Table of Contents
In this issue, we introduce the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, and highlight the changes and the enabling technologies that will bring more efficient navigation, more effective communications, and greatly improved surveillance capabilities.
Photo courtesy of Cessna
Features
NEXTGEN FOR THE MASSES
U.S. Department
Traffic? Weather? Navigation? Yes, we’ve got
of Transportation
Federal Aviation
BY ME RE DI T H S A INI
Administration
GET READY FOR ADS-B
New data-driven tools offer pilots greater ISSN: 1057-9648
FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 BY ME RE DI T H S A INI Volume 49/Number 3 Raymond H. LaHood Secretary of Transportation
NEXTGEN: SETTING THE STAGE FOR
J. Randolph Babbitt Administrator
PERFORMANCE-BASED NAVIGATION
Margaret Gilligan Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety John M. Allen Director, Flight Standards Service Mel O. Cintron Manager, General Aviation and Commercial Division BY SUS A N PA RSON Susan Parson Editor Lynn McCloud Managing Editor Louise Oertly Associate Editor
FLYING PAPERLESS AIRPLANES
Tom Hoffmann Associate Editor James R. Williams Assistant Editor / Photo Editor BY SUS A N PA RSON Meredith Saini Writer John Mitrione Art Director
EYE IN THE SKY
Published six times a year, FAA Safety Briefing, formerly FAA Aviation News, promotes aviation safety by discussing current technical, regulatory, and
Assuring the safe operation of Unmanned
procedural aspects affecting the safe operation and maintenance of aircraft.
Although based on current FAA policy and rule interpretations, all material is advisory or informational in nature and should not be construed to have BY TOM HOF F M A NN regulatory effect. Certain details of accidents described herein may have been altered to protect the privacy of those involved.
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Jumpseat
John W. McGr a W DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FLIGHT STANDARDS SERVICE
Turning Headwinds into Tailwinds
In his book The Next Hour , pilot and former of technology as you are able, and make sure you editor of Flying magazine Richard L. Collins writes are proficient—with new technologies as well as about flying safely the next hour, which, he says, with tried and true stick and rudder skills. There are is the most important hour in any pilot’s logbook. many new technologies, such as the expanded use of Collins stresses the importance of understanding flight training devices, that provide high technology and managing the risks inherent in flying. And, to resources for those still-essential flying skills.
the theme of this issue of FAA Safety Briefing —the Three, expectations for safety are high. In Next Generation Air Transportation System, or the public’s mind there is no turning back on safety.
NextGen—from his perspective of 50-plus years of Our mission at FAA is to constantly improve. That flying, Collins looks ahead. He is confident better should be your goal as things will come and writes, “for general aviation, well. With the move to Everyone in this complex system needs to today’s headwind can and will be turned into NextGen, we have the be mindful of their crucial role in staying tomorrow’s tailwind.” opportunity to provide I agree. Better things are coming. We talk aviation with much educated and proficient.
about many of them in these pages. At the same time, better tools. ADS-B, our nation’s aviation community faces some strong for one, will offer better situational awareness.
headwinds. Here are the three biggies—growing Performance-based navigation dramatically demand, the rapid pace of change, and the public’s improves navigation. These, and more, will improve clear expectation of an even better safety record. your aircraft’s capabilities.
One, as the FAA recently published in Yet, as futuristic as all of this technology its annual commercial aerospace forecast, the may seem compared with a wet compass, it is economic downturn has dampened near-term still pilots, not computers, who are in command growth across the aviation community. Yet, for and responsible for the aircraft’s safety. It is still commercial air carriers and general aviation, long- mechanics, not software programs, who repair and term growth is coming. According to the FAA’s sign out aircraft, parts, and components. Everyone forecast, total airport operations will grow at an in this complex system needs to be mindful of their average annual rate of 1.5 percent and reach 69.6 crucial role in staying educated and proficient for million in 2030. That growth will include more the system to function safely—for all of us to benefit types of aircraft, including unmanned aircraft. from those tailwinds that Collins predicts.
In short, there will be more demand in the same finite airspace. Yet, that’s the point of NextGen: As the Flight Standards Service’s Deputy Director, Policy, McGraw, a 4,000- Incrementally evolving to a system that more safely hour pilot, oversees the Flight Standards divisions that produce policy and efficiently accommodates greater demand.
and work instructions for aviation safety inspectors and guidance for the Two, the pace of change is unrelenting. Look aviation industry.
at electronic flight bags, also discussed in this issue.
What used to take up reams of paper and pounds of carry-on can now be handled in an electronic device.
Other changes are coming, too, and they must come with, if not “some assembly required,” definitely understanding and getting the needed training.
Technology alone has never been the answer, which st is your challenge. As 21 century airmen, you must keep abreast of new developments, take advantage May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 1
ATIS
Aviation News Roundup
A T I S
On a case-by-case basis as of April 5, FAA Promotes Carbon Monoxide/ 2010, pilots who take one of four antidepressant Exhaust System Safety medications—Fluoxetine (Prozac), Sertraline On March 10, 2010, FAA issued (Zoloft), Citalopram (Celexa), or Escitalopram a Special Airworthiness Information (Lexapro)—will be allowed to fly provided that they Bulletin (SAIB) that focuses on carbon have been satisfactorily treated on the medication monoxide (CO) safety for GA aircraft for at least 12 months. The FAA will not take owners and operators. The bulletin civil enforcement action against pilots who take stresses two important actions that advantage of a six-month opportunity to share any can help safeguard pilots against the previously non-disclosed diagnosis of depression or dangers of CO poisoning: Proper the use of these antidepressants.
inspection and maintenance of The rationale behind relaxing the policy is Photo by Tom Hoffmann exhaust systems and installing a CO improving safety. “It is important to know who is detector.
being treated for depression so they can be properly FAA recommends owners/ monitored,” said Administrator Randy Babbitt. “The operators continue to inspect an FAA wants to remove the stigma associated with aircraft’s complete engine-exhaust depression,” he added.
system during 100-hour/annual “Many of today’s antidepressants are very inspections and at inspection effective in treating depression, with few side effects,” intervals recommended by the aircraft A mechanic said FAA Federal Air Surgeon Fred Tilton. “I’m and engine manufacturers.
performs confident that some pilots can fly safely, while taking The SAIB also highlights results of a product an exhaust these medications.” study that sampled 43 CO detectors and five different inspection.
The impetus for this policy change stems sensor technologies commercially available and from an increased understanding of depression reviewed the effectiveness of various types of CO and the evolution of medicines treating the detectors in GA aircraft. You can find a technical condition. The FAA’s new policy is consistent with report from National Technical Information Services recommendations from the Aerospace Medical that tabulates the findings of this study at: http:// Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, www.tc.faa.gov/its/worldpac/techrpt/ar0949.pdf.
Air Line Pilots Association, and the International The study found that electrochemical sensor-based Civil Aviation Organization. The Civil Aviation CO detectors installed on the instrument panel are Authority of Australia, Transport Canada, and the the best combination of product and location for GA.
U.S Army already allow some pilots to fly using To view the SAIB, go to http://www.faa.gov/ antidepressant medications.
aircraft/safety/alerts/SAIB/ and search for CE-10-19.
Forecast Predicts Steady Growth for GA FAA Proposes New Policy on At the 35th annual FAA Aviation Forecast Antidepressants for Pilots Conference in March, the mood was one of cautious The FAA no longer will impose an across- optimism as industry experts predicted the future of the-board ban on pilots suffering from depression.
an industry known for its high volatility, as well as its The agency is willing to issue special certificates remarkable resilience. Administrator Randy Babbitt to pilots who are taking medication for mild to echoed these sentiments, assuring conference moderate depression, conditions that up to now attendees that looking back shows aviation has have prevented them from flying.
recovered from every major obstacle.
2 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 Dennis Pratte Building on this premise, Babbitt stressed, is FAA Safety Team where he oversaw the strong business case for NextGen and continued safety outreach efforts across the investment in airport infrastructure projects. “Without central United States.
NextGen, we won’t be able to handle the increased “I’m excited to be working with demand for service this forecast anticipates.” a group of talented professionals in While the focus of the conference highlighted the division, and with our industry stakeholders on commercial air carrier operations, there was much making general aviation safer,” Pratte says.
discussion on how a transformed industry with Previously, Pratte was the part 135 Air Carrier a more robust infrastructure would affect the GA Operations Branch manager where he oversaw the world. The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) development of national standards, policies, and is already making a difference by providing nearly regulations applicable to part 135 fixed-wing and 2,000 localizer performance with vertical guidance helicopter operations, which included cargo on- (LPV) approaches in place at 1,050 airports. More demand operations, helicopter emergency medical than 900 of these LPV approaches were added in the services (HEMS), and air tour operations.
last two years, with more on the way. Babbitt added Before joining FAA in 2000, Pratte was a pilot that 32,000 aircraft are equipped with avionics to for several airlines including, Mesa Airlines, Trans take advantage of these procedures. States Airlines, and Cape Air Airlines. Pratte holds an GA experienced a second consecutive year of airline transport pilot certificate and is a flight and decline by several measures of activity. There were ground instructor.
sharp declines in year-over-year GA activity at FAA air traffic facilities (down 11.7 percent) and in the If You Cross the Line, You’ve Crossed the Line number of student pilots (down 10.8 percent).
This spring, FAA’s Runway Safety Office Looking forward, FAA forecasts that GA launched a new campaign to help reduce pilot activity will slowly rebound as the economy recovers.
deviations. Called “If You Cross the Line, You’ve Through 2030, GA is forecast to have annual Crossed the Line,” the program is designed to increases in active fleet size (0.9 percent) and the improve awareness among pilots (and vehicle number of hours flown (2.5 percent). The light-sport operators) about what happens when you enter the aircraft sector is expected to see a more dramatic protected runway safety area—“cross the line”— increase in hours flown (5.9 percent annually), when not cleared to do so.
primarily due to growth in the fleet. Sport pilots, who “Crossing the line” without permission numbered 3,248 at the end of 2009, are estimated to can result in various problems, such as causing an increase to 14,100 by 2030.
aircraft on final approach to go-around, or forcing a departing aircraft to abort takeoff. The program also Pratte Joins FAA General Aviation highlights the dangers of crossing the line in a less and Commercial Division literal sense, and urges pilots to be especially vigilant of taxi instructions and airport signage.
