ATM - Liaison sans Synergy

If the Indian ATC persists in adopting a rigid and inflexible attitude in dealing with foreign aircraft, it will, in all likelihood, be relegated to being the ‘pariahs’ of the industry

Not much has been spoken, written or thought about the role air traffic control (ATC) plays in aviation. As a result, a component of aviation, which has an unparalled potential, lies unrecognised and untapped. To be fair, ATC as an arm of aviation has not received its due share of recognition at least in the Indian environment. By itself, it has the capability of altering the aviation envelope beyond the imagination of aviation ‘think tanks’. ATC has three components, technology, human resources and procedural skills. A combination of the three can inject safety, comfort and confidence in the air much to the delight of pilots. Considerable time has been devoted to technology, procedures and training but only abroad. As in most other fields, the benefits of research have not touched the Indian aviation scene. Hence, the Indian airspace remains chaotic, noisy, relatively unsafe and turbulent.

Infrastructure, training and crew resource management, aid airline pilots in India to cope with the prevalent air traffic environment. However, the business aviation fraternity is handicapped by the absence of these conveniences. Unlike in the airline industry, business aviation pilots do not fly to the same destination day after day, at fixed times on the same route, operating out of the same stands into familiar airfields. Business aviation pilots confront new challenges on a daily basis. Flying at short notice, ever demanding passengers, new destinations, untimely departures, the absence of ground support, unfriendly regulatory environment and ‘not-so-knowledgeable’ managements make life adventurous for a business aviation pilot. Negotiating weather as also coping with maintenance and flying skills, is a given. In such a scenario where safety has a high premium and the cargo priceless, an efficient ATC can add oodles of comfort to a business aviation pilot.

Departure from Mumbai

It was a midnight departure for Neale from Mumbai. He and his crew of four had a long way to go in their Gulfstream 550—destination San Diego in the USA. But no sweat, as they were in the most modern corporate jet ever designed and endowed with every bit of technology ever invented. The crew had a total experience of 14,000 hours. The passengers, rich and famous, were in the safest possible hands onboard the best possible machine. The take-off was scheduled for 0100 hours. The mild drizzle with passing showers posed no serious problem. They reached two hours ahead of scheduled departure. Experience had inculcated the wisdom that ‘to be on time means you are already late’. Pouring over briefings and the computerised flight plans, the crew waited patiently for their rendezvous with customs and immigration. And then came the first of the hurdles.

The ATC had a shift change and hence a delay of half an hour at least. Patience is one of the virtues a business aviation pilot has in abundance. Delays are factored into the assembly time. Over a period of time, Neale and his colleagues had learnt that in India, almost everyone is out to sabotage the flight plan of a business aviation pilot. Navigating through them demanded high level of negotiating skills and patience. Next was the second bombshell. The ATC would like to see the Captain in person in the briefing. Time was running out. The customs were not in sight. The Captain could go to the ATC while the customs and immigration arrived. But that was not possible. The handler told them with glee. The ‘infamous Indian bureaucracy’ was at work and had just put its best foot forward. The ATC would like to see a ‘General Declaration’ and Passenger Manifest stamped by the customs along with the clearance form and the Captain in person.

It was pouring and the ATC was about 30 minutes drive in a car with speed governed up to 20 kmph. While Neale was busy working out the time factor, his colleagues, Mike and Greg, were watching in bewilderment. Nowhere in the world had they seen such a high demand for a pilot by the ATC. While they could file a flight plan from Luton to San Diego online sitting in Mumbai, they wondered why they could not file a flight plan from Mumbai to London. More perplexing was the fact that while a domestic flight plan could be filed online, an international flight had to be filed manually and in person by the Captain.

Having surrendered to bureaucratic might, Neale trudged his way to the ATC in the rain along with an amused handling agent. There were no visible signs of welcome. Neale waited patiently. After a few moments, he was asked to enter some infructuous data into a register and sign for the weather and the communication briefings. A call from the handler told him that the passengers had reached the terminal. A polite request to the briefing officer and Neale was told he could leave. Neale sprinted in the rain and got into the waiting car. After another few minutes, the handler returned asking Neale if he could come back to the briefing since the ‘briefing officer would like to know the ‘entry’ and ‘exit’ points and required another signature. Neale walked back patiently to the briefing in the rain. A good 10 minutes later, Neale was back in the car on his way to the aircraft. He managed to reach just after the passengers did.

A walk around the aircraft for external checks and Neale was in the cockpit. A thorough check of the cockpit and the flight plan took him 25 minutes before the crew was ready. Mike, the pilot on the right seat, asked for clearance from the delivery. And Neale got the shock of his life when he heard the flight plan was not in the system. A flurry of phone calls followed. Something sacred, called an Air Defence Clearance (ADC) number was awaited. Ex-Sergeant Thomas was roped in to help. Being an ex-Air Force ‘Air Defence Safety Operator’, he used his connections and obtained the ADC number in 10 minutes. Both the expat pilots were wondering what the excitement was all about. But then they had by now got more than a peep into the Indian ‘red tapism’. In pouring rain, the Gulfstream 550 VT-BRS departed Mumbai on its 9,300 nm journey which incidentally involved a refuelling halt at Luton in London. The Indian bureaucracy had tried hard but the tenacious pilots had won the day.

A Lesson to Take Home

Date: June 28, 2012; Venue: Las Vegas International Airport. Neale and his crew had finished their checks and were waiting for the arrival of passengers who had requested Neale if he could fly low over the ‘Grand Canyon’ for an aerial view. Experience in flying the ‘rich and famous’ had taught Neale that a good corporate pilot never says ‘no’ to his passenger. Flight path to the ‘Grand Canyon’ required him to fly a track conflicting with aircraft approaching Las Vegas.

Neale and Mike waited with bated breath. The passengers had intimated that they had to catch a cruise boat at Fort Lauderdale, their destination. Hence time was of essence. Fortunately, the passengers arrived on time. The doors were closed with 25 minutes to spare. Mike asked for clearance. And then they were shocked. The flight plan was not in the system; hence they could not get a ‘clearance’. A flurry of phone calls to the handler at Bengaluru followed. Time was at a premium. The passengers were all excited about flying over the ‘Grand Canyon’, but there was no flight plan. The handler in India insisted the plan was filed but the ‘delivery’ said it did not have it. Maintaining his calm, Mike changed frequency and asked the controller if he could take the plan verbally. The sweet and warm voice on the radio welcomed VT-BRS and asked for the route. And in precisely two minutes, the plan was in the system and Mike had the ‘clearance’.

VT-BRS was up and away. The more demanding task was yet to come. At its peak, the McCarran International Airport at Las Vegas probably has more traffic than Mumbai. Expecting approval of a flight path against arriving traffic was beyond the expectations of the crew. A hesitant request was made. They got a reply that their request would be passed on. A few moments later they were pleasantly surprised, when the radar controller asked VT-BRS to change course. In the midst of heavy density traffic, the controller vectored VT-BRS over the ‘Grand Canyon’. After confirming that the passengers had a good view, the radar controller wished the passengers and the crew a pleasant flight and put it back on the flight path. The aircraft landed at the destination on time and the passengers boarded their cruise ship as scheduled. Never before had the experienced crew of VTBRS witnessed such professional control. Despite the heavy traffic, the radar controller had gone out of his way to make the flight a pleasant experience for the crew and the passengers of VT-BRS. It was a lesson for the crew.