The New FAA: You're on your own out there

[Hold West]

This is clipped out of John Carr's blog. I'm copying it here because it's going to be an issue this summer, and because it goes a long way to tell you the mindset of the FAA drones in charge of air traffic these days:


“A nasty little problem appeared here at Kalamazoo, Michigan yesterday (5/10/06) as our tower cab, at the time, didn't have the required staffing in place for TIPH (taxi in position and hold) to be permitted as per the latest GENOT from FAA HQ.


"BAD weather just off the departure end of RWY35, very dark, low clouds SW-NE within one (1) mile of the airport. Lightning cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground, lots of wind gusts, tornado later reported SW of AZO. Two successive departures each asked the Local Controller (LC) if they can proceed out onto the runway to "take a look" with their onboard weather radar prior to departing. The LC approves each request. The manager is in the tower cab, but not certified on any positions.

"The manager sees what the LC is doing...goes back down to his office. Five minutes or so later, the watch sup (in TRACON) tells me to relieve the LC and have him report to the manager where the LC proceeds to get his *** chewed out (watch sup as witness) for permitting TIPH without "the required staffing" in place.

"Well now...while all that is happening downstairs, I'm in the same boat with more departures and the same WX. I do the same thing for the next two departures that ask me for time on the runway prior to rolling to see if they can find a hole to go through. Inbound traffic was never a factor during all four of these departures since we didn't have any inbounds at the time.

"To sum it up; Management says that no matter what kind of WX is in a departure's face, if staffing is such that TIPH is prohibited, we are to clear them for take-off and NOTHING ELSE! If they want to go...they go. If they don't want to go, they don't. There will be no "taking a look" and no subterfuge by using creative phraseology to accomplish TIPH without exactly saying it. I tried to emphasize to my management (sup & manager) that I do not launch departures into what appears to be severe WX without them getting an opportunity to have a look at it prior to rolling. It's bad enough that we use DTW's old ASR-8 that dates back to c.1967. It's an old analog presentation with very little to offer for severe WX days.

"Management, both here and elsewhere, seems to be lock-stepped into this mindset whereby FAA HQ dictates NO TIPH unless you have the bodies to split-off GC and someone else is CIC/Sup other than LC, PERIOD! No exceptions. And, nobody questions it! Facilities like mine daily and routinely are staffed so as to prohibit TIPH under the current staffing edict. Asinine? You bet! Foolish and unsafe? You’re two for two! When a tool, as simple as letting a departure (traffic permitting) utilize their own radar for a very short time on the runway in order to make a plan for which way to safely depart, is now unilaterally prohibited...something is VERY wrong. Safety just got thrown out with the bathwater.


"I was so upset about this yesterday that I had a tough time sleeping last night. I have 28 years with a CTO in my pocket and I've got to say that I've never seen FAA management so screwed-up as to have to operationally endure what we were *directly ordered* to do yesterday. My own feeling is that NTSB needs to be made aware of what happened here and that it will occur again and soon. The Nuremburg Defense is no excuse to launch a departure, possibly a low-time, recently qualified IFR driver, into severe WX while denying him/her the chance to take a good look at it first, on the runway, traffic permitting. We have done it that way for decades since the advent of on-board WX radar. Now, because of management edict, this is no longer allowed!”


Y'all be careful out there.

 

[Workin'Stiff]

Having flown into AZO more times than I care to count, those guys and gals do a great job up there. But I'm with the author when I say that I'm sure as h*ll not gonna plow into bad weather without being able to take a look at it first. That's just plain stupid.

 

[gkrangers]

What is required staffing for TIPH?

Do the staffing requirements differ between FAA towers and contract towers?

 

[FL420]

Thanks for bringing this subject up. I was wondering if, or more likely when, it was going to come to this.

Anybody with wx radar who doesn't pause a few moments to assess the wx situation on the takeoff path is asking for it. Many of the newer wx radars have windshear prediction capabilities that can provide a no-go indication when the airfield has no windshear detection capabilities.

I hope every pilot who asks for and is denied the opportunity to use their wx radar in appropriate situations because of some asinine bureaucratic reason will file a NASA ASRS report and an AvHazard report with Pro Pilot magazine. I will.

 

[ultrarunner]

When I'm cleared for TO, I'm going to take the runway. If I need to "take a look" before launch, I'm gonna do just that, and I don't need or require a TIPH clearance. If the LC doesn't feels I'm not launching quick enough, s/he can cancel my TO clearance, or if I don't feel it's safe to depart, I'll state that fact, and the LC can deal with that issue. Simple as that.

That's SOP for me. A TIPH clearance, or lack there of, is not going to degrade my decision making related to safety one bit.

 

[mrnolmts]

...If the LC doesn't feels I'm not launching quick enough, s/he can cancel my TO clearance, or if I don't feel it's safe to depart, I'll state that fact, and the LC can deal with that issue. Simple as that.
...

Well, it's not quite that simple. Often when there are thunderstorms around delaying departures, there is more than likely a line of 10+ airplanes forming, all waiting for the wx to get better. By not allowing a look/see, if you get "Cleared for Takeoff" and decide not to go, you can't just "sit there and wait". Bottom line is that, without a TIPH, you are now number last for T/O, since you have to taxi off the runway and take your space at the back of the line again. And, you might need a re-release from dispatch, etc...
So, it seems to me that the loss of TIPH is a bigger deal than you insinuate.

 

[ultrarunner]

Well, it's not quite that simple....Bottom line is that, without a TIPH, you are now number last for T/O, since you have to taxi off the runway and take your space at the back of the line again. And, you might need a re-release from dispatch, etc...
So, it seems to me that the loss of TIPH is a bigger deal than you insinuate.

Then so-be-it. If I gotta taxi off and go to the back of the line for a safety related decision, I'm ok with that.

I am not going to make the FAA's staffing problems my problems.

 

[Hold West]

What is required staffing for TIPH?

Do the staffing requirements differ between FAA towers and contract towers?

There is no standard. That's part of the problem with the FAA's "solution" to a non-problem. In March they issued a rule that banned TIPH. However, any tower that so desired could apply for a waiver to the "ban". In many cases, tower managers were ordered by their bosses to apply for a waiver. Each waiver will specify different conditions to be able to use TIPH - weather conditions, runway configurations, different phraseology that has to be used, and, as in the example above, towers may have to keep positions such as a cab coordinator manned. These positions may not have been staffed in the past and there may not be sufficient staffing to keep them open consistently now.

FAA mismanagement is continuing to allow the ATC system to deteriorate. This is just one more symptom.

 

[FN FAL]

All the more reason for real time based radar displays in airliners. Were getting the new garmin with real time ground radar and wx information. I can't wait untill they are in all of our aircraft.

 

[91100 100 set]

Runway 32 at BUF

BUF apparently has the same issue. A few months ago, they stopped issuing TIPH. With the bigger 5/23 closed until August or September, they are left with 32/14. The hold bar for 32 is around the corner, a little ways short of the the usual spot. They have started to instruct aircraft to "taxi around the corner, but hold short of the runway" after an arrival crosses the numbers. Usually, by the time you get there, the arrival has cleared and they clear you for takeoff. Sounds a little fishy, but whatever.