NATCA ZDC January 2010

NATCA ZDC
Congratulations to our New January 2010
E-Board!
Tim Hardison President
New BBS
Ken Burton Vice President Not yet a signed up to the BBS? Go to
www.zdcnatca.com and register
Michael “Iggy” Irving Secretary today! At the very top of the home
page is a link to “create an account”.
Doug Picard Treasurer To sign up you will need your
NATCA ID #. To obtain your ID #,
Lia Keith Training Rep please see your Area Rep, President,
Vice President or Webpage
Dan Glancey Area 1 Rep Administrator.
Jamie Makers Area 2 Rep

Rex Jackson Area 3 Rep

Jim Vitola Area 4 Rep Facebook Group

We have a members only Facebook
Mike Skubon Area 5 Rep group now called ZDC NATCA.
Please join! We already have 70
Chris Lloyd Area 6 Rep members!
James Fazekas Area 7 Rep

Brian Shallenberger Area 8 Rep

Robin French TMU Rep

Bill Blackmer Staff Rep

Message from the President

Wow, it’s already January 2010, and time for our first
newsletter of this year. I want to thank you for your
vote of confidence in Ken and I, it is truly an honor to
serve each and every one of you again! I want to
thank Chrissy for all of her hard work in putting this
newsletter together and also say thank you to all of
our volunteers who are working hard in many
different capacities to serve you and our Union every
day!
Ken and I have moved our offices into the area
connected to the Representative’s office in the
NATCA trailer; and along with the newly elected
Executive Board we are getting up to speed and
settled in. We have much work to do and many
challenges ahead. I am encouraged after having
several meetings with Mr. Arrasmith. I believe we
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NATCA ZDC January 2010

Message from the President

will be able to work together to accomplish many
good things for you the controller. We will not agree
on everything, but it is an encouraging and promising
start to the New Year.
We plan to offer as many training opportunities to
you as possible throughout the year. By the time this
letter is published, we will probably have already had
our first major training session held at the Holiday
Inn Carridoc Hall. Our National President, Paul
Rinaldi, National Executive Officer, Barry Krasner,
Regional Vice President, Phil Barbarello and Contract
Team Member and FACREP of the New York
TRACON, Dean Iacopelli agreed to come conduct a
training session on our new Contract and speak on
other NATCA issues. I am grateful to them for
taking the time to come provide us this personal
Continued from Previous Page
attention and training. Please try to take advantage
of these opportunities when they become available.
Our National and Regional Leadership have
committed to working with us to provide training
and include us on Regional and National work
groups.
If you have not signed up yet please sign up on the
new ZDC NATCA website www.zdcnatca.com.
Watch for information on our next meetings and
NATCA events. I am looking forward to getting to
know many of you better, and serving you over the
next two years. Remember, you are NATCA! Be
involved; let your voice be heard!
Tim Hardison

Legislative Update: FAA Reauthorization

The Fiscal Year 2010 Federal
Aviation Administration
Extension Act, Part II (HR 4217)
was passed by The House on
December 8th and then by The
Senate on December 10th. The
President signed on December
16th and became Public Law 111-
116.
This extends the funding and
expenditure authority of the
FAA until March 31, 2010. This
is part of the reason for some of
the hiring freezes and lack of
funds to spend on other items.
There are still disagreements
going on over fees. Hopefully
after Health Care gets finished
they will move forward on this
legislation. I have not been
Doug Picard
following along as closely as before, All of these hearings can be
but there have been no major watched on the respective
changes that I am aware of, since the Congressional Committee
two different versions passed the websites.
House and Senate last year. We
prefer the language of the House I am sure we will see more
version. hearings in the year to come by
both of these Committees.
There have been a couple of
hearings in the past two months.
One with the House Transportation
and Infrastructure Subcommittee on
Aviation, October 28th, NEXTGEN:
A Review of the RTCA Mid-Term
Implementation Task Force Report.
Panel 2 had Dale Wright of NATCA
testifying. There were also two
hearings by The Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation
Committee, December 1st, on Pilot
Fatigue and December 10th on
Oversight of FAA Safety Initiatives.

