An experimental environment is described for research in remote surveillance and control of several small airports from a central location. Since 2004 a corresponding Remote Tower Operation (RTO) testbed has been realized by the German Aerospace Center at the Braunschweig research airport [1]. Technical as well as human factors aspects of the Remote Airport Traffic Control Center (RTC) are inve...

The paper proposes the concept and analyses possible application of augmented reality technologies in an airport control tower. Augmented reality overlays computer generated graphics over real objects in the surrounding environment. To explore the applicability of Augmented Reality technology into the airport tower environment we have performed the field study using the video camera mounted on ...

An object-oriented model of an airport has been developed to assess the parallel object-oriented speciication language Maude. The model includes airplanes, gates, baggage handling, ground control and tower and has been implemented on the OBJ3 system, which serves as a rudimentary interpreter for Maude. We discuss two ways of specifying objects and present two notions of behavioral reenement in ...

This paper focuses on the role which workload can play for work organisation in a future remote control tower center. Nowadays you can find a control tower next to each airport. A tower is equipped with a team of controllers which maintain the declared surface movement rate under all weather conditions within the aerodrome visibility operational level (AVOL) while maintaining the required level...

In recent years the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has made reduction of runway incursions a priority for surface operations throughout the national airspace system. In a series of experiments conducted in April 2001, NASA studied alternatives designed to improve the efficient movement of surface traffic and reduce runway incursions at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The experim...

There has been growing interest in using electronic alternatives to the paper Flight Progress Strip (FPS) for air traffic control. However, most research has been centered on radar-based control environments, and has not considered the unique operational needs of the airport air traffic control tower. Based on an analysis of the human factors issues for control tower Decision Support Tool (DST)...

Recent proposals for new air traffic control have suggested that advanced digital video technology may remove the need for air traffic controllers to be present in airport towers. In the future airport traffic in particular at small airports may be controlled from a remote location without the need for a physical tower building (Fürstenau & Schulz-Rueckert 2010). Since preliminary investigation...

Jonathan M. Stern is Chair of the DRI Aerospace Law Committee. He practices aerospace and insurance coverage law with Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, where he is resident in the Firm’s Washington, DC, office. Mr. Stern, who holds FAA-issued commercial pilot, control tower operator, and ground instructor certificates, was formerly an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport and...

The Surface Management System (SMS) is a decision support tool that helps tower traffic coordinators and Ground/Local controllers manage and control airport surface traffic in order to increase capacity, efficiency, and flexibility. SMS provides common situation awareness to personnel at various air traffic control facilities such as air traffic control towers (ATCTs), airline ramp towers, the ...

U-turn maneuver is a special taxiing behavior on the ground. This paper studied the behavior and aimed to research the problem of position and attitude during the movement. From the perspective of airport tower control simulation, the calculation methods that the aircraft did U-turn maneuver under the nonholonomic constraints were proposed. According to the real geometrical constraints and kine...