Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZID), (radio communications, "Indy Center") is one of 22 established FAA

Area Control Center In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between ai ...

s, and is physically located at 1850 South Sigsbee Street,

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, (

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

). The primary responsibility of Indianapolis Center is sequencing and separation of over-flights, arrivals, and departures in order to provide safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of aircraft filed under

instrument flight rules In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

(IFR). Indianapolis Center is the 12th busiest ARTCC in the United States. Between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012, Indianapolis Center handled 1,922,383 aircraft operations. Indianapolis Center covers approximately 73,000 square miles FAA. Department of Transportation. Facility orientation guide; Indianapolis ARTCC Indianapolis, Indiana. Retrieved from StuckMic.com FAA - Air Traffic Control Facility Orientation Guides. http://www.cdn.stuckmic.com/images/data/525/indianapolis.pdf of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, including parts of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. Indianapolis Center lies adjacent to six Air Route Traffic Control Centers:

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 at Lawson Rd SE, Leesburg, Virginia, United States. The primary responsibility of ZDC is the separation of airp ...

Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZTL) (radio communications, "Atlanta Center") is one of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers operated by the United States Federal Aviation Administration. It is located at 299 Woolsey Rd, Hampton, Georgi ...

Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center Memphis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZME) (radio communications, "Memphis Center") is one of 22 United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Area Control Centers and is located at 3229 Democrat Rd, Memphis, Tennessee 38118, United State ...

, Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center,

Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZOB) or Cleveland Center is located at 326 East Lorain Street, Oberlin, Ohio, United States. The center is located about outside of the city of Cleveland.Wildavsky, Aaron B. Leadership in a Small Town. ...

, and Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center. ZID overlies or abuts many approach control facilities (including Indianapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Huntington, Terre Haute, Columbus, and Charleston). On

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, Indianapolis Center was handling

American Airlines Flight 77 American Airlines Flight 77 was a scheduled American Airlines domestic transcontinental passenger flight from Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California. The Boe ...

. Indianapolis Center was the first enroute facility to use CPDLC (Controller - Pilot Data Link Communication). ZID along with UPS tested the system during nightly operations in 2018.

Popular culture

Indianapolis Center is depicted in the second scene of

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

's ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' (1977), in which an air traffic controller provides information and guidance to pilots of two passenger jets (

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself me ...

and a fictional "Air East") who are en route through the ZID

flight information region In aviation, a flight information region (FIR) is a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service and an alerting service (ALRS) are provided. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) delegates which country is re ...

to avoid collisions with each other or with an unidentified "aircraft" that appears to have extremely bright anti-collision lights and is "exhibiting some non-ballistic motion." A supervisor orders another controller to "get on the horn with the 45th Recon Wing to find out if there is a test flight mission in "Restricted Area 2508." (The actual 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was based at

Bergstrom Air Force Base Bergstrom Air Force Base (1942–1993) was located seven miles southeast of Austin, Texas. In its later years it was a major base for the U.S. Air Force's RF-4C reconnaissance fighter fleet. History Bergstrom was originally activated on ...

in the mid-1970s, but was inactivated not long before the film's pre-production. The real Restricted Area 2508 is located in Southern California.) The scene concluded with a senior supervisor instructing the controller to ask the TWA and Air East pilots if they wish to officially report a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

. Both pilots declined.

References

External links

* eather.gov/zid Indianapolis Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU)( NWS/

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

) {{coord, 39, 44, 17.5, N, 86, 16, 48.8, W, region:US-IN_type:landmark, display=title Air traffic control centers Air traffic control in the United States Aviation in Indiana Transportation in Indianapolis Transportation buildings and structures in Marion County, Indiana