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NATCA ZDC
We have talked about the Unsatisfactory Condition
Report (UCR) process in previous installments of
Safety Matters, and we have discussed that process
several times on our local BBS. The process has
been broken for a long time, and we have been
working around that broken process filing carbon
packet UCRs the way we have since Eve had her
first taste of apples. However, it has become such a
cumbersome process; most controllers have been
ignoring it all together. Last month, new strides
were made in the way we will now file UCRs, and I
hope these changes will encourage you to do so.
NATCA has just settled a national grievance with
the FAA concerning their failure to provide an
Article 7 briefing on UCR Order 1600.6B, which was
unilaterally implemented on September 26, 2008.
For nearly two years, the reporting, sharing,
processing, and tracking of UCR information has
been done by the agency using their new Safety
Management Information System (SMIS). Those of
us who have perhaps the best viewpoint into the
daily operation of the NAS, have essentially been
shut out of this process. As part of our settlement
with the agency, the agency agreed to distribute a
jointly developed question and answer sheet
concerning the filing of UCRs, procedures,
supervisor responsibility, and the UCR policy to all
NATCA bargaining unit employees.
January 2010
Torrey Reich, ZDC NATCA Safety Rep
Until then, I want each of you to know how this
process will work for us. First of all, it is not
mandatory for employees to file a UCR via SMIS.
The SMIS is set up to allow you to view the progress
of your UCR filing; however, in order to use the
system you must be on an FAA computer, and you
must have an FAA email address.
NATCA advises bargaining unit members not to use
their personal email addresses for this purpose;
therefore, if you wish to file a UCR in this manner,
you will need to contact Tim Call in the training
department to get set up with an FAA email account.
Once you have done this, login to
https://smis.faa.gov (only available on an FAA
computer), and follow the instructions at the bottom
right side of the page where it says, “Use this UCR
link to access the form for reporting unsatisfactory
workplace conditions.” Fill out the form, print it
before you submit it, and forward a copy of it to me.
1. If you are reluctant to file by using an FAA
email address, or you simply do not wish to
obtain an FAA email account, this is what
you need to do: Complete UCR Form OA
1800-1, located in Appendix A of UCR Order
1800.6B. You can get this form from me,
your area rep, or online at:
Continued on Next Page
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NATCA ZDC January 2010

Safety Matters
Continued from Previous Page

1. http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/me
dia/Order/1800.6B.pdf.
2. Make a copy of the UCR, give it to me, or
forward it to me through your area rep. I
will then forward it to our Eastern Region
Safety Rep.
3. Submit the UCR to your supervisor so
he/she can enter it into the SMIS. Make sure
the supervisor provides you with a UCR
tracking number along with a copy of your
report.
4. Keep a copy of the report for your records.
NATCA’s request for bargaining unit members to
share their UCR filings are twofold; it is so we can:
(1) monitor and track various trends occurring in
our facilities; and (2) analyze how the FAA is or is
not responding to various UCR events, particularly
in areas relating to unsafe conditions created by
staffing or personnel matters.
I want to encourage each of you to file a UCR
anytime you identify unsatisfactory conditions
within the operation. We have the best perspective
on these issues, and our concerns need to be voiced.
It is important that we stay involved in the process,
and it helps make our working conditions better.

ZDC NATCA Logo Contest

Have any ideas for our new Local logo? Submit your entries via email to zdc@zdcnatca.com by
March 1st. If you win, not only will you have the bragging rights for creating our logo, you will
also win a $250 gift certificate to the NATCA Store.

NATCA Benefits

NATCA Benefits Partner Steve Kippenberger will be at the Contract Training on January 20th
and at ZDC on January 21st in the NATCA trailer. NATCA has partnered with American
General to provide life insurance coverage to members.

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NATCA ZDC January 2010

What’s Happening?
Upcoming
events
Contract Training ss

Contract Training
Wednesday, January 20th
9:00 am – 7:00 pm
at The Holiday Inn
Leesburg at Carradoc Hall
1500 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176
Open to all ZDC NATCA Members. Find out what we’ve been fighting
so hard for over the past three years and learn what your rights are!
Scheduled to attend are: Barry Krasner and Dean Iacopelli (contract team
members), Phil Barbarello (Eastern Region Vice President), and Paul
Rinaldi (National President). Training will take place on Wednesday,
January 20, 2010 from 9:00 am – 7:00 pm.

Solidarity Meeting

Solidarity Meeting
Monday, February 22nd
@ 5:30 pm
at The Holiday Inn
Leesburg at Carradoc Hall
1500 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176
Join your fellow NATCA members from the local area for a Solidarity
Meeting on Monday, February 22, 2010. There will be a reception at 5:30
pm with the meeting starting at 6:00 pm. Scheduled to speak: National
President, Paul Rinaldi; Executive Vice President, Trish Gilbert; Eastern
Region Vice President, Phil Barbarello, and National Legislative
Chairman, Steve Weidner.

