System

We continue our inside look at what it takes for ATC to manage traffic in and around Oshkosh during the annual AirVenture.

Have you flown into AirVenture? You’ve heard stories about the stressful mixed density of traffic across all performance levels with pilots of widely varying...

Before I was an air traffic controller, I dabbled with computer programming. Both fields involve complex problems that are often broken down to simple...

Of all the features of the modern Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), perhaps the most useful is altitude preselect. It improves safety by reducing...

Special VFR (SVFR) is a clearance that pilots can use to fly VFR into an airspace reporting below VMC. SVFR allows pilots to operate...

The National Air Traffic Controller Association annually presents safety awards to members who have saved pilots’ lives through teamwork, skill, and persistence. Rather than...

While most ATC facilities are open most of the day if not 24 hours, there are times when the physical building must be evacuated...

Turning in the opposite direction of the regulatory traffic pattern during a circling approach is an almost constant topic of discussion in instrument pilot...

Earlier this year, there were a number of near misses during airport operations. These included one aircraft nearly landing on top of another that...

Recently in my duties as an air traffic controller, I’ve noticed a trend: more than a few pilots struggle with non-towered airport procedures. Unfortunately,...

Altitude is aviation. From a simple paper airplane to the recently launched Artemis, anything that is above ground and moving has altitude and is...

In “Which Three Approaches?” (September 2022 IFR) we discussed the FAA Chief Counsel’s abandonment of earlier restrictive interpretations of the dual cross-country prerequisite for...