Rules and Procedures - Oceanic

General

Oceanic area control centres (OAC) provide area control service to aircraft operating within designated ATS routes and flight information and alerting services (FIS) to aircraft operating outside designated ATS routes.
Clearence
Aircraft entering OCA are required to obtain an oceanic clearance. The clearance becomes effective only at the OCA boundary. It is the responsibility of the pilot-in-command to obtain from the appropriate ATS unit any necessary clearance to comply with the oceanic clearance.

Request for Oceanic Clearance

An oceanic clearance must be obtained at least 30 minutes before the ETA for the ОСА boundary and shall include:
a) aircraft callsign;
b) OCA entry point and ETA;
c) requested Mach number and flight level;
d) any change to flight plan affecting OCA.

An abbreviated clearance shall only be issued when clearing an aircraft to follow one of the designated airways. In all other cases full details of the cleared path shall be specified in the clearance message.

Separation

Vertical separation is accomplished according to the Table of Cruising Levels of the Russian Federation (RVSM).
The minimum time interval of the longitudinal separation between aircraft flying at the same flight level (altitude) in the same direction is 10 minutes.

Adherence to ATC-approved Mach number.

Turbo-jet aircraft operating within controlled airspace shall adhere to the Mach number approved by ATC and shall request ATC approval before making any change thereto. If it is necessary to make an immediate temporary change in the Mach number (e.g. due to turbulence), ATC shall be notified as soon as possible that such a change has been made.
If it is not feasible, due to aircraft performance, to maintain the last assigned Mach number during en-route climbs and descents, pilots of aircraft concerned shall advise ATC about it at the time of the climb/descent clearance request.

Reporting procedures

Position reports shall be given over specified compulsory reporting points, unless the pilot-incommand has received permission from the appropriate ATS unit to omit position reporting

Contents of position reports

  • Verbal position reports shall be identified by the spoken word “position” transmitted immediately after the aircraft callsign.
  • When making position reports all times should be expressed in four digits, both the hour and minutes.
  • Place and time of the "next position" report
  • “Next position” shall normally be expressed as the significant point at which the aircraft is next required to report its position.
  • The name or coordinates of the significant point following the “next position and estimated time” shall be given when making position reports within oceanic OCA.
  • If the estimated time for the next position last reported to air traffic control is found to be in error by 3 minutes or more, a revised estimated time shall be transmitted to the ATS unit concerned, as soon as possible.

Phraseology example

Murmansk Oceanic clearance (at least 30 minutes before the ETA for the ОСА boundary):

Pilot: "Good evening Murmansk Oceanic, Aeroflot 175"
ATC: "Aeroflot 175, Murmansk Oceanic, Good evening, pass your message"
Pilot: "Aeroflot 175 requesting clearance to Yellowknife via NOMRA, Track POLAR 1, Flight Level 380, Mach .83. Estimating NOMRA at 0246z"
ATC: "Aeroflot 175 cleared to Yellowknife via NOMRA, Track POLAR 1, FL380, Mach .83, cross NOMRA latest at 0248z"
Pilot: "Aeroflot 175 cleared to Yellowknife via NOMRA, Track POLAR 1, FL380, Mach .83, crossing NOMRA latest at 0248z"
ATC: "Aeroflot 175, your readback is correct, return to previous frequency."

Inbound entry point (NOMRA):

ATC: "Aeroflot 175, сontact Murmansk Oceanic now on 126.900"
Pilot: "Aeroflot 175, сontact Murmansk Oceanic on 126.900"

Standart position report:

Pilot: "Murmansk Oceanic, Aeroflot 175, position"
ATC: "Aeroflot 175, Murmansk Oceanic, pass your message"
Pilot: "Aeroflot 175, passed ERONI at 0246z, Flight Level 380, Mach .83, next position and estimated time - ABERI at 0329z"
ATC: "Aeroflot 175, Murmansk Oceanic, passed ERONI at 0246z, Flight Level 380, Mach .83, next position and estimated time - ABERI at 0329z"
Pilot: "Aeroflot 175, readback correct" - Note: correct the controller if he reads something back wrong.

After reporting ERONI the controller will instruct you to "report ABERI to Reykjavik Oceanic". This means you switch frequency over ABERI, not right away. If you do change frequency you'll just be sent back.