The US Federal Aviation Administration has issued a supplemental type certification (STC) to II Morrow for installation of equipment to support tests of automatic dependent surveillance - broadcast (ADS-B) systems on several freight aircraft belonging to members of the Cargo Airline Association (CAA) .
Three CAA members, Airborne Express, FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS), each plan to equip four aircraft with the ADS-B system, and related cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) by "early next year", says the association. Prototype ADS-B equipment is already flying on a UPS Boeing 727-100 and a II Morrow company testbed.
The CAA hopes the trials will show that ADS-B equipped aircraft will be able to meet the FAA's TCAS (traffic alert and collision avoidance system) requirements without having to be fitted with the latest TCAS II systems. Instead, it aims to use the more advanced ADS-B system, together with the CDTI display, to essentially leapfrog TCAS as well as use the system for other air traffic management tasks.
The ADS-B system will allow pilots to "-determine the precise location of proximate traffic, and to clearly see the traffic's direction, speed and relative altitude", says the CAA. It adds that the next steps include full system testing by 12 CAA member airline aircraft, culminating in a full operational evaluation by mid-1999.
Full system certification is planned for the third quarter of 1999, with system installations beginning shortly after.
Source: Flight International
