ATC Tester

This part of the PBN Portal targets operational air traffic controllers. It provides a PBN overview allowing controllers to acquire an appreciation of what they NEED TO KNOW (N2N) about PBN to do their job. Although more comprehensive explanations of this material exist elsewhere on the website, on first visiting this section of the Portal, operational controllers are invited (actually, strongly encouraged!) to read through this dedicated operational ATC section without being ‘diverted’ elsewhere for more detail. Details are often ‘nice’ to know, and can be looked at later!

Along with pilots, air traffic controllers are the ultimate end users of performance-based navigation. Whilst other PBN users such as airspace planners, procedure designers, data providers, manufacturers, and various engineers all have a stake and an important role in PBN, the operational reality is that pilots and air traffic controllers are the ones who use it operationally, in real time.

The very nature of PBN requires a multitude of stakeholders to work together few of whom use a vocabulary that is easily accessible outside their specialist domain. This has proved challenging for each specialist group, particularly operational controllers and pilots. That PBN obliges stakeholders to work together is a plus, but that requirement unwittingly creates a level of bewilderment as multi-disciplinary Stakeholder encounters are often characterised by exposure to a great range of PBN jargon, some of which is specific to a particular PBN specialist group, and not understood by others.

This reality is why this operational controller PBN section of this Portal has opted for the ‘less is more’ approach complete with exclusive ATC terminology. It tells controllers what they NEED to know (N2K) about PBN in order to do their job. It also highlights what is nice to know (ntn) background information about PBN.

Important! This ‘operational controller’ section does not purport to be an outline PBN syllabus for controller training, nor does it attempt to be, nor seek to be, a pro forma for ATC ratings or licencing. Similarly, whilst this section may refer to items listed in each Navigation Specification of Volume II of the ICAO PBN Manual (Doc 9613) under ATC knowledge and training, the approach taken in this section of the Portal is more concrete.

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