Flygere om Indonesisk ATC - Unsophisticated

Indonesian Air-Traffic Control Is Unsophisticated, Pilots Say Technology for Air-Traffic Control Is Basic by Industry Standards A photo taken from an Indonesian Air Force helicopter Jan. 10 showed a portion of the tail of AirAsia Flight 8501 on the deck of a rescue ship. Indonesia's air-traffic control technology remains basic by industry standards, pilots say.  SURABAYA, Indonesia-Pilots in Indonesia say the archipelago nation's air-traffic control system is unsophisticated and doesn't do enough to help airliners contend with poor flying conditions, concerns that are getting more attention after last month's crash of an AirAsia plane over Indonesian waters. Indonesia's air traffic control technology remains basic by industry standards despite a boom in air travel as its middle class expands and budget carriers slash fares to compete for passengers. To improve the state of its air traffic control infrastructure, the country formed AirNav, a state-owned air traffic control company in 2013. But Indonesia still lacks computer systems that integrate the tracking of aircraft and weather patterns, as well as technology that crunches data to automate suggestions for safe flight paths in crowded skies. Indonesian air-traffic controllers often leave pilots to identify potential weather problems and suggest flight diversions themselves, a role controllers should be more aggressive in playing, pilots and aviation experts say. New technology could help controllers do this, as they do in many developed air markets, experts say. Even the weather radar systems and other equipment most commercial airlines have on board offer more information than Indonesian air-traffic controllers get from their gear on the ground, said veteran commercial pilot Rendy Sasmita Adji. Air-traffic controllers "see in 2-D. We see in 3-D," he said, referring to that data gap.  Authorities are also considering installing more sophisticated systems at its two air-traffic control centers in Jakarta and Makassar that map flight routes over satellite weather images.   Flight 8501's pilots, Capt. Iriyanto and co-pilot Rémi Emmanuel Plesel, made two requests to change course over the Java Sea before air-traffic controllers lost contact with the plane. AirNav approved Flight 8501's initial request to alter its course seven miles to the left to avoid storm clouds. When moments later the pilot requested to climb 6,000 feet to 38,000 feet, in what turned out to be the last communication from the cockpit, AirNav told pilots to stand by.   About 2½ minutes later, AirNav instructed Flight 8501 to wait because another plane was in the way. About two minutes after that, when skies near the jet cleared, AirNav sent approval to climb to 34,000 feet.   An air-traffic control official in Indonesia speaking on condition of anonymity said the response time was reasonable.