Flight service specialists observe weather for Environment Canada and the city. Each work station has several monitors.
missing aircraft. Whether it’s phoning airports to do a ramp check to see if the plane is there, calling pilots directly on their cell phones or co-ordinating further search and rescue efforts with the military, they are there to help. Each pilot has an emergency contact, and the airports all have a list of people to get in touch with in case of an emergency as well. • Notice to Airmen (NOTAM): Notices to alert pilots of things that are out of the norm. Tese include radio frequen- cies that aren’t working, temporary no-fly zones for reasons such as military exercises and forest fires. Te local airports will also report on conditions such as runway status, and the FIC passes that information along. Tere are no days off at the FIC. A minimum of two peo-
ple are working at any given moment 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. While there are more planes operating during the day and during the summer, there are still planes that need attention during the night and during the winter. Even on Christmas Day, you will find a crew of specialists sitting in front of their monitors, making sure everything is safe and sound. While the jobs and skills of flight service specialists are quite transferable all across the country, one cannot simply
show up at a new location and start working. Tey have to become accustomed to the unique characteristics of each re- gion through local training. Te work station for a flight service specialist at an FIC
consists of several monitors showing displays of meteoro- logical information, a digital radio display, a phone and the all-important headset. Te specialists have to take in a lot of data in a variety of formats, and it is their ability to process all of that information and pass it along in a concise and timely manner that keeps everything operating smoothly. Specialists at the Winnipeg FIC are also the city’s offi-
cial weather observers. When you get reports from the local weatherperson, they are getting their data from the informa- tion collected by the people at the FIC. Te flight service specialists at the Flight Information Centre in Winnipeg, and the other FICs around the coun- try, have their eyes on the skies and their expertise ensures for the smoothest ride possible. Teir constant monitoring of conditions means they truly know the skies better than anybody else. Special thanks to Peter Hamm, Joel Favreau and Maria Fedoro- wich of NAV CANADA.
thehubwinnipeg.com
Fall 2015 • 75
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