In February, Dennis Pratte was named Deputy “The crux of the new campaign is to keep Division Manager, General Aviation and Commercial runway safety as a high priority in the minds of Division. Pratte had been serving as Acting Deputy airmen,” says Director of FAA’s Runway Safety Office Division Manager since November 2009.
Wes Timmons. “By using a catchy phrase like, Pratte brings FAA and flight operational ‘You’ve Crossed the Line,’ we believe we can get experience to his responsibilities of supervising people’s attention and convey an important surface- the division staff who oversee the development of safety awareness message that can be taken both regulations and policy governing the certification, literally and figuratively.” inspection, and surveillance of general aviation The new safety initiative will target about 30 operations, air agencies, and part 91 corporate and airports initially before evolving into a nationwide fractional ownership operations. One of his previous campaign.
FAA positions was manager of the Central Region May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 3
Fast-track Your
Medical Certificate
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With this online form you can complete FAA Form 8500-8 in the privacy and comfort of your home and submit it before scheduling your appointment.
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Aeromedical Advisory
F r e de r ic k e . T i l T on, M . d .
FA A F E DE R A L A I R S U R G E ON
Respecting the Laws of Gravity
The Next Generation Air Transportation Respecting G-Force System (NextGen) may be changing the face of Aviators need to understand and respect aviation technology, but the human body’s reaction G-force, because any flight maneuver has the to the ever-present, accelerative force of gravity potential to expose the body to more than one is a constant. Described in units of “G,” this force positive Gz. When the pilot experiences positive causes a constant acceleration of 32 feet-per-second Gz, the cardiovascular system must respond to squared. A pilot in a steep turn may experience keep blood flowing to the brain. One of the first forces of acceleration equivalent to many times the indications of trouble may be a progressive loss of force of gravity. This is especially true in military vision, because the eyes are fighter jets and high-performance aerobatic aircraft extremely sensitive to low A well-rested, well-hydrated, and where the acceleration forces may be as high as blood flow. If the rapid onset fit aviator will physically be able to nine Gs. Air race pilots in a tight pylon turn also of G-force continues and the withstand higher G-forces.
experience high G-forces, but the important thing cardiovascular system does to remember is that any aircraft operated in a not keep pace, the result may be G-induced loss of maximum-performance profile will subject the consciousness (GLOC). NOTE: In some acrobatic pilot to acceleration that is greater than the one G airplanes it may be possible to experience GLOC acceleration encountered on the ground. Pilots need without experiencing any early visual symptoms.
to understand this to successfully master flying.
G tolerance is degraded by alcohol, fatigue, and dehydration. Lack of physical conditioning, a Types of Acceleration sedentary lifestyle, and smoking can also reduce There are three types of acceleration: G tolerance. A well-rested, well-hydrated, and fit Linear Acceleration involves a change of speed in a aviator will be able to withstand higher G-forces. A straight line. This type occurs during takeoff, landing, regular conditioning program with a mix of aerobic or in level flight when a throttle setting is changed.
exercise and resistance weight training will increase Radial Acceleration involves a change in direction, resistance to the effects of Gs. Regardless, a smart such as a sharp turn.
aviator will always include consideration of G-forces Angular Acceleration involves a simultaneous when it comes to flight planning.
change in both speed and direction, such as in spins and climbing turns.
Dr. Tilton received both an M.S. and a M.D. degree from the University of A pilot may experience a combination of New Mexico and an M.P.H. from the University of Texas. During a 26-year these accelerations, categorized as Gx, Gy, and Gz.
career with the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Tilton logged more than 4,000 hours as a Gx acts from chest to back. Positive Gx pushes the command pilot and senior flight surgeon flying a variety of aircraft. He cur- pilot back as the aircraft accelerates during the rently flies the Cessna Citation 560 XL.
takeoff roll. Negative Gx can occur during landing and pushes the pilot forward into the shoulder strap.
Gy acts from shoulder to shoulder. It is encountered For More Information during aileron rolls. Aerobatic pilots routinely See the “Acceleration in Aviation: G-Force” brochure at encounter Gy.
http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/ Gz acts on the body’s vertical axis. If experienced Acceleration.pdf from head to foot, as in pulling out of a dive, it is positive Gz. Negative Gz travels from foot to head, as when a pilot pushes over into a dive.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 5
Ask Medical Certification
d r . Wa r r e n S . Si l be r M a n
Ask Medical Certification
Dr. Warren Silberman and his staff administer will need to know the current status of your carotid the aeromedical certification program for about arteries, which means we will need a current carotid 600,000 holders of U.S. pilot certificates and process ultrasound. The concern is that if you have vascular 450,000 applications each year. disease in certain blood vessels then you may have it in others. This is why we require anyone who has
Q: Why are there such long delays in the special
had carotid artery disease to have a cardiovascular issuance process? Why does the Cardiac Board only workup. This means we need a letter from your meet every other month?
treating physician about your cardiovascular health.
We also need a current heart echocardiogram and
A: There would not be enough cases to review if the
a maximal Bruce protocol stress test if you want to Federal Air Surgeon’s Cardiology Consultant Panel fly as a private pilot and a maximal nuclear stress met more often. However, many airmen do not know test if you want to fly with a first- or second-class the panel only concentrates on airmen who request medical certificate. Here is an FAA Web site with first or unlimited second-class privileges. A limited more information on the required cardiovascular second-class airman evaluation: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/ does not have to be sent Send your question to SafetyBriefing@ headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/ to the panel unless our faa.gov. We’ll forward it to Dr. Silberman dec_cons/disease_prot/cardiovascular/.
medical review officer without your name and publish the answer feels it is necessary. Also,
Q: I was arrested 20 years ago for driving while
in an upcoming issue.
we have a cardiologist intoxicated following a college party. I was young who comes in on the off and immature, but I’ve been clean and sober ever months and reviews complicated third-class cardiac since. I’d like to take flying lessons. Will this prevent cases as well as first and second-class airmen cases me from obtaining a medical certificate?
that have accumulated after the panel meets.
Regarding delays, we have a performance
A: A DUI offense 20 years ago should not
objective that our average processing time is no impede an FAA Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) greater than 30 days. Currently, we are operating from issuing a medical certificate. Come to the slightly below our performance objective. Our examination prepared to explain the circumstances work is labor intensive, which means the loss of surrounding the incident and your current use of even one employee affects our case processing. We alcohol. If the AME determines that you do not have recently lost two employees. The good news is their a problem with alcohol, then he/she may issue you replacements are beginning to become productive.
an unrestricted medical certificate. Here’s a Web site about DUI offenses and actions: http://www.
Q: In March 1997, my left carotid artery was found
faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ to be blocked; the right carotid 80 percent blocked. ash/ash_programs/investigations/airmen_duidwi/ That same month, the right carotid was surgically airman_faqs/.
cleared. My annual duplex carotid ultrasound shows good flow, and I also have good collateral flow. The Warren Silberman, D.O., M.P.H., manager of FAA’s Aerospace Medical surgeon who cleared the right carotid said I was safe Certification Division, joined FAA in 1997 after a career in the U.S. Army to fly. I would like to get a third-class medical. Can I?
Medical Corps. Dr. Silberman is Board Certified in Internal Medical and A: It sounds like the left carotid is totally occluded.
Preventive/Aerospace Medicine. A private pilot with instrument and multi- You will need to provide the history and physical engine ratings, he holds a third-class medical certificate.
examination, discharge summary, and operative report from the carotid surgery hospitalization. We 6 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010
Vertically Speaking
M e l c i n T ron
Vertically Speaking
Defying Gravity, Anticipating Trouble
“Helicopters are different from airplanes. and continuously improving. Above all—and the An airplane by its nature wants to fly and, if not pun is intentional—rotorcraft and fixed-wing pilots interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a share the same sky with the same meteorological deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter challenges. They just “defy gravity” differently.
does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a Vertical flight brings many benefits to our variety of forces and controls working in opposition nation— including emergency-medical services, to each other, and if there is any disturbance in search and rescue, electronic-news gathering, heavy the delicate balance, the helicopter stops flying, lift, surveillance, law enforcement, off-shore energy immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing applications, and more. There as a gliding helicopter. are also a growing number Write us at SafetyBriefing@faa.gov “This is why a helicopter pilot is so different… of individuals with private to let us know what you want to hear from an airplane pilot, and why in general, airplane helicopter pilot certificates.
about vertical flight.
pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts, The personal-use category and helicopter pilots are brooders, introspective of helicopter operations accounts for the highest anticipators of trouble.” percentage—20 percent—of fatal accidents. Yet, for — Harry Reasoner, journalist all categories of rotorcraft operations, there have been recent improvements in the safety record.
We couldn’t think of a better way to start a There are a number of reasons for the new column on rotorcraft safety than by reprinting stronger performance. For one, there’s been a the above quotation. For “rotorheads,” as helicopter concerted effort across the rotorcraft community, pilots, mechanics, and vertical-flight “aficionados” are especially from key segments of industry, such known, this is a beloved, frequently cited quotation.
as the air-tour and emergency-medical-services As Reasoner makes abundantly clear, there communities, to improve safety practices and invest are stark differences between these two major classes in safety-enhancing technology. There’s also the of aircraft. Some of these differences are striking.
International Helicopter Safety Team reviewing For one, the challenging missions assigned to many accident data, discerning trends, and implementing helicopters, such as search-and-rescue operations improvements. And, we must add, there’s also been or operating at low level over densely populated a stronger FAA focus on regulation and oversight.
urban areas, can produce flight environments rarely We want to keep the vertical-flight safety encountered in fixed-wing operations. Two, finding record improving. We will use this space in coming a “safe harbor” for landing a helicopter can be issues to “anticipate trouble” by identifying risk challenging when you operate at low levels over often areas and stressing key safety developments. We will difficult terrain or vast expanses of water—and the also point to good practices and highlight FAA and word “glide” is not in your vocabulary.
rotorcraft community resources.
