AERN 286 - ATC Fundamentals I

(3 hour(s)) Prerequisites: AERN 250. An undergraduate course in the study of the United States air traffic control system, focused on how controllers, pilots, and infrastructure work together to keep the National Airspace System (NAS) safe and efficient. In this course, students will study the structure and authority of the FAA, key regulatory sources that govern ATC, and the major components of the NAS. The course will also examine how aircraft performance, categories, and wake turbulence characteristics drive separation standards and controller techniques. Students will study the organization and services with tower, Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), and en route centers, as well as how controlled and uncontrolled airspace, special use airspace, and airport environments are designed and used. Students will learn the fundamentals of navigation and surveillance, including navigational aids (NAVAIDS), airways, global navigation satellite system (GNSS), radar, and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B), and how these enable basic ATC services. Students will interpret charts, chart supplements, notices to airmen (NOTAMs), standard instrument departures (SIDs), standard terminal arrival routes (STARs), and instrument procedures from an ATC perspective across all phases of flight. Students will consider how emerging technologies and concepts such as performance-based navigation, data communications, and space and unmanned aerial system (UAS) integration are reshaping the controller’s role and the future of the NAS.