How planes stay safe over the Atlantic

Over the North Atlantic, there's no radar coverage: so how do air traffic controllers keep planes safe? The answer, at least in part, can be found at Nav Canada's Gander Area Control Centre in Newfoundland. The North Atlantic Tracks are like freeway lanes in the sky, if freeway lanes were stacked a thousand feet on top of each other.
More about Nav Canada and the tracks, and the new standards they're introducing:
blog.navcanada.ca/increasing-o...
Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin)
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[@TomScottGo]

If the lighting and shots seem a little odd here, it's because -- for good reason -- I wasn't allowed to film too close to the air traffic controllers. They're a bit busy.

[@andrew4042]

Scheduled uploads. Note how the date on this video says "Published on..." instead of "Uploaded on..."

[@R520]

Why does your comment say 3 days ago?

[@thespanishinquisition8853]

Ryan Stephenson Tom is a time traveller obviously

[@cup_check_official]

airplanes are definitely an amazing piece of machinery. I have been fascinated about planes since i read about the software behind airplanes!

[@lividsphincter4098]

Ryan Stephenson He uploaded the video when it was done, 3 days ago, and just now made it public because of his video schedule.

[@NateandNoahTryLife]

Tom Scott instant classic formula: describe something I’ve never even heard of that prevents the entire world from descending into madness.

[@mavoc3094]

... and do so in a clear and concise manner.

[@VillSix]

and for bonus points do it in one take, and at the end shout "ONE TAKE!!!!1"

[@NateandNoahTryLife]

Clear and concise but not sterile, which is a hard line to toe. Tom really makes learning about these things fun!

[@Slinkton]

I prefer the formula of "Describe something I’ve never even heard of that prevents the entire world from descending into madness...while holding a teasmade" But yea, this will do.

[@jesusgonzalez6715]

Lufthansa names its airplanes after German towns. With two exceptions. During 9/11 all flights in US airspace were grounded and incoming flights rerouted. Naturally that left many, many passengers stranded. Gander was among those communities that had to accommodate the most grounded passengers. And they did it with amazing hospitality. Lufthansa thus named one of their jets "Gander" and another "Halifax"

[@kairon156]

I knew about the hospitality thing but I didn't realize there were planes named after Canadian Cities.

[@muifly4892]

Its actually one A340, which is called Gander/Halifax. Also, the 747-8 are named after the german states (Bavaria and so on) and the A380 are named after international big cities

[@NightcoreThunder]

The people of gander brought thousands into their small town. NFLD is a wonderfully welcoming place

[@paoloelias6697]

Theres also been an entire musical on the West end and Broadway written about this story and how the town coped with its population doubling overnight. Its called Come From Away.

[@Cameron-km4xs]

@@paoloelias6697 was bouta say that. I've never watched it, is it good?

[@Troegs]

My dad who was a commercial pilot for a LONG time mentioned a few things about this. A lot of times you'd be flying along the tracks and your altimeter would go off because it was bouncing off a plane 1000ft below you that you couldn't see, and you'd often get surprised a bit by a plane 1000ft above you passing you.

[@Cogito2Ergo2Sum1]

Grade 9 Take you kid to work day I was at a Nav Canada. My dad organized it as the company he works for works with their facilities out west, and he had plans to be at the facility all day. Got to spend part of the day on tour, and talking to these guys. Going in the operations room, and doing all sorts of cool stuff. Though this was well over a decade ago. Still a very memorable day. Thanks Dad! As soon as I saw the Nav Canada sign, my face lit up! Thanks Tom!

[@AlRoderick]

Did you check out the lounge at Gander airport while you were there? According to 99% Invisible it's a really cool time capsule of the time when jets needed to stop as far East as possible before crossing the Atlantic. Gander used to handle a lot of traffic as a result. There's a famous photo of Fidel Castro riding a toboggan when he was there on a layover going from Cuba to Moscow.

[@StringerNews1]

I took a flight in 1976 that stopped at Gander in the way to Shannon, just as the old piston planes did. The B707 that we took was near the end of its service life, the last hurrah for navigating by sextant and dead reckoning over the Atlantic. The airport was dated even back then, but a must-see for any Nevil Shute fan. There is no highway in the sky, you know...

