Hawthorne Tower Local Control (TWR)

POC: Facility Advisory Board	Date: 2007-07-30
Code: ZLA	Version: 1.00

1. PURPOSE.

This Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) outlines the procedures to be used by controllers working HHR Tower to ensure that arrivals and departures are handled in as efficient and timely a manner as possible.

2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

The Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) for this SOP is the ZLA Facility Advisory Board. This SOP was originally approved by the FAB, on 08/01/07. 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.

3. DISTRIBUTION.

SOP is intended for use by controllers staffing Hawthorne tower and ground, as well as controllers staffing the Departure and Approach sectors of the SoCal TRACON.

4. BACKGROUND.

Over time, controllers have found that having aircraft arrive and depart via pre-approved runways provides for a more orderly traffic flow, and reduces the need for communication between HHR Tower and the surrounding tracons.

5. REQUIREMENTS.

a. Frequency:

HHR_TWR shall use 121.10 as its normal frequency.

HHR_GND shall use frequency 125.10
HHR_ATIS shall use frequency 118.40

Departure Control
SoCal Approach (Departure) - 124.30
SoCal Approach (South) - 124.90

b. Airspace:

Hawthorne Tower has been delegated airspace that airspace extending upward from the surface to and including 2,500 feet MSL within a 2.6-mile radius of the Jack Northrop Field/ Hawthorne Municipal Airport and that airspace within the area bounded by lat. 33°53'19"N., long. 118°22'03"W.; to lat. 33°53'19"N., long.118°23'23"W.; to lat.33°55'59"N., long. 118°25'55"W.; to lat.33°56'07"N., long. 118°23'06"W.; thence counterclockwise along the 2.6 mile radius of the Jack Northrop Field/Hawthorne Municipal Airport to lat. 33°53'19"N., long. 118°22'03"W.; and that airspace within the area bounded by lat. 33°57'16"N., long. 118°17'58"W.; to lat. 33°57'22"N., long. 118°15'33"W.; to lat. 33°53'46"N., long. 118°15'36"W.; to lat. 33°53'16"N., long. 118°15'40"W.; to lat. 33°53'28"N., long. 118°17'58"W.; thence counterclockwise along the 2.6- mile radius of the Jack Northrop Field/Hawthorne Municipal Airport to lat. 33°57'16"N., long. 118°17'58"W.

6. OPERATING PROCEDURES.

a. Runway Use Program:

1. During calm wind conditions, or when the winds are out of the E at 5 knots or less. Runway 25 shall be the preferred runway for all departures and arrivals.

2. During times when Los Angeles International Airport is in normal operations, runway 25 shall be used for all IFR departures

3. During times when Los Angeles International Airport is in east operations, runway 7 shall be used for all IFR departures

b. VFR Departure Information:

1. North bound fixed wing VFR departures must either fly the miniroute transition, or fly through the Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Area. Pilots should advise tower control prior to departure as to which departure they will be doing. See the KLAX transition information below.

2. VFR aircraft requesting flight following shall be routed to the proper controller as follows:
Southbound requests shall be routed to SoCal Departure
Eastbound requests shall be routed to SoCal Approach (South)
Westbound requests shall be routes to SoCal Departure
Northbound flight following requests are not authorized.

3. Hawthorne Tower is not authorized to give VFR aircraft clearance through the Los Angeles Class Bravo Airspace unless otherwise coordinated. Flight following aircraft should be advised to remain clear of the Class Bravo airspace upon handoff to the appropriate controller.

c. VFR Arrival Information:

1. VFR arrivals from the north will usually be coordinated by Los Angeles Tower prior to penetration of Hawthorne Airspace. Hawthorne Tower is not authorized to used radar; therefore the use of radar handoffs is not permitted.

2. Fixed wing aircraft that are received from Los Angeles tower will be at 2500’ on the Santa Monica 128 Radial or heading 130. When these aircraft are clear of the Los Angeles Class Bravo Airspace they should have their altitude restriction canceled and merged into the appropriate pattern. Over flights of Hawthorne should be told to resume own navigation.

3. Helicopter arrivals from the South will either be flying along the shoreline at or below 150’ or over midfield at 1000’. In either case these aircraft should have their altitude restriction canceled when clear of the Los Angeles Class Bravo Airspace and merged into the appropriate pattern. Note that Hawthorne tower does not own airspace over the shoreline. Only helicopter inbound to Hawthorne along the shoreline will be handed off by Los Angeles.

4. Fixed wing arrivals arriving from the Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Corridor will not be coordinated by Los Angeles Tower. These aircraft shall not be given any instructions until clear of the Special Flight Rules Area. When clear these aircraft should be advised to squawk 1200 and merged into the appropriate pattern.

5. VFR arrivals not from the north shall be sequenced into the appropriate traffic pattern.

d. IFR Departure Information:

1. IFR departures shall be given an initial altitude of 5000 or filed cruise altitude if lower. Aircraft going to other southern California destination shall be routed according to the appropriate TEC routing. Deviations from this must be approved by SoCal Departure.

2. When Los Angeles is in Normal or Noise Operations Hawthorne Tower shall have IFR departures depart from runway 25. If an aircraft is unable to depart runway 25, departure instructions shall be coordinated with SoCal Approach (South).

