GCAA ATC Licence cheat sheet

Chicago Convention (1944) Article 1: every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.

Core SARPs for ATC: Annex 2 Rules of the Air, Annex 11 Air Traffic Services, Annex 10 Telecommunications, Annex 3 Meteorology, Annex 14 Aerodromes, Annex 15 AIS, Annex 19 Safety Management.

The GCAA is the UAE civil aviation authority; its Civil Aviation Regulations transpose the ICAO Annexes and are binding on ATS units, licence holders and operators under UAE law.

Article 38 of the Chicago Convention requires a State to notify ICAO of any differences between its national regulations or practices and the ICAO SARPs; the differences are published in the State AIP.

An ATC licence carries one or more ratings (aerodrome, approach procedural, approach surveillance, area procedural, area surveillance) plus unit endorsements, and is invalid without a current medical certificate and valid competence checks.

Airspace classification (Annex 11): Classes A to E are controlled airspace, Class F is advisory airspace, and Class G is uncontrolled airspace.

A controller's duties are defined by the unit Operations Manual and Letters of Agreement between adjacent units; both must be approved by the State authority.

Occurrences such as airspace infringements, runway incursions or losses of separation must be reported through the mandatory occurrence reporting system, not just resolved tactically.

Vertical separation minimum is 1000 ft at or below FL290, 2000 ft between FL290 and FL410 outside RVSM airspace, and 1000 ft above FL410.

Inside designated RVSM airspace (FL290 to FL410) the vertical minimum is 1000 ft, provided both aircraft are RVSM approved.

Standard radar separation is 5 NM; 3 NM may be prescribed in specified terminal areas, and 2.5 NM between successive aircraft on final approach to the same runway.

Procedural longitudinal separation on the same track and level: 15 min without navigation aids, 10 min with navigation aids, 5 min where DME, VOR or RNAV distance information is used.

Vertical separation must be established before, or at the same moment as, horizontal separation is removed when an aircraft climbs or descends through another aircraft's level.

Separation is provided between all IFR flights in controlled airspace; VFR flights receive traffic information and, where prescribed, separation from IFR flights.

Transfer of control requires coordination of identity, level, route and special conditions, and the receiving unit must accept before the transferring unit relinquishes responsibility.

Speed control may be used to establish or maintain separation; 250 kt IAS is the default maximum below FL100 unless the aircraft type is exempt.

Essential traffic information must be passed whenever an instruction may conflict with another aircraft's clearance, so the pilot can accept or request an alternative.

Semicircular cruising level rule (Annex 2): magnetic track 000 to 179 degrees uses odd flight levels; 180 to 359 degrees uses even flight levels.

Flight levels are referenced to 1013.25 hPa and altitudes to QNH; the transition altitude and transition level convert between the two references.

ATS route designators combine a prefix letter (A, B, G, H, J, L, M, N, P, Q, R, T, U, V, W, Y, Z) with a number; 'U' or 'UL' denotes upper airspace routes.

Airspace structures include FIR/UIR, CTA, CTR (surface to a specified upper limit), TMA, airways and PBN/RNAV routes.

The clearance limit is the point to which an aircraft is cleared; if no delay is expected it is normally the destination aerodrome.

A standard IFR clearance contains aircraft identification, clearance limit, route, level (with any restriction), SSR code and the frequency to use.

Safety-related clearances must be read back in full: route clearances, runway, altitude and heading instructions, SSR codes and frequency changes.

A level instruction remains in force until re-cleared; descent below a star-rated level requires an explicit amended clearance.

Aerodrome control is responsible for aircraft on the manoeuvring area (runway and taxiways) and in the aerodrome traffic circuit; apron responsibility may be delegated to an apron management service.

Declared distances: TORA (take-off run available), TODA (take-off distance available), ASDA (accelerate-stop distance available) and LDA (landing distance available).

Conditional clearances (for example 'line up behind the landing B737') shall not be issued for a runway, because the pilot at the holding point cannot see the traffic behind.

A runway incursion is any unauthorised presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft.

Low visibility procedures are triggered at published RVR values; typical ILS minima are CAT I 200 ft DH / 550 m RVR, CAT II 100 ft / 300 m, CAT IIIa 200 m, CAT IIIb 50 m.

Wake turbulence time intervals apply to departures behind a heavier category aircraft using the same runway, or parallel runways less than 760 m apart.

Traffic information for aerodrome traffic states type, position, heading or track, level and intentions; wind and QNH are passed on first contact and whenever they change significantly.

Vehicles and personnel entering the manoeuvring area require an ATC clearance, must maintain radio watch on the specified frequency, and must be escorted if not radio-qualified.

QNH gives altitude above mean sea level, QFE gives height above the aerodrome reference point, and QNE (standard 1013.25 hPa) is used at and above the transition level.

Altimetry rule 'high to low, look out below': flying from high pressure into low pressure makes the true altitude lower than the indicated altitude.

Cloud amounts in METAR: FEW 1 to 2 oktas, SCT 3 to 4, BKN 5 to 7, OVC 8 oktas; BKN or OVC constitutes a ceiling.

Crosswind component = wind speed x sin(angle between wind and runway); headwind/tailwind component = wind speed x cos(angle).

ICAO standard atmosphere: 15 degrees C and 1013.25 hPa at mean sea level, with a lapse rate of 6.5 degrees C per km (about 2 degrees C per 1000 ft).

SIGMET warns of weather significant to all aircraft (severe turbulence, severe icing, thunderstorms, volcanic ash, tropical cyclones); AIRMET covers phenomena significant mainly to light aircraft.

