A CONCERNED PLT FEELS THE REMOVAL OF 'REMOTE ALTERNATE ALTIMETER SETTING.' (RAAS) MINIMA FROM CERTAIN ARPTS IS A DISSERVICE TO PLTS WHO USE THE SYS.

2002-03 · NASA ASRS report 540749

Date: 2002-03

Anomalies: other-removal-of-raas-minima-from-terminal-procedures

Synopsis

A CONCERNED PLT FEELS THE REMOVAL OF 'REMOTE ALTERNATE ALTIMETER SETTING.' (RAAS) MINIMA FROM CERTAIN ARPTS IS A DISSERVICE TO PLTS WHO USE THE SYS.

Narrative

THE FAA HAS RENDERED A DECISION THAT CAN EASILY LEAD TO AN UNSAFE CONDITION IN INST WX DURING THE APCH PHASE OF A FLT. SPECIFICALLY; IT HAS INTENTIONALLY REMOVED THE REMOTE ALTERNATE ALTIMETER SETTING (RAAS) MINIMA FROM MANY TERMINAL PROCS. AS AN EXAMPLE; COLUMBUS OHIO'S BOLTON ARPT (TZR) TERMINAL PROCS DICTATE THAT THE PLT SHALL UTILIZE THE ALTIMETER SETTING AS DERIVED FROM THE BOLTON AWOS (OR AS A BACKUP; THE ALTIMETER SETTING FROM THE BOLTON ATC TWR). HOWEVER; SHOULD THE TWR BE UNSTAFFED (AS IT IS 12 HRS EACH DAY); AND THE AWOS BE OTS (AS IT WAS FOR 2 EVENINGS THIS PAST WKEND DUE TO SEVERE WX); THE PLT COULD BE LEFT WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE ALTIMETER SETTING FOR EXECUTING ANY OF THE INST APCH PROCS. THE CHANGES MADE BY THE FAA AFFECT ALL OF THE TERMINAL PROCS. DURING SUCH AN EVENT; ALL THESE PROCS ARE CONSIDERED AS NOT AUTH. (BEFORE THE AWOS WAS CERTIFIED; IT USED TO BE THAT THE PLT WOULD SIMPLY UTILIZE THE CMH ALTIMETER SETTING AND INCREASE THE DECISION ALT OR MDA; AS APPROPRIATE.) THIS SYS WIDE CHANGE CAN IMPACT OPERATORS ACROSS THE NATION ADVERSELY. HOWEVER; I FEEL THAT THE IMPACT OF THIS CHANGE HAS NOT BEEN WIDELY PUBLICIZED; AND PLTS ARE LIKELY TO OBTAIN A CLRNC FOR AN INST APCH AND DSND TO AN UNSAFE ALT BECAUSE THEY ARE INADVERTENTLY UTILIZING AN INAPPROPRIATE ALTIMETER SETTING. I FEEL THIS CHANGE NEEDS TO BE PUBLICIZED MORE SO THE INST PLT UNDERSTANDS THE RAMIFICATIONS BETTER. I ALSO FEEL THAT IT WOULD BE MUCH SAFER; AND PROVIDE OUR NATION A MUCH MORE ROBUST SYS OF ARPTS; IF THE FAA WOULD SIMPLY CHANGE THINGS BACK TO THE WAY THEY USED TO BE; AND PUBLISH RAAS MINIMA FOR ARPTS LIKE THIS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH AN AVIATION SAFETY INSPECTOR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: HE KNEW OF NO PROBS REGARDING THE AWOS AT KTZR. HIS SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE REGARDING 'REMOTE ALTIMETER SETTING' (RAAS) MINIMA AND THE FAA'S PLANNED REMOVAL OF SAME FROM TERMINAL PROCS; WAS STATED AS LIMITED.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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