[@racheinderbys]

A lot of flights ended up at Gander on 9/11. I heard a lot of praise for the way the airport, and the town, handled it.

[@Julio974]

Wendover Production isn’t here

[@ACALearn]

really

[@Wendoverproductions]

Yeah I am

[@gosseschukken2018]

Wendover Productions surprised you don't live at that place tbh

[@brotherandy]

But how about Half as Interesting and Sam from Wendover?

[@TheApex121]

Haha, glad you could make it Sam!

[@robwillie226]

THAT'S A PROPER NEWFIE

[@myselfremade]

Rob Williamson I'm sitting on the toilet laughing my arse off at that comment

[@chevtothemax]

No its not, I can still understand him

[@babsaiih]

Rob Williamson he's holding back on the accent quite a bit, find him on the street where he can speak naturally and I'm sure he'd be unintelligible to the untrained ear

[@russell2952]

I could understand him, so it's not the full accent.

[@tashkiira7838]

@@iykury That's fairly apt for lighter Newfie accents. The heavier the Newfie accent, the farther into the Scottish Highlands and the deeper into the south you're headed.

[@blenderfordesigners1312]

Funny that 99% Invisible just did a podcast about Gander, Newfoundland. Different topic - the design and history of the airport - but still aviation related of course. Both fascinating.

[@colunizator]

The real question is, If Tom is one of the guys that claps on landing?

[@SummerADDE_Elevators]

Only happens on charter flights!

[@bomb8406]

Clapping tends to be an American thing, British people normally don't unless they're doing it ironically/ taking the piss.

[@59n1tr0n72]

No, he just starts reviewing the flight to his fellow passengers.

[@SlenderScrub]

clapping is one of the seven deadly sins

[@ACALearn]

haaa

[@MichaelSteeves]

Weird to hear a newfie accent on your channel! But did you get to see the lounge at the airport that is straight out of the '50s?

[@samdajellybeenie14]

Yeah that guy's accent is fascinating! Like a mix of Irish and Canadian.

[@UniversityOfTurmoil]

Also West Country English, especially phrases like "where's it to?"

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Old is best like the 60s airport in the film catch me if you can ... Now they are like Walmart ..... Zero style..

[@samcooke343]

Sounds like a mix of Canadian and Cornish (South West England like +UniversityOfTurmoil said) to me.

[@polygondwanaland8390]

Michael Steeves It's not even that strong an accent...is it? Maybe I'm too far gone!

[@nickjordan9075]

Great video! As a Nav Canada Air Traffic Controller in a tower, it's amazing to see how different the ATC job can be within one company. We talk to planes for 2 minutes and have surveillance on air and ground radar, and out the window. While they don't even talk directly to their air traffic for a long portion. Keep up the great work, Tom.

[@marsgal42]

My main contact with Nav Canada is the controllers at my home airport. The controllers keep us safe, even with lots of flight training going on. They are made of stern stuff, and have the patience of saints. RESPECT.

[@empath69]

sounds like you're a pilot who's never had to have a controller say "ATC *DIRECTS*..." to you - thank'ee as a retired ATC.

[@marsgal42]

@@empath69 I've screwed up a few times - the only way to not screw up is to not fly - but it's always been a learning experience. I remember one time I was fine-tuning my landings, sharing the circuit with somebody whose command of aviation was questionable. I was starting to feel nervous about being in the sky with this person and was about to cut my flight short. The tower solved the problem for me when they told the other plane: "negative touch and go, your next landing is a full stop!"

[@987946216430]

Right on, welcome to Canada Tom. Hope you have a great time in NL! Amazing hospitality, I trust you will be "Screached In" while you're there. Cheers from PEI Canada, Bryan.

[@jeremyzorek]

Ah yes, ETOPS! I remember this whole system from that Wendover Productions video - always about airplanes, it seems!

[@laptop006]

Engines Turn Or Passengers Swim

[@jeremyzorek]

One of my favorite backronyms.

[@ACALearn]

hm

[@dubsy1026]

Jeremy Zorek Rip off of TOPS acronym for trains.

