Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center
Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZDC) is an Area Control Center operated by the Federal Aviation Administration and located at Lawson Rd SE, Leesburg, Virginia, United States. The primary responsibility of ZDC is the separation of airplane flights and the expedited sequencing of arrivals and departures along STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes) and SIDs (Standard Instrument Departures) for the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area, the New York Metropolitan Area, and Philadelphia among many other areas.
Washington Center is the second busiest (after Atlanta) ARTCC in the United States. Between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, Washington Center handled 2,554,410 aircraft operations.[1] The Washington ARTCC covers 165,000 square miles (430,000 km2) of airspace that includes airports in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina.
Basic breakdown of sectors
[edit]ZDC is divided into 8 areas, numbered 1 through 8, that make up 46 sectors. They are mainly broken down into low altitude, intermediate, high altitude and Super High Altitude sectors. There are 18 low sectors, 14 high sectors, 5 super high sectors and 4 various other type sectors, including 1 high/low altitude sector and 3 intermediate altitude sectors.
AREA 1
[edit]Super-high sectors
[edit]- 72 Shenandoah SHD 127.925 MHz/269.375 MHz
- 07 Wahoo WAH 121.925 MHz/346.375 MHz
During periods of traffic saturation in the Shenandoah Sector, ZDC will split the Shenandoah sector into two sectors, making Wahoo a second Super High Sector over the Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia areas. Shenandoah normally overlaps the Tech High and Gordonsville High Sectors above FL330. When traffic demand is high, Wahoo is activated to overlap the Gordonsville High Sector above FL330 covering J37 and J75 from GVE VOR south while Shenandoah will overlap Tech High Sector above FL 330 and cover traffic on J48 from CSN VOR south, J22 from MOL VOR south and J53 south of ASBUR intersection near LWB VOR.
High sectors
[edit]- 32 Gordonsville GVE 133.725/351.900
- 52 Tech TEC 133.575/270.350
Intermediate sectors
[edit]- 60 Montebello MOL 121.675/284.700
Low sectors
[edit]- 31 Azalea AZA 135.400/263.100
AREA 2
[edit]High sectors
[edit]- 36 Raleigh RDU 118.925/322.450
Low sectors
[edit]- 26 Sampson SAM 135.300/285.500
- 27 Liberty LIB 135.200/348.650
- 28 Rocky Mount RMT 118.475/279.650
AREA 3
[edit]High sectors
[edit]- 37 Marlinton MAR 133.025/323.025
Low sectors
[edit]- 02 Casanova CSN 133.200/282.200
- 05 Linden LDN 133.550/322.550
- 22 South Boston SBV 124.050/352.000
- 29 NEW Valley VAL (formerly Hot Springs HSP)134.400/353.900
Sector 30 OLD Valley VAL has been changed to NEW 72 Shenandoah SHD Super Hi Sector in Area 1 above. Old Valley Sector merged into Sector 29 Hot Springs.
AREA 4
[edit]Super-high sectors
[edit]- 42 Bryce BRY 118.025/226.675
High sectors
[edit]- 03 Moorefield MOR 133.275/371.900
- 04 Pinion PIN 133.975/307.025
Low sectors
[edit]- 01 Elkins EKN 128.600/387.100
- 06 Hagerstown HGR 134.150/227.125
- 15 Blue Ridge BLR 133.650/285.600
AREA 5
[edit]Super-high sectors
[edit]- 39 Snow Hill SWL 121.375/236.825
- 50 Yorktown YKT 120.75/317.725
High sectors
[edit]- 34 Norfolk ORF 133.825/327.800
- 54 Salisbury SBY 120.975/257.700
Low sectors
[edit]- 23 Cape Charles CCV 132.550/256.80
- 51 Casino CAS 127.700/285.400
- 53 Kenton ENO 132.050/354.150
AREA 6
[edit]Super-high sectors
[edit]- 09 Dixon DIW 118.825/360.650
High sectors
[edit]- 35 Wilmington ILM 124.025/269.150
- 38 Tar River TYI 132.225/354.100
Low sectors
[edit]- 24 Cofield CVI 123.850/323.000
- 25 New Bern EWN 135.500/281.425
- 33 Franklin FKN 132.025/290.425
AREA 7
[edit]High-altitude sectors
[edit]- 10 Bay BAY 132.275/379.300
- 12 Brooke BRV 126.875/327.000
- 16 Hopewell HPW 121.875/323.225
Intermediate sectors
[edit]- 11 Calvert CAL 133.900/281.400
- 20 Blackstone BKT 127.750/235.625
Low sectors
[edit]- 14 Irons IRS 132.950/351.800
- 21 Dominion DOM 118.750/377.100
AREA 8
[edit]High sectors
[edit]- 58 Coyle CYN 121.025/254.300
- 59 Sea Isle SIE 133.125/281.450
High-low sectors
[edit]- 19 Woodstown OOD 125.450/363.000
- 18 DuPont DQO 132.525/287.900
Low sectors
[edit]- 17 Swann SWN 134.500/360.700
References
[edit]- ^ Federal Aviation Administration. (2018). Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS). Retrieved from http://aspm.faa.gov/opsnet/sys/Center.asp
External links
[edit]- Washington ARTCC on IVAO
- Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center
- Washington Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) (NWS/FAA)
