[Scan-DC] Fw: NexGen Arrivals into DCA

[lepine15 at comcast.net]

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-----Original message-----
From: Paul.Lepine at faa.gov
To: lepine15 at comcast.net
Sent: Wed, Sep 12, 2012 12:24:36 GMT+00:00
Subject: NexGen Arrivals into DCA

September 10, 2012
FAA Commemorates 9/11 with NextGen arrival profiles into National Airport
 
No one who was working at the Department of Transportation 11 years ago 
will forget the morning of September 11, 2001. Whether it was the Federal 
Aviation Administration's air traffic controllers, who helped bring every 
aircraft in U.S. (insert periods) airspace safely to ground, or the U.S. 
Merchant Marine Academy's midshipmen, who went into the chaos of Lower 
Manhattan to support the maritime evacuation of Wall Street workers, 9/11 
is permanently etched into the Department's memory.
 
To commemorate that day, the FAA's Washington Metroplex Team has named two 
arrival sequences to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to honor 
those who died that day and those who have served our country from that 
day forward. Each arrival sequence, FRDMM (Freedom) and TRUPS (Troops), is 
part of our new NextGen descents, which use satellite-based information to 
make more efficient arrivals and departures at airports. The sequences 
contain a series of five-letter waypoints – points in the sky through 
which an aircraft must fly to remain on course – and together, they spell 
out messages of support and remembrance for 9/11. 
 
Aircraft flying the Freedom route to National from the northwest pass 
through waypoints named “WEEEE,” “WLLLL,” “NEVVR,” “FORGT” and “SEP11.” 
Those flying the Troops route from the southwest pass through waypoints 
named “USAAY,” “WEEDU,” “SUPRT,” “OOURR” and “TRUPS.” Depending on the 
runway configuration, aircraft might also pass through waypoints named 
“STAND” and “TOGETHER” or “LETZZ,” “RLLLL,” “VCTRY” and “HEROO."
 
 This not the first time a waypoint has been designated to recall 9/11. A 
waypoint published last year over Shanksville, Pa., was named “GARDN” 
(Guardian) in honor of United Flight 93, which crashed after passengers 
fought with hijackers for control of the plane and prevented it from 
reaching Washington, D.C. 
 
The men and women of America's airways were also deeply affected by the 
events of September 11, and airline pilots and crews have responded 
strongly to these new waypoints. Recently, for example, on a morning 
flight from Detroit to Reagan National, a Delta Air Lines pilot came over 
the Public Address system and began sharing the story of the new arrival 
procedure with his passengers. As the flight crew began their precision 
descent into the capital area, the pilot read aloud the names of the 
waypoints they would be passing through prior to arrival: HONNR, BRVRY, 
COURG; MORLL PLDGE: WEEEE WLLLL NEVER FORGT SEP11, ALWYZ FRDMM.
 
"As he was reading them," reported one passenger, "the people were all 
quiet, and we all stopped talking or reading or whatever else we were 
doing. Everyone just listened. We could hear the pilot starting to get 
choked up as he talked about how proud he was to read those points off as 
we entered DC."
 
The FAA’s Metroplex initiative is creating satellite-based procedures to 
transform our national airspace system, making it more flexible and 
decreasing our carbon footprint. NextGen flight tracks, like the 
procedures commemorating 9/11, will relieve bottlenecks, improve safety 
and efficiency, and foster the flow of commerce. NextGen will deliver more 
on-time and fuel-efficient flights, and continue to ensure that our system 
remains the safest air transportation system in the world.
 
These descents are also powerful proof that we at DOT remember 9/11 365 
days a year.
http://fastlane.dot.gov/2012/09/faa-commemorates-911-with-nextgen-arrival-profiles-into-national-airport-.html#.UE5bVUKrVUQ
 
Doug Church
Director of Communications
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)
natca.org
Follow NATCA at:
twitter.com/natca
facebook.com/natcafamily
 
 
Thanks,
 

******************************* 
Paul Lepine
Program Management Analyst
FAA AFS-260
O – 202-267-3205
C - 240-315-5404
paul.lepine at faa.gov 
(°llllll°)
*******************************