[@xbogon]

this isnt etops

[@sshep86]

Love the monitors being used to show paper maps. Made me smile.

[@buggz80]

Two Atlantic control centres. One in Newfoundland, one in Glasgow. Which one does tom go to? The one on a different continent of course!

[@graemelandells918]

Not to be picky but it’s about 40 Miles from Glasgow. :)

[@SeanBZA]

To be fair, he probably could understand the Newfoundland controllers, at least when making the arrangements over the phone for getting the video.

[@E1craZ4life]

And also to get on an airplane and show what it's like from a passenger's perspective.

[@buggz80]

Graeme Landells sure, but I think it makes a clearer point than troon :p

[@muddydave01]

So non Glaswegians could understand it?

[@evan5597]

Great video I have always wondered about how flying over the North Atlantic works.

[@DennisCarmody]

Thanks for the video. I used to fly the NATS several times a month for the Air Force and it's nice to see inside the workspace of the guys on the other end of those radio calls.

[@whelkschance]

I would watch a 45 minute version of this, at least. Or a 9 part playlist of each bit in further detail. Carry on being you, it's all great.

[@RKBock]

Thank you so very much for the subtitles!

[@jakobscott]

Dude, your videos are heckin' awesome. Thanks

[@smallmj2886]

Hey Tom, cool video. And welcome back to Canada.

[@RicardoNunoSilva]

Congratulations, @Tom Scott, on another awesome video, as usual :) *Interesting, concise, clear, informative.* 5*!

[@Monkeyb00y]

Thanks for this video. During a Field Trip for Math Club, we went to the Air Traffic Controller building and was able to watch them work their magic. That was almost 20 years ago, long before KZbin. Amazing stuff.

[@Por-poI]

Nobody in their childhood would say "I'd love to be an air traffic controller". But damn, these people are very important in our global society.

[@stephanmantler]

A schoolmate of mine said, and became, exactly that.

[@tncorgi92]

When you retire you can get into a nice soothing occupation like nitroglycerin packager or NYC cab driver.

[@quassseabass2770]

I said exactly that, and now I’m training to be one

[@TheSmegPod]

I used to know a kid who said his dream was to be an air traffic controller at Heathrow

[@E1craZ4life]

I'm hoping to be a pilot someday.

[@kristjanjonsson2111]

Good work as always Tom. Shout-out to my brothers and sisters working the HF from KJ at Iceland Radio.

[@patemathic]

Yay! New Tom Scott video!

[@isaacwood4071]

Interesting video tom keep it up!!!

[@hiaezakmi3341]

Love your videos!!!

[@umbertoragone]

Very interesting and informative! Well done.

[@awwgordy]

"where the aircraft is to" is the best thing I've ever heard a Newfie say

[@tashkiira7838]

Working with back-country Newfies in other parts of Canada can be a joy. It's funnier when two Newfies from different parts of the island end up working together--the might be almost entirely unitelligible to each other, let alone to us! XD

[@empath69]

@@tashkiira7838 Oh yus, me sun! We got so many different dialects - see we was all settled as outports - fishing villages - that only ever talked with each 'odder, and maybe the English fish merchant that bought our catch and sold us dry goods, etc. T'weren't no roads in that rocky, heavy woods inland, so you're rarely speak with anyone from the next village (in the next sheltered bay/etc) so we'd had hundreds of little villages all evolving their speech independently of each other, let alone 'The Queen's English'. Lingusts and folklorists LOVE Newfoundland for that.

[@ACALearn]

Thanks Alot its very amazing

[@zeymon1292]

Tom Scott and ATC, two of my favorite things combined, yay :D

[@AllenLeland]

Great video Tom :)

[@miraclo3]

Awesome! love when you do Canada related stuff.

[@TheTransforcer]

I’ve never thought about that- that is so cool!

[@ericagavel7285]

Tom Scott Welcome to Canada, my home country!! I hope you enjoy your stay!! :)

[@spectrex709]

Very professional men and women at NAV Canada in Gander. Great job for keeping everything smooth and safe!

[@justiceforsethrichwwg1wga160]

This is amazing

[@607]

Very nice!

