GENERAL INFORMATION

NARRATIVE

[O] On June 23, 1998, about 1601 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-31 Navajo, N711LD, and Grayhawk 06, a Navy Grumman E-2, were involved in an air traffic control (ATC) operational error, which occurred about 20 miles southwest of Bradford, Pennsylvania. Both airplanes were operating on instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plans under control of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) Bradford sector. Grayhawk 06 was northbound, en route from Norfolk, Virginia, to Wellsville, New York, and N711LD was westbound, en route from Elmira, New York, to Akron, Ohio. The two airplanes passed within 2 miles horizontally and 100 feet vertically. [Recommendations] A-00-26. Provide air traffic controllers with annual refresher training designed to ensure that they understand the relationship between National Air Space (NAS) and Enhanced Traffic Management Systems (ETMS), including an overview of ETMS predictive functions, the data flow and message types exchanged between NAS and ETMS, and the various factors that may affect the accuracy of ETMS predictions. [Responses] FAA LTR DTD: 6/9/00 To address this safety recommendation in the short term, the FAA will include a mandatory briefing item in an Air Traffic Bulletin on the relationship between the National Airspace and the Enhanced Traffic Management Systems for all en route air traffic control personnel. It is anticipated that the Air Traffic Bulletin will be issued by August 2000. In the long term, the FAA plans to develop a computer-based instruction (CBI) lesson to address this safety issue. The CBI lesson will be added to the annual air traffic control specialist's refresher training requirements by May 1, 2001. I will keep the Board informed of the FAA's progress on this safety recommendation. NTSB LTR DTD: 10/24/00 The FAA states that it will include a mandatory briefing item in an Air Traffic Bulletin on the relationship between the NAS and the ETMS for all en route ATC personnel, and that it plans to develop a computer-based instruction (CBI) lesson to address this safety issue. Pending issuance of the mandatory briefing item and the addition of the CBI to the ATC specialist's refresher training requirements, Safety Recommendation A-00-26 is classified "Open Acceptable Response." FAA LTR DTD: 3/2/01 To address this safety recommendation in the short term, the FAA included a mandatory briefing item in an Air Traffic Bulletin (Issue #2000-5). This article explains the limitations of the monitor alert parameter (MAP) tool. The FAA did not describe the relationship of the enhanced traffic management system (ETMS) to the National Airspace because controllers/supervisors are a part of the national airspace system and already work with ETMS. The purpose of the article is to heighten controllers'/supervisors' awareness of the limitations of the ETMS. Limitations were identified that could result in an ETMS indication, specifically MAP, that a sector is less busy than it actually is or will be. The intent of the article is to explain that the MAP is a useful tool, but not an exact indication of what is happening or what will happen in a specific sector. I have enclosed a copy of the article for the Board's information. For the long term, the FAA has developed a CBI course, which is currently being evaluated by personnel from the Office of Air Traffic Systems Development, traffic management specialists, and the manufacturer for effectiveness. If it is determined that the CBI course is acceptable, it will be distributed to en route air traffic control facilities, and later distributed to the supervisory and support personnel. The successful completion of the CBI training will be documented in accordance with FAA Order 3120.4, Air Traffic Technical Training. I will keep the Board informed of the FAA's progress on this safety recommendation. NTSB LTR DTD: 7/25/01 The FAA reports that, to address this recommendation in the short term, it included a mandatory briefing item in an Air Traffic Bulletin (Issue #2000-5). This article explains the limitations of the MAP tool. The FAA states that the purpose of the article is to heighten controllers'/supervisors' awareness of the limitations of the ETMS, such as those identified that could result in an ETMS indication, specifically MAP, that a sector is less busy than it actually is or will be. The FAA further states that the intent of the article is to explain that the MAP is a useful tool but not an exact indication of what is happening or what will happen in a specific sector. The FAA reports that it has developed a CBI course for the long term, which is currently being evaluated, and that once it determines that the CBI course is acceptable, it will be distributed to en route ATC facilities and supervisory and support personnel. Pending completion of the CBI course evaluation and its distribution to en route ATC facilities and supervisory and support personnel, Safety Recommendation A-00-26 remains classified "Open Acceptable Response." FAA LTR DTD: 11/13/01 To address this safety recommendation in the short term, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) included a mandatory briefing item to explain the limitations of the monitor alert parameter (MAP) tool. The purpose of the article was to heighten controllers/supervisors awareness of the limitations of the enhanced traffic management system (ETMS). Limitations were identified that could result in an ETMS indication, specifically MAP, that a sector is less busy than it actually is or will be. The intent of the article was to explain that the MAP is a useful tool, but not an exact indication of what is happening or what will happen in a specific sector. As a result of the Spring/Summer 2000 review and the Spring/Summer 2001 initiative to decrease delays, the ETMS has continued to evolve. ETMS 7.1 upgrade to ETMS 7.2 was completed in May 2001. Final evolution to ETMS 7.3 is scheduled for November 2001. Following ETMS 7.3 installation, ETMS 7.4 is scheduled for March 2002. For the long term, the FAA has developed a computer-based instruction (CBI) course, which is currently being evaluated by personnel from the Office of Air Traffic Systems Development, traffic management specialists, and the manufacturer for effectiveness. If it is determined that the CBI course is acceptable, it will be distributed to en route air traffic control facilities and later distributed to the supervisory and support personnel. With these continual changes to the system, implementation of the CBI training platform is scheduled for March 2002. The successful completion of the CBI training will be documented in accordance with FAA Order 3120.4, Air Traffic Technical Training. I will keep the Board informed of the FAA's progress on this safety recommendation. NTSB LTR DTD: 6/14/02 The FAA reports that to address this safety recommendation in the short term, it included an article in the mandatory briefing items for ATC personnel. The article explains the limitations of the monitor alert parameter (MAP) tool, and heightens controllers/supervisors awareness of the limitations of ETMS. The article indicates that the limitations could result in an ETMS indication, specifically a MAP indication, that a sector is less busy than it actually is or will be. The FAA further states that the intent of the article was to explain that MAP is a useful tool, but not an exact indication of what is happening or what will happen in a specific sector. The FAA reports that for the long term, it has developed a computer-based instruction (CBI) course, which it is currently evaluating. The FAA states that if it determines that the CBI course is acceptable, the course will be distributed to en route ATC facilities and then to supervisory and support personnel. Pending completion of the CBI course evaluation and its distribution to en route ATC facilities and to supervisory and support personnel, Safety Recommendation A-00-26 remains classified "Open Acceptable Response." FAA LTR DTD: 3/24/03 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) developed an Enhanced Traffic Management Systems computer-based instruction (CBI) training course. This CBI training course is distributed to en route air traffic control facilities, supervisory, and support personnel simultaneously with every new upgrade of Enhanced Traffic Management Systems. The successful completion of the CBI training will be documented in accordance with FAA Order 3120.4, Air Traffic Technical Training. I believe that the FAA has satisfactorily responded to this safety recommendation, and I look forward to your response. NTSB LTR DTD: 6/10/03 The Safety Board notes that the FAA has completed the ETMS computer-based instruction course. We appreciate the FAA's work in producing the course. The inclusion of this course in the annual refresher training requirements via FAA Order 3120.4, "Air Traffic Technical Training," satisfies Safety Recommendation A-00-26, which is classified "Closed-Acceptable Action." 5

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