Satellite-Based Tracking Monitors Air Traffic Over Gulf Of
Mexico
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt announced Tuesday that Houston
air traffic controllers are beginning to use an improved
satellite-based system - Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast
(ADS-B) - to more efficiently and safely separate and manage
aircraft flying over the Gulf of Mexico.
"Safety is our highest priority at the U.S. Department of
Transportation, and this new satellite-based technology will help
the FAA improve the safety of flights over the Gulf even as air
traffic increases," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray
LaHood.
"This is a significant, early step toward NextGen,"
Administrator Babbitt said in a press conference at the Houston Air
Route Traffic Control Center. "We're delivering on time, a system
that's not only more accurate than radar but comes with significant
safety and efficiency benefits. This will save time and money for
aircraft operators and passengers and reduce our carbon
footprint."
ADS-B, which is one of the technologies at the heart of the
transformation to NextGen, brings air traffic control to the Gulf
of Mexico, an area that has not had the benefit of radar coverage.
Before ADS-B, controllers had to rely on an aircraft's estimated or
reported - not actual - position. Individual helicopters flying
under Instrument Flight Rule conditions at low altitudes to and
from oil platforms were isolated within 20x20 mile boxes in order
to remain safely separated from other helicopters. The complex,
manual nature of these operations severely reduced capacity and
efficiency for the 5,000 to 9,000 daily helicopter operations in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Aircraft equipped with ADS-B in the region will now know where
they are in relation to bad weather and receive flight information
including Notice to Airmen and Temporary Flight Restrictions.
Prior to ADS-B, commercial aircraft flying at high altitudes
were kept as much as 120 miles apart to ensure safety. Controllers
are now able to safely reduce the separation between ADS-B equipped
aircraft to five nautical miles, significantly improving capacity
and efficiency. The new technology will also allow the FAA to
provide new, more direct routes over the Gulf of Mexico, improving
the efficiency of aircraft operations while using less fuel.
The FAA was able to install ground stations on oil platforms as
part of an agreement with the Helicopter Association International,
oil and natural gas companies and helicopter operators. A network
of ground stations was deployed on oil platforms and the
surrounding shoreline, bringing satellite-based surveillance to an
area with almost as much daily air traffic as the northeast
corridor.
The Gulf of Mexico is the second key site where ADS-B is being
used by controllers to separate aircraft. The new technology is
also being used by controllers in Louisville, KY, chosen in part
because UPS voluntarily outfitted much of its fleet with ADS-B
avionics. Four ground stations give controllers at the Louisville
International Airport and the Louisville Terminal Radar Approach
Control facility an ADS-B coverage area extending 60 nautical miles
around the airport up to 10,000 feet.
Controllers in Philadelphia will begin using ADS-B in February
and the system will become operational in Juneau in April. ADS-B is
expected to be available nationwide by 2013.
The FAA first established an ADS-B prototype in Alaska,
outfitting numerous general aviation aircraft with ADS-B avionics.
The improved situational awareness for pilots and extended coverage
for controllers resulted in a 47 percent drop in the fatal accident
rate for equipped aircraft. In South Florida, the installation of
eleven ground stations now gives pilots in equipped aircraft free
traffic and weather information. Controllers will soon begin using
ADS-B in that region to separate aircraft.