While the differences are dramatic, there are In the meantime, let us know what you Photo by James Williams more similarities than differences between the two want to hear about vertical flight. Write us at types of aircraft and of the airmanship both require SafetyBriefing@faa.gov.
for safe operations. That’s why we’re introducing this column on rotorcraft safety to the pages of this publication. For both helicopter and airplane Mel O. Cintron, manager of FAA’s General Aviation and Commercial Division, holds a commercial pilot certificate—rotorcraft/helicopter, airplane single- pilots and aviation maintenance technicians, there engine land with private pilot privileges—and an airframe and powerplant are similar requirements for training, testing, and certificate with inspection authorization.
inspecting. There is the same strong emphasis on developing basic skills, maintaining proficiency, May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 7
Next Gen for the Masses
M e r e di T h S a i n i
Traffic? Weather? Navigation?
extGen is shorthand for the FAA’s Next are today and what we can expect in the months and Generation Air Transportation System, years to come.
N a long-term, ongoing, wide-ranging
Timeline for Implementation transformation of the National Airspace System If money is what makes airplanes fly, (NAS). Everyone who is responsible for moving then NextGen is a giant engine with an equally aircraft through space and time needs to know massive appetite for cash. On February 1, 2010, U.S.
that this is much more than just an upgrade. It’s an Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced evolution in the way we fly. NextGen will transform that President Obama’s $79 billion budget for the the NAS from a ground-based air traffic control U.S. Department of Transportation includes $1.1 system to a satellite and performance-based air billion for NextGen air traffic control technologies, traffic management system.
an increase of $275 million, or 32 percent, over the The latter term, management, implies a previous year’s budget.
more proactive approach to the flow of air traffic, “There is much to be done and the timeline made possible by a sophisticated framework of new for completion is drawing near,” LaHood said.
technologies, processes, and infrastructure. The The clock is ticking, indeed. As of this goal is to address growth, improve safety, increase publication’s deadline, the final rule defining the user access to the NAS, and, at the same time, operational requirements for Automatic Dependent reduce environmental impacts. The overall concept Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) within the NAS is built upon relying more extensively on the was set to be published in the Federal Register in satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) as April/May 2010, officially opening the door for the the primary means for determining aircraft position aviation industry to bring ADS-B products and and less on ATC radar.
services to the market. While NextGen includes a Advances in digital communications and diverse cast of characters, the star of the show is networking will allow all players in the NAS— air ADS-B. The ADS-B orchestra of ground stations, traffic controllers, pilots, dispatchers, weather satellites, and cockpit avionics is offering pilots new forecasters, and others—to have instant access ways to maintain situational awareness. (See story to the information they need to do their jobs. As on page 11.) Though ADS-B has existed in some the NextGen infrastructure continues to mature, form for more than decade, the NextGen version of avionics choices are likely to expand to include ADS-B is slated to be available throughout the NAS a broad selection of panel-mounted systems as by 2013—fewer than three years from now, with well as handheld devices that run all sorts of mandatory equipage and compliance by 2020.
applications. The possibilities are wide open.
“NextGen benefits will be maximized when When fully implemented, NextGen the majority of operators are properly equipped,” will safely allow more aircraft to fly said Leslie Smith, Manager, FAA Flight Technologies more closely together on more direct and Procedures Division. “While these avionics routes while reducing delays, carbon will also support capabilities implemented beyond footprints, and noise. Pilots can 2018, additional equipage may be necessary to take expect to have access to richer and advantage of capabilities introduced beyond the faster in-flight traffic and weather mid-term.” data. Here’s a snapshot of where we 8 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010
for the Masses
Yes, we’ve got an app for that.
to a NAS-wide common weather picture. NNEW Enabling Technologies will identify, adapt, and use standards for system- NextGen isn’t so much a comprehensive wide weather data formatting and access. The FAA overhaul of our national airspace system as it is an is calling this collaboratively built, but centrally information technology project of grand proportions, accessed, data source the “4-D Weather Data Cube,” with teams of software engineers working to build where aviation weather information from multiple the network of systems that will keep everything agency sources will be developed and stored. The humming. With that in mind, the FAA has identified Cube will provide a single six “enabling technologies” of NextGen, with ADS-B national—and eventually positioned at the top of the list. The other five are NextGen includes a diverse cast, with global—picture of the the subsystems that allow ADS-B and all of the other ADS-B as the star of the show.
atmosphere, updated as NextGen technologies to function.
needed in real-time and distributed to authorized System-Wide Information Management users and systems. The National Weather Service (SWIM) is the information technology standards will have primary responsibility for operational base that will help to make sure that every NextGen management of the Cube, while the FAA will define application is compliant within the NAS. The requirements and coordinate and implement goal of SWIM is to improve operational decision changes to FAA infrastructure that support it.
making by allowing easier data exchange between National Airspace System Voice Switch systems. The program’s first segment will focus on (NVS) is a program to replace current voice switches, applications related to flight and flow management, some of which are more than 20 years old. With aeronautical information management, and A GA cockpit the current voice architecture, linkages do not equipped with weather data dissemination.
support sharing of airspace within and across facility ADS-B avionics The Data Communications (Data Comm) subsystem defines the increasing importance of digital communications between air traffic controllers and aircraft, in addition to traditional analog (radio) voice communications with pilots, which are workload intensive and prone to errors in both delivery and receipt. (“Potomac, was that approach clearance for Seven Papa Whiskey or Two Papa Whiskey?”) Initially, data communications will be a supplemental means for two-way exchange between controllers and flight crews for air traffic control clearances, instructions, advisories, flight FAA photo crew requests, and reports. As the system matures, the majority of air-to-ground exchanges will be handled by data communications for appropriately equipped users.
NextGen Network Enabled Weather (NNEW) will serve as the infrastructure core for aviation weather support services, providing access May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 9 Garmin photo A cockpit display showing ADS-B and non-ADS-B traffic the cockpit, which if used properly can enhance situational awareness and safety. But since so much of this is, as they say, a coming attraction, the best we can do right now is educate ourselves about what’s coming, and be ready to play ball when the first pitch is thrown.
Meredith Saini is a flight instructor and active general aviation pilot. She works as a contractor supporting the Flight Standards Service, General Aviation and Commercial Division at FAA Headquarters in Washington, DC.
boundaries, reconfiguration capability of controller For More Information position to radio frequency and volume of airspace Here are some helpful Web sites on NextGen: is inflexible, and reconfigurations are laborious and http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/nextgen/ time consuming.
http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/nextgen/media/NGIP_3- Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) 2010.pdf includes both area navigation (RNAV) and required http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/dot2010a.htm navigation performance (RNP). RNAV enables http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.
aircraft to fly on any desired flight path within the cfm?newsid=8145 coverage of ground- or space-based navigation aids.
The concept is not new—VOR/DME and LORAN were types of RNAV systems—but the NextGen application of it is new, with the emphasis on GPS as the position source. RNP takes RNAV and adds an onboard performance monitoring and alerting capability. A defining characteristic of RNP operations is the ability of the aircraft navigation An Electronic Flight Bag system to monitor the navigation performance it achieves and inform the crew if the requirement is not met during an operation.
For more information on PBN, see the article on page 15 of this issue.
What NextGen Means for General Aviation The NextGen component that is likely to have the most immediate impact on general aviation is ADS-B. Pilots will have photo courtesy Lufthansa Systems access to improved traffic and weather information in 10 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010
Get Ready for ADS-B
Get Ready
M e r e di T h S a i n i Photo courtesy of Cessna
for
ADS-B
Those of us who fly within the United States enjoy what is arguably the safest and most accessible airspace system in the world. It’s also one of the most congested. The FAA’s answer to this conundrum is the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or “NextGen, ” modernization initiative.
A critical component of NextGen is a surveillance technology called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). Introduced more than a decade ago, ADS-B enhances air traffic controllers’ ability to identify and guide aircraft. It can also provide coverage in areas where radar is not possible, like the Gulf of Mexico or remote regions of Alaska.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 11 Pilots can also benefit from enhanced traffic Equipment Choices and weather information that ADS-B technology In the United States, ADS-B-equipped aircraft brings to the cockpit. ADS-B traffic and weather and vehicles exchange information on one of two services are already available in Louisville, frequencies: 1090 or 978 MHz. The 1090 MHz link Kentucky; South Florida; the Gulf of Mexico; is already used by Mode A/C and S transponders Philadelphia; and Juneau, Alaska. By 2013, we’ll and Traffic Collision and Avoidance System have ADS-B coverage across the nation everywhere (TCAS) equipment. ADS-B extends the message there is radar coverage today.
elements of Mode S with additional information about the aircraft and its position. This is known as Why ADS-B?
the extended squitter and is referred to as 1090ES.
ADS-B is more timely and accurate when Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) equipment compared with conventional surveillance radar operates on 978 MHz.
systems, which are limited by line-of-sight geometry In the late 1990s, FAA and EUROCONTROL problems created by mountains and other large formed an international technical advisory obstacles. GPS is used for the ADS-B position source committee to develop standards for ADS-B. The for aircraft today, which is why there is an increase in committee issued its final report in 2001, identifying the accuracy of information that is being provided to 1090ES as the ADS-B link to be supported by the controllers and pilots.
international aviation community moving forward, ADS-B enables properly equipped aircraft to with 1090ES being the preferred link for higher- broadcast their identification, position, altitude, and altitude operations. The 978Mhz/UAT link is a U.S.
velocity to other aircraft and to ATC. This is known regional link mainly used for Flight Information as ADS-B Out . The System-Broadcast (FIS-B) services.
receipt by an aircraft or In terms of enabling ATC to identify and For more information on ADS-B, vehicle of ADS-B data track your aircraft, an ADS-B transceiver operating visit the FAA’s NextGen Web site at is known as ADS-B In on either link does essentially everything a standard www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/nextgen/.
