Air Traffic Control: Comparing the Tower to the Air Route Traffic Control Center
The airspace that we fly through has to have a control function otherwise the chance that aircraft would collide with each other would be dramatically increased. In the United States the Federal Aviation Administration is in charge of the National Airspace System and controls this air space via the Air Traffic Control system (PHAK,2016). The Air Traffic Control system is broken down into many entities to ensure that one entity isn't overloaded with tasks. To better see how this system is broken down we can look two different entities and how they are similar and different. The entities I have chosen are Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) and the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) specifically the Tower component, so let us first look at how they both control their respective airspace.
The Air Route Traffic Control Center is in charge of all air routes beginning above 1200 AGL, IFR flights, and Class A airspace, they provide safe operations by assigning altitudes, speeds, separations, and aircraft tracking via radar (Air Route Traffic Control Center, 2020 & AIM, 2019). The Tower maintains safe airspace operation in the airspace in the vicinity of the airport (generally class B, C, and D airspace) and aircraft in the movement area of the airport by clearing take offs and landings and navigation through the airspace near the airport (AIM, 2019). Now that we know how each entity controls their respective airspace let us compare the two the entities.
Starting with the similarities, both entities control airspace to maintain safe operations by creating separations for aircraft, they monitor aircraft in their zones, and they use voice communication as the primary means of communication (AIM, 2019). The differences are that the ARTCC covers a much larger area of airspace and deal with IFR traffic en route between airports while the tower only has to deal with traffic close to or on the airport (AIM, 2019). The control centers don't have to have a view of an airport while the control tower has to be able to see the runway and airspace around the airport. By comparing the two entities we can see the similarities and differences and from that we can conclude that each plays a vital role in maintaining a safe operating environment. By separating the control of different parts of the airspace we reduce the chance of an accident by reducing the responsibility of one entity and spreading it out over many.
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