SALT LAKE CITY DEPARTMENT OF AIRPORTS
GENERAL AVIATION NEWS
VOL. 12, ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY 2004
SLCDA GENERAL AVIATION SECURITY REQUIREMENTS
Effective January 1, 2004, all tenants and employees working in the general aviation (GA) facilities at Salt Lake City International Airport are required to constantly and properly display their airport-issued ID badges. Previously, this requirement applied only when individuals were in non-leased areas. To enhance aviation security, the Department of Airports (SLCDA) is extending this badge display requirement to the leased areas (which includes interiors of buildings when access to GA ramps is unrestricted).
SLCDA has experienced several incidents where unauthorized individuals, including TSA agents conducting vulnerability assessments, have been able to gain unchallenged access through GA facilities.
Displayed badges will help employees and tenants recognize unauthorized individuals so they may be challenged or reported to Airport Police. Badge display requirements should also remind tenants and employees to be more aware of and vigilant in exercising their security responsibilities in their areas.
If you observe individuals who are not properly displaying Airport ID badges, please ask them if they have badges and remind them of the requirement to display the badges at all times. If they do not have badges, please contact the Airport Police at 575-2401 as soon as possible so investigations and corrective actions may be initiated. This is a new requirement and many individuals are not used to displaying their badges and may simply have forgotten. For now, enforcement for failure to display a badge will be limited to education. In the future, citations will be issued.
Guests and visitors are not required to display any type of badge, including visitor badges, but tenants must maintain control by limiting their access to leased areas.
These requirements, including displaying hangar badges and waiting for electronic gates to fully close during entry and exit are essential elements necessary for increased security. If you have questions or concerns about the General Aviation Security Program, contact Connie Proctor at 801-575-2401 or Steve Jackson, General Aviation Manager, at 801-647-5532.
FAA AVIATION SAFETY COUNSELORS
In 1994, Thomas C. Accardi, FAA Director of Flight Standards Service, signed a memorandum changing the Accident Prevention Program name to the Aviation Safety Program. Program managers became Safety Program managers and civil volunteers became Aviation Safety Counselors.
Aviation Safety Counselors (ASC) are private individuals dedicated to promoting aviation safety. They voluntarily serve as assistants to the FAA Aviation Safety program managers and perform safety program functions in their communities. ASCs act as advisors to the aviation community in support of aviation safety, but without designated regulatory authority. Counselors are selected for their interest in aviation safety, their professional knowledge, and their personal reputations in the general aviation community.
The FAA established the Aviation Safety Program on the premise that encouraging pilots to improve their attitudes toward safety, by periodically refreshing their aeronautical knowledge and by consistently improving their aeronautical skills, could reduce accident rates. The program encourages total involvement of the general aviation community.
Aviation Safety Counselors:
a. Provide information and guidance on local flying conditions to transient pilots.
b. Counsel pilots who may have exhibited unsafe actions in the air or on the ground.
c. Assist pilots, aircraft owners, and aircraft mechanics on matters pertaining to proper aircraft and avionics maintenance.
d. Counsel pilots following incidents requiring flight assistance from Air Traffic Control personnel.
e. Assist FAA in transmitting flight safety information to pilots, aircraft owners, aircraft maintenance facilities, and aircraft mechanics.
f. Conduct proficiency flights (when appropriately rated).
g. Provide FAA information and assistance in establishing local aviation safety programs.
h. Notify appropriate authorities of corrective action needs when hazardous conditions negatively affecting safe flight or ground operations are observed.
i. Organize and participate in aviation safety meetings, workshops, and seminars.
ENSURING THE DEPARTURE LOCATION
Advancements in communication technology, cell phones in particular, have made our lives safer and easier. Unfortunately, they also present FAA Pilot Weather Briefers with additional challenges.
Investigations into recent Operational Errors and Deviations (OE/D) in the National Airspace System (NAS) have shown that one contributing factor may have been confusion caused by pilots using cellular phones to call the 1-800-WX-BRIEF system to request weather briefings, file flight plans, and/or request clearances. Even though these pilots may be hundreds to thousands of miles from their home bases, some cell phone systems recognize the area code assigned to the cell phone and may route the call to the Aviation Flight Service Station (AFSS) within or nearest to that area code. The pilot may believe he/she is talking to an AFSS near their physical location and the briefer/controller believes the pilot is within their AFSS area of responsibility. This is a recipe for miscommunication and problems.
One recent OE/D came when a pilot stated that he was looking for a clearance from “Waverly” to Rogers, AR. In this case he was in Waverly, TN, which happened to have the same city name as a location in the Flight Plan Area (FPA) (Waverly, Iowa) where the call was routed. By both the pilot and the controller using only the city name and not verifying the actual departure location identifier, the briefer and the pilot both set themselves up. The pilot received a departure clearance off of an airport 1100 miles away from his actual location. When the aircraft departed, it entered a different facility’s airspace that was not protected. An Operational Deviation occurred, and a very dangerous situation was created.