(a cockpit display is transponder does, plus a lot more. While a Mode required to receive this C transponder provides ATC with your position data). By 2020, all aircraft operating within designated (as detected by radar) and pressure altitude, an ADS-B airspace will be required to comply with the ADS-B transceiver also emits other data about your equipment performance requirements of ADS-B Out, flight, including your aircraft’s type, velocity, and which will be defined in Title 14 of the Code of Federal “geometric altitude,” which is used to develop a more Regulations (14 CFR) section 91.225. As of this article’s accurate indication of position.
writing, the final rule was expected to appear in the The requirements of 14 CFR section 91.215 will Federal Register on April 30, 2010, however, the review remain because aircraft that are required to use TCAS requirement could take this timetable into May.
rely on the interrogation function of your transponder All aircraft operating within Class A, B, and for their TCAS to work. (They can only see you if C airspace, and some portions of Class E airspace— your transponder is squawking a code.) So, while essentially everywhere you need a transponder all aircraft flying in ADS-B airspace will continue to today—will be required to meet the prescribed need a transponder and an ADS-B Out, modifications performance standards for positional integrity and or upgrades may be available for certain existing other criteria associated with ADS-B avionics.
transponders to make them compliant with the new Meanwhile, two new Advisory Circulars (AC) ADS-B Out requirements, possibly eliminating the are being developed to provide guidance on ADS-B need for a separate ADS-B Out device. Check with equipment certification and installation, as well as your avionics shop for more details.
provide information on the operational approvals ADS-B information is available to any aircraft needed to comply with the rule. The ADS-B Technical equipped to receive it, so aircraft on like frequencies Standard Order (TSO) for avionics manufacturers is can “see” each other on compatible cockpit displays.
already in place.
12 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 Weather uplink Flight Information Service - Broadcast (FIS-B) shows an Alaskan thunderstorm However, some translation is required to allow the two links to operate simultaneously. ADS-B ground- based radio stations process the messages received on each frequency and send them back out again on the opposite frequency. This process is known as ADS- Rebroadcast (ADS-R) and it is how 1090ES and UAT users can identify one another on traffic displays.
Because commercial airliners and some larger business jets and turboprops are required to have Mode S and TCAS installed, the FAA expects these aircraft will choose to equip with the 1090ES link for ADS-B. Although some general aviation aircraft already have digital transponders that can be upgraded to 1090ES, other general aviation aircraft, typically smaller piston airplanes and light twins that are not required to have TCAS, may choose to equip with UAT avionics.
Operators should consider the impact of the new airspace requirements on their operations before equipping with ADS-B avionics. Your avionics shop can provide you with options tailored to your individual operational and economic needs, so make sure to include them in the decision process.
The Ins and Outs of ADS-B There are three ways that ADS-B In-equipped aircraft can receive traffic information: Directly from other aircraft that are using • the same link and are flying within receiving range FAA photo From other ADS-B-equipped aircraft on the • opposite link via ADS-R Via Traffic Information Services-Broadcast • The other ADS-B In service is called Flight (TIS-B) Information System-Broadcast. The FIS-B data stream is packed with information from the National TIS-B is the service provided when ADS-B ground-radio stations broadcast traffic information Weather Service, including NEXRAD radar, winds obtained from ATC radar. Pilots flying aircraft aloft, pilot reports, and many others. FIS-B also that are equipped to receive and display this data includes information on temporary flight restrictions (TFR) and special use airspace (SUA).
(ADS-B In) get a more complete traffic picture in situations when not all aircraft are equipped with Reality Check ADS-B. On a cockpit display, radar targets will be Given all the safety benefits that ADS-B will depicted differently from ADS-B aircraft. Pilots offer to pilots and controllers, it is also important for must also remember that TIS-B is not designed or users to understand what ADS-B is not . It is not yet a intended to be a collision avoidance system like replacement for your transponder or ground-based TCAS. TIS-B traffic data serves only to enhance radar. While some radar sites are indeed slated for situational awareness and to aid in the visual decommissioning, all primary radar and 50 percent spotting of other aircraft.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 13 of the secondary radars will remain functional as a Moving Forward backup in the event of a GPS outage.
The FAA recognizes that aircraft owners and Complying with the rule is not a one-size- operators have concerns about equipping too early.
fits-all solution—the answer for each individual There are significant costs involved and lingering depends on what you fly, how you fly, where you fly, uncertainty among operators about whether today’s and what your budget is, among other factors.
technology will be viable 10 years from now. The The traffic information offered by TIS-B does FAA is working hard to ensure that manufacturers not relieve pilots of the responsibility to see and bring suitable equipment to the marketplace when avoid other aircraft. FIS-B information does not it’s needed, and that any required upgrades are relieve pilots of the responsibility to obtain an official available at a reasonable cost.
preflight briefing or to gain complete information for Meanwhile, ADS-B services are expanding as the intended flight.
deployment of the ground infrastructure marches The enhanced ATC surveillance services forward. By 2013, ADS-B will be available across the offered by ADS-B Out most likely will not allow NAS everywhere there is radar coverage today. Even instrument approach minima at smaller airports to though it may seem like a long time until you’ll be be lowered, as these minima are more dependent required to have ADS-B Out to fly in airspace that on obstacle and terrain clearance than on will be designated by the rule, it’s not too early to surveillance coverage. However, ADS-B may give start understanding the technology and thinking controllers additional flexibility when clearing about how you can benefit from its capabilities.
aircraft for instrument approaches at non-towered airports, because they may be able to identify Meredith Saini is a flight instructor and active general aviation pilot. She outbound IFR aircraft at lower altitudes, possibly all works as a contractor supporting the Flight Standards Service, General the way to the ground.
Aviation and Commercial Division at FAA Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Although there is no subscription fee to receive the ADS-B In services, operators and aircraft owners will need the appropriate equipment to display the data, such as a multifunction display or a moving-map GPS receiver.
Operators must meet prescribed performance requirements in order to operate in ADS-B-designated airspace. Any position source that meets the prescribed ADS-B performance standards is acceptable. Today, GPS or WAAS are examples of position sources that meet the performance requirements of ADS-B Out. But, as history has shown with consumer electronics, such as cell phones and microwave ovens, enterprising individuals will continue to build new, better capabilities with each passing year. We can only guess as to what new technologies and avionics will be available to meet the ADS-B performance requirements by the 2020 mandate.
An ADS-B data-link transceiver Photo courtesy of Garmin 14 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010
Flying Paperless Airplanes
Electronic Flight Bag S u S a n Pa r S on
Flying
ss
le
Paper
Airplanes
Photos courtesy of Avidyne, Garmin, and navAero kay, I admit it: I love gadgets, especially The FAA defines those forms, capabilities, and gizmos that let me dispense with paper. restrictions—plus the term itself—in Advisory
O Address book? That’s in the iPhone, which is Circular (AC) 120-76A, Guidelines for the
also well-stocked with a variety of handy aviation Certification, Airworthiness, and Operational apps. Latest version of a draft magazine article? That Approval of Electronic Flight Bag Computing Devices.
would be on the thumb drive—but also accessible It can be found at: www.faa.gov/regulations_ via a newly-acquired app that lets me put files in one policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/ place and read them on any device with an Internet document.information/documentID/23222.
connection. Weather info? The stack of dot-matrix Let’s get one important point on the table printer paper I used to lug around has long since right away: As stated in the opening paragraph of been supplanted by datalink weather acquired AC 120-76A, the guidance material in this AC applies through a collection of handheld and panel- to the usual collection of mounted devices. commercial operators in Like airplanes themselves, EFBs come In my increasingly paperless world, the Title 14 Code of Federal in a variety of forms, capabilities, and recent arrival of updated paper instrument approach Regulations (14 CFR) restrictions.
procedure (IAP) charts is admittedly something of part 121, 125, 129, or 135 an anomaly. I do like the “security blanket” aspect of operations. For 14 CFR those neatly folded paper charts, possibly because I part 91, it applies to large and turbine-powered have personally seen how one mistaken button-push multi-engine aircraft operating under 14 CFR part can lead to instant and simultaneous amnesia for 91, subpart F (which covers fractional ownership), two GPS moving-map navigators. Paper prevailed on but only if the operating regulations require specific that occasion. functionality and/or equipage under 14 CFR Still, the lure of lightening my flight-bag load section 91.503 for Flying equipment and operating and dispensing with the clutter of a papered airplane information.
is strong. Envy of a pilot pal’s e-chart setup was the Other part 91 operations—including those final push I needed to do some basic research into of us who fly light general aviation aircraft for the concept of the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). Here’s business or pleasure—do not require any specific what I learned. authorization for EFB operations, as long as the EFB does not replace any system or equipment required There’s a Doc for That by the regulations. Yet, even if the EFB conditions and Like airplanes themselves, EFBs come in restrictions outlined in the AC don’t apply to the kind a variety of forms, capabilities, and restrictions.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 17 of flying you currently do, it is still useful to know how data connectivity. Class 1 EFB systems can be used the FAA defines and classifies these devices. both on the ground and during flight, but must be stowed for takeoff and landing. They are limited to The ABCs of EFBs providing supplemental information and cannot Advisory Circular 120-76A defines the term replace any required system or equipment. A Class EFB as: 1 EFB may be connected to aircraft power through An electronic display system intended a certified power source to operate the EFB and primarily for cockpit/flight deck or cabin use.
recharge its batteries. A Class 1 EFB can display EFB devices can display a variety of aviation tabular data, such as performance tables, checklists, data or perform basic calculations (e.g., and the pilot operating handbook (POH).
performance data, fuel calculations, etc.). The A Class 2 EFB system can be attached to a scope of EFB system functionality may include structural-mounting bracket to ensure that it does various hosted databases not interfere with other aircraft systems. Though and applications. Physical considered a PED, the use of a structural-mounting Pilots of paperless airplanes need EFB displays may use various bracket made only for that device means that a to use their discretion wisely.
technologies, formats, and logbook entry is required to remove a Class 2 EFB forms of communication. These from the aircraft. A Class 2 system can be connected devices are sometimes referred to as auxiliary to aircraft power and to a certified data connection performance computers (APC) or laptop in order to exchange data with aircraft systems auxiliary performance computers (LAPC).
and make interactive performance calculations.
The FAA categorizes EFBs in three classes. In addition, a Class 2 EFB can be used to compute Class 1 and Class 2 EFB systems are both based on weight–and-balance information as well as takeoff- commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems and both and-landing V-speeds. It can also provide flight- are considered to be personal electronic devices critical data, such as navigation charts. Since it is not (PED). Also, both are portable (not permanently necessarily stowed for takeoff and landing, a pilot installed in the aircraft). The difference between can also use the Class 2 EFB to display departure, Class 1 and Class 2 is primarily derived from how arrival, and approach charts.
they are mounted in the aircraft and what must be Class 3 EFB systems, which are the most approved. capable, require approvals. A Class 3 EFB system A Class 1 system is not attached to an aircraft is installed equipment that, with exceptions for mounting device, aircraft primary power supply, or user-modifiable software used to host certain kinds of applications, requires a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) or certification design approval as part of the aircraft equipment. It is also subject to certification requirements that enable additional applications and functions.
