Flight Service Station
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A Flight Service Station (FSS) is an air traffic facility which provides pilot briefings regarding current weather and possible hazards along a route of flight. A FSS may also give en route communication services and Visual flight rules (VFR) search and rescue (SAR) assistance. Other responsibilities include relaying Air traffic control (ATC) clearances, creating Notice to Airmen (NOTAMs), receive Instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plans and monitor Navigation Aids (NAVAIDs).
The nearest FSS can be reached by telephone with the number 1-800-WX-BRIEF (992-7433) in the U.S. or 1-866-WX-BRIEF in Canada. A pilot en route may also hail a FSS using the common frequency of 122.2 MHz (126.7 MHz in Canada) with their COMM (communication) radio. While this is the common frequency, some stations may use other frequencies. The latest information can be found in the Airport/Facility Directory (AFD) or Sectional Chart in the US and in the Canada Flight Supplement (CFS).
All Flight Service Stations listen on standard frequencies with the aircraft emergency frequency of 121.5 MHz being the most important. This frequency is the emergency frequency that a pilot would use to give a distress call or to seek help when lost. Every station has its own discrete frequency, generally between 122.3 and 122.6 MHz, so two stations aren't picking up the same pilot. Since a flight service station may be covering a large area of land there may be one or more Remote Communications Outlets (RCO) which it monitors through land lines. An RCO may be located by itself or with a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR).
Pilots are encouraged to radio a FSS and give a pilot report (PIREP). FSS flight briefers give any available PIREPs to pilots that may be traveling through the same area as the given report.
In Canada, FSS were a portion of the federal government department of transport. In 1996 the air navigation system was privatized, NAV CANADA was created and the FSS went with them. The new company's vision was to centralize pre-flight services, and reduce the capabilities and duties of the FS stations.
Flight Information Centres were developed, six major efforts were conducted in southern Canada, and fifteen FSS were closed, and they opened the 6 FIC's and 3 northern hubs. The remaining flight service stations are now classified as airport advisory sites, they can provide airport advisories, vehicle control, weather observations, clearance delivery, local weather information, and some will be providing remote advisory services. These remaining stations generally have limited hours, limited personnel and are no longer responsible for flight planning of any sort. The FIC's have assumed the responsibility for any flight plans, filing, inflight alerting, closing, interpretive weather briefings. The FIC's also have large areas they are overseeing, and have networks of RCO's, some are co-located with advisory sites. The FIC's are similar in function and scope to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system in the US of the automated FSS. The northern FSS (Hubs) that remain, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and North Bay are full service FSS, that have the personnel, equipment, training, experience and skills to be FIC's but have yet to be officially designated. North Bay FSS is tied into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) North Warning System (NWS) radar system, and has a vast network of 23 RCO's located across Canada's arctic coast. The 3 northern hub's also assist and oversee the "Community Airport Radio Station" (CARS) program.
[edit] Search and rescue
A flight service station not only takes IFR flight plans but VFR as well. A VFR flight plan is considered by many general aviation (GA) pilots as a free insurance policy. By activating a VFR flight plan the pilot is guaranteeing for him or herself that someone will start searching for them if they don't arrive at their destination in a timely manner. FSS use a system graduated emergency levels, when a flight plan's estimated arrival time comes close (within 1/2 hour), the FSS goes into the uncertainty phase, the flight plan information is rechecked, and the departure is verified. When a flight plan's calculated estimated arrival time is met and the aircraft has not landed, the FSS launch the distress phase. A communications search is started, this alerts all the possible communications sites and airports along the aircraft's planned flight route that it is late arriving at its destination and any information is requested. The FSS also contacts the military search and rescue authorities that a preliminary search has begun. To receive all the information, this stage lasts one hour. If within the hour, the aircraft is located, the flight plan is amended to either close it or extend the time. If the hour passes and the aircraft has not been found, the alert phase is reached and the communications search is intensified. All possible landing sites within fuel range of the aircraft's last known position are checked. If another hour passes without result, the emergency passes from the FSS to the Search and Rescue authority.
In the case of a pilot not arriving at their destination and closing their flight plan, flight service will start making calls to nearby ATC and Area Control Centers (ACCs) or Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). If this turns up nothing, a call is made to any contact numbers given with the flight plan. If there is no information about a pilot's whereabouts within two hours of their scheduled arrival, flight service will contact the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. (Other facilities would be contacted if the pilot was in Alaska or Hawaii.)
The AFRCC contacts friends and relatives of the pilot asking about the pilots intentions and flying abilities. The AFRCC may make phone calls to local military, police or Civil Air Patrol units as well. If by three hours the pilot has not been located, an actual search mission is launched (weather permitting). If there is an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (Emergency Locator Transmitter or ELT) onboard the aircraft a search mission can be drastically reduced in time.
When flying within the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) all pilots are required to file a flight plan and if flying VFR the word "defense" is added and the flight plan is referred to as a DVFR.
[edit] List of Flight Service Stations (and their identifiers):
- Albuquerque, NM (ABQ)
- Altoona, PA (AOO)
- Anderson, SC (AND)
- Anniston, AL (ANB)
- Bangor, ME (BGR)
- Boise, ID (BOI)
- Bridgeport, CT (BDR)
- Buffalo, NY (BUF)
- Burlington, VT (BTV)
- Casper, WY (CPR)
- Cedar City, UT (CDC)
- Cleveland, OH (CLE)
- Columbia, MO (COU)
- Columbus, NE (OLU)
- Conroe, TX (CXO)
- Dayton, OH (DAY)
- Denver, CO (DEN)
- Deridder, LA (DRI)
- Elkins, WV (EKN)
- Fairbanks, AK (FAI)
- Fort Dodge, IA (FOD)
- Ft. Worth, TX (FTW)
- Gainesville, FL (GNV)
- Grand Forks, ND (GFK)
- Great Falls, MT (GTF)
- Green Bay, WI (GRB)
- Greenwood, MS (GWO)
- Hawthorne, CA (HHR)
- Honolulu, HI (HNL)
- Huron, SD (HON)
- Islip, NY (IS)
- Jackson, TN (MKL)
- Jonesboro, AR (JBR)
- Juneau, AK (JNU)
- Kankakee, IL (IKK)
- Kenai, AK (ENA)
- Lansing, MI (LAN)
- Leesburg, VA (DCA)
- Louisville, KY (LOU)
- Macon, GA (MCN)
- McAlester, OK (MLC)
- McMinnville, OR (MMV)
- Miami, FL (MIA)
- Millville, NJ (MIV)
- Nashville, TN (BNA)
- Oakland, CA (OAK)
- Prescott, AZ (PRC)
- Princeton, MN (PMN)
- Raleigh, NC (RDU)
- Rancho Murrieta, CA (RIU)
- Reno, NV (RNO)
- Riverside, CA (RAL)
- San Angelo, TX (STJ)
- San Diego, CA (SAN)
- San Juan, PR (SJU)
- Seattle, WA (SEA)
- St. Louis, MO (STL)
- St. Petersburg, FL (PI)
- Terre Haute, IN (HUF)
- Wichita, KS (ICT)
- Williamsport, PA (IPT)
[edit] References
- Aeronautical Information Manual, Section 4-1-3. Federal Aviation Administration, 2004
- Pardo, Jeff (April 2005). "Rescue me!: Why you should file a VFR flight plan". AOPA Flight Training, pp 35-37 coolcat12
