Viewpoint: Intelligent Video In ATC, Ground Operations Support

Airports are among the most tightly controlled environments. In both commercial and business aviation, much of which is largely invisible to passengers yet is paramount for safe travels.

Air Traffic Control (ATC) is a great example with the orchestration of runways while juggling the oftentimes conflicting demands of safety with pinpoint efficiency.

As ATCs deal with ongoing recruitment challenges, struggling teams are left to manage traffic while remaining mindful of the many operational threats that can ground aircraft. Intelligent video is helping staff meet the demands of a growing industry, despite diminished headcounts.

Awareness 

The two main complicating factors in airport ground operations are the number of teams working in the same space and the time pressures each face. At any moment, ground handlers, fueling crews, maintenance teams, FBO personnel and security staff can all be present on the tarmac, performing separate duties that ultimately form part of the same workflow.

Each crew has its own potential risks and sources of delay, whose knock-on effects will ripple through the rest. The ATC teams overseeing this combined effort are responsible for understanding what is happening, spotting issues as they arise and assessing their implications, all the while directing aircraft and ensuring runways are clear of vehicles and debris for takeoff.

The visibility of airport security systems extends to taxiways, service roads, aprons, hangars and perimeter zones, placing nearly the entire outdoor area of the premises under the remit of teams already stretched thin.

Radio and CCTV are the primary sources of on-the-ground awareness, but are often treated as separate, disconnected channels. This means operators spend more time verifying incidents across different systems, with no quick way to confirm details transmitted solely through voice.

With so much happening, so many processes involved in each flight prior to and following boarding, it’s easy for security and ATC crews to feel overwhelmed by information.

It comes as no surprise that the majority of aviation errors stem from human error in planning and execution. This is not to say human input should be minimized, but that any technology that alleviates the pressure on human operators should be prioritized by airport management.

Intelligent Video Aid

Smart video brings these channels together and manages them from a single command center. It analyzes data from voice, video and access controls to give real-time coverage and alerts throughout the airport.

These features are useful for identifying banned individuals, unauthorized entry and suspicious behavior. They also help alleviate the burden that manual observation places on ATC crews. Intelligent video can spot hazards and risks on high-traffic ramps and adjoining areas, alerting security teams when support equipment is positioned too close to an aircraft, when vehicle incursions are likely, when foreign object debris poses a safety issue or when an individual enters a restricted zone.

Such capabilities are even more valuable in regional and business aviation airports, where the same standards of security and safety must be met by even smaller teams.

Addressing these issues quickly is key when ATC, maintenance and pilots are all on a strict schedule. Using intelligent video, security teams can investigate an alert remotely, cross-reference findings with logged radio chatter and coordinate a confident response wherever the situation arises.

Post-incident investigations, a critical process that reveals bottlenecks and oversights that hamper response, are strengthened by the streamlined documentation enabled by intelligent video. Video is tagged and stored for easy searchability alongside access logs and communications, giving auditors and investigators everything they need without having to dig for files.

From this enhanced retrospection, airports can refine their long-term security strategy through safety promotion and focused training initiatives. The data provided by smart video can help address the most common operational concerns of that specific site, closing visibility gaps before they lead to harm.

Increasing Resiliency 

The need for airports to scale up their infrastructure is somewhat inevitable as passenger numbers exceed pre-pandemic levels. While intelligent video helps manage this higher demand, it cannot fully remedy the procedural challenges both commercial and private airports face without trained workers to interpret and act on its output.

Operational oversights give way to human error, and waste valuable resources that strained workers can rarely afford to spare. By streamlining day-to-day operations and emergency response, intelligent video helps keep teams in sync and more aware of the airport's broader security landscape.

John Kim is senior director of product and design for Avigilon and Motorola Solutions.