If you observe or are informed of any condition which affects
the safe use of a landing area:
NOTE -
1 - The airport management/military operations office is responsible
for observing and reporting the condition of the landing area.
2 - It is the responsibility of the agency operating the airport to
provide the tower with current information regarding airport conditions.
3 - A disabled aircraft on a runway, after occupants are clear, is
normally handled by Flight Standards and airport management/military operations
office personnel in the same manner as any obstruction; e.g., construction
equipment.
a. Relay the information to the airport manager/military operations
office concerned.
b. Copy verbatim any information received and record the name
of the person submitting it.
c. Confirm information obtained from other than authorized airport
or FAA personnel unless this function is the responsibility of the military
operations office.
NOTE -
Civil airport managers are required to provide a list of airport employees
who are authorized to issue information concerning conditions affecting
the safe use of the airport.
d. If you are unable to contact the airport management or operator,
issue a NOTAM publicizing an unsafe condition and inform the management
or operator as soon as practicable.
EXAMPLE -
"Disabled aircraft on runway."
NOTE -
1 - Legally, only the airport management/military operations office
can close a runway.
2 - Military controllers are not authorized to issue NOTAM's. It is
the responsibility of the military operations office.
e. Issue to aircraft only factual information, as reported by
the airport management concerning the condition of the runway surface,
describing the accumulation of precipitation.
EXAMPLE -
"All runways covered by compacted snow six inches deep."
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-13.
3-3-2 Closed/Unsafe Runway Information
If an aircraft requests to takeoff, land, or touch-and-go on a
closed or unsafe runway, inform the pilot the runway is closed or unsafe,
and
a. If the pilot persists in his request, quote him the appropriate
parts of the NOTAM applying to the runway and inform him that a clearance
cannot be issued.
b. Then, if the pilot insists and in your opinion the intended
operation would not adversely affect other traffic, inform him that the
operation will be at his own risk.
PHRASEOLOGY -
RUNWAY (runway number) CLOSED/UNSAFE.
If appropriate,
(quote NOTAM information), UNABLE TO ISSUE DEPARTURE/LANDING/TOUCH-AND-GO
CLEARANCE.
DEPARTURE/LANDING/TOUCH-AND-GO WILL BE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
c. Except as permitted by paragraph 4-8-7, Side-Step Maneuver,
where parallel runways are served by separate ILS/MLS systems and one of
the runways is closed, the ILS/MLS associated with the closed runway should
not be used for approaches unless not using the ILS/MLS would have an adverse
impact on the operational efficiency of the airport.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Landing Clearance, paragraph 3-10-5.
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-13.
Issue airport condition information necessary for an aircraft's
safe operation in time for it to be useful to the pilot. Include the following,
as appropriate:
a. Construction work on or immediately adjacent to the movement
area.
b. Rough portions of the movement area.
c. Braking conditions caused by ice, snow, slush, or water.
d. Snowdrifts or piles of snow on or along the edges of the area
and the extent of any plowed area.
e. Parked aircraft on the movement area.
f. Irregular operation of part or all of the airport lighting
system.
g. Volcanic ash on any airport surface area and whether the ash
is wet or dry (if known).
NOTE -
Braking action on wet ash may be degraded. Dry ash on the runway may
necessitate minimum use of reverse thrust.
h. Other pertinent airport conditions.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-12.
FAAO 7110.65, Reporting Essential Flight Information, paragraph 2-1-9.
FAAO 7110.65, Altitude Restricted Low Approach, paragraph 3-10-10.
Furnish quality of braking action, as received from pilots or
the airport management, to all aircraft as follows:
a. Describe the quality of braking action using the terms "good,"
"fair," "poor," "nil," or a combination of these terms. If the pilot or
airport management reports braking action in other than the foregoing terms,
ask him to categorize braking action in these terms.
NOTE -
The term "nil" is used to indicate bad or no braking action.
b. Include type of aircraft or vehicle from which the report
is received.
EXAMPLE -
"Braking action fair to poor, reported by a heavy D-C Ten."
"Braking action poor, reported by a Boeing Seven Twenty-seven."
c. If the braking action report affects only a portion of a runway,
obtain enough information from the pilot or airport management to describe
the braking action in terms easily understood by the pilot.
EXAMPLE -
"Braking action poor first half of runway, reported by a Lockheed Ten
Eleven."
