Steven Perry Posted September 27, 2014 at 03:11 AM Posted September 27, 2014 at 03:11 AM On the same day that the real vZAU went off the air. All in good fun. I'm sure you can find similar graphics for any VATSIM facility. Just happened to coincide with a real world event that had me thinking about it. Steven Perry VATSIM Supervisor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Geckler Posted September 27, 2014 at 03:34 AM Posted September 27, 2014 at 03:34 AM If only all the approach airspace was up Then we'd be legit. Ryan Geckler - GK | Former VATUSA3 - Division Training Manager VATSIM Minneapolis ARTCC | FAA Miami ARTCC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Board of Governors Don Desfosse Posted September 27, 2014 at 05:19 AM Board of Governors Posted September 27, 2014 at 05:19 AM Funny and scary/sad all at the same time.... Thanks for noticing it and posting it.... http://news.yahoo.com/fire-control-stops-ohare-midway-flights-120948209.html Don Desfosse Vice President, Operations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Katz Posted September 27, 2014 at 10:02 AM Posted September 27, 2014 at 10:02 AM From Flightradar24.com: http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2014/9/26/338386/default/v1/chicago-1-522x293.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Doubleday Posted October 7, 2014 at 12:41 AM Posted October 7, 2014 at 12:41 AM Interesting comments from a friend working at C90 regarding the incident from a few days ago, which is being dubbed "The Great Chicago Fire" of 2014... He was on position (ORD arrival sector) when ZAU went ATC-0 - Said it was absolutely crazy. There are contingency plans in place for things like this but more will definitely be put in place after this. Usually the contingency plans are evolved around the idea that the TRACON's or Towers lose coverage and the enroute sectors take over, not vice versa like this. He had guys calling him up 60+ outside of ORD... What can you do but try to work them all down? This is probably the single worst event that has happened to the NAS since 9/11, mind you... Anyways, they finally have a make-shift operation in place now which is working quite well. ZAU should be functioning again within a couple of weeks. The last paragraph really says it all about the state of the US air traffic system... It's actually getting better. It was definitely rough those first couple days. But I think we're getting a system down. Almost every position is opened and staffed by C90, then the ZAU [Controllers] are like our handoffs, or D-Sides [Working side-by-side with C90 controllers at C90 out in Elgin until ZAU comms reconstruction is complete], they take info on flights from the towers, write our strips for us (everything is manual copies) and then call the centers and p[Mod - Happy Thoughts] the info to them. In some cases, they're also handing aircraft off for us and taking handoffs, again, all manual. As for arrivals, ZMP feeds us over FARMM at 16,000, ZOB over KUBBS at 16,000, ZID or ZOB over BEARZ at 16,000 and ZKC over PLANO at 14,000. Today they were coming in sometimes about 10MIT. As for departures, norths go to ZMP at 17,000, Easts go to ZOB at 17,000. Souths are split, As and Bs [ACITO and BACEN RNAV tracks] to ZKC at FL230, Cs, Ds and Es [CMSKY, DENNT, EARND RNAV tracks] to ZID at FL230. Wests are also split, PEKUE to ZKC at 17,000, NOONY and MYKIE to ZMP at 17,000. All the other TRACONS own 15k and below, so we feed props at 10,000 and short range jets at 14,000. I am actually surprised how smooth it really is. The problem is that there are some cases where 4 or 5 different sectors use the same landline, so it's constantly in use, so sometimes you NEED to call for a handoff, but the line is in use. We are also using outside lines to p[Mod - Happy Thoughts] info, dialing 9-1 to get out, then an area code plus number. Very time consuming and slow. But we managed to land more then ATL the other day. There's like 30 positions being manned at one time, between C90 and ZAU. Plus, all the 'suits' are in the room all day now watching. It's crazy, but almost fun. Working 2014 traffic with 1984 staffing and 1964 equipment. 10 hour days almost everyday and 6 day work weeks for all. MDW traffic is doing the same as ORD, just worked out into the ORD departure sequence in-trail... What really bites is for the satellite traffic, most of which has to be run out via TEC until the boundary of the next nearest center, so lots of jets are forced to stay low (14k-15k highest) for a couple hundred miles in some cases... Been a challenge, and in some cases fun to work according to some friends there, but they're all looking forward to things returning to normal... Andrew James Doubleday | Twitch Stream: Ground_Point_Niner University of North Dakota | FAA Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) Graduate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Perry Posted October 7, 2014 at 12:57 AM Author Posted October 7, 2014 at 12:57 AM "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are, right now." Steven Perry VATSIM Supervisor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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