Santa Barbara ATCT and Tracon

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SANTA BARBARA TRACON

Located on the ground floor next to the main offices is the Santa Barbara TRACON.  It is equipped with nine radar scopes, with usually four being staffed at once. Options selectable by the controller allow filters to exclude aircraft flying above Santa Barbara Approach’s ceiling of 8,000 feet, decreasing the clutter of multiple targets on the screen. The screen additionally depicts approach corridors to the area’s airports, restricted airspace at Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the shoreline and Channel Islands. Data blocks next to the symbols that represent each aircraft indicate the identifier or flight number for the aircraft, the altitude at which it is flying, the groundspeed, and other important information for the controller. The airspace (surface to 8,000 feet) is split into two sectors, north and south side.  North side begins just south of Paso Robles (PRB) end ends just south of Santa Yenz.  Southside begins just south of Santa Ynez and ends at the Channel Islands and west of Ventura.  Both sides provide traffic advisories to VFR aircraft.

North Side (Pismo and Orcut):  The north side sector is responsible for providing Terminal Approach Control to Santa Maria (SMX), San Luis (SBP), and Vandenberg AFT (VBG) Airports.  These airports fall under the Federal Contract Tower (FCT) Program and are covered with an LOA with SBA Facility.  In addition 3 uncontrolled airports are also located within the confines of the airspace, Lompoc Airport (LPC), Santa Yenz Airport (IZA), and Oceano Airport (L52).  This sector coordinates with Los Angeles sector 15 and Oakland sector 10 for arrivals and departures. 

South Side (Elcap and Harbor): The south side sector is responsible for  providing Terminal Approach Control to only one airport, Santa Barbara (SBA).  They work with Point Mugu, Los Angeles sector 14 and 15, and the North side to sequence IFR and VFR arrivals to SBA.  They also coordinate with North side to sequence IFR aircraft to VBG, LPC, AND IZA.  

Future Expansion

The TRACON has the capability to expand 5 (Five) additional scopes for future use. SBA NATCA anticipates the FAA to utilize these positions to expand East of the current Airspace over Point Mugu and connect Santa Barbara TRACON with SOCAL TRACON. In addition to expand the current TRACON airspace vertically from it current 8000 ft to an altitude  that will allow pilots in the near future an enroute service without interruption of any service. Currently SBA Management has placed a hold on such projects. But as visionaries SBA NATCA will always push for the best Air Traffic Control service for our User's.