"Braking action poor beyond the intersection of Runway Two Seven, reported
by a Boeing Seven Twenty-seven."
NOTE -
Descriptive terms, such as the first or the last half of the runway,
should normally be used rather than landmark descriptions, such as opposite
the fire station, south of a taxiway, etc. Landmarks extraneous to the
landing runway are difficult to distinguish during low visibility, at night,
or anytime a pilot is busy landing an aircraft.
d. Furnish runway friction measurement readings/values as received
from airport management to aircraft as follows:
1. Furnish information as received from the airport management
to pilots on the ATIS at locations where friction measuring devices, such
as MU-Meter, Saab Friction Tester (SFT), and Skiddometer are in use. Use
the runway followed by the MU number for each of three runway segments,
time of report, and a word describing the cause of the runway friction
problem.
EXAMPLE -
"RUNWAY TWO SEVEN, MU FORTY-TWO, FORTY-ONE, TWENTY-EIGHT AT ONE ZERO
ONE EIGHT ZULU, ICE."
2. Issue the runway surface condition and/or the Runway Condition
Reading (RCR), if provided, to all USAF and ANG aircraft. Issue the RCR
to other aircraft upon pilot request.
EXAMPLE -
"Ice on runway, RCR zero five, patchy."
NOTE -
1 - USAF has established RCR procedures for determining the average
deceleration readings of runways under conditions of water, slush, ice,
or snow. The use of the RCR code is dependent upon the pilot's having a
"stopping capability chart" specifically applicable to his aircraft.
2 - USAF offices furnish RCR information at airports serving USAF and
ANG aircraft.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-12.
FAAO 7110.65, Braking Action Advisories, paragraph 3-3-5.
3-3-5 Braking Action Advisories
a. When runway braking action reports are received from pilots
or the airport management which include the terms "poor" or "nil" or whenever
weather conditions are conducive to deteriorating or rapidly changing runway
conditions, include on the ATIS broadcast the statement "Braking Action
Advisories are in effect."
{New-98-3 Revised February 26, 1998}
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7210.3, Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS),
paragraph 10-4-1.
b. During the time Braking Action Advisories are in effect, take
the following action:
1. Issue the latest braking action report for the runway in
use to each arriving and departing aircraft early enough to be of benefit
to the pilot. When possible, include reports from heavy jet aircraft when
the arriving or departing aircraft is a heavy jet.
2. If no report has been received for the runway of intended
use, issue an advisory to that effect.
PHRASEOLOGY -
NO BRAKING ACTION REPORTS RECEIVED FOR RUNWAY (runway number).
3. Advise the airport management that runway braking action
reports of "poor" or "nil" have been received.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7210.3, Letters of Agreement, paragraph 4-3-1.
4. Solicit PIREPs of runway braking action.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, PIREP Information, paragraph 2-6-3.
c. Include runway friction measurement/values received from airport
management on the ATIS. Furnish the information when requested by the pilot
in accordance with paragraph 3-3-4, Braking Action.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Content, paragraph 2-9-3.
FAAO 7110.65, Departure Information, paragraph 3-9-1.
FAAO 7110.65, Landing Information, paragraph 3-10-1.
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-13.
3-3-6 Arresting System Operation
a. For normal operations, arresting systems remotely controlled
by air traffic control shall remain in the retracted or down position.
NOTE -
1 - USN Runway Arresting Gear Barriers are not operated by air traffic
control personnel. Readiness/rigging of the equipment is the responsibility
of the operations department.
2 - A request to raise a barrier or hook cable means the barrier or
cable on the departure end of the runway. If an approach end engagement
is required, the pilot or military authority will specifically request
that the approach end cable be raised.
{New-98-3 Revised February 26, 1998}
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7610.4, Section 3. Aircraft Arresting System, SFA, SFO,
CELNAV, paragraphs 9-31 through 9-35.
b. Raise aircraft arresting systems whenever:
1. Requested by a pilot.
NOTE -
The standard emergency phraseology for a pilot requesting an arresting
system to be raised for immediate engagement is "Barrier - Barrier - Barrier"
or "Cable - Cable - Cable."
2. Requested by military authority; e.g., airfield manager,
supervisor of flying, mobile control officer, etc.
NOTE -
USAF: Web barriers at the departure end of the runway may remain in
the up position when requested by the senior operational commander. The
IFR en route supplement and AP-1 will describe specific barrier configuration.
