New emergency air command goes on-line next week
SCATANA to be replaced with ESCAT; change devolves authority to declare emergencies to regional NORAD commands; shift in responsibility intended to permit commanders to restrict regional flights so as to avoid costly national shutdowns
The nation’s emergency air traffic control system is poised for a major overhaul beginning on 18 January, when the Security Control Air Traffic And Navigational Aids (SCATANA) system is replaced with the Emergency Security Control of Air Traffic (ESCAT). SCATANA had been widely criticized for not meeting the needs of post-9/11 planning, in partucular its emphasis on a nationwide aviation shutdown in response to any major security breach. As was demonstrated on 9/11, such an action can lead to massive and totally unneccesary economic losses. ESCAT, which gives broad discretion to military commanders that cannot be overridden by civilian aviation authorities, calls for localized responses to aviation threats.
“After 911, we realized we had to update SCATANA,” said Ray Lewis, coordinator of the Department of Defense Policy Board on Federal Aviation. “It was written with a Cold War mentality.” The new rules resulted from complex negotiations between the Departments of Defense, Transportation, and Homeland Security and the Federal Aviation Administration, and they comply with Presidential Directives HSPD 47 and NSPD 47, which mandate updates of all federal emergency procedures. Under the procedures, regional military commanders would have the ability to declare an emergency and shut down airspace within restricted or targeted danger zones.
Commands so empowered include the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), commanders of NORAD’s three subsidiary air defense regions (Alaska, Canada and the continental U.S.), Canada’s Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS), and the commander, U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM).
-read more in Josh Martin’s GSN report