[@cheaterman49]

Seems like a hard, important job which mostly goes under the radar (pun intended). Thanks for bringing us there, Tom!

[@ALightInTheAutumnRain]

Haha, Tom's passed out picture next to his happy channel pic on the end card looks hilarious :D

[@simonforget280]

I wish you had shown us the Gander Int'l Airport and its unique architecture. Keep up your excellent work.

[@mariuscostel5218]

Me as a pilot learning something new, thanks Scott

[@lfraser7128]

glad you finally made it to Canada.

[@katepeterson5478]

Wow, you pronounced Newfoundland correctly! I'm impressed! Short-term visitors usually don't get it right :D

[@douglassantosweinster4243]

Great video, like as habitual

[@boonebytes1]

Hope you enjoyed your trip to our small province!

[@jul7985]

These ATC centres are so interesting. I visited Eurocontrol in Maastricht last year.

[@59n1tr0n72]

Awesome. Currently bored to death at home awaiting entry at pilot school. Thanks for keeping my passion alive!

[@benuscore8780]

Hehe, Wendover Productions is obsessed with planes and has covered this topic already. It's nice to see the details of it from the people actually coordinating it.

[@MickyAvStickyHands]

"Flight 223, you're a little close there to 445, Buddy." "Ground control, I'm not your buddy, friend" "223, I'm not your friend, Guy"

[@polygondwanaland8390]

MickyAvStickyHands "Ground control, this is a lighthouse"

[@SeanBZA]

"Flight 223, turn right heading 205 for noise abatement." Flight 223 replies" I am at 33 thousand feet, over water, just what noise abatement problem can I be causing?". Calm reply" there is a terrible noise when a 707 and an A380 meet in mid air, please turn right to 205 degrees immediately"

[@reborn_silence4054]

Did you mean flight 22🌳

[@playwme3]

In my head, i’m reading this post in the voices of Terrence and Phillip. “ Hey Ground Control, do you want the position of my farts”

[@ericjensen5026]

The most interesting part of this video was hearing a Newfoundland accent. Never heard that one, thank you, you have expanded my knowledge the many varieties of my mother tongue.

[@McRocket]

Very interesting. I did not know about this...and I lived in Gander for a few months.

[@ciaranhedderman8083]

Absolutely love those Newfoundland accents

[@kevinmorley6300]

Great video, btw, love the Newfoundland accent! 2:10 “ I can tell where the aircraft is to “.

[@FukU2222]

Thanks for popping by to The Rock, Tom!

[@Unpacked_Mind]

I found out about Gander airport the other day by listening to a 99pi podcast episode, it's cool to see how they've stayed relevant and will be a staple of Atlantic air travel for the foreseeable future.

[@kjn100]

That was really interesting thanks bru

[@aadanjoly6151]

WHOOOHOO You finally came to Canada! May I suggest going to Ottawa?

[@steve-marsh]

Love Newfoundland! Great people and great accents too!

[@DanielTesenair]

Wow, I was also flying yesterday on that same type of plane (Looks like an Airbus A350?) from Europe to the US. I was going from Munich to Newark, and also flew south of the tip of Greenland. If only I could've flown with you Tom!

[@GillOfTheNorth]

Wow! A newfie that I could understand!

[@2headedtasman200]

For anyone wanting to learn some more, Wendover Productions made a video about this called "The Plane Highway in the Sky." A good video from a great channel.

[@SirAndrewHillier]

I love that most of the comments are about how unique our accent is xD This was cool to see! I had no idea that my home province served such an important role in aviation!

[@danlyle531]

I love this guy's accent, it sounds amazing!

[@Warhawk666]

I just passed my commercial flight test today, it is neat that this came out today as well.

[@NightcoreThunder]

Ah, the Newfoundland accent. Makes me think of my grandparents, love it

[@groupcaptainbonzo]

Very interesting.

[@peepock7796]

I’ve finally found it!! Something interesting in Newfoundland!! 😄

[@samjones3819]

Awesome!!!!

It was aboot time for a new video.