Know When to Hold ’Em There was a time when features such as moving maps, airport diagrams, and datalink weather existed only on Class 3 EFBs. Today, however, these functions (and many more) are available in Class 2 models that are—as the COTS characterization would imply—widely available commercial devices that anyone can buy. However, due to lack of airworthiness approval to demonstrate reliability, the display of “own-ship” position in flight on a Class 1 or Class 2 device is not authorized 18 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 where regulatory compliance is required. A unit with current IAP charts can be characterized as a Class 1
alling
EFB, if it is not attached to the airplane, or as a Class 2 EFB, if it is mounted in the panel.
The question is: Can you legally use an
All
EFB? According to the guidance, 14 CFR part 121 and 135 operators must obtain specific operational
Mechanics
authorization to use them. For those in part 91 operations, however, the FAA states that use of Class 1 and 2 EFBs to replace paper charts is at the pilot’s discretion.
Keep Informed with
Know When to Fold ’Em That’s good news, of course, but pilots of
FAA’s Aviation
paperless airplanes need to use that discretion wisely. Reasons for caution include:
Maintenance Alerts
Devices not subject to FAA approval of • Aviation Maintenance Alerts (Advisory Circular components or installation are not guaranteed 43.16A) provide a communication channel to share to provide the kind of reliability you expect information on aviation service experiences.
from products that have successfully made it Prepared monthly, they are based on information through these processes.
FAA receives from people who operate and Devices can fail, and they often fail at • maintain civil aeronautical products.
inopportune moments. In the personal example mentioned earlier, the pilot’s hand The Alerts , which provide notice of conditions was jostled by turbulence and he accidentally reported via a Malfunction or Defect Report or a pressed the GPS data-card ejection button Service Difficulty Report, help improve aeronautical instead of the flight-plan key he meant to product durability, reliability, and safety.
activate in response to an amended ATC clearance. The unit—and the secondary unit Recent Alerts cover: configured for “cross-talk” with the primary • Control yoke corrosion on the Cessna navigator—immediately went into reboot 172/180/185 mode and “forgot” everything connected with • Corroded flap bell crank bolts on the the flight.
Cessna 208B The cables, cords, and antennas required for • portable EFBs can create more clutter—and, • Failed gear shaft on the Slick magneto potentially, more hazardous clutter—than the paper charts they are intended to replace.
Check out Aviation Maintenance Alerts at: http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/alerts/ The bottom line: EFB technology is available aviation_maintenance/ here and now, and proper use of any class of EFB system can improve efficiency and safety while eliminating considerable weight in paper. Sounds like I need to shop for my next gadget.
Susan Parson is a special assistant in FAA’s Flight Standards Service. She is an active general aviation pilot and flight instructor.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 19
Eye in the Sky
Eye in the Sky
Assuring the Safe Operation of
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
T o M h o F F M a n n Photo by James Sizemore The General Atomics Altair was the first civil UAS to receive an experimental airworthiness certificate.
n a crisp, cool and private sector New Mexico businesses as they O morning, brilliant ponder potential uses that seem to increase every day.
shades of orange and indigo sky paint Yet, despite the numerous environmental, an endless backdrop for the lone operator at Las economic, and safety benefits of UAS, there remains an Cruces International Airport (KLRU). After taxiing underlying, and understandable, apprehension of how to Runway 4, the aircraft carefully positions itself these “flying robots” will perform alongside manned on the centerline before its engine roars to life. The aircraft, especially during an unexpected event or pilot slowly increases back pressure on the control emergency. Crucial to the success of this new aviation stick until the small, but remarkably nimble aircraft endeavor are well-planned policies and regulations, accelerates into the morning sky. along with leveraging the technology of the very Another routine takeoff at KLRU, right? system—NextGen—that holds the key to safety and Perhaps. What might not be routine, however, is efficiency for future civil aviation operations.
the pilot in this scenario never left the ground. The In a November 2009 speech, FAA takeoff is part of a growing number of test flights to Administrator Randy Babbitt extolled the merits of gain a better understanding of Unmanned Aircraft UAS and said, “The technology has shown amazing Systems (UAS), the core component of a burgeoning potential and it’s provided an astonishing value in use industry ripe with opportunities and seemingly for what they’re intended.” destined for success on a much larger scale. However, likening the effect of UAS to the Thanks partly to frequent appearances in advent of the jet engine, Babbitt also recognized the movies, TV, and even video games, UAS awareness level of technical maturity is not where it needs to has “skyrocketed” over the last few years. Headlines be for full operation in the National Airspace System boasting of UAS success in military operations are (NAS). “We’re talking about an exponential leap in hard to miss. Additionally, the unique advantages of capability,” said Babbitt, referring to the development UAS continue to create a buzz among government of sense-and-avoid technology, considered by many 20 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 as the backbone for a successful UAS integration plan. procedures, especially when considering critical “We have to make sure sense-and-avoid is more than a evasive maneuvers.
given —it must be a guarantee.” RTCA Special Committee 203 is helping to close knowledge gaps caused by operational Back to the Future variations. FAA asked the committee to provide A fundamental aviation tenet—collision recommendations to establish minimum avoidance—is traditionally a pilot responsibility.
performance standards Removing the human element from where it was for UAS. The committee’s “What we experience in UAS is almost originally based (in the cockpit) and putting it on the guidance will help serve as ground presents its own challenges and can change a retrograde action in terms of trying a foundation to assure safe, our understanding of aviation.
to understand aviation—we’re forced efficient, and compatible “What we’ve experienced with UAS is to re-evaluate the same things we UAS operations with other almost a retrograde action in terms of trying to vehicles operating in thought we understood.” understand aviation,” says FAA UAS Program Policy the NAS. As part of these and Regulatory Lead Stephen Glowacki. “In many standards, the committee plans to recommend ways, we’re forced to re-evaluate the same things standards and procedures for UAS sense-and-avoid we thought we understood.” Glowacki offers this systems that will provide a safety level equivalent example: The need to rethink the concept of a to that of manned aircraft. The standards are cockpit, and, subsequently, the cockpit door. Will a scheduled to be completed in late 2013, according UAS pilot, seated at a ground-operation station, be to the committee’s most recent plenary session, and required to have the same door-security system as once established, will allow the FAA to begin a more those installed on commercial aircraft? Will seatbelt detailed approach towards certifying and regulating requirements apply to UAS operators? The answers specific components and systems.
to these and many other questions, says Glowacki, Although technological barriers abound will require the FAA to dig deep into its experience for UAS, they do have an important out-of-the-box of being a regulator and service provider to come advantage over manned aircraft. Starting off with up with an understanding of aviation that remains an inherent network-like infrastructure, UAS can consistent with UAS integration.
Among the more pressing questions is how to tackle the Photo courtesy of UVS International complexity of collision avoidance.
NextGen technologies, such as ADS-B, as well as digital-data communication and performance-based navigation systems, will no doubt be key to integrating UAS into the NAS. However, the sheer variety of unmanned aircraft—which range in size from a Boeing 737 to the size of a cell phone— make an across-the-board installation difficult at best. There’s also the issue of differing performance characteristics among unmanned aircraft, not to mention the differences from their manned brethren. This makes speed Many UAS models are equipped with high-quality and climb/turn rates difficult to camera equipment for surveillance, terrain predict and incorporate into standard mapping, and search and rescue.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 21 Insitu’s ScanEagle UAS can perform long-range operations—24 hours on a gallon and a half of gas—and with a variety of payloads.
B simulator. FAA Aerospace Engineer Kerin Olson, who works with Technical Center test engineers to collect data, knows firsthand how these UAS flight demonstrations are changing the way Photo courtesy of Insitu, Inc.
we think about unmanned flight. “By observing simulated operations of UAS easily upload critical operational performance and flights, we’re getting a better picture of the system’s flight-control-systems data quickly, and wherever overall performance, including the intricacies of needed. “From a system-engineering perspective,” aircraft commands and communications,” she says Glowacki, “UAS have robust data-sharing says. From a human factors standpoint, these same capabilities as part of their design, unlike manned tests also help the FAA gain better insight into UAS aircraft that function more as independent entities in flight-crew dynamics, providing much needed data comparison.” This same advantage is what may help on flight-crew roles and responsibilities, minimum UAS platforms be considered as proof-of-concept crewmember requirements, as well as which test beds for manned aircraft operations in the future types of data-display systems work best. Studying NextGen environment.
these interactions will play an important role in Testing One, Two, Three determining future policy and regulation.
Soon to be added to the Technical Center’s Recognizing there is still much knowledge and experience that must be acquired with UAS, UAS test arsenal will be a full-scale Scan Eagle platform provided by Insitu, Inc. With more than FAA is working towards getting smarter on UAS.
300,000 flight hours, the Scan Eagle is a veteran UAS The New Mexico design that can perform long-range operations—24 Flight Test Center is “We have to make sure sense-and-avoid is a prime example of hours on a gallon and a half of gas—and with a more than a given—it must be a guarantee.” variety of payloads. The Scan Eagle is also completely the efforts to better runway-independent and uses a pneumatic catapult- understand UAS impact on the environment, which launching system and a patented recovery system until now, remains fairly speculative. This 12,000 square-mile facility, administered and co-located that catches the aircraft with a suspended rope.
Insitu Business Development Executive within the wide-open confines of New Mexico Paul McDuffee is optimistic this testing agreement State University (NMSU), is the country’s first FAA- will move the industry closer to a sense-and-avoid approved UAS Flight Test Center.
