How many types of ATC are there?

There are three types of air traffic controllers. These are tower controllers, terminal controllers and en route controllers. The diagram below shows who is in control at various stages of flight.



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The ATC system—the second major part of the National Airspace System—offers three basic forms of service: navigation aid (including landing), flight planning and in-flight advisory information, and air traffic control.

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Air traffic controllers use their skills and judgment to safely direct more than 70,000 flights daily to their destinations. The U.S. air traffic controller workforce consists of approximately 14,000 dedicated, highly-skilled, and well-trained men and women.

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Air traffic control technology and systems
  • Surface movement and surveillance radars.
  • Holographic radar.
  • Navigation and surveillance systems.
  • Voice communication control systems.
  • Ultra-high frequency (UHF) and very high frequency (VHF) communication systems.
  • Flight data information display equipment.


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Many GA aircraft are fitted with a variety of navigation aids, such as Automatic direction finder (ADF), inertial navigation, compasses, radar navigation, VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) and Global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

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There are typically three different kinds of air traffic controllers: tower, approach and departure, and en route controllers.

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Technically - yes. Owning and/or using a scanner is not illegal - providing you're only using it to listen to transmissions meant for public broadcast. You are only legally allowed to listen to anything that's meant for general broadcast. That covers things like AM/FM radio, TV audio, shortwave, CB and Amateur radio.

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Piloting, especially on large, complex aircraft, is largely a matter of training and practice. Talent is required, of course, but mostly you just have to put your hours in. In that sense, training and qualifying to be an airline pilot is more rigorous than becoming an ATC at a busy facility.

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The award for the tallest air traffic control tower at an airport goes to a rather recent addition. The ATC tower at Saudi Arabia's Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) only opened in 2017, and, at 136 meters (446 feet), it's taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza.

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The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirement is that English is the only official language for electronic communications in civil aviation. Controllers must be able to speak English and French. They must also use only use English if necessary for pilots to understand instructions.

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Being an air traffic controller is an extremely high-stress job, with workers responsible for the movement and direction of thousands of lives onboard commercial and general aviation aircraft every day.

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Requirements for Becoming an Air Traffic Controller To meet the FAA's requirements to become an air traffic controller, you must: Be a U.S. citizen. Be 30 years old or younger. Pass a medical examination — and continue to pass it annually once you're hired.

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Instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). Instrument flight rules are rules and regulations to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe.

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