ATC will advise transient aircraft of the barrier configuration using the
phraseology in paragraph c below.
3. A military jet aircraft is landing with known or suspected
radio failure or conditions (drag chute/hydraulic/electrical failure, etc.)
that indicate an arresting system may be needed. Exceptions are authorized
for military aircraft which cannot engage an arresting system (C-9, C-141,
C-5, T-39, etc.) and should be identified in a letter of agreement and/or
appropriate military directive.
c. When requested by military authority due to freezing weather
conditions or malfunction of the activating mechanism, the barrier/cable
may remain in a raised position provided aircraft are advised.
PHRASEOLOGY -
YOUR DEPARTURE/LANDING WILL BE TOWARD/OVER A RAISED BARRIER/CABLE ON
RUNWAY (number), (location, distance, as appropriate).
d. Inform civil and U.S. Army aircraft whenever rubber supported
cables are in place at the approach end of the landing runway, and include
the distance of the cables from the threshold. This information may be
omitted if it is published in the "Notices to Airmen" publication / DOD
FLIP.
EXAMPLE -
"Runway One Four arresting cable one thousand feet from threshold."
e. When arresting system operation has been requested, inform
the pilot of the indicated barrier/cable position.
PHRASEOLOGY -
(Identification), BARRIER/CABLE INDICATES UP/DOWN. CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF
/ TO LAND.
f. Time permitting, advise pilots of the availability of all
arresting systems on the runway in question when a pilot requests barrier
information.
g. If an aircraft engages a raised barrier/cable, initiate crash
alarm procedures immediately.
h. For preplanned practice engagements not associated with emergencies,
crash alarm systems need not be activated if - in accordance with local
military operating procedures - all required notifications are made before
the practice engagement.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-13.
3-3-7 Far Field Monitor (FFM) Remote Status Unit
a. Background.
1. To meet the demand for more facilities capable of operating
under CAT III weather, Type II equipment is being upgraded to Integrity
Level 3. This integrity level will support operations which place a high
degree of reliance on ILS guidance for positioning through touchdown.
2. Installation of the FFM remote status indicating units is
necessary to attain the integrity necessary to meet internationally agreed
upon reliability values in support of CAT III operations on Type II ILS
equipment. The remote status indicating unit used in conjunction with Type
II equipment adds a third integrity test; thereby, producing an approach
aid which has integrity capable of providing Level 3 service.
3. The remote status sensing unit, when installed in the tower
cab, will give immediate indications of localizer out of tolerance conditions.
The alarm in the FFM remote status sensing unit indicates an inoperative
or an out of tolerance localizer signal; e.g., the course may have shifted
due to equipment malfunction or vehicle/aircraft encroachment into the
critical area.
b. Procedures.
1. Operation of the FFM remote sensing unit will be based on
the prevailing weather. The FFM remote sensing unit shall be operational
when the weather is below CAT I ILS minimums.
2. When the weather is less than that required for CAT I operations,
the GRN-27 FFM remote status sensing unit shall be set at:
(a) "CAT II" when the RVR is less than 2,400 feet;
(b) "CAT III" when the RVR is less than 1,200 feet.
3. When the remote status unit indicates that the localizer
FFM is in alarm (aural warning following the preset delay) and:
(a) The aircraft is outside the middle marker (MM), check
for encroachment those portions of the critical area that can be seen from
the tower. It is understood that the entire critical area may not be visible
due to low ceilings and poor visibility. The check is strictly to determine
possible causal factors for the out of tolerance situation. If the alarm
has not cleared prior to the aircraft's arriving at the MM, immediately
issue an advisory that the FFM remote status sensing unit indicates the
localizer is unreliable.
(b) The aircraft is between the MM and the inner marker
(IM), immediately issue an advisory that the FFM remote status sensing
unit indicates the localizer is unreliable.
PHRASEOLOGY -
CAUTION, MONITOR INDICATES RUNWAY (number) LOCALIZER UNRELIABLE.
(c) The aircraft has passed the IM, there is no action
requirement. Although the FFM has been modified with filters which dampen
the effect of false alarms, you may expect alarms when aircraft are located
between the FFM and the localizer antenna either on landing or on takeoff.
REFERENCE -
FAAO 7110.65, Airport Conditions, paragraph 4-7-13.