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Part II
On Sunday, December 9, 2013 the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and other dignitaries departed TT on board a CAL Boeing 767-300ER aircraft to attended the memorial of the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The direct flight from Piarco International Airport to Johannesburg covered a distance of 6,944 nautical miles, with the aircraft flying seamlessly along airways through several flight information regions (FIR) at altitudes assigned by air traffic control (ATC).
The three-man cockpit crew operated this route for the first time with exactitude, thanks to crew competencies, the aircraft onboard navigation and communication equipment using the satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) and the uniform ICAO air navigation procedures.
Before the departure of the aircraft, a mandatory flight plan in an ICAO-approved format was filed with ATC and loaded into the ATC automated air traffic management system. The flight plan was also transmitted to all the FIR ATC units along the proposed route, using a dedicated air navigation digital network called the Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN).
A flight plan is essentially the plan of an aircraft route from the departure airport to the destination airport, specific to the aircraft and engines type. It contains the phases of flight, heading, speed, the waypoint co-ordinates, assigned altitudes, the distance between waypoints, flying time between waypoints, fuel burn between waypoints and, most importantly, the total trip fuel required.
The flight plan data was loaded into the aircraft flight management system (FMS), enabling the aircraft to fly at the assigned altitudes along the waypoints contained in the flight plan. The track of the aircraft and the waypoints along the route were displayed on a screen in the cockpit which the pilots monitored to ensure the aircraft was on course. During the flight, fuel endurance was monitored by comparing the actual fuel burn between waypoints with the "planned burn," to ensure fuel adequacy.
The aircraft was in constant contact with ATC units in the various FIRs via two-way VHF and HF radio providing position reports to ATC at least once every 30 minutes. The aircraft maintained two-way communication with CAL’s operations centre at Piarco via satellite radio.
After flying for just over 13 hours the aircraft landed safely at the OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg. All visual aids at airports including signage and markings comply with ICAO standards, enabling pilots to easily navigate to their assigned gate as directed by ATC ground control.
Before landing, the pilots reviewed the navigational charts for the airport for familiarity with the runway turnoffs, taxiways and gates.
Today, most charts are in electronic format and stored in a digital device, such as an iPad. This is called an electronic flight bag (EFB). EFBs store all the flight briefin
