Long-awaited flight tests of the automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B)-based ACSS SafeRoute system for optimised spacing of aircraft on final approach are expected to start around 4 November at Louisville, Kentucky, using UPS aircraft.
Developed by safety avionics specialist ACSS - an L-3 Communications and Thales company - SafeRoute is expected to be tested for about two weeks by UPS. The system made its first flight on ACSS's King Air C-90 testbed on 3 October and has been undergoing flight and further ground tests ever since.
The system was ground-tested in October on the US Federal Aviation Administration's Flight Test Center Convair 580. A week later, flight tests involved both the Convair and the C-90. The Phoenix, Arizona-based company says it plans to continue testing with the FAA this week "weather permitting", and is aiming for certification in mid-2007.
SafeRoute uses ADS-B functionality to provide two main services - Surface Area Movement Management (SAMM) and Merging & Spacing (M&S). SAMM provides flightcrews with an airport surface map and tracks the movements of aircraft and other ground and airborne traffic in the terminal area, and alerts crews of potential conflicts. Merging & Spacing uses the ADS-B on-board aircraft surveillance capability to provide flightdeck spacing commands that allow aircraft to follow one another more safely and efficiently from cruise to the runway.
ACSS says: "M&S will ensure more consistent aircraft spacing while increasing capacity within the terminal airspace, and will enable continuous descent arrivals."
Source: Flight International
