A control tower is a tower-shaped building, at the top of which is a control room, from which the traffic of a port, an airport or a racing circuit is directed and controlled. The location and height of said control center are essential to see the entire area that must be controlled. The tallest control tower, currently, is that of Suvarnabhumi International Airport, 132.2 meters high.
Types of control towers
air control towers
The air control tower is the control center from where air traffic control is carried out in the area of an airport and its surroundings, that is, the control of taxiing (taxiing (aviation)), take-off, final approach and landing of aircraft.
The control towers are responsible for separating takeoffs and landings from each other, and from those who cross over their area without the intention of landing, by issuing authorizations that must be obeyed by the pilots. For these authorizations, the weight and speed of the aircraft are taken into account, ensuring that there is always a regulatory separation, or greater, between consecutive aircraft. Another criterion for assigning takeoff and landing slots is that the greatest number of aircraft take off and land in the minimum possible time, to reduce delays, which may frequently require that the aircraft not always take off in the same order in which they are ready, according to their speeds and performance.
Their work is complex, due to the large number of planes that transit and the atmospheric conditions that can alter said transit. For this, the aerodrome controller must necessarily have a view of all the aircraft in his communication before authorizing them to enter his airspace, know perfectly the geography of his sector and have wind and atmospheric pressure measurement equipment, at a minimum.
Complex automated systems are currently used that allow, under normal circumstances, the most common tasks to be carried out with little or no human participation. In this way, work is optimized and the probability of air accidents is reduced.
There are control towers that have qualified, trained and certified personnel 24 hours a day, and other towers with schedule limitations. Personnel can range from a single controller, to several people in the tower. Most commonly, there are two people in the control tower: a controller for aircraft and vehicle movements on the ground (known as Ground Control) and a controller for aircraft in the air (manned and unmanned airplanes, helicopters, balloons); but there may be other controllers such as a supervisor responsible for the operation of the station; or coordinators who are responsible for exchanging information related to aeronautical operations with other departments of the same airport, such as departure or approach control, or with other airports.
Control tower
Introduction
A control tower is a tower-shaped building, at the top of which is a control room, from which the traffic of a port, an airport or a racing circuit is directed and controlled. The location and height of said control center are essential to see the entire area that must be controlled. The tallest control tower, currently, is that of Suvarnabhumi International Airport, 132.2 meters high.
Types of control towers
air control towers
The air control tower is the control center from where air traffic control is carried out in the area of an airport and its surroundings, that is, the control of taxiing (taxiing (aviation)), take-off, final approach and landing of aircraft.
The control towers are responsible for separating takeoffs and landings from each other, and from those who cross over their area without the intention of landing, by issuing authorizations that must be obeyed by the pilots. For these authorizations, the weight and speed of the aircraft are taken into account, ensuring that there is always a regulatory separation, or greater, between consecutive aircraft. Another criterion for assigning takeoff and landing slots is that the greatest number of aircraft take off and land in the minimum possible time, to reduce delays, which may frequently require that the aircraft not always take off in the same order in which they are ready, according to their speeds and performance.
Their work is complex, due to the large number of planes that transit and the atmospheric conditions that can alter said transit. For this, the aerodrome controller must necessarily have a view of all the aircraft in his communication before authorizing them to enter his airspace, know perfectly the geography of his sector and have wind and atmospheric pressure measurement equipment, at a minimum.
Complex automated systems are currently used that allow, under normal circumstances, the most common tasks to be carried out with little or no human participation. In this way, work is optimized and the probability of air accidents is reduced.
The role of the ground controller is to give instructions for an aircraft or other vehicle to safely transit through the airport, usually in the direction of or from the runway.
The instructions that can be obtained from a ground controller include:
Track in use;
Wind direction and strength;
QNH - i.e. the barometric pressure at sea level at that time; or the QFE, which is the atmospheric pressure at the level of the aerodrome runway; The first (QNH) serves to refer to the elevation of the airport with respect to sea level and the second (QFE) to measure the height with respect to the touchdown point on the runway itself.
Air temperature;
Local time;
Visibility, expressed in meters, important information if there is fog in the sector.
Other essential information, such as current weather phenomena that may affect the safety of the flight, such as reporting dangers in the area, for example birds in the vicinity, weather balloons, gusts of wind, or turbulence, among others.
The controller who monitors traffic in the air is responsible for coordinating by radio or telephone with the Radar Office, thus receiving traffic arriving at the airport (and waiting for it visually), or handing over to Radar the surveillance of air traffic taking off from the airport.
The idea that the control tower is located so high is solely because it will be easier for controllers to see aircraft movements in the air or on the ground. That is to say, the control tower is an observation office in the first place (due to its height), and a management office in the second place (because it is equipped with radio devices).
Port control towers
Less widespread than those at airports, port control towers direct traffic in ports of a certain size, and compact enough for visual control from the tower to be effective.
There are control towers that have qualified, trained and certified personnel 24 hours a day, and other towers with schedule limitations. Personnel can range from a single controller, to several people in the tower. Most commonly, there are two people in the control tower: a controller for aircraft and vehicle movements on the ground (known as Ground Control) and a controller for aircraft in the air (manned and unmanned airplanes, helicopters, balloons); but there may be other controllers such as a supervisor responsible for the operation of the station; or coordinators who are responsible for exchanging information related to aeronautical operations with other departments of the same airport, such as departure or approach control, or with other airports.
The role of the ground controller is to give instructions for an aircraft or other vehicle to safely transit through the airport, usually in the direction of or from the runway.
The instructions that can be obtained from a ground controller include:
Track in use;
Wind direction and strength;
QNH - i.e. the barometric pressure at sea level at that time; or the QFE, which is the atmospheric pressure at the level of the aerodrome runway; The first (QNH) serves to refer to the elevation of the airport with respect to sea level and the second (QFE) to measure the height with respect to the touchdown point on the runway itself.
Air temperature;
Local time;
Visibility, expressed in meters, important information if there is fog in the sector.
Other essential information, such as current weather phenomena that may affect the safety of the flight, such as reporting dangers in the area, for example birds in the vicinity, weather balloons, gusts of wind, or turbulence, among others.
The controller who monitors traffic in the air is responsible for coordinating by radio or telephone with the Radar Office, thus receiving traffic arriving at the airport (and waiting for it visually), or handing over to Radar the surveillance of air traffic taking off from the airport.
The idea that the control tower is located so high is solely because it will be easier for controllers to see aircraft movements in the air or on the ground. That is to say, the control tower is an observation office in the first place (due to its height), and a management office in the second place (because it is equipped with radio devices).
Port control towers
Less widespread than those at airports, port control towers direct traffic in ports of a certain size, and compact enough for visual control from the tower to be effective.