Miller's rule
states that a human mind can handle seven plus minus one things in his
/ her mind at the same time .If the number increases the human mind
groups these items so that the number of groups remain less than seven
plus minus one (attention span).
Grouping things according to a certain point of view is called
abstraction. You can group the things first then you can group the
groups next and so on. This process of grouping as per certain point
of view is called abstraction and Air Traffic Control is a super
abstraction. ATC systems are really huge and complex dynamic systems
which require safe attentive handling of a very complex dynamic
process. In airspace with a lower volume of traffic, ATCOs will
require pilots to navigate their aircraft on published routes which
have been designed to be separated from each other. Controllers may
require pilots to fly their aircraft at certain speeds or with certain
minimum or maximum speeds to maintain separation between aircraft on
these routes. When the amount of traffic in a particular volume of
airspace reaches a certain level making it impossible to keep aircraft
following set routes separated, particularly where aircraft are
climbing and descending,
Controllers use "RADAR VECTORS" to tactically keep
aircraft separated in the sky. A very specialized kind of skill is
required to use RADAR and impart Air Traffic Control. It is like
playing a 3D chess. A Radar Controller issues "headings" to the
aircraft to assign the way the Controller expects the aircraft to fly.
And safely.
Radar Controllers are really the true guardians of the skies and soul
of the ATC shift at any point of time. Being the senior member in the
ATC shift who can visually see the moving aircraft on his or her Radar
display, he directs the pilot by his clearances during landing, take
off or Enroute phases of the flight in the safest possible ways. He
helps them navigate through bad weather patches and other potential
hazards.
Let me now recount an incident which happened some time ago in Chennai
ACC. During a night duty round a Controller on duty received a very
frightened and shaken "MAY DAY" call from an Airbus Commander who had
just departed from Chennai for an International destination and was
expected to be flying over the high seas. What had happened was the
flight was rapidly losing altitude and was not sure where he was. The
Commander was in panic and sought Radar help. The moment the Radar
Controller had said" identified" to the distraught pilot, the pilot
was reassured. The very expert and proficient Radar Controller and
shift in charge assigned him only "one heading" .That heading was
sufficient to make the aircraft land back on the usable and available
runway in Chennai.
There are many a times when Radar Controllers have provided assistance
to the distraught pilots and helped them land back in the minimum
possible time to safety at a time when the aircraft machine has failed
or pilot has suffered a heart attack or a serious stroke rendering the
pilot serious disability. The RADAR CONTOLLER is one HUMANE GOD who
silently keeps surveillance on all the small blips that are aircraft
on his radar screen and prevents them from bumping into each other by
his COMMANDMENTS of HEADINGS. This true HERO is the soul of MODERN DAY
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL. Let us salute this guardian angel of the skies.