This summer, more than 2 million visitors are expected to travel to Atlanta and other locations in the southeastern United States for the Games of the XXVI Olympiad. More than 10,000 athletes from almost 200 nations will compete in 26 sports during the 1996 Olympics, which will take place from July 19 through August 4. The event marks the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games.
FAA officials expect a 25-percent increase in air traffic during that period. General aviation aircraft normally account for more than 800 daily flights in the Atlanta area, which also sees more than 1,600 air carrier flights each day.
These aircraft will have to negotiate several temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) related to the Olympics during Georgia's thunderstorm season. Arrival and departure slot reservations will be required at several key airports in the Atlanta area, and FBOs at most of those airports are already accepting aircraft parking reservations.
Nevertheless, landing at an Atlanta-area airport appears to be the least of the obstacles facing an Olympics-bound general aviation pilot. Getting to a destination on the ground after leaving the airport is likely to prove much more challenging.
Pilots planning summer flights to Atlanta should keep three tips in mind: Be aware of the TFRs, plan well ahead for a parking spot, and have a general knowledge of the reservations system.
"We're blessed by geography," said Stephen P. Alogna, the FAA's 1996 Olympics project manager. "[The TFRs] are not going to be very restrictive to general aviation airplanes, or any airplanes for that matter." The sites for many Olympic events are concentrated in downtown Atlanta, he explained, where one TFR will encompass 24 athletic venues and the main Olympic village, where athletes will be housed. Olympic village TFRs will be effective 24 hours a day during the Olympic period, while most other TFRs will be active immediately before, during, and just after events.
The downtown Atlanta TFR will include airspace within a three-mile radius of the Georgia Dome indoor arena and a one- mile radius of the Olympic village, up to and including 3,500 feet msl.
Some competitions will be conducted well outside the metropolitan Atlanta area. Rowing events will be held on Lake Lanier, 55 miles northeast of downtown, while the Oconee River along the Georgia-Tennessee border will host slalom canoe and kayak events. Softball competition will take place in Columbus, Georgia, 100 miles southwest of Atlanta, while Savannah — on the Atlantic Ocean — will host yachting events. Soccer finals will be held in Athens, Georgia, east of Atlanta; preliminary rounds will be played in Birmingham, Alabama; Miami and Orlando, Florida; and Washington, D.C.
Details of the airspace restrictions will be established by a Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR), said Lee McGlamery, head of the System Management Branch for the FAA's Southern Region. (A notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the SFAR was published in early January.) Sectors are being added to Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center and Atlanta Approach Control airspace to help accommodate the anticipated traffic; creation of these new sectors could result in routing or other changes that could later be addressed by notam.
Notams also will announce TFRs for other events, such as the Olympic torch run that began in California during January and will wind its way across the country before reaching Atlanta in July. "There's going to be a TFR associated with that from start to finish," McGlamery explained.
The Olympic Public Safety Air Support Operations Center (OPSASOC) has been designated the controlling agency for the restricted airspace. Pilots not under air traffic control must call OPSASOC at 770/919-9929 for entry requirements.
Alogna and McGlamery said that the Games represent a dynamic environment, with the scheduled times of some Olympic events being changed to avoid the hottest periods of the day. Thunderstorms also could delay some outdoor events, and TFR hours will change as necessary. "The key is for pilots to stay in touch with air traffic control and they'll be OK," McGlamery said. "Watch the notams," Alogna added. Because of limited parking space for the thousands of general aviation aircraft expected to fly in for the Olympics, Alogna suggests that pilots make parking reservations as soon as possible with an FBO of their choice at their destination airport. Consider reserving a rental car with the FBO while making aircraft parking arrangements, as rentals will become increasingly scarce as the Olympics approach. Already no hotel or motel rooms are available within 100 miles of Atlanta during the Games, according to McGlamery; he said that some aircraft may have to drop off passengers and leave because no lodging will be available for their crews.
Officials anticipate that DeKalb-Peachtree and Fulton County airports will bear the brunt of Olympic traffic because they are located near downtown Atlanta, have instrument approaches, and offer ground transportation. Both offer taxis and rental cars; DeKalb-Peachtree is adjacent to a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail line. Several airports plan to close runways during the Olympics to provide additional aircraft parking.
