Controllers have some tools right at their scopes that most pilots dont know about. By typing one of the following commands and clicking on an aircrafts target, the scope will highlight the nearest airport to the aircraft within a certain criteria, and give me a range and bearing to it:
Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) can use specific commands on their scopes to quickly identify the nearest airport to an aircraft, with options to filter by runway length (any, 4000ft+, 6000ft+), receiving details like range, bearing, airport identifier, runway width, surface type, and advisory frequency.
ATC facilities maintain an Information Dissemination System (IDS) or hard copy resources, often customized by controllers themselves, to aid in their operations.
These resources contain vital information such as airport diagrams, NOTAMs, approach plates, navaid frequencies, and critical phone numbers for FBOs, airport management at uncontrolled fields, and local emergency services.
Controllers have some tools right at their scopes that most pilots don’t know about. By typing one of the following commands and clicking on an aircraft’s target, the scope will highlight the nearest airport to the aircraft within a certain criteria, and give me a range and bearing to it:
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