FAA Proposes 2020 Deadline for Aircraft Equipped with Satellite-Based Navigation

October 25, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

The proposal would require all aircraft flying in the country's busiest airspace to have satellite-based avionics by 2020, enabling air traffic controllers to track aircraft by satellites using a system known as automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B), which is said to be 10 times more accurate than current radar technology.

Aircraft not flying in controlled airspace will not be required to have ADS-B avionics, but may choose to do so for the safety benefits, the FAA said.

"Aviation must take the big step into the next generation of technology," acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell said.

The tenfold increase in the accuracy of satellite signals may eventually allow air traffic controllers to reduce separation standards between aircraft, significantly increasing the number of aircraft that can be safely managed in the country's skies.

Traffic is projected to grow from 740 million passengers in 2006 to 1 billion in 2015, and double today's levels by 2025.

Under a contract awarded to ITT Corp. in September, ground stations for the new system will be brought online across the country, starting on the East Coast and in portions of the Midwest, Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. Nationwide coverage is expected by 2013.

Pilots viewing ADS-B cockpit displays are able to see, in real time, their location in relation to other aircraft, bad weather and terrain. In Southwest Alaska, the fatal accident rate for ADS-B-equipped aircraft has dropped by 47%.

The proposed rule is open to public comment for 90 days, and is scheduled to become final by late 2009. The proposed compliance date of 2020 will give the industry more than 10 years to properly equip aircraft with ADS-B avionics, the FAA said.

Source: U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).