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Edition 17 November 18, 2008
Runway incursion dangers quantified
“During the twelve year period between 1995 through 2007, of the global 393 runway-related accidents involving commercial transports, 96 per cent, or approximately 19 out of 20, were runway incursions,” according to Flight Safety Foundation’s Dr Earl Weener, speaking at the FSF’s international air safety seminar at the end of October. “Those accidents accounted for approximately 70 per cent of the fatalities in runway related accidents.”
Mexico Learjet crash kills fourteen
Nine passengers – including the country’s interior minister Juan Camillo Mourino - and five people on the ground where reported to have been killed when a government-operated Learjet L45 crashed in Mexico City on November 6.
The aircraft crashed during the evening rush-hour traffic between office buildings. The US National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to work with Mexican accident investigators; along with technical advisors from the FAA, Learjet, and Honeywell International.
UK airprox investigation results
A UK Airprox Board report into a near miss in March 2008 between a Eurofighter Typhoon and an HS125 over the Donna Nook range http://www.airproxboard.org.uk/docs/423/September%20Reports.pdf has categorized the incident as category A (“A risk of collision an actual risk of collision existed”)
The aircraft are believed to have passed within 400ft of each other; the HS125 had been cleared to fly over the range where the Eurofighter Typhoon was practicing air-to-ground attacks.
NATS plans carbon dioxide reductions
NATS is planning to cut by half the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by aircraft waiting to land at the UK’s busiest airports. According to NATS as much as 300,000 tonnes of CO2 could be saved by aircraft joining the arrival sequence earlier and slowing down their approach to London’s airports.
Using a new planning tool called Arrival Manager, developed by Barco and adapted by NATS, controllers can, potentially, cut in half the time aircraft spend in holding points over the London airports. Each year, 1.4 million aircraft fly through the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area. Operational staff will be able to view the aircraft sequence and make earlier decisions to ensure the best possible flow of air traffic from airport to airport.
NATS plans to reduce by, on average, ten per cent per flight the ATM CO2 emitted by aircraft under its control by 2020; set against a baseline of 2006 and has also pledged that its estate will be carbon-neutral by 2011.
Industry
Norway upgrades communications
Frequentis reports factory acceptance of its VCS 3020X destined for Oslo’s area control centre in Norway. Avinor selected Frequentis in March 2008 to supply four voice systems with 115 working positions and two VCX network nodes to begin operations in January 2009. The equipment features a complex redundancy concept whereby the main system and the backup system are running in synchronous processing and the telephone routing via VCX. Frequentis previously equipped the Bodø area control centre and the tower/approach centre at Trondheim. The latest contract includes an option for additional eight systems to be delivered in the next four years to Stavanger area centre, Oslo tower/approach, and Bergen tower/approach, which already has been assigned.
FAA boost for Lockheed Lidar
The FAA has purchased the WindTracer lidar system from Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies, currently under test at Los Vegas McCarran International Airport. The system was first tested in 2005, and again in 2007, when it detected more than half of all windshear events and 91 per cent of dry microburst incidents. The equipment supplements Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) in the dry climate where dry gust fronts and microbursts occur more often than wet wind shear. At McCarran, dry wind shear events happen three times as often as wet events, and cause pilots to perform a wind shear go-around. The WindTracer lidar, coupled with TDWR, can reduce the costly go-around phases by producing accurate warning signals and weather alerts. Lockheed believes other airports located in a dry environment could benefit from the technology including Denver, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.
Kenya buys Selex radar
Kenya’s civil aviation authority has selected Selex Sistemi Integrati to supply primary and secondary radar, automation equipment, and navaids under a EUR25 million contract award. The new systems will be installed at the international airports of Nairobi and Mombassa, and national airports of Kisumu, Eldoret, Machacos, Poror and Wajir within 15 months.