RVR is the range over which a pilot on the runway centreline can see the runway surface markings or lights, reported in metres with a trend of U, D or N.

Wind shear and microburst warnings must be passed to arriving and departing aircraft; a go-around is the standard escape manoeuvre for wind shear on approach.

Aircraft approach categories by Vat: A below 91 kt, B 91 to 120, C 121 to 140, D 141 to 165, E 166 to 210 kt.

ILS localizer frequencies are 108.0 to 111.95 MHz on odd tenths; glideslope frequencies are 329.15 to 335.0 MHz; a 3 degree path descends about 300 ft per NM.

VOR operates 108.0 to 117.95 MHz and DME 962 to 1213 MHz; DME provides slant range, which over-reads ground distance, most noticeably close in and at high altitude.

A rate one turn (3 degrees per second) takes 2 minutes for 360 degrees, and its radius in nautical miles is approximately TAS divided by 200.

TAS exceeds IAS by roughly 2 percent per 1000 ft of altitude, and ground speed equals TAS plus or minus the wind component along track.

PBN navigation specifications (RNAV 5, RNAV 2, RNAV 1, RNP 1, RNP 0.3) state the total system accuracy required on routes and procedures.

Cold temperatures make pressure altimeters over-read, so operators apply a cold temperature correction to published procedure altitudes.

The final approach fix is where the final approach descent begins; the missed approach point is where a go-around must be started if the runway is not in sight.

The AIP is structured as Part 1 GEN (general), Part 2 ENR (en-route) and Part 3 AD (aerodromes) and is published by the State AIS under Annex 15.

The AIRAC cycle is 28 days; AIRAC-effective changes take effect on a published date and must be issued at least 28 days in advance.

A NOTAM is issued for temporary or short-notice changes such as navaid unserviceability, runway closure, obstacles or airspace restrictions, and is not used for information already published in the AIP.

ASHTAM is the special NOTAM series for volcanic ash activity; separate NOTAM series exist for runway surface condition reporting.

Standard chart set: SID, STAR, instrument approach chart, aerodrome and obstacle charts (ICAO Type A and B), en-route chart and area chart.

Minimum sector altitude gives at least 1000 ft obstacle clearance (2000 ft in mountainous terrain) within 25 NM of the navigation aid shown on the chart.

The pre-flight information bulletin summarises NOTAMs relevant to a flight, and a NOTAM check is mandatory before departure.

An Aeronautical Information Circular carries explanatory or advisory material that does not qualify for a NOTAM or an AIP amendment.

VHF communications use 118.000 to 136.975 MHz; 8.33 kHz channel spacing provides three times the channels of 25 kHz spacing, and range is essentially line-of-sight.

SSR codes: 7700 for distress, 7600 for radio failure, 7500 for unlawful interference; 0000 and 7000 also have special or conspicuity meanings.

Mode A provides identity, Mode C provides pressure altitude, and Mode S provides selective addressing, a unique 24-bit aircraft address and data link capability.

Primary radar relies on skin reflection and yields range and azimuth only; SSR interrogates the transponder to obtain identity and altitude.

ADS-B Out broadcasts position, velocity and identity automatically; ADS-C is a contract-based report sent over data link in oceanic and remote airspace.

CPDLC exchanges text clearances and instructions over data link, normally paired with ADS-C in oceanic airspace, with voice as the fallback.

On suspected radio failure the controller checks the transponder, attempts alternative frequencies, and applies the published communication failure procedures based on the last clearance and expected approach time.

Read-back of clearances is the primary means of confirming correct reception; controllers must listen to the read-back and correct any discrepancy.

SHELL model: Software, Hardware, Environment and Liveware (people); error arises at the interfaces between the central liveware and the other components.

Error taxonomy: slips (right intention, wrong execution), lapses (memory failure), mistakes (wrong intention) and violations (deliberate deviation from a rule or procedure).

Situational awareness has three levels: perception of elements, comprehension of their meaning, and projection of their future status.

Shift work and circadian disruption degrade vigilance most strongly in the early hours of the morning and in the early afternoon low point of the body clock.

Closed-loop communication (transmit, read back, verify) is the main defence against clearance misunderstandings; open-loop transmission without read-back is a known error trap.

Team resource management relies on briefings, workload sharing, cross-checking and assertive challenge of unsafe decisions, including across hierarchical levels.

The Yerkes-Dodson relationship shows performance improving with arousal up to an optimum and degrading as arousal (stress) continues to rise.

Position handover should follow a structured checklist covering traffic, outstanding clearances, coordination status, equipment state and special conditions.

ICAO Annex 19 SMS has four components: safety policy and objectives, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion.

Just culture distinguishes human error (not punished), at-risk behaviour (coached or corrected) and reckless behaviour (subject to sanction).

Alerting service phases are INCERFA (uncertainty), ALERFA (alert) and DETRESFA (distress), declared by the ATS unit when an aircraft is overdue or in difficulty.

ASSIST memory aid for in-flight emergencies: Acknowledge, Separate, Silence (sterilise the frequency), Inform, Support, Time.

Distress traffic has absolute priority: MAYDAY (spoken three times) for distress and PAN PAN (three times) for urgency.

Emergency frequencies are 121.5 MHz for civil VHF and 243 MHz for military UHF; ELTs transmit on 121.5 and 406 MHz.

ATS contingency plans cover degraded modes such as radar failure, loss of communications or loss of a control position, and use pre-defined route and flow restrictions.

An aircraft reporting MINIMUM FUEL must be given priority and no undue delay; MAYDAY FUEL declares an emergency with imminent landing risk.