jmcmanna

I'm an approach controller at a TRACON that serves a major airport. When we are doing simultaneous parallel instrument approaches, the aircraft is instructed to contact the tower before losing 1000' separation with the airplane on the parallel runway. Of course, there is a controller in the TRACON monitoring the final to take action of someone comes off the localizer, and that controller has the capability to override the tower controller.

I'm not familiar with how this procedure works at other big airports with similar configurations, but I am assuming it's pretty much the same thing.

I have a concern with what happens once approach instructs the pilot to contact the tower way out there (usually between a 16 and 25 mile final), specifically when the tower is using a single runway for both arriving and departing aircraft.

If the arriving aircraft does not check in on frequency before losing 1000' vertical separation with the aircraft on the parallel final, the FAA considers it a loss of separation and the controller working the monitor position buys the error. When an aircraft is approaching that position and has not yet checked on, the controller will reach out on the frequency to verify the aircraft is in fact on the frequency. If they're not, we're supposed to break the other aircraft on the parallel runway off the approach.

The issue is that by doing this, the controller is tying up the tower controller's frequency during critical moments, like when an aircraft is holding in position with another aircraft inside of a 3-mile final. If I am listening, I know that the tower just loaded the runway, but because the frequency is so congested, an arrival 20 miles out hasn't yet checked in. I have to either block the frequency to see if he's there so I don't have a deal, or wait till there's a natural break in the action, in which I will have a loss of separation. It's compounded by low IFR days. I would imagine that on a 1200 RVR day, some aircraft may not see someone holding on the runway in time to go around.

The purpose of this post is to ask what the pilot community's thoughts are on this type of operation. I don't like being put in the position of having to break in on the frequency, and I think in some cases a pilot legitimately can't find a break on the frequency to check in between when approach switches them to the tower and the point at which a loss of separation occurs because of frequency congestion.

Does anyone have any firsthand experience on this?

JamesNoBrakes

Well, I've heard we do "eat our own" in the FAA, but I'd also have to imagine an investigation would be initiated and it would be discovered that the airplane failed to contact before losing that 1000', so in the end you'd be cleared or get a letter of no-action? I don't know how things work in ATO all that much though.

ToastAir

Are you running simultaneous or stagger? The tracon where I worked used PRM. They could be side by side (closely spaced parallel runways) at the same altitude but there was a no transgression zone the final monitors were responsible for. Our procedure required aircraft to be established on final with 1000' vertical. We also required a second frequency. There were procedures to ensure frequency change to tower was complete by a certain milage. The change over point was about 12-15 miles. Switching much further than that puts a lot of aircraft on tower freq especially if you're doing line up and wait and takes the opportunity away from the radar guy to fix things. I'm guessing a lot of adjustment final needs to do are in that 10-25 mile range.

ToastAir

I guess you haven't been around very long. Of course there is always ATSAP.