CARROLL MCCORMICK / MONTREAL
An integrated anti-collision cockpit display system developed by UPS Aviation Technologies (UPS AT) has been certificated by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The system fuses automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data with traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) information and presents it on single 150 x 125mm (6 x 5in) display.
UPS AT calls the screen the cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). "All the TCAS information is there, but aircraft transmitting ADS-B also appear," says UPS. The TCAS provides traffic advisories (TA) as it normally would, and resolution advisories (RA) on the vertical speed indicator, but the pilots benefit from the additional "rich detail" supplied by ADS-B traffic.
ADS-B provides flight identification, speed, heading and future position of equipped traffic within about 220-370km (125-200nm). The CDTI can call up several displays, including a terrain awareness moving map, weather, and visual flight rules and instrument flight rules airspace charts. Future display enhancements will enable pilots to view a highly accurate moving map of the airport surface and even other traffic moving on the ground.
The CDTI can also provide terrain awareness warning system information. Certification will allow cargo aircraft already outfitted with the CDTI AT2000 display to add TCAS capability, thus meeting the FAA notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) which requires the previously exempted all-cargo aircraft to carry collision avoidance systems by 31 October this year. The NPRM definition of a collision avoidance system excluded any solution other than TCAS, which the Cargo Airline Association has disputed. Initially, UPS will install the display on its103 Boeing 757-200 and 767-300 freighters.
Source: Flight International