[@kjpmi]

Is that what a Newfoundland accent sounds like? I’m very familiar with the more common Canadian accent but I’ve never heard this accent before. It sounds like an Irish person trying to mimic an American accent. And very subtle too, I almost didn’t notice it.

[@kairon156]

Actually I suspect he's talking more slow than he normally would which might be where the American accent comes to play. Newfoundlanders being Canadian tend to be polite when we know our accent will be heard by non Newfies and slow down.

[@kjpmi]

That's fascinating to me. I'm from Michigan so half of my family is from and lives in Canada. I'm very familiar with the standard accent as well as Quebecois. I never knew Newfoundland had a distinct accent. So cool.

[@Natopower]

When Tom goes to your hometown! I hope Gander treated ya well Tom!

[@StreuB1]

Very cool!! So these are the men and women who make sure I am on time and safe every time I fly to and from the UK for business. Thanks to them for doing a great job!

[@michaelkruk553]

It's not just between Canada and the U K but between North America and Europe. The busiest air traffic corridor in the world, and it's Gander that has to monitor it.

[@stephanmantler]

Frequentis! In a former life I worked with some of their R&D teams. Amazingly smart people.

[@killanotterinasecond]

I've been to Gander, thanks to an emergency landing back in 2001, from New York to London. I even stayed there overnight in a hotel, courtesy of American Airlines. I had no idea this place was there and was likely tracking the whole event.

[@noelfinegan]

Really interesting! Could you do it again but, this time, from Glasgae?

[@Erniethebear]

I got to tour the Prestwick Center, several years ago. It was fascinating, but I'm a nerd.

[@ChristopherStone21]

You were in Newfoundland!? Hope you had a good time here.

[@scotiabricks]

Strange to see you in Eastern Canada, hope you drop by Halifax at some point

[@mordan727]

Flying back from AMS there was wind issues and while parking to wait to land in Toronto we got put in a secondary fuel line to go to Hamilton to fuel. It was funny. You can see 9 planes just parked around us diving down when their turn for fuel had come up. Good times!

[@JackLebeau666]

Finally a Things You Might Not Know that I actually knew!!!!

[@jeffkent6886]

Nightshifts been playing some football with those bins I see when things get slow... :)

[@matthewanderson7875]

The other end of the system is in Prestwick? I totally understand why you went to the Canadian end :D

[@Mountain-Man-3000]

This is relevant to my interests

[@the_sad_wallet1553]

Have you thought of covering the relocation of Kiruna, Sweden? (The largest urban relocation of its time)

[@xarodon4393]

I worked on many of the radar sites that these controllers rely on to do their jobs. You made me feel special.

[@paulscoombes]

And there was me expecting you to explain Strategic lateral offset procedure or SLOP. Maybe in another video?

[@Juso3411]

Oy oy Newfoundland, wasn’t expecting that 🤙

[@tellagann3332]

Tom. If you are still in Newfoundland do a meet up!

[@perigeedynamics5941]

"Where he's gonna be to" is the most Newfie phrase ever crafted in that little Wonderland.

[@tomgill2095]

I'm loving this guy's accent, its like Candian/Irish!

[@superfly9291]

Have you ever considered doing a cooperative video with TodayIFoundOut? Something like this could have been an interesting case because each channel could tackle the story from different sides e.g east-to-west & west-to-east traffic control centers. In any case, thanks for the insight into the interesting systems that run our world!

[@nightburststudios2142]

If you haven’t heard about the musical *Come From Away*, go fix that right now. It’s amazing.

[@DarthJedi2005remixes]

Wow, that accent is extraordinary. Part southern American, part Irish, part Scottish, part RP. I love it!

[@Ifly96]

The communication of the clearances when sent in text form are transmitted via the CPDLC system (Controller Pilot Data Link Communication).

[@killerzed2]

Hey the airbus I was on that beauty a week ago loved it

[@marcinzegarmistrz2710]

Seeing that you're in Canada, if you're ever in Toronto, I would love to do a fan meet up!!!

[@RodFarva]

Marcin Zegarmistrz , agree. I invited him once to come to Waterloo and do a piece on CIGI and/or The Perimeter Institute, he declined but at least he responded to my email