Two of the four runways at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport will be closed temporarily to accommodate overflow parking, said Airport Manager Ted Orvold. "We're going to increase security significantly," he added.
Temporary air traffic control towers will operate from July 15 through August 9 at six airports: Clayton County Airport-Tara Field in Hampton, Covington Municipal Airport in Covington, Falcon Field in Peachtree City, Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville, and Richard B. Russell Airport in Rome, all in Georgia; and Hilton Head Island Airport in South Carolina.
Britt Memorial Airport in Stone Mountain, Georgia, offers an example of the efforts FAA planners have made to minimize the Olympics' impact on general aviation. Because a TFR above the tennis courts off one end of Britt Memorial's runway would make the airport a one-way operation during Olympic competition, Alogna planned to provide a temporary tower so that the field — which has very limited transient parking — could remain open to based aircraft. The tower was cut, however, when the airport's private owners decided to use the facility for automobile parking instead.Part of the FAA's Olympic air traffic management plan includes arrival and departure slot reservations for general aviation flights planned to 11 key Georgia airports during the Olympics.
Reservations will be required for all VFR and non- scheduled IFR flights to or from Cobb County Airport-McCollum Field in Marietta; DeKalb-Peachtree Airport and Fulton County Airport-Brown Field, Atlanta; Gwinett County Airport-Briscoe Field, Lawrenceville; and William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. In addition, slot reservations for non- scheduled IFR flights will be required for Clayton County Airport-Tara Field, Hampton; Covington Municipal Airport, Covington; Ben Epps Field, Athens; Falcon Field, Peachtree City; Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport, Gainesville; and Richard B. Russell Airport, Rome.
Beginning July 17, reservations may be made no earlier than 72 hours before estimated time of arrival or departure by calling 800/963-2296.
Alogna said that instead of utilizing an automated system, reservations will be made through a toll-free telephone number that will be staffed 24 hours a day. Atlanta Center will handle IFR reservations, while VFR requests will go to the Macon Automated Flight Service Station. Personnel at either facility will be able to suggest alternate airports if a pilot's requested field is at capacity. "We figure we can handle 300 calls an hour," Alogna said.It's not surprising that one of the first things that the FAA's Olympic planners researched was the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. What is surprising is the fact that information on air traffic from Los Angeles provided very little help.
"Los Angeles was no comparison. The venues were more spread out, and there was less than a five-percent increase in [air route traffic control] center traffic," Alogna said. The large number of general aviation aircraft in the Los Angeles basin made it difficult to estimate transient operations, he added.
"We are gearing up to be able to handle any demand that is placed on us, in an orderly manner," McGlamery commented.
"You have to look at it in the context of the Olympic Games," Alogna said. "The Centennial Games are expected to be 10 times the size of previous events."
Despite the size of the Olympics, obtaining tickets to the Games may be an obstacle to unprepared potential spectators. Tickets initially went on sale by mail last summer. According to the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, the remaining tickets may be purchased by telephone, beginning this month. For ticket information, call 404/774-1996; customer service agents are available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.
Entertainers, artists, and artisans celebrating the American South will take part in the Olympic Arts Festival, which runs from June 1 through August 3. It represents the culmination of the Cultural Olympiad, a multi-year program that highlighted the rich cultural heritage of Atlanta and the surrounding area. Festival details, general information about the Games, and information concerning lodging availability also may be obtained by calling the information number.
"We're encouraging everybody to come down," Alogna said. "We expect to provide a level of service on top of what we believe is the best system in the world."
Getting the Word Out
Aviation planning for the 1996 Olympics began in September 1991, when FAA civil aviation security personnel began working on security measures with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, as well as federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Airport and air traffic officials soon became involved, and AOPA Southeast Regional Representative Bob Minter has been looking after general aviation's interests in the project for about three years.
Stephen P. Alogna, the FAA's 1996 Olympics project manager, didn't waste a lot of time in sharing plans with the general aviation community. Last year he manned a booth at the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida; the EAA International Fly-In Convention in Oshkosh; the National Business Aircraft Association's convention in Las Vegas; and AOPA Expo '95 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to meet pilots and distribute informational brochures.
"I've talked to somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,500 people," said Alogna, who has distributed 55,000 brochures.
