TagAir Traffic Control(133)

A white paper by Vianair, Inc. examining noise abatement procedures at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and proposing the development of a comprehensive Fly Quiet program to reduce aircraft noise impacts on surrounding residential communities.

This document is an invoice and monthly status report from ABCx2, LLC, a consulting firm based in Senoia, Georgia, billing the County of Arlington, Virginia $10,050.00 for consulting services rendered in April 2020. The work involved nine consultants logging a total of 34.5 hours across tasks such as Smartsheet setup, social media and web strategy planning, and setting up a DCA airspace model in collaboration with a company called Vianair. Note that this document pertains to Arlington County aviation-related consulting and does not appear to be directly related to Sea-Tac Airport noise policy.

FAA Order JO 7110.126A, effective September 28, 2019, updates the rules air traffic controllers use to maintain safe distances between aircraft based on wake turbulence — the invisible air disturbances generated by planes in flight. The order introduces a nine-category system that groups aircraft by size and wake behavior, replacing older weight-only classifications, and reduces required separation distances in cases where science has shown greater spacing is unnecessary, such as when one heavy aircraft follows another of lower wake intensity. Facilities like Sea-Tac must obtain FAA authorization, train all personnel, and update their systems before applying these revised standards.

FAA Order JO 7110.126A, effective September 28, 2019, updates the rules air traffic controllers use to maintain safe distances between aircraft to avoid wake turbulence. The order introduces a nine-category system for classifying aircraft by their wake turbulence characteristics, replacing older weight-based separation standards with more precise, data-driven minimums that can reduce unnecessary spacing between certain aircraft pairs. These updated standards are designed to improve traffic flow and runway efficiency at busy airports across the national airspace system.

This FAA Airport Capacity Profile for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) outlines the airport's runway configurations and hourly flight capacity under different weather conditions, including visual, marginal, and instrument scenarios. The document describes recent improvements such as Time-Based Flow Management and Reduced Diagonal Spacing, as well as future enhancements like improved runway delivery accuracy and Wake Recategorization Phase 2, all aimed at increasing the number of aircraft the airport can handle safely. Data covering December 2015 through December 2016 shows that visual conditions prevail 57% of the year, with instrument conditions occurring 25% of the time.

The ISBRG One Departure is an RNAV instrument departure procedure at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) available only between 10 PM and 6 AM local time, designed to route departing aircraft on specific northwestward flight paths. Aircraft departing runways 34L, 34C, and 34R follow assigned headings and waypoints—climbing to 940 feet, then proceeding through fixes such as WUREL, ATOME, BREMM, and ISBRG—while maintaining a top altitude of 9,000 feet. The procedure's nighttime-only restriction and structured routing reflect noise-abatement considerations for communities surrounding the airport.