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Inside the Control Tower

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Maria Asaad

There are a few jobs in the airport that are unique to aviation and can’t be done in any other industry. One of them is, of course, working in the air traffic control tower. It is the beating heart of any airport and keeps the flow of incoming and outgoing flights moving. Frankly, without it, aircrafts would come to a complete halt, and the results would be catastrophic. With that in mind, we were keen to catch up with an air traffic controller and learn more about the ins and outs of the job and what it takes to work in such an important role.  

We caught up with Mark Hewitt, who has decades of experience in the industry and is a confident air traffic controller here at Heathrow. We asked him a few questions about the realities of his role and what it’s like being an air traffic controller in one of the world’s busiest airports.  

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What does a typical day for an air traffic controller look like? 

Once in the control tower, we are required to brief ourselves on any new instructions or changes to procedures pertaining to the operation. This is really important as items of operational significance may have changed since the last time we were in.  Then it’s a case of grabbing my headset and dibber (a pen like stylus that is used to operate the touch screens) and head up in the lift to the tower.

The VCR Supervisor will allocate a position to you depending on who has been sat there the longest or who needs to be relieved from a night shift, and they may give you any short-notice bits of information that might be pertinent. We would then plug into the position, and a period of handover from the outgoing controller takes place. They would brief the incoming controller on anything of operational significance, including which runways are in use, as well as any work in progress on taxiways that might affect the way we route aircraft on the ground.   

Due to the high traffic volume at Heathrow, the handover is carried out while the outgoing controller is still controlling the aircraft. The operation is too busy to stop aircraft while it happens.  When the incoming controllers are happy that they have the full traffic picture, they will take responsibility for the position. 

A controller can work for 1.5 hours in position at Heathrow, following which a minimum 30-minute break is required. The legal limit is actually 2 hours, but we have a local agreement at Heathrow for 1.5 hours due to traffic volume and complexity. If it is really busy, 1.5 hours of solid controlling can be pretty tiring. Generally, on the first couple of breaks, those of us who are not controlling aircraft will get together and have coffee and a catchup. We are all quite a sociable bunch, and it’s really nice to hang out with people you might not have seen for a while.

We are all qualified for all the operational positions in the tower (3 x Ground, 1 x Arrivals, 1 x Departures, 1 x Ground Movement Planner), so following a break, you would normally go into a different position. This will continue until the end of the shift, and the following watch comes in to take over.

What are the most stressful aspects of the job?

We tend not to think of it in terms of stress, but more in terms of pressure.  We are all trained to a very high standard and have continued training twice a year to deal with emergencies and unusual scenarios. 

The things that would normally bring higher pressure levels are high traffic workload, challenging weather (wind, thunderstorms, fog), and aircraft emergencies. I tend to find that a lot of the stressful things related to work often involve the process of getting into and home from work, which is beyond the airport's control. 

The M25 can be a particular challenge on any given day! I’ve also found that as I’ve gotten older, working shifts have become increasingly tiring, and it can be quite a challenge to manage yourself to recover effectively. 

What are the most enjoyable aspects of the job?

This is the only job I’ve ever wanted to do, so I consider myself to be really lucky every single day. I really enjoy the day to day controlling and delivering a safe and efficient service to the flight crews, but I have two things tied for the top slot as being the most enjoyable. 

One is that I really enjoy working with the lighting operators during periods of darkness, where they are responsible for operating the selectable taxiway lighting and providing routes to aircraft. It requires strong team skills and trust in each other, and a busy session is an absolute joy to participate in. 

The other is that I’ve always loved being an air traffic control instructor.  It’s a real privilege to be able to train controllers fresh out of the air traffic college up to being fully fledged qualified controllers.  It has its challenges and requires a constant level of attention to monitor their actions and ensure they possess all the skills required to become a safe controller once they qualify.  It is always a terrific moment when you’ve been part of somebody’s training, and they pass their qualifying board.  Conversely, it can be extremely tough if somebody hasn’t reached the required standard, but we will all do whatever we can to help them get to where they need to be. 

How do you respond to an unexpected or last-minute change in schedule?

This is actually quite easy for us to do. Heathrow operates either at, or near, capacity most of the time, so any changes to the schedule normally get swept up in the day to day controlling.  We tend to deal with things as they present themselves, but for significant events, the more notice we can get, the easier we can deal with it and keep the operation as stable as possible.

Do you require regular mental breaks in your daily role?

We do, indeed.  Busy and complex traffic with the requirement to concentrate continually can be pretty tiring, so at Heathrow, we require a minimum of a 30-minute break following a maximum 1 ½ hour session in any position (the legal limit is 2 hours).  We work six days on and four days off, and this broadly follows the pattern of two morning shifts (0700-1400), two afternoon shifts (1400-2200), and two night shifts (2200-0700). Following six days of controlling, we are required to have a 60-hour break before commencing further controlling. Our breaks during the day often involve us catching up with each other, going for coffee, reading books, etc.

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What are the main qualities and skills you think a person should have to be successful in this job?

It’s actually quite hard to pin down what makes a good air traffic controller. We have a wide variety of people from all sorts of backgrounds who become really good air traffic controllers, and it generally isn’t related to academic excellence.  

I’ve always believed that a few key skills are essential, though.  It’s often the ability to look at a situation in a slightly different way to most people and think around the problem quickly and effectively that makes a good controller.  I think it's probably fair to say that quite a few of us have our quirks, but it's that which helps us to be good at what we do. In addition, there is a need to react to pretty dramatic situations in a calm and balanced fashion to produce a safe outcome in every situation.

How do you deal with extreme weather conditions? 

Extreme weather introduces some fairly significant challenges to the air traffic control operation (not just at Heathrow but worldwide). Thunderstorms can't be flown through by aircraft, and so the amount of telephone co-ordination required between controllers in the tower and at Swanwick is significant, leading to a lowering of the number of aircraft we can depart in an hour (nearly all aircraft usually depart free flow where telephone co-ordination isn't required).  

The further away from the flight-planned route that an aircraft goes in order to avoid weather, the more coordination is required, and the more complex the surrounding airspace becomes, quickly leading to a build-up of traffic. 

Fog brings its own challenges.  Aircraft can land in zero visibility, but in order to do this, we have to protect the Instrument Landing System (ILS). The ILS is affected by large metal objects in front of its aerial, such as other aircraft, which causes a deflection in the signal to inbound aircraft. In order to protect the ILS, we have to have 6m spacing between inbound aircraft as opposed to the normal 3nm in good visibility.  This is so that the preceding landing aircraft can land and vacate the ILS critical area and assure a safe landing clearance to the next inbound aircraft. This becomes effective for us when the visibility falls below 600m in fog.  

Lastly, strong winds can have an impact on both the number of aircraft that we can depart and land, often leading to a reduced landing and departure rate. If the wind is significant then this would normally require an inbound flow regulation (an air traffic slot) into Heathrow in order to protect controllers from trying to work too much traffic and them needlessly burning fuel.

Does the control tower feel movement during strong winds?

Not as much as you'd think, actually.  I've been up there in pretty strong, gusty winds, and there is a small degree of movement, but not as bad as you'd think it would be.  The central column of the building contains a tuned mass damper within it which is designed to counteract the effects of building movement.

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