OPSCHAT Summary May 10

Hi Members,

We had another busy OPSCHAT call this week!

You can watch the full replay on your Member’s Dashboard.

Here’s a roundup of what we talked about:

The Big News.

Mexico – Trouble reported at MMMX/Mexico City. New IFALPA Safety Bulletin: unexpected holding and low fuel events, EGPWS and aircraft proximity events. The new airport MMSM/Santa Lucia is causing extra challenges for ATC. Be aware of clearances using non-standard phraseologies, and pay extra attention to your terrain clearance.
Africa – ASECNA airspace (the folk responsible for 6 major FIRs in Western and Central Africa) have ‘Free Route’ airspace available until at least October 2022. All info included in AICs. In other news ADS-B will be operational from May 19th (but it’s not mandatory yet – that’s coming next year).
Somalia – ATC services are back in Somalia. They’re returning to Class A above FL245 across the entire HCSM/Mogadishu FIR, including the oceanic portion (starting from May 11) 3am-6pm LT. VHF, HF, CPDLC and SATCOM. Outside of these hours, it reverts back to Class G again.
Europe – Spill over risks from the Ukraine/Russia conflict. EASA has published a report identifying no less than twenty risks (highlighted by operators and other authorities). Some interesting (unconsidered) ones as well, so it’s worth a read.

Unsolved Mysteries.

LRCS – Is my SATCOM approved in the NAT HLA? Here is the FAA info on it. Watch this space for a post tomorrow.

Radar vectors – who is legally responsible for terrain clearance?

The OPSQUIZ.

Mark’s back to host, and we have a second time champion this week! Congratulations! Here is a sample question from this week: Who publishes the eastbound NAT Tracks? Join us next time as we have great prizes on offer, all hand picked by the team!

As always, we’re here to help with any operational support, info or questions. You can reach us on news@ops.group, or via the slack channels #flightops and #questions.

To watch the replay of the OPSCHAT in full: head over to the dashboard. We hold a new one every week on Tuesdays at 2000z, click here to register and join us live. See you next week!

OPSCHAT Summary May 10