Through a Cooperative Research and solution. “While we don’t have a pair of eyeballs on the aircraft,” says McDuffee, “there are several feasible Development Agreement with the FAA, NMSU alternatives that need to be tested and evaluated.” can conduct UAS research and development in Existing test data show current ground-based radar a controlled testing environment and, in return, provide FAA with useful data for developing future and TCAS systems are able to pick up nearly any vehicle within 12 to 15 miles of a UAS. “By working standards and regulations. While the NMSU Test with the FAA,” adds McDuffee, “we’re seeking to Center remains the only one of its kind in the United obtain the safety ‘street’ credit for these systems, along States, FAA recognizes the importance of enabling further testing and evaluating of new products to with rules that permit reasonable access.” expand this developing technology and welcomes One Small Step for UAS… expanding these types of facilities, provided they Currently, UAS operations for civilian meet guidelines and present no negative impact on commercial purposes are largely prohibited, other NAS users.
limited to mainly research and development, The FAA also conducts in-house UAS testing product demonstration, or crew training with an at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in New experimental certification. Public-use applicants Jersey, including the use of a Shadow and a Predator for UAS must obtain a Certificate of Waiver or 22 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 Authorization (COA) which is processed by the Among the SFAR team members is Flight FAA’s Air Traffic Organization and reviewed by the Standards Aviation Safety Analyst Silas Still, who is FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Program Office, FAA’s helping develop UAS pilot qualification and training primary point of contact for unmanned operations. requirements. “The Small UAS rulemaking will still The application is reviewed to ensure the operation only allow limited access to the NAS,” says Still, “but is safe and appropriate safety mitigations are it is an important step towards tackling some of the imposed. If there are any questions about the safety challenges of this industry, and will help us integrate of the operation, safety studies are required for those future waves of UAS.” situations where a proponent wants to do something …One Giant Leap for Aviation that is outside the bounds of the interim operational While there are still many obstacles and guidance material. FAA grants COAs on a case-by- unknowns to overcome before full UAS integration, case basis and only when it is clear that operations it’s important to keep in mind the many benefits can be conducted safely.
UAS missions can offer: search and rescue, weather Despite the multitude of restrictions, mapping, security surveillance, and wildlife applications have increased nearly tenfold in the preservation, to name a few. The possibilities last six years. Realizing the rapid expansion of this for uses are endless, but there’s no denying the billion-dollar industry, the FAA is taking steps significant element of both procedural and cultural toward allowing small unmanned aircraft (under change involved with embracing UAS.
55 pounds) to operate commercially in the NAS— “We still have a long way to go, and there are under low-risk conditions—in the near future. As no easy answers,” says Glowacki. “By utilizing part of the rulemaking process, the FAA formed NextGen technologies, working together with an Aviation Rulemaking Committee to develop industry, and adopting an incremental approach recommendations for consideration. The FAA towards ensuring harmony and safety between expects to have a published Special Federal Aviation manned and unmanned operations in the NAS, the Regulation (SFAR) by mid-2011, with a final rule FAA will be poised to meet this challenge.” expected in late 2012.
The purpose of this SFAR is threefold: Tom Hoffmann is associate editor of FAA Safety Briefing. He is a Educate • commercial pilot and holds an A&P certificate.
Promote controlled safe development of UAS • technology Gather data for future rulemaking efforts • For More Information The ScanEagle’s light weight design and unique retrieval The Links provided in the printed edition were current at press time.
system allow for launch They are in the process of being moved to a new site. An updated and recovery at land or sea PDF will be provided when the new links are available.
without a net or runway.
Photo courtesy of Insitu, Inc.
FAA Safety Briefing 23 May/June 2010
Checklist
S u S a n Pa r S on
Checklist
Getting Your Money’s Worth
A well-worn book in my aviation library includes advanced information for real-world IFR is Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s North to the Orient, operations, such as detailed coverage of instrument which is the author’s account of the 1931 flight charts and procedures. The Instrument Procedures she and her famous spouse made from New York Handbook specifically covers IFR takeoff, departure, to China via the Great Circle Route. Modern-day en route, arrival, approach, and landing.
pilots might envy her the lack of congestion and Best of all (at least for purposes of this issue’s restrictions that characterize today’s National theme), the handbook addresses the concepts and Airspace System (NAS), but Lindbergh stresses that procedures for area navigation (RNAV), required some things never change: navigation performance (RNP), RNAV routes and designators, and many other aspects of operating Flight rests, firmly supported, on a structure of in today’s NAS. You will find a general discussion of laws, rules, principles—laws to which plane these topics in the handbook’s first chapter.
and man alike must conform. The firm black General aviation pilots who use—or expect to lines which we ruled straight across Canada use—RNAV(GPS) approaches will find it especially and Alaska, preparatory to our flight, implied helpful to read and study chapter 5, “Approach,” freedom, but dearly won. Months, and indeed which presents RNAV, RNP, and approaches enabled years, of preparation by the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) in made such freedom practical operational terms. Still another part of this The FAA Instrument Procedures Handbook possible.
chapter explains the concept and the charting of addresses concepts and procedures for RNAV, The kind terminal arrival areas (TAA).
RNP, and many other aspects of operating in For the TAA discussion as well as for other of straight-line today’s NAS.
sections of the Instrument Procedures Handbook, the freedom promised graphics and illustrations are great, too. Check it out, by performance-based navigation (PBN) and the NextGen technologies that we highlight in this issue and let your new knowledge help you make the most of NAS modernization.
is also dearly won—and achieved through years of effort and preparation.
Susan Parson is a special assistant in the FAA’s Flight Standards Service.
A Handy Resource She is an active general aviation pilot and flight instructor.
Not surprisingly, getting the greatest benefit from new procedures and technologies requires preparation and effort on the part of the pilot.
For More Information A quick Google™ search will produce dozens of Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8261-1A) documents with varying degrees of detail on the http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/ elements of NextGen and performance-based instrument_procedures_handbook/ navigation. If, however, you are in search of a single- Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15) source reference on both “old” and new procedures http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/ for operating in today’s NAS, take a look at the FAA’s instrument_flying_handbook/ Instrument Procedures Handbook (FAA-H-8261-1A).
Originally designed as a reference for pilots who operate under instrument flight rules (IFR) in the NAS, the FAA Instrument Procedures Handbook expands on information provided in the more basic Instrument Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-15). It 24 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010
Nuts, Bolts, and Electrons
T o M h o F F M a n n
Nuts, Bolts, and Electrons
Understanding Field Approvals
In a world of ever-advancing technology, With so many possible variations and aircraft owners can be easily overwhelmed with the combinations of aircraft and equipment, it’s not many new ways to improve the look and feel of their surprising how determining the need for a field aircraft, beef-up engine performance, or navigate approval can challenge even the savviest aviation from point A to point B with greater accuracy. Equally maintenance technician (AMT). Contributing overwhelming can be the process of obtaining to the confusion has been a lack of details and authorization to make these changes, which in some standardization cases can be done with a field approval. in some of the “The most important step is to establish clear While securing a field approval is not usually guidance materials.
lines of communication with the FAA.” on an aircraft owner’s favorite-thing-to-do list, there This is often are some changes in the works that should simplify compounded by the the process, especially when it’s time to outfit your fact that policy changes have lengthy turnaround aircraft with equipment needed to leverage the times, which in turn, makes keeping guidance up- exciting benefits of NextGen technology. to-date a constant challenge.
FAA has made some changes in the What Is a Field Approval?
guidance that facilitate more efficient field A field approval is one way FAA approves approvals. “What we’ve developed,” says FAA the technical data for either a major alteration or Avionics Maintenance Branch Manager Tim Shaver, major repair to a type-certificated product. The “is a checklist-type approach for evaluating an field-approval process provides a method to have installation that stresses core items like electric acceptable data approved by the FAA to return-to- load analysis and electromagnetic compatibility. By service a product after a major alteration or repair.
getting away from the specifics of each type of new The FAA Form 337 (or the electronic e 337) is used technology and standardizing the common threads to document the details and approvals of a major in these new systems, AMTs will be able to address alteration or repair. Once approved, the Form 337 the common factors on how to evaluate, as opposed becomes part of that particular altered or repaired to what to evaluate.” product’s type design. An FAA aviation safety Individual field-approval requests will inspector (ASI) approves the acceptable data in block continue to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis 8 by signing block 3 of the Form 337. This approval to ensure proper and consistent application of verifies the changes made to that particular product’s the approval criteria. This consistent approach is type design meet your aircraft’s certification important. “Our goal is to help eliminate confusion requirements.
often caused by having to analyze and compare During the review process, an ASI may decide installation requirements on a component-specific a field approval is not required. This may be because basis,” says Shaver.
the ASI determined the repair or alteration to be Changes to the field-approval guidance are minor or because FAA already approved previous scheduled to be published in the Federal Register data specific to this type of repair or alteration. Yet, a in about a year, along with a companion Advisory field approval can be denied, usually for not having Circular (AC) update. And, to prepare the ASI all the necessary data to support the procedure or workforce for this new change, a training course because, in the case of the alteration, the alteration is scheduled to be available in summer 2010. The exceeds the scope of a field approval and requires an three-day avionics course is designed to allow ASIs amended type certificate (TC) or supplemental type to apply this information out in the field today certificate (STC). [See 14 CFR section 21.113] before the scheduled implementation.
May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 25
When Engineers Get Involved in Field Approvals
By Barry Ballenger You have decided to modify your aircraft by installing If the data is adequate, accurate, and shows a Gizmo 4000 and plan to get it field approved. You, or your compliance with the regulations, fine. The ASE sends mechanic, have dutifully put all the information together the ASI a letter or memo indicating concurrence. If the and submitted it to your local flight standards district office data is inaccurate and/or incomplete, however, the ASE (FSDO) for consideration. In a few days, you get a call will coordinate with the ASI, or with you, the applicant, with the ominous statement that they sent it to an aircraft to request additional data. By communicating directly certification office (ACO) for engineering assistance. with you, especially on more complex data issues, the ASE reduces the time lag and also possibly reduces any What in the world does that mean? How much more chances for miscommunication.
government red tape is there going to be? Will you ever get your project approved? Engineers don’t even speak the After the ASE completes review of the data same language as mechanics. Before you melt down, let’s package, the next step is to provide the ASI a letter take a look at what engineering assistance means for a field- or memo stating the engineering review is complete approval application. indicating the ASE, representing the ACO, either concurs or non-concurs with the data. The finding could be that the After reviewing your request, the ASI may decide field-approval application is inappropriate. In that case, that some of the data requires an engineer’s review. The ASI the ASE recommends an STC application for the project. In reaches this conclusion by referring to FAA Order 8900.1 all cases of non-concurrence, the ASE provides a written for the types of alterations or repairs they can approve and explanation to the ASI.
those needing an engineer’s assistance. That means calling on an FAA aviation safety engineer (ASE) at the FSDO’s Once the FSDO ASI receives the engineering designated ACO to review the Form 337. concurrence for the data, the ASI can then sign off on the field approval by signing block 3 of FAA Form 337. At this ASEs, based at ACOs across the country, deal point, FAA has approved all data documented in block 8 with a host of certification issues, including continued for your airplane. Your mechanic may now perform the airworthiness of type-certificated products, certificating alteration or repair and return the aircraft to service.
new or modified products, technical standard orders, and much more. Many ASEs are certified pilots, mechanics, The next time you have a field approval sent to and even normal people—not your stereotypical pocket- an ACO for engineering assistance, rest easy. Employees protector-wearing engineer. While the ASI provides across FAA will work as a team to assist you, the applicant, airworthiness and operations expertise, the ASE provides in getting your data package reviewed and, if approved, get engineering know-how, including expertise in aerodynamics, you on your way with that new Gizmo 4000 installation.
structures, electrical, avionics, propulsion, mechanical systems, and flight test.
