Julian Moxon/PARIS
Eurocontrol tested the operation of its reduced vertical separation minima (RVSM) programme successfully for the first time on 25 May. It says it is on track for full introduction on 24 January 2002.
Two flights were monitored using height and global positioning system (GPS) monitoring units. A Britannia Airways Boeing 757 flying from Paphos, Greece, to London Gatwick was formally height-monitored from a unit in Linz, Austria.
A further two height-measuring units have been located at Nattenheim, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland, and will enter operation in September and October respectively. A Boeing 737 operated by British Airways subsidiary Go was monitored using an on-board GPS, one of 25 portable airborne units that will contribute data needed to establish the precision of RVSM. It will reduce vertical separation to 1,000ft (305 m) between flight levels 290 and 410.
Aircraft operators will have to meet RVSM minimum aircraft system performance specifications by 31 December to comply with Eurocontrol's 31 March 2001 target-date for approval to fly in RVSM airspace. The agency says this is to ensure that enough aircraft are RVSM-equipped to develop a safety case for the go-ahead decision in September 2001. It also wants some idea of the number of non-RVSM-equipped aircraft there are likely to be so it can predict possible congestion in non-RVSM airspace.
Eurocontrol says that to meet requirements, aircraft "will have to demonstrate 250ft altimetry accuracy in a 3,330ft separation environment". Larger deviations "will be investigated by the certification authority and the operator".
Source: Flight International
