This short blog is about Air Traffic Control or ATC as it’s known in the trade. ATC is a completely integrated system where the path of a flight is tracked and known to ATC from an aircraft’s departure from its Gate, taxiing route, take off until its touchdown.
In the unlikely event of the radio system failing an aircraft will follow its allocated route all the way to its destination. If there is a failure of the radio equipment, the crew will transmit on its *transponder, a code that says it is not in voice communication…although ATC will still offer instructions in case the failure is just from the aircraft’s transmitter. The radar controllers will track the flight in the usual way and ensure that other aircraft are never in its way. Radio failure is a very very rare occurrence…and we mention it here only because many passengers who have a fear of flying worry about these things.
A transponder is a simple radar stimulating device that identifies an aircraft to ground control, it sends information about height speed position and proximity to other aircraft.
Keith and the team
