21 NovARC recommendations for ADS-B positive for general aviation
The Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that there should not be an ADS-B “In” mandate at this time. This recommendation does not affect the existing ADS-B “Out” mandate and equipage rules
As part of this committee, FreeFlight heartily endorses this recommendation. In short, it will mean easier installation of ADS-B in most situations. Consider these two reasons the ARC rule is good for the industry:
- For most of the general aviation population, ADS-B “In” comprises advisory traffic, weather and other important flight information. This information is being provided today as part of the base ADS-B program. Put simply, we do not need a rule concerning equipage for these aviators. In fact, a rule will make it harder to get advisory information in front of pilots. Under the current framework, an aircraft equipped to meet the ADS-B “Out” rule is eligible for these free services, giving users some flexibility in how the data is displayed. This strategy is working fine, and a rule would simply increase cost and complexity.
- For larger aircraft, ADS-B “In” is a more complex item that addresses traffic separation and other critical safety issues. For these applications, a rule is going to be necessary. Work is currently underway to define such systems, without interfering with the immediate benefits to general aviation.
The FAA chartered the ARC in 2010 as a forum for the aviation community, where a strategy would be defined to incorporate ADS-B “In” technologies into air traffic control systems. ARC includes about two dozen representatives from aviation user groups, companies and government agencies.
At the end of September, ARC’s initial recommendations were published, but they were just released this month. The recommendations said:
“The ARC supports ADS–B as the primary mechanism to provide future surveillance for ATC in the NAS … the ARC finds, based on the current maturity of ADS–B In applications and uncertainties regarding the achievable benefits, there is not a NAS user community business case for near-term ADS–B In equipage. Therefore, at this time, the ARC does not support an equipage mandate. The ARC recommends the FAA demonstrate to the satisfaction of the user community that equipage benefits are both achievable and operationally implementable in a cost-effective manner.
“The ARC notes operational demonstrations of ADS–B In applications are in various stages of maturity but the required equipment standards, certification guidance, and operational approval guidance are not sufficiently mature to enable widespread manufacture of avionics and implementation of ADS–B In applications other than those directed toward situational awareness,” the report added.
So what does this all mean? ADS-B “Out” is the FAA’s primary Air Traffic Control technology, and it will be required by rule for most aircraft by 2020. The incentives that the FAA is providing via ADS-B “In” are available today with minimal regulation – exactly as it should be.
Feedback provided by the aviation community in response to those recommendations will be incorporated into an ARC final report due by June 2012.
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