Please Note: All members are invited to attend both events. It is requested that you
sign up (in the NATCA trailer) so that the venue can have an accurate head count .

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NATCA ZDC January 2010

Training Update
Lia Keith, Training Rep

We have lots going on in training right now. One of We have 6 new people since the last newsletter!
the biggest issues is the Raytheon contract problems Make sure to welcome them when you see them!
with the FAA. The training department upstairs has Bay 3 – Zachary Payne, Jeff Peachey
been told to cut everyone’s hours by 30%, they Bay 6 – Nolan Cutler, Reggie Jackson
accomplished this by shutting down on Bay 7 – Jaymi Steinberg, Thomas Sweeney
Wednesdays and Fridays. This will impact
everything from ERAM to Dside and Rside classes.
Ray Mittan has said he intends to keep the classes
We have been having issues with skill enhancement.
running and on schedule.
If you think your trainee needs skill enhancement,
We have had several new CPCs since the last please write a request for it on your training sheet
newsletter! Congratulations to all! and follow up with a written letter to your
Bay 1 - Christian Gonzales, Julie Wilson supervisor. I will make a template and add it to the
Bay 3 – Marcel Fort bbs to print out.
Bay 4 – David Downum, Adam Kelley, Akesha
McGee
Bay 6 – Juan Quin
Bay 7 – Rob Dorn
Bay 8 – Joe Poloski

Transition Area Update
First I would like to congratulate
our newest CPC Mr. Ben Dengler.
Ben has done an outstanding job
for us. His experience and
professionalism have been a great
addition to the Transition Area.
Thank you Ben (applause!). I
would also like to thank Alex
Trzebiatowski, Dave Fort and
Dave Smith for stepping up and
coming to the Transition Area. I
can assure you the area looks
forward to you all certifying!
Thanks guys.
Mark Trent has been appointed as
the area’s ERAM Map
Representative and has been
working very hard on ensuring
Area Updates
Jamie Makers, Transition Area Rep
our maps are where they need to
be. As most of you know by now,
the maps offered in ERAM are not
adequate. They lack many area
specific details needed to do our
jobs safely and efficiently. Mark
has also set up shop on our new
local BBS for not just the
Transition Area, but for all areas.
You can find these forums under
ERAM.
Now the Transition Area
continues to be a “fluid” situation.
What happens to us? Where will
our sectors end up? When will
this all happen? Nobody can
really answer those questions yet.
Rumors are running rampant.
Here’s what I can tell you. The
Stabilization Plan was designed
to stabilize what was left of Area
2 for approximately 18 months.
A Long Term Team was to be
assembled and tasked with
redesigning ZDC airspace.
During the redesign, the team
would determine the fate of the
Transition Area. So that’s where
we’re at, waiting. And
depending on how far ERAM
gets pushed back, it could take
longer than expected. So for
those of us in the Transition
Area, we’ll continue to wait until
it’s time to move on. Kind of
like, “Groundhog Day”.

