The Australian Transport Safety Bureau recommends that the
Bureau of Meteorology ensure that all public weather warnings
expected to affect the airspace of an air traffic control facility
be transmitted to that facility by the most expeditious means
possible.
The following response dated 13 April 2004 was received from the
Bureau of Meteorology:
The Bureau will work with Airservices to decide which warning
products are going to be useful to controllers and pilots. Clearly
there is a need to avoid information overload. Severe Weather
Warnings for the general public are wordy and often relate to large
areas, whereas air traffic control is really only interested if the
phenomena are likely to impact on the airport or approaches.
Products which may be suitable for alerting tower controllers to an
impending severe storm situation at an aerodrome are the Airport
Warning (a plain language advice to ground staff) or the
Thunderstorm Alert for aviation ground staff (advice on impending
thunderstorm activity designed for baggage handlers, refuelers
etc). It should be noted that a graphical Thunderstorm Alert for
aviation ground staff is under development which will display
thunderstorm activity and expected movement in the terminal area,
Airservices Australia has been involved in its development. In
addition, products specially tailored to the needs of particular
users will be developed.
A significant issue here is the level of understanding that pilots
and controllers have of both the Bureau products and the
meteorological phenomena they refer to.