FAA funds safety avionics
The FAA has awarded contracts worth USD9 million to two companies to develop avionics equipment to aid conflict detection on the airfield. The USD3 million award to Honeywell is for the development and evaluation of avionics equipment aboard two Honeywell test aircraft at Seattle Tacoma International and Snohomish County Paine Field airports. Pilots from JetBlue Airways and Alaska Airlines will be used to provide operational input. A separate USD6 million award to Aviation Communications & Surveillance Systems (ACSS) to work with US Airways to develop standards, flight demonstrations and prototypes. Twenty Airbus A330 aircraft will be equipped with cockpit displays, transponders, antennas, wiring kits and Class 2 Electronic Flight Bags. Demonstrations will be conducted at Philadelphia International Airport.
Ireland displays Barco screens
Barco reports its 2K by 2K ISIS main displays are now operational at Ireland’s area control centres at Dublin and Shannon, replacing legacy Sony CRT displays no longer in production for tactical air control. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) already uses Orion CRT displays supplied by Barco, and recently selected Barco TCD displays for use in its ATC towers. Barco has sold more than 8,000 ISIS displays worldwide since launching the LCD display in 2001 in an exclusive supply partnership with flat panel manufacturer Samsung.
Barco displayed its high resolution LC series display at ATCA 2008.
Vaisala restructures
Finnish weather specialist Vaisala has reorganized to reflect market sector growth. The company targets three business areas and ten market segments. The Meteorology division, headed by Martti Husu, serves national meteorological and hydrological institutes that provide national weather information and forecasts. Weather Critical Operations is headed by Antti Ritvos, and includes airports, roads, defense, and wind energy. The Controlled Environment division, headed by Kenneth Forss, covers industrial applications. There is also a group wide Products and Technology unit, headed by Jouni Rantanen, which combines all product creation and management activities into one common horizontal function, and a group wide Marketing function. Vaisala managing director Kjell Forsén predicts double-digit annual growth for the company.
Poland selects Park Air radios
The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) has selected Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems to provide an integrated VHF/UHF ground-air radio system. The project involves the installation of three remotely controlled PAE T6 VHF and UHF multi-channel radio systems for the air traffic control centre at Warsaw and three remotely controlled PAE T6 VHF and UHF multi-channel radio systems for the air traffic control centre at Katowice. The contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman Park Air Systems on a points-based tender, product capability and performance history with other national air traffic control organisations.
Park Air launches multimode radio at ATCA
Northrop Grumman Corporation Park Air Systems introduced a new generation IP-enabled multimode digital radio (MDR) during the ATCA show in Washington in early November. Park Air delivered the first production units to ARINC’s Annapolis headquarters in the last quarter of 2008 for installation within its global data link communications network. The PAE 6525 MDR software-defined radio delivers data and voice services in the VHF air band and supports aircraft communications addressing and reporting system (ACARS), VHF digital link (VDL) Mode 2 and AM voice. A TCP/IP interface enables the 6525 MDR to deliver reliable data link services without incurring high costs. Park Air began supplying VDL radios to ARINC in the 1990s and participated in ICAO standards-setting. The company’s MDR technology was selected by the FAA in 2001 for its nationwide VHF programme.
Czech plans national wide area multilateration system
Czech navigation service provider ANS CR is installing wide area multilateration in Brno, the country’s third major site to adopt the new surveillance technology. Era Systems Corporation is supplying surveillance coverage out to 80 nm from Brno airport, capable of tracking transponder signals and ADS-B transmissions. When linked with systems already deployed in Ostrava and Prague, the system will provide full nationwide coverage. “It is our full intention to interconnect all three wide area multilateration systems early in 2010 to create the world’s first nationwide wide area multilateration capability,” said Ivan Uhlir, ANS CR surveillance expert.
Meanwhile Era reports site acceptance of the multilateration system and terminal area ADS-B system at Cape Town International Airport. The Era system provides wide area surveillance within a 60 nm radius of the airport, and this data is fused with primary and secondary surveillance radar on Eurocat controller displays. The system will be used operationally once certification from the South African CAA has been obtained. Era is in the process of completing two surface surveillance systems for the South African navigation service provider ATNS – one at Cape Town International and one at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.
