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Controlling the planes

Big airports have ground-control radar. This enables controllers to see everything which is moving on the airport, even in the foggiest weather. The controllers can tell from the “blips” on the radar screen what each airliner is doing, they can see if one aircraft is moving too close to another. In addition to the radar displays, the controllers have a wide range of technical devices to help them. They can speak directly over the radio with the flight crews of the planes they are controlling.

Area controllers work in a building away from the airport. On their strong radar sets they can see almost every plane that is flying in an area. The controllers can identify each plane because every blob on their screens has a code number behind it. From this they can tell which airline each plane belongs to and where it is going. If they see that two blobs are moving dangerously close to one another, the controllers can radio to the pilots of the planes and warn them to move apart.

When two planes are cruising, they could be approaching one another at a total speed of over 1600 kph and the pilots would have no more than 30 seconds to take avoiding action.

21 Exercise 5.

Airport transport and vehicle

There is a whole range of specialist vehicles at airports. These range from trucks with sets of steps on their back which are run up to the doors of planes on some occasions so that the passengers can disembark, to large and powerful tractors capable of towing the biggest jet with a full load of passengers and freight.

At some airports passengers are taken to the airliners from the terminal in a fleet of mobile lounges. They are like huge buses. Drivers raise the body level with the door of the plane and passengers walk on board through a corridor which looks like a giant concertina.

As soon as the passengers and their baggage have been unloaded after arrival, the plane is made ready for its next flight. It is surrounded by a fleet of trucks. Each one has a different job – refueling, taking off luggage, bringing new catering supplies – which must be completed before another flight can start.

Vehicles on the runways must obviously be very carefully monitored and drivers must learn to follow the instructions given to them by ground control at all times.

22 Exercise 6.

Truck collapse leads to delay

A SCISSOR truck collapsed under a catering lorry, delaying a Virgin Atlantic flight for more than an hour.

The incident happened at stand 33 of the South Terminal, when a Gate Gourmet lorry was loading meals on to a Virgin Boeing 747.

The 10 am flight to Bridgetown, Barbados, was delayed until 11.41am while the lorry was being freed from behind the wing of the aircraft.

A spokeswoman for Gate Gourmet said: "We are still investigating the incident, but the main thing is there were no injuries and we do not believe safety was compromised."

It is thought the problem happened as the cater­ing lorry was being lifted to the aircraft, when the rear of the scissor truck that was supporting the lorry collapsed. The aircraft was not damaged.

A spokeswoman said there seemed to be a fault with the scissor truck's hydraulic system and the airport's health and safety team is investigating to find out what went wrong.

Unit 5. Welcome aboard

23 Exercise 1.

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