3. During Runway 25 operations Hawthorne Tower shall get a release from Socal Departure prior to takeoff clearance. Once received this release is valid for three (3) minutes. Hawthorne Tower shall handoff departures to SoCal Departure upon wheels up.

4. When Los Angeles is in East Operations Hawthorne Tower shall have IFR departures depart from runway 7. If an aircraft is unable to depart runway 7, departure instructions shall be coordinated with SoCal Approach (South).

5. A release shall be obtained from SoCal Departure for all Runway 7 IFR departures. This release is valid for three (3) minutes. Hawthorne Tower shall handoff departure to SoCal departure upon wheels up.

e. IFR Arrival Information

1. Arrivals arriving shall be received from SoCal Approach (South). In the event of a missed approach aircraft shall be instructed to fly the published missed approach procedure and contact SoCal Departure. Upon wheels down SoCal Approach (South) and SoCal Departure must be advised.

f. KLAX Transition Information.

1. All north bound VFR departures shall transition through Los Angeles Tower Airspace. All transitions except for the Special Flight Rules Area must be coordinated with Los Angeles Tower prior to departure for aircraft departing Hawthorne, and prior to Los Angeles Airspace penetration for over flights.

2. Miniroute Transitions:

(a). The miniroute transition is authorized during times when Los Angeles is in Normal or Noise Operations for fixed wing aircraft only. KLAX must be reporting weather better then 3000-3 for miniroute transitions. Aircraft who wish to transition KLAX but are not familiar with the miniroute shall be given the following instructions. “Maintain VFR at 2500, circle one mile south of the midpoint of runway 25L until further advised. Los Angeles tower must be advised if an aircraft is not familiar with the miniroute procedure.

(b). Aircraft Departing Hawthorne:
Hawthorne Tower must get approval from Los Angeles Tower prior to departure for all miniroute transitions. Upon departure these aircraft shall be told to maintain VFR at 2500’. Upon being clear of any pattern conflicts, these aircraft shall be advised to contact Los Angeles Tower and to remain clear of the Los Angeles Class Bravo airspace until advised.

(c). Aircraft over flying Hawthorne:
Hawthorne Tower must get approval from Los Angeles Tower prior to Class B airspace penetration for miniroute transitions. These aircraft shall be told to over fly 2 miles west of KHHR at 2500’ and join the miniroute. Once directly west of the field aircraft shall be advised to contact Los Angeles Tower and to remain clear of the Los Angeles Class Bravo airspace until advised.

3. Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) Departures:

(a). Aircraft departing Hawthorne to join the special flight rules area do not require approval from Los Angeles Tower prior to departure. Upon departure these aircraft shall be told to maintain VFR at 3500 and to remain clear of the Los Angeles class Bravo airspace. Prior to penetration of the SFRA these aircraft shall be handed off to Unicom and advised to squawk 1201. The SFRA is only authorized for fixed wing non-turbo jet aircraft.

4. Helicopter Transitions:

(a). Helicopters are authorized to use either the Sepulveda or Shoreline routes out of Hawthorne through Los Angeles Class B airspace. Both routes must be approved by Los Angeles Tower prior to departure. Helicopters departing via the Sepulveda route should be told to maintain VFR at 1000’ and to follow Sepulveda Blvd. Northbound. These helicopters should be handed off to Los Angeles Tower once clear of any conflicts and advised to remain clear of the Bravo airspace.
(b). Helicopters departing via the shoreline route should be told to follow the shoreline north. Once established on the shoreline these helicopters should be handed off to Los Angeles Tower and advised to remain clear of the Class B airspace.

(c). Helicopters may be recived from Los Angeles via the Lincoln Route at 1000’. These helicopters should be told to resume own navigation on intial contact. Los Angeles tower must get approval prior to using this transition.

(d). Helicopter over flights to Los Angeles do not normally talk to Hawthorne.

5. Over flights or departures landing KLAX:

(a). VFR aircraft landing KLAX shall be routed via the miniroute transitions. Helicopters landing KLAX shall be routed via the shoreline transition.

g. Traffic Pattern Information.

Runway 25: Left traffic

Runway 7: Right traffic

Pattern Altitude: 1063' MSL

7. DELEGATION OF AIRSPACE.

During times when Hawthorne Tower is not staffed the responsibilities of Hawthorne Tower will be delegated in the following manner.

All aircraft transitioning through Hawthorne Airspace heading toward Los Angeles shall be handled by Los Angeles Tower. If Los Angeles Tower is not online, the controller responsible for Los Angeles Tower shall handle transitions. Los Angeles Tower shall ensure that transitioning aircraft remain clear of the traffic flows of Hawthorne, it is recommended that transitioning aircraft are instructed to over fly 2 miles West of KHHR at 2500’. Los Angeles Tower may permit these operations as long as the aircraft are preceding either direct to this point or from the airport along the miniroute at 2500 or above; these transitions need not be coordinated.

All other responsibilities shall be delegated to the following controllers, in the order that they are online.

SoCal Approach (South)
SoCal Approach (Combined)
Los Angeles Center