CINDACTA
Encyclopedia
Area Control Center
In air traffic control, an Area Control Center , also known as a Center, is a facility responsible for controlling instrument flight rules aircraft en route in a particular volume of airspace at high altitudes between airport approaches and departures...
of Brazil are known by the acronym CINDACTA, or "Centro Integrado de Defesa Aérea e Controle de Tráfego Aéreo (Integrated Air Traffic Control and Air Defense Center). Four CINDACTAs are in operation, located in four different cities and each responsible for different regions of Brazil's airspace.
- Cindacta I located in BrasíliaBrasíliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
, near Pres. Juscelino Kubitschek International AirportBrasília International AirportBrasília-Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport is the airport serving Brasília, Brazil. Since April 22, 1999 the airport is named after Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira , the 21st President of Brazil....
: the square comprising Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, São PauloSão PauloSão Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, Belo HorizonteBelo HorizonteBelo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...
and BrasíliaBrasíliaBrasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the... - Cindacta II located in CuritibaCuritibaCuritiba is the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná. It is the largest city with the biggest economy of both Paraná and southern Brazil. The population of Curitiba numbers approximately 1.75 million people and the latest GDP figures for the city surpass US$61 billion according to...
, near Bacacheri AirportBacacheri AirportBacacheri Airport is an airport in Curitiba, Brazil. It is named after the neighborhood where it is located.It is operated by Infraero.-History:The history of Bacacheri airport begins in 1930 as an air field for Military Aviation...
: Southern RegionSouthern Region, BrazilThe South Region of Brazil is one of the five regions of Brazil. It includes the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and covers 576,409.6 km ², being the smallest portion of the country...
, Mato Grosso do SulMato Grosso do SulMato Grosso do Sul is one of the states of Brazil.Neighboring Brazilian states are Mato Grosso, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná. It also borders the countries of Paraguay and Bolivia to the west. The economy of the state is largely based on agriculture and cattle-raising...
and the southern part of São PauloSão Paulo (state)São Paulo is a state in Brazil. It is the major industrial and economic powerhouse of the Brazilian economy. Named after Saint Paul, São Paulo has the largest population, industrial complex, and economic production in the country. It is the richest state in Brazil... - Cindacta III located in RecifeRecifeRecife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, near Recife/Guararapes-Gilberto Freyre International Airport: Northeast RegionNortheast Region, BrazilThe Northeast Region of Brazil is composed of the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia, and it represents 18.26% of the Brazilian territory....
and the ocean between BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... - Cindacta IV located in ManausManausManaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
, near Eduardo Gomes International AirportEduardo Gomes International AirportBrigadeiro Eduardo Gomes-Manaus International Airport , is the main airport serving Manaus, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian politician and military figure Air Marshall Eduardo Gomes ....
: Brazilian Amazon RegionAmazon BasinThe Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
The use of military air traffic controllers for civilian traffic is not unusual, but has been deprecated in most developed countries. In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) operates a wholly parallel system with that of the US Air Force and NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command
North American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
. This is also the case of Eurocontrol
European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
EUROCONTROL is the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Founded in 1963, it is an international organisation working for seamless, pan-European air traffic management. EUROCONTROL is a civil organisation and currently has 39 member states; its headquarters are in...
and each of its member nations' air defense systems. Brazil's use of an integrated command poses some unique challenges to the government. As members of the military, controllers are not allowed to form unions (such as the case of NATCA
National Air Traffic Controllers Association
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is a labor union in the United States. It is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, and is the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration...
in the US) or to strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
.
While the air traffic control system saw significant improvement with the implementation of SIVAM in the northern portion of the country, there were many warning signs that the system as a whole was heading towards an untenable situation. In 2003, the Brazilian Air Force warned of the need for upgraded equipment and additional funding. For three years, DECEA, the Air Force department in charge of air traffic control budget requests were denied. The government's Tribunal de Contas da União (Union Accounting Tribunal), an agency similar to the US Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
, issued a report after the crisis which echoed the FAB's concerns, stating that a lack of planning and underfunding of the air traffic control system by the federal government was to blame for the crisis.