorological conditions”. At the time of the
March 2010
Continued from Previous Page
accident, there were two Air Traffic Control
Manuals. One for Enroute and the other for
Terminal operations. The Terminal Manual
said that with regards to a Radar Arrival
“Issue…approach clearance, except when
conducting a radar approach…” If the aircraft
was not on a radar approach, then it put the
obstruction/terrain clearance burden on the
pilot. Testimony by the FAA stated that this
flight was “inbound to Armel by means of the
pilot’s own navigation, thereby relieving the
controller of responsibility under paragraph 1360
of the manual [Radar Arrival]”. That reveals
an enormous area of confusion between the
controller and pilot. Each thought that the
other was responsible for altitude
restrictions.
6.) Contributing factors that were cited: “the
failure of the FAA to take timely action to resolve
the confusion and misinterpretation of air traffic
terminology although the agency had been aware
of the problem for several years”. Also, “the
issuance of an approach clearance 44 miles from
the airport on an unpublished route without
clearly defined minimum altitudes”, ending
with “inadequate depiction of approach altitude
restrictions on the profile view of the approach
chart for the VOR/DME approach to Dulles
Airport”.
Things in my opinion that might have prevented this
accident:
• According to the NTSB accident report, the
Round Hill intersection (the intermediate
approach fix, where 1800 MSL was
applicable), wasn’t depicted on the radar
Continued on Next Page
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NATCA ZDC
Aviation History
scope. However, an updated video map that
would have depicted Round Hill
intersection had been ordered before the
accident, “but had not been received at the time
of the accident”.
A different airline had initiated an
anonymous safety reporting system the
same year. Three months before this
accident, one of its pilots had reported that
his flight had essentially done the same
thing: They had been cleared for approach,
and the captain descended to 1800 feet while
on the AML 300 radial inbound, but before
reaching Round Hill intersection. It was
noted that the captain (also) believed that
once the approach clearance had been
issued, they were allowed to descend to the
altitude for the final approach fix. After the
airline investigated this report, they
contacted the FAA at IAD and were told that
in the future, they would not be given an
approach clearance until the flight was
around 30 miles out and in addition, would
be radar-monitored, unless the controller
had higher priorities. Additionally, after
querying their pilots, it was determined that
this was an isolated case of a
misunderstanding of the approach plate, so
no further action was taken by the airline,
except to put out an internal notice to their
pilots, reminding them not “to start down to
final approach altitude without reviewing other
altitude minimums”, among other
suggestions. It is likely that this aircraft
came dangerously close to crashing as well,
and had there been a system for quickly
reviewing and disseminating critical flight
concerns across all airlines, perhaps the
TWA crew would have done things
differently.
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March 2010
Continued from Previous Page
• This was a period of time before Crew
Resource Management (CRM). Much like a
captain of a ship, a certain level of hierarchy
and formality existed, where other
crewmembers might have been reluctant to
speak up in a timely manner, if doubt
existed about something. Situational
Awareness is another key part that is now
stressed in CRM, but was not evident during
this flight.
An accident with a United Airlines DC-8 led
to the birth of CRM by NASA in 1979. All
crewmembers are now supposed to speak
up if there is any doubt about any situation
regarding the flight. While the cockpit voice
recorder from this accident doesn’t
conclusively point the finger at the lack of
CRM, it does make one wonder, had the
other two crew members been more
situationally-aware of what was going on,
they might have had more time to discover
and elaborate on the captain’s error.
What changes came from this accident?
1. ASRS Aviation Safety Reporting System was
instituted 6 months later.
2. GPWS Ground Proximity Warning Systems
were mandated to be on all air carrier
aircraft.
3. ATC procedures were changed, requiring
the controller to issue a terrain/obstruction
altitude to maintain until established on a
segment of a published approach.
4. The ARTS III had the MSAW (Minimum
Safe Altitude Warning) system installed into
it.
Continued on Next Page
NATCA ZDC March 2010

Aviation History
Continued from Previous Page

There is much more to this story that can be learned from reading the accident report. Despite
this being a 35 year-old accident, it is an invaluable reminder for all of us to be absolutely
aware and familiar with the altitudes, terrain, obstructions, and correct phraseology for the
airports we provide approach control services to. Fifty feet higher, and TWA 514 would have
landed…

Mark Trent

Area 2

Controller Spotlight

This edition’s spotlight controller is Bob Funari from Area 3. Bob lives in Winchester, VA with
his wife Valerie, son Dakota, two cats Chewey and Nougat and dog Rusty. He hails from
Portage, PA and likes to golf as much as possible. His favorite place to vacation is Nags Head,
NC.

Bob started his controlling career in the Navy and is currently in Area 3. His favorite sector is
37 (Marlinton), their only high sector, with sector 22 (South Boston) being his least favorite
sector.

Bob will be eligible for retirement in 2024 which is too far away for him to think about where to
live but would like to be somewhere where he can golf year-round.

The best thing, for him, about being an air traffic controller is that every day has the possibility
to bring new challenges. What Bob likes most about NATCA is having someone to watch out
for you and protect your rights. His biggest air traffic pet peeve is lazy controllers.

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NATCA ZDC March 2010

Baseball Tickets

Lynn Harshman aka ConeHead will be starting the list for baseball tickets very soon. He has
the sign up sheets and will be developing a list to see the order in which we select. All those
on the list will be hearing something soon. Lynn will put the list on the wall in the union office
once it’s time to select games.

Tee Time Golf Pass Books

The local currently has tee time golf pass books available for members to borrow.

Reloaded Sports Day

Our Sports Day is still on Tuesdays from 3:00

pm – 5:00 pm at the Dulles Sports Plex in
Sterling, VA. For info on the facility visit:
www.dullessportsplex.com/main/default.asp
or see Justin Beisel in Area 1.

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NATCA ZDC March 2010

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