Section 6. Air Carrier Computer Interface
Program
6-6-1. GENERAL
Apply the
provisions of this section when coordinating and implementing the
air carrier computer interface program. The term air carrier
used in this section includes scheduled air taxi operators that
have the capability to transmit flight plans via the NADIN/Center
B interface to ARTCC computer programs.
6-6-2. FACILITY RESPONSIBILITIES
The ARTCC,
upon request from an air carrier to participate in this program,
must:
a. Obtain
local contacts from the air carrier for coordinating the program.
b. Provide
the air carrier with a contact for the continued coordination of
the program.
c. Ensure
that the air carrier is apprised of the criteria in para 6-6-3,
Criteria for Participation.
d. Develop
facility procedures to monitor air carrier flight plan input as
specified in Chapter 6, Section 5, Stored Flight Plan Program.
6-6-3. CRITERIA FOR
PARTICIPATION
Air
carriers participating in the program must be advised of the
following criteria:
a. Departure
points and destinations must be contained within the CONUS.
However, some users have made previous arrangements with various
ICAO States (Puerto Rico, Panama, Canada, etc.) to accept domestic
format. These agreements must be honored.
b. Flight
plans must not be filed more than 3 hours in advance of the
proposed departure times. Flight plans must be telephoned to the
appropriate facility if less than 45 minutes from the proposed
departure time. All changes in the flight plan after filing must
be telephoned to the appropriate facility.
c. All
flight plans must adhere to the format convention and content
specified in para 6-6-4, Format Conventions, and para 6-6-5,
Message Content.
6-6-4. FORMAT CONVENTIONS
Flight
plans must be filed in the following format:
a. Data
input must adhere to a fixed order and not exceed the stated
maximum number of characters or elements allowed for each field in
messages addressed to an ARTCC computer.
b. Each
field of data is composed of one or more elements. Discrete
elements of information within a field are separated by
delimiters; generally, virgules (/) or periods.
c. Some
fields contain the necessary functions to operate the computer
adapters and are designated by alpha characters. Do not separate
these fields with spaces.
d. One
space character must be entered at the end of each data field,
except:
1. The
first data field of a message must not be preceded by a space.
2. The
last data field of message need not be followed by a space.
3. The
Remarks (Field 11) terminate with the last nonspace character
transmitted.
6-6-5. MESSAGE CONTENT
The
complete message content, the order of data, the number of
characters allowed within any data field or element, and any
associated operational procedure or restrictions must be as
follows: (See FIG 6-6-1).
a. Start
of Message Code (Field A). Appropriate individual company coding
to ensure entry into the AFTN system.
b. Preamble
Line (Field B). Consists of priority and addressees in ICAO
format.
c. End
of Line Function (Field C). Three characters composed of carriage
return, carriage return, line feed.
d. Computer
Adapter Turn-on Code (Field D). Three characters specifying the
facility adapter code plus carriage return, carriage return, line
feed.
e. Source
Identification (Field 00). Ten characters followed by a space
character in the following order:
1. Three-character
address of the originating office.
2. Four-character (digits) time in UTC.
3. Three
characters (digits) representing the number of the message being
transmitted to the specific facility. All facilities will have
individual sequence numbers beginning with number 000 at 0000Z.
f. Message
Type (Field 01). The letters FP followed by a space character.
g. Aircraft
Identification (Field 02). Consists of two to seven characters
followed by a space character. The first character of the
identification must be a letter.
h. Aircraft
Data (Field 03). Consists of two to nine characters followed by a
space character. Aircraft data within the field may vary from one
to three elements consisting of:
1. Heavy
aircraft indicator (H/): When aircraft are designated heavy, the
heavy indicator is manda-tory.
2. Type
of Aircraft: This element is mandatory and contains two to four
characters consisting of the authorized aircraft designator as
contained in the FAAO JO 7340.2, Contractions.
