Air Traffic Control in the USA — IELTS Reading Answers

Paragraph A

“An accident that occurred in the skies over the Grand Canyon in 1956 resulted in the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate and oversee the operation of aircraft in the skies over the United States, which were becoming quite congested”

Paragraph A ties the 1956 Grand Canyon accident to the creation of the FAA to regulate increasingly congested skies, so its heading concerns the disaster behind the FAA.

Paragraph C

“It was only after the creation of the FAA that full-scale regulation of America's airspace took place, and this was fortuitous, for the advent of the jet engine suddenly resulted in a large number of very fast planes,”

Paragraph C explains that the jet engine's speed cut pilots' margin of error and 'practically demanded some set of rules', so its heading concerns the need for regulation.

Paragraph D

“Many people think that ATC consists of a row of controllers sitting in front of their radar screens at the nation's airports, telling arriving and departing traffic what to do. This is a very incomplete part of the picture”

Paragraph D warns that the picture of controllers at airport radar screens is 'a very incomplete part of the picture', so the heading stresses ATC's wider scope.

Paragraph E

“In general, from 365m above the ground and higher, the entire country is blanketed by controlled airspace. In certain areas, mainly near airports, controlled airspace extends down to 215m above the ground, and, in the immediate vicinity of an airport, all the way down to the surface”

Paragraph E sets out controlled airspace by height — everything above 365m, down to 215m near airports, to the surface close by — a heading on layers of airspace.

Paragraph F

“The FAA then recognised two types of operating environments. In good meteorological conditions, flying would be permitted under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), which suggests a strong reliance on visual cues to maintain an acceptable level of safety.”

Paragraph F separates flying under Visual Flight Rules in good weather from Instrument Flight Rules in poor visibility, so the heading contrasts the two operating rules.

Paragraph G

“Controlled airspace is divided into several different types, designated by letters of the alphabet”

Paragraph G says controlled airspace 'is divided into several different types, designated by letters of the alphabet', so its heading concerns the classification of airspace.

The FAA was created as a result of the introduction of the jet engine.

“An accident that occurred in the skies over the Grand Canyon in 1956 resulted in the establishment of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to regulate and oversee the operation of aircraft in the skies over the United States, which were becoming quite congested”

The FAA followed the 1956 Grand Canyon accident; the jet engine is mentioned later as a separate development, so the stated cause is wrong.

Air Traffic Control started after the Grand Canyon crash in 1956.

“Rudimentary air traffic control (ATC) existed well before the Grand Canyon disaster. As early as the 1920s, the earliest air traffic controllers manually guided aircraft in the vicinity of the airports, using lights and flags,”

'Rudimentary air traffic control existed well before the Grand Canyon disaster', from the 1920s, so ATC did not start in 1956. FALSE.

Beacons and flashing lights are still used by ATC today.

“As early as the 1920s, the earliest air traffic controllers manually guided aircraft in the vicinity of the airports, using lights and flags, while beacons and flashing lights were placed along cross-country routes to establish the earliest airways”

Beacons and flashing lights appear only in the account of 1920s airways; the passage never says whether they remain in use today.

Some improvements were made in radio communication during World War II.

“In the 1940s, ATC centres could and did take advantage of the newly developed radar and improved radio communication brought about by the Second World War, but the system remained rudimentary”

'Improved radio communication brought about by the Second World War' confirms wartime advances, so TRUE.

Class F airspace is airspace which is below 365m and not near airports.

“In general, from 365m above the ground and higher, the entire country is blanketed by controlled airspace. In certain areas, mainly near airports, controlled airspace extends down to 215m above the ground, and, in the immediate vicinity of an airport, all the way down to the surface.”

Class F is 'uncontrolled airspace... below 365m', while near airports controlled airspace reaches the surface, so Class F is below 365m and away from airports.

All aircraft in Class E airspace must use IFR.

“The difference between Class E and A airspace is that in Class A, all operations are IFR, and pilots must be instrument-rated, that is, skilled and licensed in aircraft instrumentation”

The text says 'in Class A, all operations are IFR', not Class E, so the claim misattributes the rule and is FALSE.

A pilot entering Class C airspace is flying over an average-sized city.

“Three other types of airspace, Classes D, C and B, govern the vicinity of airports. These correspond roughly to small municipal, medium-sized metropolitan and major metropolitan airports respectively, and encompass an increasingly rigorous set of regulations”

Class C corresponds to a 'medium-sized metropolitan' airport, so entering it means flying over an average-sized city. TRUE.