There is a dire need of creation or realignment of the routes of one more sector in the airspace of the western area of the country in order to reduce the conflict points near the Pak-Afghan border. The air traffic controllers have highlighted safety issues in a letter written to the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority on January 30, stating that the authority is facing critical safety concerns.
“The creation of one more sector in LAH ACC/realignment of the routes to reduce the conflict points near Pak-Afghan border have been a requirement that has been highlighted a number of times by the controllers and various safety assessments,” the air traffic controllers stated in the letter.
They further highlighted the important areas where immediate attention of the CAA is needed to avoid any untoward incidents in near future. The major issue is that the area controller of west (at Lahore airports) is overburdened.
The issues the area controller confront include: large area to be scanned on the radar; limited/poor radar coverage; complex route structure; numerous conflict points in the close proximity of the Pak-Afghan border; increased number of conflicts as a result of the implementation of the RVSM in the KAB airspace.
Similarly, no discrete standby frequency is available for individual sectors, and the same is the case for standby satellite communication in case of satellite outage. The air traffic controllers further mentioned that the un-serviceability of the Pak Data Com Data on the January 1, when the satellite link was down, resulted in the total loss of radar data and satellite based communications for two hours.
“During this time no air traffic services could be provided in the area of maximum conflictions which is supposed to be most heavily guarded and watched airspace in the area control of the western area. During this period, the aircraft flew through this dangerous airspace at their own without any ATS being provided to them,” it was stated in the letter.
Besides, due to the shortage of manpower, the much needed extra sector could not be established, while the ‘rest relief’ as recommended by the CAA chief medical officer, cannot be provided, therefore, the fatigued controller is liable to make a mistake.
It was further stated that “this information had been conveyed to the concerned from time to time but no effort has been made in this regard”. Yet, they assured the authority of their support to provide best possible air traffic services in the national interest and the traveling public.
They submitted that air traffic controlling is a highly sensitive job which requires lot of training, dedication and concentration and a tension-free environment, as the growing air traffic density continuously demands a change/improvement in the air traffic control equipment, procedures and redesigning of the airspace and creation of more area control centres.
The air traffic controllers said the CAA and air traffic control of Pakistan enjoy a good reputation which has been lauded by the international community. They demanded that to improve and maintain this reputation, the constraints/deficiencies should be immediately removed in the interest of traveling public safety.
