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 in 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.

Controllers at work at the Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center.

Washington Center is the busiest 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 eight 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, five super high sector and four various other type sectors, including 1 high/low altitude sector and three 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
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References
  1. Federal Aviation Administration. (2018). Air Traffic Activity System (ATADS). Retrieved from http://aspm.faa.gov/opsnet/sys/Center.asp

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