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NATCA ZDC
Happy New Year ZDC and Bay
5, I am looking forward to a new
year under an agreed upon
collective bargaining agreement.
So far there has not been much to
do other than the Non-
prime/wish lottery round
bidding. We have to start
looking at the ERAM issues and
suggestions for each area. The
area reps have forwarded names
of members from each area to
take on the task of working on
area specific ERAM problems
and modifications like mapping
issues. The national ERAM MOU
has been signed so we are fully
cooperating with ERAM again
The next issue will be TMA for
JFK. This will be the first TMA
airport that area’s 5, 6, 7, and 8
will have to feed to another
CENTER. The only other case in
ZDC is the TMA feed of CLT
traffic from area’s 1 and 2. I can
assure you that the TMA we do
into approach controls like IAD,
EWR, and PHL is a piece of cake
compared to TMA into another
center. The approach controls do
not see times and don’t really
care as long as you give
Area 5 Update
Mike Skubon, Area 5 Rep
reasonable in-trail spacing. As for
other centers, they see times and
their TMU controllers see times.
We will likely be held to the (+1) –
(-1) times at the feeder fixes.
I was the area rep in Bay 1 when
they started the CLT TMA and it
was a major distraction. The
situation with the JFK traffic is
potentially much worse due to the
number of sectors involved and
the restricted and warning areas
that affect Bay 5 to the north.
There are many problems with the
system that results in having to
provide TMA metering as well as
in-trail spacing because the feeder
center sectors and approach
controls will not take stacks
regardless of the TMA times.
I have asked Steve Dorman (ZDC
TMA NATCA lead) to set up
meetings between area’s 5-8, ZDC
TMU and ZNY Dixie sector to
work out the expectations and
requirements. I will also contact
the rep from ZBW to see how they
deal with feeding ZNY the EWR
TMA traffic from the north. The
rep said that it was quite “nasty”
initially until some kinks were
January 2010
worked out with ground stops
and other TMU initiatives. I also
spoke with the NATCA safety rep
and alternate area rep from the
ZNY area that works the Dixie
sector. She is bringing up our
concerns at a ZNY E-board
meeting this week.
ZBW starts live TMA for JFK
traffic into ZNY on February 8th.
ZDC starts “shadowing” JFK TMA
on the same date. I am not sure
when we go live. I will have more
information on this soon.
As for Bay 5, please consider any
needed changes to existing maps,
procedures or anything else you
come up with. I have asked
Martha Rush to assist to compiling
and preparing any needed
changes that we might want to so
that I can initiate the change
through the appropriate ZDC
office. Chris Northrupp is the Bay
5 ERAM person so feel free to pass
on any ERAM concerns related to
Bay 5 to him. Otherwise please
forward any other Bay 5 ideas in
writing to Martha
(martyarush@comcast.net) or
myself at skubon@gmail.com .
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NATCA ZDC
Aviation History: The Starting Point of the FAA
Hello fellow ZDC coworkers. My name is Mark
Trent, and I am a controller in Area 2. I will be
attempting to write a recurring, but brief column
about Aviation History, in which either human
factors played a role in an accident or incident – or
an ATC procedure was implemented or changed in
light of it. Many of the myriad of rules in the
7110.65 were created after-the-fact. Yet, the .65
never reveals what event caused it to become rule or
procedure.
The topic I will cover today is the starting point of
the FAA: The Grand Canyon mid-air collision:
On June 30, 1956, a mid-air collision occurred over
the Grand Canyon between two commercial
airliners (A TWA Lockheed Super Constellation and
a United Airlines Douglas DC-7). Both were in
radio contact with air traffic control, but not
directly; they relayed through their airlines’
dispatch office. There was no Radar in that area of
Arizona at the time. Both flights had departed LAX
within 3 minutes of each other, bound for different
Mid-West destinations.
The TWA was originally flight planned to cruise at
19,000 feet, while the United would be at 21,000 feet.
A build-up of clouds developed in front of the
TWA, so the pilot radioed his dispatch to request a
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January 2010
Mark Trent
climb to 21,000. The controller told the dispatcher
“unable” due to the United being at 21,000. The
TWA then asked for, and received, a clearance to fly
1,000 feet on top of the clouds (essentially VFR). An
assumption here is that the tops must have been at
20,000 feet. That would have put the TWA at the
same altitude as the United, and both of them off of
the airway, as the United is thought to have
deviated closer to the canyon to give the passengers
a better view, while the TWA deviated around a
build-up. Since there were no voice recordings, no
CVR’s, or Radar, much of what is known is
speculation. It appears that the cloud build-ups
played a big part in it, though.
It is interesting to note, that up to this point,
airspace had been jointly controlled by both the
military and the pre-cursor to the FAA, the Civil
Aeronautics Administration. Additionally, the
airspace was mostly a mix of Federal Airways
(using NDB’s) and large, uncontrolled sections of
airspace, including the airspace over the Grand
Canyon in Arizona.
In light of this accident, Congress allocated $250
million dollars (nearly two billion dollars in today’s
economy) for new radar systems, more control
towers, and more personnel. Despite this, two more
mid-air collisions occurred after the Grand Canyon
accident, and so the FAA was created in 1958.
US Aviation is full of historical events that have
helped shape the ATC system we have today. It has
however, not been without enormous cost – both in
lives and equipment.
I have a short list of topics; however, if you have a
suggestion or idea, I’d like to hear it.
Thanks for reading!
NATCA ZDC January 2010

Reloaded Sports Day

Our Sports Day is still on Tuesdays from 3:00

pm – 5:00 pm at the Dulles Sports Plex in
Sterling, VA. For info on the facility visit:
www.dullessportsplex.com/main/default.asp
or see Justin Beisel in Area 1.

Fun Fact

Washington Center opened it’s doors on April 1, 1937 at the Washington

Hoover Airport which is now where the Pentagon currently resides. The
Center then moved to Hanger 6 at Washington National Airport. On
April 28, 1963, it then moved to it’s current site of which the land was
donated by the citizens of Loudoun County.

Washington Hoover Airport Hanger 6 at Washington National Airport

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NATCA ZDC January 2010

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