When one of the most powerful typhoons in history ripped across the Philippines in November, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps rushed to aid survivors and rebuild infrastructure.
The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, with the help from NAVAIR organizations, joined the relief effort by providing remote technical assistance to Marine Air Control Squadron 4 (MACS-4) Air Traffic Control (ATC) Detachment Alpha first responders, who deployed to the Philippines in support of the humanitarian mission Operation Damayan.
As part of this effort, members of Naval Air Traffic Management System (PMA-213) at Naval Air Station Patuxent River and subject matter experts from the Air Traffic Control Systems Division Fleet Support Team (FST) at Webster Field Annex in St. Inigoes, Md., aided the MACS-4 in repairing the Air Traffic Navigation, Integration and Coordination System (ATNAVICS). The portable ATC equipment provides the necessary radar coverage for all-weather air traffic control, encompassing arrival, departure, en route and final approach services within an assigned airspace.
“When the MACS-4 detachment arrived in the Philippines, the airport surveillance radar portion on the ATNAVICS system malfunctioned,” said Chip Hibner, PMA-213 expeditionary air traffic control integrated product team lead, during a Jan. 8 interview about his team’s role supporting the relief effort. “MACS-4 called the FST and narrowed the problem down to a specific part, which was immediately shipped to the detachment. Once the part was received, the FST called and remotely walked MACS-4 through the installation and start-up procedures to get the system back online.”
With full operational capability restored to the ATNAVICS, aircraft were able to receive radar air traffic control services, significantly improving the rate of aircraft operations supporting the humanitarian efforts. The FST continued providing remote technical support for the ATNAVICS system throughout the mission.
“Our FST provides quality support to the fleet every day,” Hibner said. “In this specific situation, the FST was a key component to the success of that deployment.”
ATNAVICS is a high-mobility, multi-purpose wheeled vehicles-mounted ATC system procured and supported by PMA-213. ATNAVICS has been responsible for the safe, orderly and expeditious control of air traffic throughout operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
In fiscal 2013, ATNAVICs achieved full operating capability, possessing the ability to be fully employed and maintained to meet operational needs, and PMA-213 is currently testing system enhancements to expand primary radar.
