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Air Traffic Services — DGCA CPL Air Regulations
Chapter 04 of the Air Regulations paper. 78 practice questions in the Avielevate bank, every one with its answer key, filterable into a timed set on this chapter alone.
What this chapter covers
The learning objectives we file Air Traffic Services questions under, and how many sit behind each. These come straight out of the bank and are regenerated whenever it changes — they are what is there today, not a claim.
| Learning objective | In the bank |
|---|
| __GEN__ General | 78 questions |
Sample Air Traffic Services questions, answered and explained
Real questions from this chapter, with the answer marked and the reasoning written out — the same explanations you get inside the app.
0105070 · Air Traffic Services
The lower limit of a Control Area must be set at a height above ground or water level of at least
- A150 metres
- B200 metres
- C300 metres
Why that is the answer
A Control Area (CTA) is a block of controlled airspace that sits above the surface, and its lower boundary has to be placed carefully: set it too low and it swallows uncontrolled or VFR traffic operating safely near the ground; set it with no minimum at all and the boundary becomes inconsistent from place to place, which is dangerous for pilots trying to know whether they are inside or outside controlled airspace. ICAO Annex 11 addresses this by prescribing a baseline floor for control areas: the lower limit must not be established lower than 200 metres (700 feet) above ground or water level. This gives uncontrolled traffic a protected layer beneath the CTA in which to operate without ATC involvement, while still letting controlled traffic descend into approach and terminal structures at a sensible height. The figure is deliberately a round, easily briefed number that appears consistently across CTAs and TMAs (a TMA being a specific type of CTA established at the convergence of routes near major aerodromes), so a controller or pilot does not have to memorise a different minimum for every airspace type. A lower figure would erode the protected buffer for traffic below; a higher one is permitted locally where terrain or traffic density calls for it, but it is not the prescribed minimum itself.
- Recognise this is asking for the ICAO-prescribed baseline floor height for a control area, not a locally-adopted figure.
- Recall that controlled airspace floors are set to leave a protected layer for traffic below that is not receiving ATC service.
- Annex 11's Appendix 3 fixes this baseline at 200 metres (700 feet) above ground or water level.
- Compare the offered figures: one is below this floor, one is above it as a possible local value, and only 200 metres matches the published minimum itself.
- Select the figure that matches the ICAO baseline exactly.
- Mnemonic — "Seven hundred is the floor": CTA and TMA lower limits sit no lower than 700 ft (200 m) above ground or water.
0105073 · Air Traffic Services
When an aircraft is experiencing difficulties, responsibility for triggering the alert phase lies with
- ASearch and rescue coordination centres
- BControl centres only
- CAir traffic control units and flight information centres
Why that is the answer
The three emergency phases are not self-declared by the aircraft, nor discovered independently by a rescue organisation out of nowhere — they are triggered by the ATS units already tracking the flight, specifically air traffic control units and flight information centres, because those are the bodies holding the flight-plan and position data needed to recognise that something is wrong, such as a missed report, an overdue arrival, or loss of contact. Once such a unit recognises the relevant trigger condition, it declares the appropriate phase and notifies the associated rescue coordination centre, which then takes over the search and rescue response itself. This division matters: the rescue coordination centre coordinates the response once alerted, but it is the ATS unit in contact with, or holding data on, the flight that has the operational picture needed to recognise the problem and set the alerting service process in motion in the first place.
- Recall that recognising an aircraft in difficulty depends on flight-plan and position data — data held by the units tracking the flight, not by the rescue organisation itself.
- Recall that both ATC units and flight information centres hold and monitor this data for aircraft under their service.
- Recall the division of labour: the tracking unit declares the phase and notifies; the rescue coordination centre then coordinates the actual search and rescue response.
- Reject search and rescue coordination centres as the trigger, since they respond to a notification rather than originating it.
- Reject 'control centres only,' since flight information centres, which are not control units, equally hold this responsibility for the flights they serve.
- Mnemonic — 'Whoever's tracking you, trips the alarm.'
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Frequently asked
How many Air Traffic Services questions are there for the DGCA CPL Air Regulations paper?
Avielevate's bank carries 78 published Air Traffic Services questions for Air Regulations, mapped across 1 learning objective. Every one has its answer key, and explanations are being written across the whole bank.
How much of the Air Regulations paper is Air Traffic Services?
The DGCA does not publish a per-chapter breakdown of its papers, so nobody can honestly tell you — and we will not guess. What we can tell you is what students who have just sat a paper reported meeting, which is measured rather than rumoured: that is the exam recall report inside the app.
What is the best way to revise Air Traffic Services?
Sit a short timed set on this chapter alone, tag how sure you were of each answer, then drill the two that actually leak marks: the ones you got right while guessing, and the ones you got wrong while confident. Avielevate does that tagging for you and puts anything you got wrong back in front of you on a spaced schedule.
The rest of the Air Regulations paper
One account covers every chapter of every paper.
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