Trailblazer
A young flight procedure design specialist is motivated by the knowledge that what he does for a living is a collective effort that ensures millions of travellers’ lives are in capable hands in any airspace across the globe.
Flight procedure design specialist Mpho Chepape draws roads in the sky
Mpho Chepape, 29, a validated flight procedure design specialist at the Air Traffic and Navigation Service Company Limited (ATNS), says that seeing families reunited and people arriving safely at their destinations is what inspires him to go the extra mile.
Chepape has been a validated flight procedure design specialist since February 2017. Prior to this, he worked as a junior air traffic services officer and assisted senior air traffic controllers with flight operations.
Always a technical and solutionoriented person, when he saw a post about flight procedure design specialists the word ‘design' caught his eye.“I had no idea that someone could become a flight procedure design specialist, but when I saw the advert I just knew that this is what I wanted to do,” said Chepape, who was born in Alexandra and moved to Soweto as a young boy.
Improving airspace efficiency
Pilots have to use certain routes and follow various procedures to ensure that they take off and land
safely.The only way for pilots to know which route to follow, from one airport to another, is through the services of a flight procedure design specialist who designs airspace or route procedures locally and internationally to prevent aircraft from crashing into obstacles, such as buildings and other structures.
“It also improves airspace efficiency, to accommodate more traffic and reduce aircraft traffic control workload,” Chepape explained.
“What I normally tell people when they ask me about my job is that I draw roads in the sky,” he added.
In his position at ATNS, the home of expert air traffic control and management solutions for South Africa and 10 percent of the world's airspace, Chepape is responsible for stakeholder engagement, procedure design and reporting, obstacle analysis against designed procedures, assisting the charting/cartography specialist and project management.
“Being a qualified flight procedure design specialist and being entrusted with this responsibility is the highlight of my career,” he said.
Instrument flight procedure design is a complex field of activity in the aviation domain because things change constantly. Air traffic volumes continue to grow worldwide, terminal airspaces are increasingly congested, navigation technology evolves and environmental constraints become more stringent. A flight procedure design specialist therefore has to address many issues and continuous training is a key element when it comes to creating safe, efficient and economical instrument flight procedures.
It is vital that a flight procedure design specialist knows not only design criteria, but also other related topics such as database coding, geodetics and mapping, aircraft performance and aircraft certification standards.The quality assurance of designed procedures is also a mandatory element in the flight procedure process.
An exciting and complex job
Chepape explained that when it comes to safety he constantly analyses the environment where flights take off and land, to avoid any accidents. He also liaises with all stakeholders, including pilots, airport management, air traffic controllers and the South African Weather Service to ensure that he is able to design efficient flight procedures.“My job is exciting, but complex, because the environment is never the same. Every day is different, so there is no routine when it comes to designing routes for flights,” he said.
After not being able to complete his civil engineering degree, due to financial and personal circumstances, Chepape graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science (cum laude) from the University of South Africa in 2017. “This was the proudest moment of my life,” says Chepape, who is now studying towards an Honours degree in Computer Science, with the option of big data analysis, at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Chepape also completed an extensive flight procedure design course, at the Air Navigation Institute (ANI) in Switzerland, and went through 18 months of on-thejob training thereafter.The ANI is renowned worldwide for its training in the flight procedure domain.
Chepape joined ATNS in 2011 after obtaining a bursary from the state-owned company to become an air traffic service officer. He is now one of ATNS' four flight procedure design specialists.
Air navigation services
In terms of Article 28 of the Chicago Convention, the South African government is required to provide air navigation services and infrastructure in compliance with the standards and recommended practices as promulgated from time to time by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The convention makes provision for the state to delegate responsibility for the provision of services, but it remains accountable for ensuring compliance with standards and
recommended practices.
ATNS was established in 1993, in terms of the ATNS Company Act (Act 45 of 1993), to provide air traffic management solutions and associated services on behalf of the state. Its services accord with the ICAO's standards and recommended practices and the South African Civil Aviation Authority's regulations and technical standards.
As an air navigation services provider, ATNS is governed by the nation's legislative and administrative framework. Its mandate is to provide safe, expeditious and efficient air traffic management solutions and associated services, while ensuring long-term economic, social and environmental sustainability. It does this by making sure that it meets all of its mandatory regulatory requirements, especially safety performance.
ATNS' strategic objectives include accountability safety and customer service continuous improvement and innovation employee engagement and development fairness and consistency open and effective communication and responsibility and care towards the environment and communities.
As ATNS is a monopoly service provider it is regulated economically by the Economic Regulating Committee (ERC), a statutory body formed and appointed by its shareholders - the Department of Transport. Through permission from the ERC, ATNS is authorised to levy air traffic service charges on aircraft operators for the use of air navigation infrastructure and the provision of an air traffic service. Some of its milestones include founding the ATNS college, to provide air traffic and navigation related training and Project Pronav, which saw the upgrade and extension of terrestrial navigation systems.
Looking ahead
Chepape's advice to youngsters aiming to get into the same industry is to be passionate about what they do and to ensure that they achieve good marks in maths and science.
“Always try to be fair and consistent in all you do, accountable for what you do and remember that safety is the number one priority in aviation,” he said.
As for the future, he has his sights set on becoming a professional data analyst.“I would like to come up with new ways of interpreting aviation datasets, to improve the ways in which safety solutions are implemented. I believe there is always room for improvement when it comes to safety,” he added.
Chepape's son is his inspiration to do better daily, as he wants to leave a lasting legacy for him, and he always tries to live by Jason Silva's definition of a billionaire,“A billionaire in the 21st century is not a person with many zeros in their bank account, but someone who positively affects the lives of a billion people.”