Are ground marshalling operations still conducted by personnel on the ground? Are there any airports that still do this procedure?
From Wikipedia.
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1$\begingroup$ Please, in which countries would like to know about? $\endgroup$ – eduardoguilherme Feb 22 '16 at 18:33
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1$\begingroup$ I can say that in Brazil, in some domestic and military airports they still use the marshalling. $\endgroup$ – eduardoguilherme Feb 22 '16 at 18:39
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1$\begingroup$ Are you talking about a "Follow Me" vehicle escorting the aircraft, or are you talking about ground handlers (as in your picture)? $\endgroup$ – Ron Beyer Feb 22 '16 at 18:57
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2$\begingroup$ The type of marshaling in your picture (ground crew with hand signals) is done at every major airport I've ever visited. The ground personnel have to tell the pilot how far forward to pull the aircraft when coming up to the gate. Its also done for GA aircraft at FBO's to direct them where to park quite often. $\endgroup$ – Ron Beyer Feb 22 '16 at 19:22
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4$\begingroup$ I understood the question, although from an American English perspective it was strangely worded until an edit that happened while I was writing this comment. I up voted the question because I'm curious as to how much things have changed since I retired in 1999. Back then we were often marshaled, especially in third world countries. Even in the U.S. we were usually marshaled when coming in to everything other than a jet bridge that had electronic guidance as to when to stop. $\endgroup$ – Terry Feb 22 '16 at 19:28
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Typically, marshalling is used to guide aircraft to their parking stand.
There are alternatives available (Visual Guidance Docking Systems) that allow pilots to park their aircraft at the right spot without the aid of a marshaller.
In its simplest form, the parking spot has a big identifier to allow the pilot to select the right stand, a centreline for the nose wheel to follow, a marking where the nosewheel should stop and a mirror so the pilot can see where the nose wheel is relative to the marking.
In its more advanced form, there are pressure plates in the stand that determine the position of the aircraft, a laser scanning system that determines the exact position of the aircraft and whether the stand is obstacle free, and a digital display guiding the pilot during parking.
In case the VDGS is not available or cannot handle the specific aircraft type, a marshaller will have to step in.
answered Feb 22 '16 at 19:29
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2$\begingroup$ When taxiing into the FedEx hub in Memphis there was always a very simple guidance system. There was a rubber bar hanging from chains to tell the pilots where to stop. They would aim for it and stop when the center window post touched it. Other than that I never noticed any kind of system to tell them where to go. No marshaller. Just lines and that rubber bumper. Could be that they just didn't need to be all that precise since all the loading equipment moved. $\endgroup$ – TomMcW Feb 23 '16 at 0:46
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$\begingroup$ The APIS system is in place at many United gates at ORD (Chicago O'Hare). BTW, I've never seen a mirror to see where our nosewheel is. Doesn't mean they're not out there though! $\endgroup$ – Porcupine911 Feb 23 '16 at 23:42
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$\begingroup$ would be fun in windy conditions with the ball jiggling about. $\endgroup$ – Anilv Apr 12 '18 at 0:46
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For what I know, the EAA AirVenture still uses this method. I have heard from a few friends in the Civil Air Patrol about this.
answered Feb 22 '16 at 18:32
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$\begingroup$ Yes, EAA (and many fly-ins like Sun-N-Fun) use marshaling to keep aircraft separate and get them where they need to go quickly and without interaction from ATC which would be busy with incoming flights. $\endgroup$ – Ron Beyer Feb 22 '16 at 18:56
