US cargo aircraft should be compelled to fit traffic and collision avoidance systems (TCAS) following two recent near collisions, the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recommended to the Federal Aviation Administration.
An alternative system favoured by the US Cargo Airline Association, automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B), cannot perform to TCAS standards and will take too long to implement, NTSB chairman Jim Hall told FAA Administrator Jane Garvey in a 9 September letter.
Hall says that collision avoidance is not the primary function of ADS-B "and no firm schedule or implementation plan has been established", so TCAS should be mandated for all US cargo aircraft above 15,000kg (33,000lbs).
Source: Flight International