Barry Ballenger is an aerospace engineer with the Small Airplane Directorate When an ACO receives a field-approval package, in Kansas City, Missouri. A private pilot, he holds an A&P with Inspection it goes to an engineer with the appropriate background for Authorization. Jason Brys, Flight Test Engineer, Wichita ACO, and ASIs Danny the product under review. The ASE’s primary responsibility: Morford and Blayne Camp assisted with this article.
Review the data package to determine if the data is adequate and accurate for the type of repair or alteration being considered.
FAA recommends using a standard data How Can I Increase My Field-Approval package (SDP) that includes the following: Chances?
Upcoming guidance will help streamline the Field-approval checklist (see Appendix 1 of AC • process for field approvals, but here are some steps 43-210) you can take now to help secure your chances of a Data describing the alteration (drawings, • successful approval request.
photos, manuals, etc.)
“The most important step is to establish clear FAA Form 337 (paper or electronic) • lines of communication with the FAA,” says Shaver.
Using this approach is not the only way to “Let the ASI assigned to your request know what you present data to the FAA, but it can be the fastest. You plan to do and provide as much specific information should also review FAA Order 8310.6 – Airworthiness as possible.” 26 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 Tom Hoffmann Photo A cockpit in the midst of being upgraded to newer avionics Aftermarket cockpit displays Compliance Check Sheet Handbook. The order committed to helping make the process as simple provides easy-to-review lists to help ensure that you as possible.” address relevant certification rules and their means of compliance.
Tom Hoffmann is associate editor of FAA Safety Briefing. He is a commercial pilot and holds an A&P certificate Working Together FAA Program Manager Steve Thompson, who works with the Small Airplane Directorate, sees the field-approval process as a collaborative For More Information effort. “If you believe an engineer’s (see article on AC 43-210 – Standardized Procedures for Requesting page 26, “When Engineers Get Involved in Field Field Approval of Data, Major Alterations, and Repairs Approvals”) or ASI’s decision on your project is http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdviso- inconsistent with FAA regulations and policies, ryCircular.nsf/list/AC%2043-210/$FILE/AC43-210.pdf talk with the engineer or inspector about your FAA Order 8310.6 – Airworthiness Compliance Check concerns.” Thompson also suggests elevating your Sheet Handbook concerns up the chain of command if you are http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/Order%20 unable to resolve your concerns.
8310.6.pdf “We know the approval processes may be frustrating at times,” says Thompson. “But we are May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 27
Hots Spots
T o M h o F F M a n n
Hot Spots
Helping “Serve and Protect” the NAS
In the National Airspace System, pilot deviations through education and training and, two, to build are considered especially dangerous. At the FAA, data-gathering mechanisms that will allow for more the dedicated individuals who identify, track, and effective root-cause and mitigation analysis. Both work to prevent these offenses are part of an elite objectives support reducing runway incursions.
squad known as the PDMW. This is their story… Over the course of four meetings since the group’s inception in May 2008, the PDMW has (chung-CHUNG!)
developed 11 initiatives that cover training, data While a day at the office for a Pilot Deviation acquisition, and policy. Of the 11, all but one have Mitigation Workgroup (PDMW) member might not been fully implemented. Let’s take a closer look be as intense as a day for characters on TV’s Law and at some of the initiatives and the role they play in Order, the products of the workgroup also improve keeping pilots safe.
safety, just as do the police officers and prosecutors Marked as Evidence on television work for public safety.
The task: Reducing the number of pilot Of the PDMW’s three focus areas, training is the area receiving the most attention. The training deviations.
initiatives include: Counsel, Lay a Foundation CFI/DPE Workgroups. • Quarterly meetings that In response to an increasing trend in pilot bring together CFIs and DPEs (designated pilot deviations (PD) over the last decade, FAA formed examiners) for targeted briefings based on PD the PDMW to develop a strategy to reverse that trends in the local area.
trend. This 28-member workgroup focuses on better Flight Instructor Refresher Clinics. • Working understanding the causes of PDs and then exploring with FIRC providers, FAA is encouraging an the root causes in more detail.
increased emphasis on the bigger picture of The workgroup has two main objectives: PDs, rather than only focusing on runway One, to reduce PDs by expanding pilot awareness incursions in training courses.
Pilot d eviation by Type - FY 2008 28 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 PD Document Clearinghouse. • The FAASTeam Let the Record Show… developed a “one-stop-shopping” Web What are the results of this intensive focus site for PDs, which consolidates articles, on PDs? The jury may still be out, but the data for presentations, and training materials that are fiscal year 2009 are encouraging and show a three often scattered and difficult to find.
percent reduction in the PD rate for GA operations compared with the previous year. In 2009, virtually Safety Videos. • FAA-funded safety all categories of pilot deviations were down to some presentations, in the form of videos and graphics, to examine four airports with degree from 2008.
relatively high numbers of PDs. These are: “While this is great news,” says French, “we still need to better understand how we can make a Teterboro, New Jersey; North Las Vegas, bigger difference.” Nevada; Dekalb-Peachtree Airport, Atlanta, Georgia; and General Mitchell International This year the workgroup is focused on Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The sharpening and quantifying its measures of success so the members can better identify where to focus Teterboro video is complete and available their efforts. The metrics developed for the CFI/DPE on the Internet. The other three are under development and are expected to be workshops offer a good example of how success can completed by summer 2010. be measured. For example, for a three-month period after a workshop, the FAASTeam analyzes accident/ I’ll Rephrase the Question incident data related to the workshop topic. This data is then compared to pre-presentation data to Understanding the “why” behind PDs has become increasingly important, especially as they determine if a decline in incidents can be attributed to the initiative.
continue with discomforting regularity. Part of the problem has been a lack of root-cause data that is Have You Reached a Verdict?
being addressed by updating the mechanism that “We’ve still got our work cut out for us,” adds ATC and FAA inspectors use to process a PD.
French, “but by monitoring and measuring the Deviation reports are filed through the Air effectiveness of our safety campaign, we’ll have a Traffic Quality Assurance (ATQA) system using an much better idea where to focus our efforts and how electronic online form. However, the PDMW found to maintain our momentum on reducing PDs.” that most reports lacked any useful data beyond a simple description of the event. The open-ended Tom Hoffmann is associate editor of FAA Safety Briefing. He is a commercial questions also made standardizing the data difficult.
pilot and holds an A&P certificate.
As a result of the PDMW efforts, the form has been re-engineered to standardize answers to the questions and make the data easier to analyze.
One new practice that came out of the workgroup is alerting CFIs whenever a past student (current or recent) is involved in a PD. The FAA sends the letter to make the instructor aware of “how close to home” the problem of PDs is and to encourage them to take up the topic any time they interact with a pilot. “Instructors need to know that this effort is informative only,” says PDMW co-chair and Aviation Safety Inspector Greg French. “As a flight instructor myself, I’d sure like to know if one of my folks had gotten involved in a PD.” May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 29
Flight Forum
Flight Forum
By e-mail: Go to this Web address: http://registry.faa.
Correction: Calibrated vs. Indicated gov/Airmenemail/Airmenemail.asp In the article “Flying by the Numbers” in By fax: (405) 954-4105 the March/April 2010 issue of FAA Safety Briefing, several readers noted an error in a final approach By U.S. Mail: Federal Aviation Administration speed calculation for a Cessna 182S. Calibrated, not Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760 indicated, airspeed should have been used as the P.O. Box 25082 basis for calculating Vref, or reference landing speed.
Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082 Using calibrated airspeed shows that the published final approach speed is not greater than Vref, as the Laser Tag article indicated, and is the minimum speed a pilot As a pilot myself, I would be concerned should fly. Although atmospheric conditions might if a high power laser was aimed at my aircraft, as dictate flying faster approach speeds, using Vref will mentioned in your July/August 2009 article. However, enable a pilot a better chance of meeting the published I feel the FAA is failing to inform pilots that it is not performance numbers.
unlawful for any individual to use a laser, or to point it Thank you to the astute readers who helped into the sky. Just because a pilot may see a laser in the us flag this.
sky, does not mean there is any reason at all to report it to ATC, so that law enforcement can make a “speedy Plastic Pilot Certificates apprehension.” Without explaining this to the public, I haven’t gotten around to exchanging my and to our pilot community, I feel that the FAA is paper pilot certificate for a plastic one and know that encouraging pilots to report any laser beam seen (and I have missed the deadline. What should I do now?
they can be seen sometimes from a 100 miles away!)
Name Withheld This could cause a very unfair and unjust arrest by law enforcement of a completely innocent individual who As was widely publicized, March 31, 2010, has every right to play or use his or her laser in any was the deadline for the expiration of paper pilot way other than to directly point it at an airplane.
certificates. The certificate remains valid, however, Steven F. Groce the pilot may not exercise privileges—much like the requirement for a biennial flight review or other The point of the article was to raise awareness proficiency check, i.e., the certificate remains valid, of the serious consequences that can result from but the holder may not exercise privileges until all careless and reckless use of these devices. For that currency requirements are met.
reason, and to help everyone better understand the The FAA’s Civil Aviation Registry Airmen scope of the problem, the article encouraged pilots who Certification Branch says that if an airman still experience laser illumination to report such incidents does not have a plastic certificate, he/she can call or to the appropriate authorities.
contact the Registry and the Registry can send him/ With respect to general reporting of laser her a temporary authority or they can order one from incidents, it was our aim to encourage reporting only the Web for their use to give them time to send in for those incidents that demonstrate malicious intent or or request an on-line replacement certificate. The jeopardize safety of flight. The procedures and actions temporary authority is valid for 60 days.
stressed in the article are solely to prevent malicious Here is how to contact the Airmen actions by irresponsible laser users.
