Rule change would take away the option of doing nothing in response to advisories
Pilots subject to European regulations will be compelled to follow airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) resolution advisories (RA) if a new Joint Aviation Authorities notice of proposed amendment (NPA) is accepted. The same NPA includes proposals for dramatic changes to the advanced qualification programme (AQP), a voluntary system for airline customised pilot training.
The NPA on ACAS RAs takes away from pilots the option of doing nothing in response to an RA, and forbids action in the sense opposite to the advisory. The new rule requires that response to an RA shall be immediate, and also states that "it shall never be in a sense opposite to that required by the RA, [shall] be in the correct sense required by the RA even if this is in conflict with the vertical element of an air traffic control instruction, [and shall] be the minimum possible to comply with the RA."
The framing of the JAA proposal is in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation amendments introduced since the July 2002 collision over southern Germany between two airliners. In this event, which killed all on both aircraft, the pilot of a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154M followed ATC instructions in the opposite sense to the ACAS RA he was receiving, which led to a collision with the other aircraft, a DHL Boeing 757 freighter in which the pilot was following his RA.
Meanwhile, the JAA wants to rewrite the advanced qualification programme (AQP) for pilot training, calling it the alternative training and qualification programme (ATQP). The scheme is voluntary for airlines, but would enable them to tailor their type rating and recurrent training programmes to their own operational demands and individual pilots' needs rather than only complying with basic JAA training regulatory requirements for the exercises that must be carried out.
The NPA for ATQP requires far more detailed planning, justification and monitoring than is required for the AQP. British Airways says it would like to operate the ATQP, but says the new proposals would require the deployment of unrealistic resources over too long a period to make it worthwhile.
DAVID LEARMOUNT LONDON
Source: Flight International
