Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center

Last updated February 21, 2019

The Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (or ZSE or Seattle Center or Seattle ARTCC) is the area control center responsible for controlling and ensuring proper separation of IFR aircraft in Washington state, most of Oregon, and parts of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and California, as well as the neighboring area into the Pacific Ocean.

In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in a particular volume of airspace at high altitudes between airport approaches and departures. In the US, such a center is referred to as an air route traffic control center (ARTCC).

Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airspace. The primary purpose of ATC worldwide is to prevent collisions, organize and expedite the flow of air traffic, and provide information and other support for pilots. In some countries, ATC plays a security or defensive role, or is operated by the military.

Instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR).

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, also referred to as Sea–Tac Airport or Sea–Tac, is the primary commercial airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in the city of SeaTac, approximately 14 miles (23 km) south of Downtown Seattle and 18 miles (29 km) north-northeast of Downtown Tacoma. The airport, the largest in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, is owned and operated by the Port of Seattle.

Airports served

Class B

SEA/KSEA Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Class C

The following Class C airports in the Seattle ARTCC have continuously operating control towers:

Fairchild Air Force Base American airport

Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base, located approximately twelve miles (20 km) southwest of Spokane, Washington.

Portland International Airport airport in Portland, Oregon, United States

Portland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon that accounts for 90% of passenger travel and more than 95% of air cargo of the state. It is within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah County, 6 miles by air and 12 mi (19 km) by highway northeast of downtown Portland. Portland International Airport is often referred to by its IATA airport code, PDX. The airport covers 3,000 acres of land.

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington.

Class D

The following are Class D airports in the Seattle ARTCC. Those with continuously operating control towers (as opposed to control towers closed during the night) are italicized.

Bellingham International Airport is three miles (5 km) northwest of Bellingham, in Whatcom County, Washington, and the third-largest commercial airport in Washington. BLI covers 2,190 acres of land.

Boeing Field public airport in Washington, United States

Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, five miles south of downtown Seattle, Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA, but this is not the airport identifier. The airport has some passenger service, but is mostly used by general aviation and cargo. It is named for the founder of Boeing, William E. Boeing. The airport's property is mostly in Seattle just south of Georgetown, with its southern tip extending into Tukwila. It covers 634 acres (257 ha) and has more than 375,000 operations yearly.

Eastern Oregon Regional Airport is a public airport three miles northwest of Pendleton, in Umatilla County, Oregon. It sees one airline subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.

Class E

The following airports in the Seattle ARTCC airspace are nontowered, Class E airports:

Arcata
Astoria Rgnl
Burns
Bowerman
Bremerton Natl
Coeur d'Alene
Deer Park
Ephrata
Fairchild Intl
McNamara
Newport
Pangborn
Pullman

Subdivisions

Control area

Map of US ARTCCs Artccmap.gif — Map of US ARTCCs

VATSIM representation

The Seattle ARTCC is represented on the VATSIM network by the VATSIM Seattle ARTCC. The VATSIM Seattle ARTCC performs mostly the same functions as the real Seattle ARTCC, but for the VATSIM flight simulation network. The VATSIM Seattle ARTCC thus works to ensure the separation of flight simulator aircraft piloted by flight enthusiasts from around the world. However, unlike its real-world counterpart, the VATSIM Seattle ARTCC takes direct responsibility for staffing and manning all ATC facilities under its control, including terminal control centers for Class B, C, and D airspace such as at the SeaTac and Portland airports.

Related Research Articles

Eugene Airport, also known as Mahlon Sweet Field, is a public airport 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Eugene, in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by the City of Eugene, it is the fifth-largest airport in the Pacific Northwest. The terminal building has "A" gates on the upper level and "B" gates, ticketing, and baggage claim on the lower level. The airport has an expanded air cargo facility and three fixed-base operators (FBOs) to handle general aviation. In 2018, the Eugene Airport handled 1,168,110 passengers, an increase of 8.3% over 2017. The airport was named for Mahlon Sweet (1886–1947), a Eugene automobile dealer who was a strong supporter of aviation and pushed to get the now-defunct Eugene Air Park built in 1919, followed by the current airfield in 1943. In 2010, a new airport rescue and firefighting facility was built. EUG covers 2,600 acres of land.

Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operating as Horizon Air, is a regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. Horizon Air and its sister carrier Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group and all Horizon-operated scheduled flights are marketed and sold by Alaska Airlines. Planes operated by Horizon are co-branded as "Alaska Horizon" in recognition of the Horizon brand and to differentiate aircraft from those operated by Alaska's other regional airline partner, SkyWest Airlines.

Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport is an international airport three miles north of downtown Medford, in Jackson County, Oregon. Owned and operated by Jackson County's Aviation Authority, the airport serves southwest Oregon. Originally named Medford–Jackson County Airport, it was renamed to Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport after it became an international airport in 1994.

Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport is a public use airport in Klamath County, Oregon five miles southeast of Klamath Falls, which owns it. It is used by general aviation, military aviation and a few airline flights. In 2013 the Airport changed its name to Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport.

Walla Walla Regional Airport is a public airport in the western United States, located in Walla Walla County, Washington. It is three miles (5 km) northeast of central Walla Walla, and is owned by the Port of Walla Walla.

San Juan Airlines is a commuter airline operating scheduled and charter flights in the U.S. state of Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its main base of operations is Bellingham near the San Juan Islands. The airline's fleet consists of Cessna 172, 206 and 207 aircraft.

West Coast Airlines was an airline linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, California and north to Alberta in Canada. Its headquarters was in the Westlake area of Seattle, Washington.

ERAM is an FAA Air Traffic Control system designed to "allow faster processing of route requests and in flight route changes".

Aurora State Airport is a public airport located one mile (2 km) northwest of the central business district of Aurora, a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. It is owned by the Oregon Department of Aviation.

The National Airspace System (NAS) is the airspace, navigation facilities and airports of the United States along with their associated information, services, rules, regulations, policies, procedures, personnel and equipment. It includes components shared jointly with the military. It is one of the most complex aviation systems in the world and services air travel in the United States and over large portions of the world's oceans.

Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZHU) is located at George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 16600 JFK Boulevard, Houston, Texas, United States 77032. The Houston ARTCC is one of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the United States. Houston Center is the 9th busiest ARTCC in the United States. Between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, Houston Center handled 2,266,553 aircraft operations.

The Auburn Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) north of downtown Auburn, in King County, Washington.

Northern California TRACON (NCT), or NorCal TRACON for short, is an air traffic control facility that provides safety alerts, separation, and sequencing of air traffic arriving, departing, and transiting the airspace and airports in Northern California, United States. Located in Rancho Cordova near Sacramento, NCT controls airspace over 19,000 square miles (49,000 km²), and serves Reno International Airport, Sacramento International Airport, San Jose International Airport, Oakland International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport, plus 19 other smaller airports with air traffic control towers. NCT is the 3rd busiest TRACON in the US. NorCal TRACON is the step between local control and an Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), in this case, Oakland Center. San Francisco International Airport is the 2nd largest airport in California and the largest airport serving Northern California.

Boston Virtual ARTCC (BVA) is a non-profit community of aviation enthusiasts, students, and professionals. The organization connects virtual pilots and virtual air traffic controllers through the VATSIM network for the purposes of flight simulation and training.

Portland Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Portland International Airport, Oregon. It is located 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon.

On August 10, 2018, a Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 was stolen from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (Sea–Tac) in SeaTac, Washington. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience. He performed an unauthorized takeoff and two McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighters were subsequently scrambled to intercept the aircraft. Sea–Tac air traffic control made radio contact with Russell, the sole occupant, who described himself as a "broken guy, got a few screws loose I guess." Approximately one hour and 15 minutes after takeoff, Russell committed suicide by intentionally crashing the aircraft on the lightly-populated Ketron Island in Puget Sound.

References

↑ "Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center ZSE". Wikimapia. Retrieved 15 November 2011.

External links

Seattle Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) (NWS/FAA)

The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the purposes of protection, safety, and general information. It is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) branch of the Department of Commerce, and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, within the Washington metropolitan area. The agency was known as the United States Weather Bureau from 1890 until it adopted its current name in 1970.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is a national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation. These include the construction and operation of airports, air traffic management, the certification of personnel and aircraft, and the protection of U.S. assets during the launch or re-entry of commercial space vehicles.

Coordinates: 47°17′13″N122°11′18″W / 47.2870°N 122.1882°W / 47.2870; -122.1882

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[wikimapia-1] "Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center ZSE". Wikimapia. Retrieved 15 November 2011.