Coordination, communication and training limitations reported by air traffic controllers in the Canarias (Canary Islands) Air Control Center (ACC) have prompted several recommendations intended to keep their oceanic sector from becoming a “hot spot” for large height deviations (LHDs),1 says Fernando Marián de Diego, head, Technical and Safety Department, Asociación Profesional de Controladores de Tránsito Aéreo (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association, APROCTA) of Spain. Canarias, one of five ENAIRE ACCs,2 primarily handles international flights transiting the upper-airspace airways of the Canarias Flight Information Region (FIR) but also handles flights on routes serving airports within the archipelago of islands.
De Diego presented findings of the association’s safety assessment3 during Eurocontrol’s 2014 Safety Forum: Airborne Conflict, cosponsored June 10–11 by the European Regions Airline Association and Flight Safety Founda…
