What do air traffic control do?
ATC (air traffic control) is divided into many parts, each one controlling a different section: Ground: Controls all aircraft on the ground. Tells them to taxi to the runway, taxi to parking, where to go, etc. Tower: Coordinates aircraft within the immidiate vicinity of the airport (AKA within visible range). They are the guys who tell people if they can land, and control which runways are being used. They also control slightly more complicated things, like VFR patterns, fanning departures, etc. Departure: Controls aircraft that are near the airport, but not in visible range (about 20-40 miles) who are departing. They are arguably the most important controllers, because they are the people who use radars, and give aircraft vectors that help them line up with their destination, and, more importantly, not crash into eachother. Approach: The same as departure, however they control aircraft that are approaching for landing at their airport. Approach and Departure are probably the most stre
