<\/strong>posters around the Tower; they\u2019d been on display for a while but if you weren\u2019t into rugby they were pretty easy to walk past. I thought it would be an idea, therefore, to share an experience of mine that shows why \u2018Getting Your Game Face On\u2019 is essential for all of us prior to plugging in.<\/p>\n\n\n\nI had a problem with staffing that day due to sickness and no AAVA cover available; it meant that there would only be 2 controllers on duty after 2000hrs. The traffic was fairly straightforward and not horrifically busy. I did a stint on Radar and then was given a break at 1430hrs. During the break I constructed a break plan which, to my astonishment, worked perfectly, with none of the usual drama associated with break plans and less than optimal staffing. Now, those of you who do break plans will know that this usually means you\u2019ve left somebody in position for 2\u00bd or even 3 hours, so I was a bit suspicious of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OK, I don\u2019t have time to check any further because I\u2019ve got to do a couple of breaks in the VCR. Up I go and plug in on Tower. Its straightforward and reasonably quiet. We\u2019re on 05 and there\u2019s one at the Golf 1 holding point and one on final to land. Even I can do that, so I take responsibility for the position and clear the arrival to land. Then an Ops vehicle calls me wanting to cross from Charlie to Yankee. I tell them to hold position and decide that I\u2019ll cross them after the landing traffic has passed the intersection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, as I wait to put my cunning plan into operation, I\u2019m mentally running through the break plan I\u2019ve done, trying to find where it has obviously gone wrong. The arrival lands and, as it passes Golf 1, I line up the waiting aircraft, warning the crew that there will be a vehicle crossing further down the runway in front of them. I must have made the mistake somewhere around tea break time. Probably got somebody working an extra hour.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOps vehicle cross Charlie to Yankee report vacated\u201d. Then, \u201cArriving aircraft vacate right at Bravo and contact Ground on 121.7\u201d, something I\u2019ve done for more than 30 years, but don\u2019t tell my trainees to do. If I haven\u2019t made the mistake there, maybe I\u2019ve done it later. Can\u2019t think exactly when, though.<\/em> Ops vehicle reports clear of the runway. I look up and think, no you\u2019re not, you haven\u2019t crossed the holding point at Yankee, yet. Maybe the break plan\u2019s fine. Maybe I haven\u2019t made a mistake and it has just worked out.<\/em>Then I see the vehicle cross Yankee and acknowledge it. I\u2019d better check the break plan again when I\u2019m finished here.<\/em> Right, the vehicle\u2019s off the runway and I clear the departure for take-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAs I\u2019m transmitting this I\u2019m carrying out my usual visual scan of the runway. I start at the 05 threshold, progress down to the 23 end and then start ba\u2026. what the hell is that doing there? I\u2019ve just finished my transmission when I see the arrival still on the runway, just turning towards Bravo but, before I can say anything, the crew of the departure aircraft point that fact out to me. Sod it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I\u2019ll be honest. My first thought, combined with a sneaky wee look around, was \u2018Did anybody notice that? Could I get away with it?\u2019 Then of course I realise the ridiculousness of that thought. I acknowledge the pilot\u2019s report, cancel their take off clearance, tell them to hold position, and apologise for my stupidity. I watch the arrival turn onto Bravo and then I clear the departure for take-off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What an eejit, I\u2019m thinking (well not exactly, but I don\u2019t want to damage anybody\u2019s sensibilities this early in the New Year). Still, it could have been worse. I get relieved and go back downstairs to send my colleague up to recommence the breaks. Did I say it could have been worse? Well, it got worse. Somebody looked at the Veristore recording of the SMR and spotted that when I\u2019d cleared the departure for take-off the second time, the arrival hadn\u2019t left the clear and graded area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s pretty impressive. In the space of a couple of minutes I\u2019d had two runway safety events. I hadn\u2019t exhibited that level of genius since winning the inaugural Golden Shovel award on my Radar course for having 2 technical losses of separation BEFORE clocks on. My reaction was one of anger at myself for being so stupid, coupled with embarrassment that it had happened because it was other ATCOs that did that sort of thing, not me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The root cause was me being too busy worrying about other things instead of paying full attention to what was going on in front of me. Would it have solved things if I\u2019d kept the arrival on my frequency and its strip in the runway bay? Possibly, but even after completing an HF interview, I wasn\u2019t as convinced as others were. I was distracted by my brilliance with the break plan and my conviction that there must be something wrong with it. It distracted me to the extent that I forgot completely about the arrival, and it persuaded me that the traffic preventing the departure was the Ops vehicle. I\u2019m not sure I would have properly registered another flight strip in the runway bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I failed to concentrate properly on what was going on around me and let myself drift off whilst I mentally checked a plan that I could do nothing to change whilst I was plugged in. This was an excellent demonstration of not getting your game face on. My game face was still in the dressing room trying to spot non-existent errors in a break plan. Don\u2019t let that sort of stupidity bite you. When you\u2019re plugging in, your entire concentration needs to be on what you\u2019re doing. When you\u2019re working traffic, your entire concentration needs to be there, not on some bizarre conversation you\u2019re having with a colleague, not on a book, certainly NOT on a smartphone and definitely not on something you were doing before you plugged in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s incumbent on all of us to avoid distraction from our main task. If you feel you are being distracted by whatever method, be it conversation, noise, whatever, just tell the individual(s) to shut up. Likewise, if you see something that could be a distraction then deal with it, and if you\u2019re responsible then take it on the chin and shut up or move away. Watch Managers and Deputies have to be aware that they need to leave non-operational things behind when they plug in. I didn\u2019t and got bitten and bitten badly. Don\u2019t let it happen to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[5],"sector":[11],"class_list":["post-30173","ilahfft","type-ilahfft","status-publish","hentry","category-air-transport","sector-aviation"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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