Photo By Senior Airman Donald Knechtel | Staff Sgt. Destiny Ortiz, 28th Operations Support Squadron airfield operations flight...... read more read more
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ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. - Ellsworth AFB is one of four bases testing a new Automatic Terminal Information Service Air Force wide.
The 28th Operations Support Squadron airfield operations flight updated the base’s ATIS Dec. 8, 2015, becoming the last selected base to test the upgraded technology.
Ellsworth was without runway weather alerts due to a system crash on Oct. 30, 2015. The flight immediately sought assistance in upgrading their current technology.
The ATIS broadcasts the airfield’s current runway weather conditions for more than 10 aircraft movements daily, playing an important role in aircraft flying operations by giving weather information pilots and air traffic controllers need before approach.
“It pulls the information from a weather server out of Randolph [Air Force Base, Texas] and types it up into verbiage,” said Staff Sgt. Destiny Ortiz, 28th OSS airfield operations flight tower watch supervisor. “Once we have the broadcast and send it out, anyone flying within a hundred mile radius can tune into the frequency and get the alert.”
With the system not broadcasting for about six weeks, the controllers used alternate ways to get out the alerts.
“During that time, the controllers had to read off the current conditions to each passing aircraft since there wasn't a broadcast readily available,” Said Staff Sgt. Cassandra Mallory, 28th OSS airfield operations flight NCO in charge of airfield systems maintenance. “This would take up quite a bit of time for the controller's, especially if it's a heavy flying day.”
The previous system was around for more than 20 years and overdue for an update, Mallory stated.
So, when the system went out, flight personnel called for an immediate replacement and the timing was perfect.
“The Air Force Flight Standards Agency, the organization that oversees all Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems equipment, was running [testing] for the [new version of the] ATIS for about six months before ours crashed,” Mallory said. “We were lucky enough they let us become one of their test [locations]; if not, it could have been another year and a half before we had gotten it updated.”
Over time, the ATIS grew more sophisticated, bringing new features to the table.
Previously, controllers would check runway weather status and submit the broadcast when they came into work. If the status didn’t change, they would leave the broadcast up all day until it changed.
Now, regardless of runway status, the new ATIS provides an update every hour that broadcasts to any aircraft in the 100-mile radius.
| Date Taken: | 01.27.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2016 10:25 |
| Story ID: | 187242 |
| Location: | SOUTH DAKOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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