AATMP-30
AATMP-30 airfield aircraft arresting system operating procedures
Air Traffic Control personnel and pilots at a NATO airfield operating an aircraft arresting system, under the agreement recorded in STANAG 7104
AATMP-30 sets NATO's common air traffic control and pilot radio procedures for requesting, activating and clearing an airfield's aircraft arresting system.
- Edition
- A
- Published
- 2026-08
What it is
AATMP-30 is the NATO Allied Air Traffic Management Publication that fixes a single set of air traffic control and pilot radiotelephony procedures for using an airfield's aircraft arresting system (AAS): the barrier or cable rig that stops an aircraft by absorbing its momentum on a routine or emergency landing, or an aborted take-off (clause 1.3.1). It is not a technical specification for the arresting equipment itself. AATMP-30 standardises what a controller and a pilot say to each other, and in what order, before, during and after an arrestment (clause 1.1).
The publication addresses Air Traffic Control personnel providing air traffic services during NATO operations, and, in its own chapter, the pilot who calls for an arrestment (clause 1.2). Nations agree to use it through the agreement recorded in STANAG 7104, so it reaches a controller or a pilot only once their own nation has taken that on and the airfield's or squadron's standing orders build the procedures in. Edition A, Version 2 was promulgated on 3 August 2026 and superseded Edition A, Version 1, which units were told to destroy under their own document-destruction procedure.
Clearances and airborne emergencies
Landing and takeoff clearances are meant to carry the AAS status - BARRIER UP, CABLE DOWN and so on - unless a locally based aircraft already knows the normal position from what the base has promulgated, and even then the status is passed if the system is unserviceable or in a different position than usual (clause 2.1.1). A pilot requesting an arrestment while still airborne passes the aircraft type and call sign, the nature of the emergency and the preferred system, and the estimated time to landing; ATC answers with the system's serviceability, when it will be ready, any landing priority, and alerts the crash and rescue crew (clause 2.2). If radio contact is lost, ATC activates every compatible arresting system except the approach-end barrier (clause 2.1.2).
On the runway, and clearing it again
An aircraft already on the runway calls for a barrier or cable by transmitting the phrase itself - "BARRIER - BARRIER - BARRIER" or "CABLE - CABLE - CABLE" - and ATC activates the system, confirms the position of every arresting system available, and alerts the crash and rescue crew (clause 2.3). Once an aircraft has engaged, the runway is declared foul, closed or black, and the "all clear" or "ready deck" call goes out only once nobody unauthorised and no equipment remains in the recovery area, and the arresting-gear components - the engine, the cables, the barriers - are back at a battery position or off the runway (clause 2.3.2). Both conditions have to be met together; a visually clear runway on its own is not enough.
What a pilot does after engagement
Chapter 3 mirrors the controller-side procedures from the pilot's seat: the same information passed on request for an arrestment (clause 3.1.1), the same call for a barrier or cable (clause 3.2.1), and, after a successful cable engagement, a wait for the ground party's signal before moving, and a taxi clearance from ATC before taxying (clause 3.3.1).
Getting the document
NATO publishes AATMP-30 through the NATO Standardization Document Database at no charge. ComplyTrain does not sell it or host a copy; the NSDD listing for AATMP-30 is the source.
How we help
AATMP-30 is an operational publication: the work happens in a control tower and a cockpit, not in a compliance platform, and no software takes the arrestment call for a controller or a pilot. What ComplyTrain supports is the paperwork around it - holding the airfield's or squadron's own standing operating procedure that builds in AATMP-30's call phrases and sequence, keeping training and currency records for the controllers and aircrew who need to know them, and holding the evidence that a unit actually briefed and rehearsed these procedures: procedure versions, training sign-offs, exercise records.
What ComplyTrain does not do: it does not provide air traffic control, does not activate or inspect an arresting system, and does not qualify or evaluate a controller's or a pilot's proficiency. Which arresting-system procedures apply at a given airfield, and to what standard, is set by the operating nation and the unit's own orders.
See where AATMP-30 sits alongside STANAG 7104 and other publications in the standards explorer, and talk to us about the procedure and training-record trail behind it.
Questions
Is AATMP-30 mandatory?
Not by itself. AATMP-30 is covered by STANAG 7104, the agreement by which nations commit to use it. Whether a given airfield or unit follows it depends on whether its own nation has taken on that agreement and written the procedures into local standing orders.
What is an AAS?
AAS stands for Aircraft Arresting System: a series of devices, such as a cable or barrier rig, used to stop an aircraft by absorbing its momentum during a routine or emergency landing, or an aborted take-off.
Does AATMP-30 cover the arresting equipment itself?
No. It covers the air traffic control and pilot radio procedures around using the equipment, the calls, clearances and checks, not the engineering specification of the barrier or cable system.
What changed in Edition A, Version 2?
The document states that this version superseded Edition A, Version 1, which units were instructed to destroy under their own local document-destruction procedure. It does not itself list what changed between the two versions.
Who assesses whether these procedures are followed correctly?
AATMP-30 names no certification, audit or accreditation body. Adherence is a matter for each nation's own air traffic control qualification and unit standardisation and evaluation processes.