Oceanic In-Trail Climb Full Mission Simulation Experiment Plan and Results

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Oceanic In-Trail Climb Full Mission Simulation Experiment Plan and Results

This document describes the experiment plan and test results from an In-Trail Climb (ITC) end-to-end simulation study. The ITC procedure enables an aircraft, traveling in oceanic non-radar controlled airspace, to climb through the altitude of an aircraft ahead when positive lead aircraft identification and separation distance can be established using TCAS. End-to-end simulations were conducted at the FAA Technical Center utilizing the Oceanic Development Facility and the Reconfigurable Cockpit Simulator. The end-to-end simulation consisted of one scenario, with six individual conditions, involving eastbound and westbound tracks in Pacific oceanic airspace. Flight crews used a checklist derived from ITC Training Bulletins as a guide to evaluate the applicability of the maneuver. FAA, airline, and industry observers present at the test considered the simulation to be a success. As a result of the simulation, the proposed training guide was updated. Conclusions reached from this effort indicate that real time, human-in-the-loop simulations, with flight crews and controllers, are effective for the evaluation of proposed procedures.