Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center

Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZDC) is an Area Control Center operated by the Federal Aviation Administration and located at Lawson Rd SE, Leesburg, Virginia, United States. The primary responsibility of ZDC is the separation of airplane flights and the expedited sequencing of arrivals and departures along STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes) and SIDs (Standard Instrument Departures) for the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area, the New York Metropolitan Area, and Philadelphia among many other areas.

Washington Center is the second busiest (after Atlanta) ARTCC in the United States. Between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2017, Washington Center handled 2,554,410 aircraft operations.^[1] The Washington ARTCC covers 165,000 square miles (430,000 km²) of airspace that includes airports in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Basic breakdown of sectors

ZDC is divided into 8 areas, numbered 1 through 8, that make up 46 sectors. They are mainly broken down into low altitude, intermediate, high altitude and Super High Altitude sectors. There are 18 low sectors, 14 high sectors, 5 super high sectors and 4 various other type sectors, including 1 high/low altitude sector and 3 intermediate altitude sectors.

AREA 1

Super-high sectors

72 Shenandoah SHD 127.925 MHz/269.375 MHz
07 Wahoo WAH 121.925 MHz/346.375 MHz

During periods of traffic saturation in the Shenandoah Sector, ZDC will split the Shenandoah sector into two sectors, making Wahoo a second Super High Sector over the Roanoke and Lynchburg, Virginia areas. Shenandoah normally overlaps the Tech High and Gordonsville High Sectors above FL330. When traffic demand is high, Wahoo is activated to overlap the Gordonsville High Sector above FL330 covering J37 and J75 from GVE VOR south while Shenandoah will overlap Tech High Sector above FL 330 and cover traffic on J48 from CSN VOR south, J22 from MOL VOR south and J53 south of ASBUR intersection near LWB VOR.

High sectors

32 Gordonsville GVE 133.725/351.900
52 Tech TEC 133.575/270.350

Intermediate sectors

60 Montebello MOL 121.675/284.700

Low sectors

31 Azalea AZA 135.400/263.100

AREA 2

High sectors

36 Raleigh RDU 118.925/322.450

Low sectors

26 Sampson SAM 135.300/285.500
27 Liberty LIB 135.200/348.650
28 Rocky Mount RMT 118.475/279.650

AREA 3

High sectors

37 Marlinton MAR 133.025/323.025

Low sectors

02 Casanova CSN 133.200/282.200
05 Linden LDN 133.550/322.550
22 South Boston SBV 124.050/352.000
29 NEW Valley VAL (formerly Hot Springs HSP)134.400/353.900

Sector 30 OLD Valley VAL has been changed to NEW 72 Shenandoah SHD Super Hi Sector in Area 1 above. Old Valley Sector merged into Sector 29 Hot Springs.

AREA 4

Super-high sectors

42 Bryce BRY 118.025/226.675

High sectors

03 Moorefield MOR 133.275/371.900
04 Pinion PIN 133.975/307.025

Low sectors

01 Elkins EKN 128.600/387.100
06 Hagerstown HGR 134.150/227.125
15 Blue Ridge BLR 133.650/285.600

AREA 5

Super-high sectors

39 Snow Hill SWL 121.375/236.825
50 Yorktown YKT 120.75/317.725

High sectors

34 Norfolk ORF 133.825/327.800
54 Salisbury SBY 120.975/257.700

Low sectors

23 Cape Charles CCV 132.550/256.80
51 Casino CAS 127.700/285.400
53 Kenton ENO 132.050/354.150

AREA 6

Super-high sectors

09 Dixon DIW 118.825/360.650

High sectors

35 Wilmington ILM 124.025/269.150
38 Tar River TYI 132.225/354.100

Low sectors

24 Cofield CVI 123.850/323.000
25 New Bern EWN 135.500/281.425
33 Franklin FKN 132.025/290.425

AREA 7

High-altitude sectors

10 Bay BAY 132.275/379.300
12 Brooke BRV 126.875/327.000
16 Hopewell HPW 121.875/323.225

Intermediate sectors

11 Calvert CAL 133.900/281.400
20 Blackstone BKT 127.750/235.625

Low sectors

14 Irons IRS 132.950/351.800
21 Dominion DOM 118.750/377.100

AREA 8

High sectors

58 Coyle CYN 121.025/254.300
59 Sea Isle SIE 133.125/281.450

High-low sectors

19 Woodstown OOD 125.450/363.000
18 DuPont DQO 132.525/287.900

Low sectors

17 Swann SWN 134.500/360.700

References

^ Federal Aviation Administration. (2018). Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS). Retrieved from http://aspm.faa.gov/opsnet/sys/Center.asp

External links

39°06′06″N 77°32′34″W / 39.1016°N 77.5429°W / 39.1016; -77.5429

[1] Federal Aviation Administration. (2018). Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS). Retrieved from http://aspm.faa.gov/opsnet/sys/Center.asp

[1]