Europe's first controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) airborne system has been certificated in a Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Boeing 737. Eurocontrol says the trials of datalinked communications between the pilots and the Maastricht upper area control centre enable "safer and more efficient communication".
A Rockwell Collins VHF datalink mode 2 transceiver has enabled pilots and controllers to exchange standard, configurable messages or acknowledgements from a menu. The trials included messages about transfers, clearances, frequency changes, and instructions to check voice communications equipment. Eurocontrol wants airlines to equip with VDL-2 so that cluttered voice channels can be freed from routine messages.
Source: Flight International
