Position Relief Briefing

POC: Facility Advisory Board	Date: 2007-10-06
Code: ZLA-301	Version: 1.03

1. PURPOSE.

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) outlines the procedures to be used by radar controllers when conducting position relief briefings. By following the checklist outlined in this SOP, controllers can ensure that required information can be transferred between relieving and relieved controllers without loss of information.

The Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) for this SOP is the ZLA Facility Advisory Board. This SOP was originally drafted by Jeff Clark, ZLA Facility Chief on June 19, 2001. This SOP shall be maintained, revised, updated or cancelled by the ZLA Facility Advisory Board or any organization that supersedes, replaces or assumes the FAB responsibilities. Any suggestions for modification/amendment to this SOP should be sent to the FAB for review.

5. REQUIREMENTS.

a. The Checklist:

The checklist in figure 1 shall be used as a prompt to guide position relief briefings:

Figure 1:

ZLA Position Relief Briefing Checklist PRE-BRIEF: 1.) Status Information Area a.) NOTAMS 2.) Equipment Status and Setup: a.) Voice channel in use b.) Frequencies in use c.) Primary frequency setup 3.) Weather a.) Current weather sequence for LAX, LAS and other airports being used by aircraft on scope. DURING BRIEF: b.) Weather trends c.) Reported Turbulence, Icing, Bases, Tops 4.) Special Activities a.) Military airspace released to ATC b.) Temporary Flight Restrictions 5.) Runway Configuration a.) Landing configuration at LAX, SAN, LAS b.) RWY Closures c.) RWY Conditions (wet, snow, hail, braking action reports, etc.) d.) Special Spacing 6.) Temporary agreements with other facilities 7.) Aircraft in Holding 8.) TRAFFIC: a.) Point Outs b.) Aircraft (go through each target in sector) POST-BRIEF (5 minutes)

b. Use of the Checklist:

(1) Prior to transferring control of a position the relieving controller shall monitor the frequency for a period of time to familiarize him/herself with the current status of the sector. During this time, the controller shall silently brief themselves with items 1-3a of the checklist.

(2) When ready to initiate the briefing, the relieving controller will indicate that he has self-briefed on items 1-3a by stating "I have 1-3a". This indicates to the controller being relieved that the briefing may commence at their discretion. When ready, the controller being relieved will then brief the relieving controller on the remaining items on the checklist.

(3) When finished with the final item, the traffic briefing, the controller being relieved shall state, "Any questions?" and shall answer any questions the relieving controller may have.

(4) Once the relieving controller is satisfied that they have the picture, they shall say "no questions". The controller being relieved will then transfer the control by saying "your control..." followed by their operating initials. The relieving controller, in turn, shall respond "my control..." followed by their operating initials, which indicates that they have assumed control of the sector.

(5) After the actual transfer of control authority has occurred, the relieved controller shall remain on frequency for a period of 5 minutes (when able) to ensure that any information that may be needed to be transferred has not been forgotten.