Tech Source launches new graphics board at ATCA
US display specialist RGB Spectrum showed its latest graphics boards – the Raptor 4000-R (PCI) and Raptor 4000e-R (PCI Express) for ATC and defence market applications at ATCA in Washington. The boards are understood to be the industry’s first to support portrait rotation of a 30 in monitor without sacrificing any feature sets according to Tech Source. They provide tower control and en route centres with new viewing options, such as using a 2K by 2K display as a primary monitor and separately running a rotating auxiliary monitor of up to 30 inches off the Raptor 4000-R or Raptor 4000e-R. The boards have a single active DVI-I connector that offers a maximum resolution of 2048 by 2048 for analogue signals or 2560 by 2048 for digital signals. This allows the boards to supply a 2K by 2K or 2.5k by 2K monitor as either a primary or as an auxiliary monitor. Tech Source supplies COTS products which are backwards compatible with the previous generation of Raptor product, and guarantees availability for five years and at least 10 years’ support. RGB products are used by the FAA in the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) programme being supplied by Raytheon, in addition to several overseas applications.
Corsica switches on Frequentis system
Frequentis reports delivery of a second voice system to the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Ajaccio began operating the voice communication system in October, following delivery of a system at Bastia earlier this year for customer SNA, the south-eastern arm of the French air traffic authority, DSNA. Frequentis equipment now covers the entire island including Figari and Calvi airports. The latest system comprises eleven operator positions, eight of which are housed in the newly erected tower. The radio configuration consists of six frequencies and two sites, switch module and a frequency with one site. A back-up system supports the entire installation.
Aerobahn tackles airport congestion
Sensis Corporation’s Aerobahn service is now operational at Newark Liberty International Airport. The service is being used by Continental Airlines to provide real-time situational awareness of aircraft taxiing, to more efficiently manage aircraft pushbacks and reduce taxi times at the carrier’s New York hub. Aerobahn service is currently being used by Continental at its Houston hub at Bush Intercontinental airport. The carrier also plans to use the service at its System Operations Coordination Center in Houston to improve efficiency of the overall airline network.
At Newark, Sensis Aerobahn Service integrates flight schedule and operational data with Sensis Multistatic Dependent Surveillance, a multilateration surveillance system, for a real-time, highly accurate picture of aircraft taxiing on the ground. Users access Aerobahn through a secure web browser and select from a set of tools which provide comprehensive insight into Continental’s airside operation.
Following the lead of major US airlines, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) has chosen to use the Aerobahn Service at New York JFK, under a contract placed with the Aviation Development Council in early November. The service will provide airport stakeholders with greater awareness of aircraft traffic flow on the airport surface, including the gate areas, resulting in a reduction in delays and emissions and increased passenger satisfaction.
Sensis Aerobahn is also operational at airports in Europe and Asia. The Civil Aviation Department for Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong is deploying the technology to improve safety and capacity on its busy airfield, where it is linking the system’s surveillance capabilities with airline operations.
Montreal monitors airfield movements
Canada’s Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International is the latest airport to select Sensis Multistatic Dependent Surveillance (MDS) multilateration for surface surveillance, coupled with the company’s VeeLo NextGen vehicle locators. The system will complement existing surface radar sensors and help reduce airfield delays and emissions. Additionally, each MDS sensor supports ADS-B – a technology selected by Nav Canada to enhance en route surveillance. Sensis has deployed MDS for wide area terminal surveillance in Vancouver Harbor and Fort St. John, and installing ground stations in Hudson Bay and along the Labrador and Baffin Island coasts of Eastern Canada.
Meanwhile, in October Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport became the fourteenth US airport to begin operations with Sensis Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), a runway incursion detection and alerting system. The FAA’s ASDE-X program will deploy the technology to a total of 35 of the nation’s airports. ASDE-X combines ground surveillance data from a number of sources to provide controllers with real-time, accurate position and location information of all aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface. By integrating surface movement radar, transponder multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) surveillance data, ASDE-X provides seamless, redundant coverage in all weather conditions. The system also features advanced runway conflict detection and alerting technology, called Safety Logic.
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