An instructional videotape being produced by the FAA's Southern Region public affairs office should be ready in March for distribution to FBOs, flying clubs, and other pilot groups. Other pilot education efforts include local pilot/controller meetings and information available on an electronic bulletin board at FAA headquarters in Washington, D.C. — MPC
Highway in the Sky
Olympic planners shudder at the words "highway gridlock." Faced with the influx of as many as 2 million visitors, however, officials decided to look to the sky for the transportation of essential commodities and personnel.
That need has resulted in the Atlanta Short-Haul Transportation System Project (ASTS), a government and industry initiative that will apply advanced technology to transport goods and provide public safety services by helicopter. Participating helicopters will use designated low- altitude routes; GPS-derived position information will be broadcast, using a VHF datalink to other aircraft and air traffic controllers.
"This is not a technology demonstration," said Stephen T. Fisher of the FAA's Vertical Flight Program Office in Washington, D.C. "This is an intermodal transportation system project." The FAA, NASA, Helicopter Association International, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Georgia Emergency Management Agency are the primary partners in ASTS. Thirteen Atlanta business partners, all members of the Atlanta Vertical Flight Association (AVFA), also are participating in the project.
"We got the indication as early as 1992 that the 1996 Olympics were going to be an extensive general aviation activity," Fisher said. More than 100 helicopters in the area will conduct thousands of daily operations during the Olympics. Because of limited resources, only 50 will receive datalink equipment.
ASTS will connect airports and heliports to the ground transportation system. "Atlanta presents a very challenging transportation infrastructure," Fisher explained. "Nobody had looked at vertical flight as an integral component."
The project encompasses commercial cargo, passenger, and emergency medical service operators, law enforcement agencies, and Olympic security personnel. In the event of an emergency, participating commercial aircraft, by agreement, will respond on demand.
Interestingly, competitors DHL Worldwide Express, FedEx, United Parcel Service, and the U.S. Postal Service will collaborate to move an anticipated 2 million pounds of overnight packages and other priority shipments. "They're going to be severely impacted" by the ground transportation situation, Fisher said. "This is the first time ever that a community has pooled all its time-sensitive cargo."
Flights will be conducted over existing interstate and other multilane highways that form a natural hub-and-spoke network in the metropolitan area. Routes and operating areas have been designed to place aircraft at altitudes that will minimize noise impact and to avoid residential areas. Landing zones will be at nine privately owned sites selected by AVFA and at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, Fulton County Airport, and the north cargo ramp at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. DeKalb-Peachtree, which has two helicopter FBOs, is building a new, lighted helipad in time for the Games; a temporary helicopter parking area is also being prepared.
Because of its potential for the future, the airborne equipment is ASTS's technological show-stopper. Radar service is not available below 2,200 feet in the downtown Atlanta area, but GPS position information in ASTS aircraft will enable VFR traffic advisories to be broadcast immediately by VHF datalink to ground stations and to other participating aircraft. Controllers will know the exact locations of helicopters equipped with the avionics suite.
"This will be the first time that the FAA has relied on a non-radar system for traffic advisories," Fisher observed. "We've been told that we may be setting the precedent for all future [major] events." Tests of the system were conducted in Atlanta last November. "We were tracking our aircraft at every landing site, down to a three-foot hover," he said.
Avionics and ground station equipment were developed primarily from off-the-shelf equipment by a NASA Agate team consisting of Arinc, Arnav, Harris, and Pan Am Weather Services. NASA, avionics companies, and the industry determined the system's characteristics. The system's ground- based infrastructure requirements are minimal: Three repeaters provide coverage throughout the Atlanta area, and ground monitoring stations are based on personal computers.
Participating aircraft also will become flying weather stations. The atmosphere will be sampled and electronic pilot reports — including wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, and turbulence — will be datalinked automatically every 10 to 15 seconds to the National Weather Service and nearby equipped aircraft. The system has the ability to uplink weather radar images and aviation weather reports; the weather information can be displayed over a customized Olympic transportation route map.
Fisher hopes to collect 1,500 hours of flight data during the Games. The project will furnish avionics for participating helicopters; operators must pay to install the equipment and agree to provide feedback. "When all is said and done, we will probably have 50 aircraft equipped with the technology,"
"As far as a laboratory, you couldn't ask for a better opportunity. Atlanta essentially becomes [an intermodal transportation system] test bed for all its sister cities," Fisher said. — MPC
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