Certification Branch : Thank you for your comments, and for the By telephone: Toll-free long distance (866) 878-2498 opportunity to clarify the article’s key points.
or Oklahoma City area (405) 954-3261 30 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010 approximately 4,500 feet long (2,000 feet shorter CO Poisoning than runway 16). With the 15 gusting to 20 knot In your November/December 2009 article, headwind, I think a C182 can be landed in 1,500 feet Plane Poison, I am surprised that you don’t mention with no braking. Since I think that both runways are something obvious. When flying my Cessna 150 in the way longer than needed, I would choose the runway Midwest winters I found that heat alone was too much, with the smallest crosswind component, i.e., Runway but opening the fresh air vent successfully mixed 11. As a flight instructor at a Michigan airport that fresh cold air and warm air to a very comfortable averages over 200 inches of snow a year (CMX), I think temperature. And, it was reasonably safer!
that directional control and sliding sideways is a much Rose Dickeson bigger risk than landing long in these conditions. So, Thanks for reminding us of the obvious since length is not a factor (my opinion) go with the solution, but sometimes the CO is still too much for the winds closest to down the runway.
human body.
Jeff Burl Thanks to everyone who took the time to On Runways in Winter comment. Everyone agreed that when you land let I read your November/December 2009 article the airplane slow down before you hit the brakes on on icy runway operations with interest, although slippery runways.
I was disappointed with the final paragraph: “Ice, slush, and snow can turn your aircraft into a sled…so Double Check?
when the runway glistens lace up your ice skates— I enjoyed reading your article “Acronym Soup” and leave the airplane in the hangar.” I find that this in the January/February 2010 issue of FAA Aviation is not true for a Cessna Skyhawk .
News. Looking over the NextGen Implementation One of my favorite airports is Alton Bay (B18), Plan Acronyms (NIPA?) list, I noticed that the New Hampshire, which in winter becomes Alton Bay acronym “TA” stands for “Tailored Arrival.” It should Ice Airport. A 2,500 runway is normally plowed on be noted that in current usage “TA” stands for “Traffic the lake ice in January, and the airport is open for Alert” for TCAS-equipped aircraft.
operations for a month or two, weather permitting.
I sincerely hope that in the rush to modernize, This airport is FAA and state certified, the only one the FAA doesn’t concern itself with “looking good” of its kind in the continental United States. I have (tailoring) over “feeling good” (safety).
personally landed there in my own C172S twice, and Brian Fallon it’s not hard. You must perform a short field landing, As mentioned in the article, an acronym can aim short of the threshold, and use no brakes until sometimes have several meanings, so it is always wise the plane slows to taxi speed. In my airplane, that to ask if you are in doubt. And, as always, FAA’s first requires about 1,200 feet. Then, you taxi very slowly concern is safety.
and use minimal braking.
If we get a good winter, you ought to make the trip. In a typical winter, there will be dozens to a FAA’s FAA Safety Briefing welcomes comments. We may edit letters for hundred operations.
style and/or length. If we have more than one letter on the same topic, we Robert Bruccoleri will select one representative letter to publish. Because of our publishing schedules, responses may not appear for several issues. We do not print anonymous letters, but we do withhold names or send personal replies upon More Winter Advice request. Readers are reminded that questions dealing with immediate FAA “When the Runway Becomes an Ice Rink” operational issues should contact their local flight standards district office in your November/December 2009 issue is a good or air traffic facility. Send letters to: Editor, FAA Safety Briefing, AFS-805, article to remind pilots of the risks of ice and well 800 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20591, or FAX them to (202) written. But, I have to disagree with your advice to 267-9463, or e-mail SafetyBriefing@faa.gov.
land on Runway 16. Runway 11 is just as wide and May/June 2010 FAA Safety Briefing 31
Editor's Runway
S u S a n P a r S o n
“Old” Airplane, New Technology
When non-pilots ask how old my flying club’s (Wide Area Augmentation System) capability.
Cessna 182 Skylane is, I have become accustomed WAAS lets us take full advantage of the new to the inevitable shock when I tell them that it rolled augmented GPS approaches that Cathy Majauskas out of the factory in 1967. That’s why I have a well- (see the FAA Faces column) and her colleagues in rehearsed follow-up stating that our airplane is the FAA’s Flight Technologies and Procedures Division newest 40-something airplane on the ramp, having are busily developing.
been substantially reconstructed after a deer strike Although it wasn’t as glamorous as the GPS, in the summer of 2006. That tidbit generally erases another useful bit of technology that we financed the non-pilot’s doubts about safety, but it really through the C150 sale was a sophisticated engine doesn’t do justice to the effort that we—like so many monitor. The ability to monitor our powerplant’s other general aviation pilots—have gone to to ensure health in almost excruciating detail has resulted that our older airplane is equipped to operate in the in operating guidelines and procedures that have brave new world of NextGen technology. doubtless extended its life.
Bit by Bit Still on the Wish List I seriously doubt that the original owner Not surprisingly, the members of my flying of our airplane would recognize anything but the club are full of ideas for spending our capital tail number. That’s partly because our Skylane improvement budget. A near-term priority for sports a spiffy new paint scheme courtesy of the upgraded technology is a 406 MHz emergency reconstruction required when Bambi bashed into locator transmitter (ELT). It isn’t required, but it’s the empennage. hard to argue against the safety benefits now that A decade ago, we satellites no longer monitor ELTs on the traditional We—like many other general aviation pilots— voted to refurbish 121.5 “guard” frequency.
have made significant efforts to ensure that our the instrument Like many pilots, we are also trying to airplane is equipped to operate in the world of panel. Out went the position our Skylane —and our budget—to take NextGen technology.
cracked and faded advantage of upcoming NextGen developments.
plastic, and in came Our club members recently voted on a prioritized a powder-coated metal panel. It was an obvious “wish list” that includes considering items such aesthetic improvement, but the real benefit was the as retrofitted “glass cockpit” avionics and the opportunity to move the basic instruments into the equipment we would need to benefit from the standard “six-pack” configuration. ADS-B technologies discussed in Meredith Saini’s The next big leap in technology came just article on page 11. Although the pesky realities of a few years ago when the sale of the club’s under- financing mean that some of the bigger changes are utilized Cessna 150 gave us the capital for a few more still a few years away, the bottom line is that we are upgrades. The number one item on our shopping list working to ensure that our Skylane will be efficiently was a GPS moving-map navigator. It was goodbye navigating the National Airspace System (NAS) for to the LORAN-C and an enthusiastic hello to the many years to come.
Garmin GNS 430. IFR-certified from the start, the Safe flights and happy landings!
GNS 430 was our admission ticket to the vastly increased RNAV and performance-based navigation Susan Parson is a special assistant in the FAA’s Flight Standards Service.
(PBN) possibilities that GPS can offer.
She is an active general aviation pilot and flight instructor.
That world got bigger still when we exercised the option to upgrade our original unit to WAAS 32 FAA Safety Briefing May/June 2010
FAA Faces
J A M e S W I L L I A M S Catherine Majauskas
FAA Faces
A Helping Hand with NextGen
Like many people, Catherine Majauskas vertical guidance).” LPV approaches are operationally didn’t intend to end up in aviation. It just happened. equivalent to the legacy ILS but do not require “My parents said my brother and I were interested navigation infrastructure be installed at the runway.
in aviation growing up,” Majauskas says. “But, it Majauskas is more of “desk pilot” in her FAA wasn’t until I was at the U.S. Air Force Academy that role. “I had a chance to fly gliders I started to think that it could be a reality—I might be and then Cessna 172s while I was at Working at FAA: “It’s a great able to actually do it.” the Academy,” she says. “I haven’t learning experience.” And, indeed, she did and still does. had a chance to fly on my own Majauskas spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force since I joined FAA, but I often get to flying C-130s and C-21s (a military version of the refresh my pilot skills in various simulators. The RNP LearJet 35A). Following her Air Force career, she SAAAR (Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorization joined FAA, initially as a contractor. Majauskas Required) approaches into Palm Springs, California, later became an aviation safety inspector with the are really impressive.
Flight Standards Service’s Flight Technologies and “We use simulators to test out our new Procedures Division in the Performance-Based procedures from the pilot’s point of view,” she Flight Systems Branch. continues. “I’ve gotten to fly several kinds of “A lot of my work is with NextGen,” simulators, from air carrier aircraft, like the Boeing Majauskas explains. “We’re doing a lot with 737 and Airbus A319, to GA aircraft such as the area navigation (RNAV) and I work on the Cessna Mustang .” augmented approaches, such as WAAS (Wide “I flew some RNAV (GPS) procedures Area Augmentation System) and LAAS (Local using the Garmin G1000®,” Majauskas adds. “That Area Augmentation System), which augment GPS experience really helps in developing an Advisory technology. These systems provide more accuracy Circular (AC) on LPV approaches.” than GPS and can assure pilots that they are closer to One thing Majauskas wishes more pilots where they should be.” were aware of is all the information that’s available Even in a brief conversation, it’s clear that for free on the FAA Web site, such as the Aeronautical Majauskas can barely contain her enthusiasm Information Manual (AIM) and ACs. “We’re working for the benefits to come from new technologies hard to get AIM updated this summer and we’ve got and procedures. One of the best developments, an AC coming up on LPV (it hasn’t been assigned its she says, is the work FAA is doing with RNAV and designation yet), which will explain the operations required navigation performance (RNP). “NextGen available to them and the equipment they need.
technology is allowing us to open up airports that “It’s been a neat experience to be here at previously couldn’t have approaches, which is a FAA and see all the different backgrounds people real benefit for GA pilots who perhaps didn’t have have from my own in the military, to air carrier, to anywhere nearby where they could do a precision- GA.” She says, “They all bring different perspectives like approach during bad weather,” she adds. and it’s a great learning experience.” “Now, they don’t necessarily have a precision approach in form of an ILS (instrument James Williams is the FAA Safety Briefing’s assistant editor and photo edi- landing system), but they have near precision tor. He is also a pilot and ground instructor.
minimums with an LPV (localizer performance with U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20591 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300
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