ABA @ WORK

Air Traffic Control

'Runway two four cleared to land, wind one niner zero degrees eight knots'
The soft and relaxed voice from the ground has a soothing effect on the pilot who completes his tiring journey
by making a successful landing. It's a wonder for many how an aircraft reaches its final destination
from a departure station, who all are involved in the process of safe flight and landing.
It is understandable if they assume that the pilot is the person who takes care of everything from take-off,
enroute flying and landing. Perhaps in general know about the pilot, but much less about those
who remain behind the screen and shoulder the responsibility of guiding the flights from the starting
an engine at departure aerodrome to its landing at destination.

For almost a decade, I was an instructor in the world of civil aviation, in air traffic control in particular, and involved in teaching the basics of navigation, avionics, radio and radar facilities, automation, approach and holding (PANSOPS) procedures to air traffic control students (ab initio's) and, at irregular times, subjects concerning human factors, coaching techniques and radiotelephony phraseologies. I've also tried to get familiar with Toolbook as to develop computer based training (CBT) packages on matters mentioned earlier.

Then I joined for some years a team of quality managers busy with the objective to get Air Traffic Control the Netherlands certified according the ISO9001 [ISO]

standard. With success though it will be a great challenge for all Dutch ATC employees to maintain this high standard. Anyhow, ATC the Netherlands got the ISO 9001 approval in October 2000!

I turned back into ATM (Air Traffic Management) training in 2001. Now occupied with coaching and training instructors as well as ab initio controllers. Part of the task is also to design scenario's and build simulator exercises on a basic simulator manufactured by Indra [INDRA]

from Spain. This all has to be in accordance with the so called Common Core Content of ATM training as developed by the Eurocontrol member states. Yes, that requires a lot of paperwork too.
In August 2006 it was time to join a team of experts that maintains, facilitates and developes all aspects that are required to run a Tower and Approach service at a so called regional airport.

I forgot to mention that before I started training student controllers I had been working at Maastricht-Aachen Airport for some years. Control service was provided from a very small and old tower. While the construction of a new tower took place air traffic control was housed in an even smaller mobile tower. After surviving wintertime in this mobile tower the new tower became operational and we could finally move in.

But I started my career as a [morse]

submarine radio operator. Fooling around with transmitters and

receivers such as the RACAL RA17.
In my spare time I try to keep track on the internet and explore its benefits as much as possible.

And although the ATC environment needs people with an almost absolute serious and responsible attitude, in my view, however, the best drive ever to achieve whatever is at least fun or any other equivalent for humour.

Retired since September 26, 2022 and therefore never working again.

Headquarters

Air Traffic Control the Netherlands

For those of you not familiar with the world of Peter Stuyvesant a few topics on ATC.
Air traffic control in the Netherlands is provided by:

Eurocontrol in the upper airspace;

Ministry of Defence (Airforce and Navy) in military airspace;

Air Traffic Control the Netherlands in civil airspace.

Depending on the phase of a flight, a pilot is controlled by various controllers. Tower controllers are responsible for aircraft in the direct vicinity of an airport where as approach and departure controllers take care of aircraft approaching to or departing from an airport. En route controllers are responsible for cruising traffic. Further control positions exist for handling taxiing traffic at an airport. The fields of responsibility of different controllers are limited physically and when reaching such a border, the pilot is prompted to contact the controller of the adjacent sector on a given frequency.

In the Netherlands air traffic service is divided into three units:

Area Control Center (ACC) is responsible for traffic in the Control Areas (CTA)

Approach Control (APP) handles traffic in the Terminal Control Area (TMA) to and from an airport . International airports such as Maastricht-Aachen Airport (Beek), Rotterdam Airport (Zestienhoven), Groningen Airport (Eelde) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol have their own Approach Control Units.

Aerodrome Control Tower (TWR) provides take-off and landing clearances in an area known as control zone (CTR) but occasionally you hear a controller say:

'In sequence, line up.'

Watch the sequence of these towers below:
Schiphol-C, Schiphol-W, Beek, Eelde and Rotterdam.

SCHIPHOL PROCEDURES

Follow this link if you want to learn more about the procedures in the vicinity of Schiphol.

A room with a view.

A simulated view.

A typical pose.

Aircraft.

Arty Icarus.

Arty Pegasus.

If you desperately want to become an air traffic controller in let's say six easy lessons then ask for more and detailed information (you must have completed HAVO or VWO with mathematics A or B and your age (in the meantime) is between 17 and 25 years). From scratch it takes about three years of education and training before you will reach an independent performance as an air traffic controller.

Air Traffic Control The Netherlands
Human Resource Management
Recruitment & Selection
Postbox 75200
1117 ZT Luchthaven Schiphol

Maybe this artist impression

inspires you to find out a few things on your own first.
Some other suggestions are:

visit the Netherlands Guild of Air Traffic Controllers

have a look at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

listen to live radiotelephony from, for instance, Australia or elsewhere.

ever seen so many simulators?

join the virtual world of ATC at your very own desk

learn more about the international community of aviation and air traffic controllers

even for the insider a pleasant brief explanation of how does it work?

solid recommendation is this e-learning goldmine maintained by Eurocontrol

once initiated by Didimon, an enthusiastic Transavia pilot who died much too soon, ATC box became very popular to monitor ATC frequencies It is no longer updated and gone into the internet history archive.

today this is the very best place to monitor ATC stations live

been busy in air traffic control training (Tower, Procedural, Approach and Area control)

the most famous and popular airport has been shut down years ago but iconic for the microsoft flightsimulator.

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