CAA Launches U.K. Aircraft Safety Consultation
June 30, 2006
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The U.K.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched a consultation on enhancing the safety of aircraft flying in U.K. airspace through the use of new advances in radar technology.
Aimed primarily at general aviation (GA) pilots, the consultation, in the form of a partial regulatory impact assessment, covers the use of secondary surveillance radar (SSR) mode select (Mode S) and its interaction between air traffic control and airborne collision avoidance systems (ACAS), CAA said.
The group proposed to mandate the carriage of Mode S elementary surveillance (ELS) transponders within all U.K. airspace beginning March 31, 2008. CAA believes, if adopted, the regulation will improve safety and help manage the future increase in air traffic in the U.K. It also will deliver a common level of technical interoperability between aircraft across the aviation community, according to CAA. Few GA aircraft are currently required to carry and operate SSR transponders, although many pilots and owners have fitted the equipment voluntarily, CAA said.
Mode S enhanced surveillance (EHS) has been mandatory for all aircraft flying as general air traffic (GAT) under instrument flight rules (IFR) within notified Mode S airspace since March 31, 2005 - a two-year transition period is in effect until March 31, 2007. When this consultation was being considered, the CAA announced its intentions to propose a second implementation phase to mandate the carriage of Mode S ELS transponders within the rest of U.K. airspace.
SSR is used as the basis for the operation of collision warning systems, but if GA aircraft do not carry and operate SSR transponders, the collision warning systems fitted to civil and military aircraft will not "see" GA aircraft, CAA said.
The U.K. Airprox Board calculates that roughly 60% of all Airprox encounters in U.K. airspace during 2003 and 2004 involved GA aircraft. Analysis of 299 Airprox reports (between January 2004 and June 2005) found that in 59 of the cases SSR and/or ACAS, if fitted and operated, could have prevented the incident or reduced the severity of the risk of collision.
CAA expects a two-year transition period, ending March 31, 2010 will likely be implemented, giving aircraft carriers unable to equipment their aircraft by the 2008 deadline the ability to apply for an exemption.
Given certain light aviation aircraft will have technical difficulties fitting current Mode S transponders, the CAA is working with the aviation industry to develop the Light Aviation SSR Transponder (LAST) and Low Power SSR Transponder (LPST) to meet the needs of specific sectors within GA, such as the gliding community.
U.K. certification of the Mode S LAST and LPST will enable widespread equipage within the GA sector. Additionally, the CAA said it is working with Eurocontrol to ensure that LPST certification is harmonized across Europe.
The partial regulatory impact assessment entitled Proposal to Amend the Air Navigation Order 2005 for the Purpose of Improving the Technical Interoperability of All Aircraft in UK Airspace, is available on the CAA Website at www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=7&pagetype=90&pageid=6476.
The consultation will run through Aug. 29, after which the policy proposals will be reviewed and a full RIA document will be prepared for submission to the secretary of state for transport. The document will include any updated information and a CAA recommendation on which policy option should be adopted. The feedback from the partial RIA consultation will be recorded in the Full RIA so that the secretary of state can take it into account, CAA said. The CAA plans to submit the Full RIA, together with any draft regulatory amendments to the Air Navigation Order 2005, to the secretary of state by the end of 2006.
Source: U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).