3. Equipment
Suffix: This element is optional and consists of a slash followed
by one letter which is one of the approved designators identifying
transponder and/or navigation equipment.
i. Airspeed
(Field 05): Consists of two to four characters followed by a space
character. This field must include the filed true airspeed in
knots or Mach speed.
j. Departure
Point (Field 06): The airport of departure must be two to a
maximum of five characters using the authorized identifier as
listed in FAAO JO 7350.8, Location Identifiers, and must duplicate
the first element of the route of flight (Field 10).
k. Proposed
Departure Time (Field 07): Consists of five characters followed by
a space character. This field contains the letter P followed by
a four-digit time group (in UTC).
l. Requested
Altitude (Field 09): Consists of two to three characters followed
by a space character. Altitudes or flight levels, as appropriate,
must be expressed in hundreds of feet.
m. Route
of Flight (Field 10): The route of flight consists of the
departure point, the route of flight, and a destination:
1. Field
10 is fixed sequence field and must begin with a fix; e.g.,
fix.route.fix.route., etc. An element is separated from another
element by a period character.
2. When
consecutive fix elements or route elements are filed, the fixed
sequence format is maintained by inserting two period characters
between the filed Field 10 elements; e.g., fix..fix or
route..route.
3. The
maximum number of filed field elements for computer-addressed
flight plans is 40. Double period insertions do not count against
the 40-element limitation.
(a) Fix
Descriptions: A fix identifies a geographic point and must be one
of either domestic, Canadian, or international identifiers, which
are two to twelve alphanumeric characters.
(b) Route
Descriptions: A route element must be one of the following:
(1) Airway:
The official airway designator must be filed.
(2) Standard
Instrument Departures (SID): SIDs, if used, must be filed by the
computer-code designator as the second element of Field 10 and
followed by the transition fix.
(3) Standard
Terminal Arrivals (STAR): STARs, if used, must be filed by the
computer-code designator as the next to last element of Field 10
and be immediately preceded by the entry or transition fix.
(4) Published
Radials: Published radials; e.g., within a preferred route, are
considered airways. Do not file unpublished radials.
EXAMPLE-
.RBV020
.JFK053
DPK017
(5) North
American Routes (NAR): Numerically coded routes preplanned over
existing airways and route system to and from specific coastal
fixes serving the North Atlantic.
EXAMPLE-
.NA50
.NA9
(c) Estimated Time En Route Suffix:
Consists of an element separator (/) and four digits appended to
the destination. Leading zeros are required, and the time en route
is expressed in hours and minutes.
EXAMPLE-
.STL/0105
n. Remarks
(Field 11): Consists of the remarks code character--a clear sky
symbol or an overcast sky symbol, and the remarks.
NOTE-
If remarks (Field 11) are present, a space is required after the
last element of Field 10. If remarks are not present, no space is
required, and Field E (End of Text) should be the next entry.
1. The
overcast sky symbol limits the transmittal of the remarks to the
center controlling a point of departure. This should be used when
the only remarks are a request for a full route clearance (FRC).
It may also be used when it is known that the remarks are only
pertinent to the center controlling the departure airport.
2. Remarks
are not interpreted by the NAS En Route Program and are optional.
When used, they must be limited to flight information pertinent to
ATC.
o. End
of Text Signal/End of Message Function (Field E).
NOTE-
Fields 04 and 08 are not applicable to proposed flight plans and
have been intentionally omitted.
(See FIG 6-6-1.)
FIG 6-6-1
Automated Flight Plan Message
|
(A)
|
|
(B)
|
(C)
|
(D)
|
(00)
|
|
Individual company coding |
|
FF
KZFWZDZX |
DTG
KDALAALX |
AAL1630001 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(01)
|
(02)
|
(03)
|
(05)
|
(06)
|
(07)
|
(09)
|
|
FP
|
AAL123 |
B727/A |
0350
|
OKC
|
P1830
|
160
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(10)
|
|
|
|
(11)
|
|
(E)
|
|
OKC..GAG.V280.AMA/0139
|
|
|
|
->
Pressurization inoperative |
|
Enter
Key |
Computer Flight Data Input Chart
|
Field |
Element |
Example |
Requirements |
A
|
Start of
Message (SOM code) |
/B
|
Required
for SOM recognition |
B
|
Priority/Address Line |
FF
KZFWZQZX |
Provides
priority and addressee |
C
|
DTG/Originator
|
DTG
KDALAALX |
Identifies
time of transmission and originator |
D
|
End of Line
(EOL) Function |
New Line
Key |
Required to
end all lines except line of text |
E
|
EOT/EOM
|
Enter Key
|
Terminates
message |
|