To prevent reoccurrence of this type of error, all aviation entities must get involved by ensuring awareness within their circles of influence. AFSS Pilot Weather Briefers could give the discrete toll-free phone numbers for AFSS’s outside of their areas when circumstances warrant. Weather Briefers should verify departure locations and destinations with identifiers or ask questions to ensure they and the pilots are effectively communicating. Pilots can use discrete AFSS phone numbers, and can inform briefers of their present locations, including the state, or by using airport identifiers. Flight Standards can assist by making this a priority in their day-to-day contacts, and by including it in Pilot Safety Seminars and Forums.
As a wise old Aviation Colonel once told his aviators. “The most dangerous thing about communication is the illusion that it has actually taken place.”
(Excerpts from ASO-505 Quality Assurance Bulletin, 6 Jan 2003)
AWOS AT TOOELE VALLEY AIRPORT
Cold weather, snow and fog have limited aircraft operations at TVY this winter. With the activation of the new AWOS, accurate airfield weather and conditions will make IFR and VFR approaches and takeoffs safer and pilots can operate with more confidence. If things stay on schedule, the TVY AWOS may be operational and fully certified by 1 March 2004.
HEADS-UP FOR SLCDA EAST-SIDE HANGAR TENANTS
Construction season begins this April on the East side at SLCDA. We will be removing and replacing asphalt around virtually all of the GA and corporate hangars. Commencing near the end of April we intend to repave areas around rows 4 through 9. We will provide tie-down space on rows 13 and 14 during construction around rows 4 –12. As the time nears and more specific information becomes available, we will provide best-estimate timetables and options in billings, flyers, posters and letters.
SALT LAKE CITY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER TEST
On February 2, 2004 the airspace in and around the Salt Lake City International Airport was changed. The Class Bravo Airspace remains unchanged. This is an internal change to the layout of airspace within the Salt Lake City Terminal RADAR Approach Control (TRACON) and the Salt Lake City Air Traffic Control Tower. This change only affects VFR aircraft operating east of Salt Lake City International Airport.
The change is a result of a study conducted under the National Airspace Redesign (NAR) program. A team comprised of controllers and supervisory personnel from the TRACON and staff support specialists developed the new airspace and procedures.
The FAA believes the concept behind the test change allows greater user access to the highly congested area immediately east of the Salt Lake City International Airport, decreases user and controller workload and maintains or increases the margin of safety that existed previously. During the TRACON study, the team reached the conclusion, that an additional control sector located in the Salt Lake City ATCT could apply both RADAR and visual separation procedures. This sector is delegated small sections of airspace currently assigned to the TRACON and allows the new sector more options when adjusting flight paths for arriving and landing VFR aircraft. Previously controllers in the tower and TRACON were required to coordinate control actions between facilities. When air traffic volume increased, the level of coordination also increased; this resulted in delays and otherwise unnecessary restrictions.
The change has been initiated as a test and will last until enough data has been collected from the users and controllers to validate success. During that time, feedback will be collected from users, controllers, and supervisors. Depending on the feedback collected and any issues that may arise during the test, the airspace will become permanent after validation of the test.
To pilots the changes will be minimal. The routings in and out of the Salt Lake City International Airport will remain the same as they have been.
Pilots are still required to call approach control for clearance into or to transition through the Class Bravo airspace. During the test, aircraft that desire ATC service, that are approaching the Salt Lake City Valley from the Park City area via Parleys or Emigration Canyons will contact Tower directly on 120.2 when passing the mouth of the canyon. In all other areas, pilots will contact approach control on the normal frequencies.
Pilots are encouraged to provide feedback and comments on this test. The decision to make the change permanent or to return to the previously existing configuration and procedures will be made based on information provided by users and controllers. Pilots are also encouraged to contact the facility with questions concerning this test.
Original TRACON and Tower airspace configuration is depicted in figure 1.
Original TRACON and Tower airspace and route configuration is depicted in figure 2.
New TRACON and Tower airspace configuration is depicted in figure 3.
New TRACON and Tower airspace and route configuration is depicted in figure 4.
Note: Tower airspace extends east of the airport to the ridgeline. All aircraft arriving or transiting the Salt Lake City Class Bravo airspace are still required to contact TRACON 120.9 as in the previous configuration. Only traffic arriving via Parleys or Emigration Canyons will contact Tower directly on 120.2 at the mouth of the canyon.
Point of contact at the facility is:
George A. Wetherell V
NUAI
AMF Box 22085
Salt Lake City, UT 84122
(801) 325-9624
E-mail: .
Comment forms will be made available for all participants in this test through the flying clubs, organizations, and FBO’s located through-out the Salt Lake area. Or pilots may e-mail comments and concerns directly to George Wetherell.