[Peetwo]

Popinjay/Kinley/Spence to the rescue on ADS-B for VFR aircraft?? -

Via the UP:

Clinton McKenzie

Another advertisement from the ATSB about ADS-B IN.

This time the advert has been triggered by a “near collision” between two VFR aircraft in the Moorabbin training area.

VFR aircraft.

In a Delta area.

The ATSB keeps dealing with this issue as if there are only ever ‘isolated pairs’ of aircraft. One Sling and one Piper Cherokee. One Seminole and one Travel Air.

If all the ‘ifs’ line up and there are just two aircraft in proximity, laterally, and the pilot of one or both aircraft ‘see’ and accurately interpret the traffic display of ADS-B IN at a glance down in the cockpit, great. But then there’s the common reality of busy airspace.



Which of the displayed aircraft, if any, is a collision risk to me on my track WAD - TWRN? (This is just a snapshot from the EFB provider supplied data, without my conspicuity device connected. Just assume they are ADS-B IN symbols in green.) You have the luxury of looking at a much bigger and stable display on your computer monitor.

(The latest ATSB advert includes a text box that says: “ATC Short Term Conflict Alert (STCA) between AEM and JQF.” Maybe Airservices should do in the Melbourne FIR what’s been done in the Brisbane FIR: Just turn off the SCTA functionality below 4,500’ so that ATC is not bothered by the nuisance.)

I finally note, again, that the Beaver and Otter in the Alaska tragedy were both fitted with ADS-B IN with all sorts of bells and whistles alerting capability … that wasn't functioning properly.

And from a AAI SME, via the AP email chains:

This is a legal minefield. Maybe they've been reading Clinton M’s work! The ATSB seem to be doing CASA’s sales job. I’ve never heard of any Accident Investigation Agency talking $$ for a deal, in-lieu of an investigation. Plus, I note the rebate offer of up to 50%, capped at $5,000 (to those eligible), ends on the 31 May 2024??? Is that when its ok to cease improving safety?? It seems odd, particularly under the ATSB banner.

Mangalore seemed like an effort to protect ATC, now we have “in-lieu of an investigation….” you can get rebated equipment - maybe steak knives too?  It seems like separation risk control is shifting from ATC to pilots. When you consider the funding of Onesky, the funding arrangements must be questioned.

VFR pilots in training areas are learning the skills of aviating and shouldn’t be spending time ‘heads-down’ whilst training. It may help pilots/instructors/ATC, but I can imagine what ADSB-IN would look like at an inbound point to busy GA airfield, ie Moorabbin or Bankstown.

I’m all for technology being used to improve things, but this should be based on a safety case and systemic investigation, not just dragging out the “Limitations of See and Avoid” BASI did about 30 years ago.

VFR training airfields will always have traffic issues. They have specific risks, when compared to the industry in general. Is this the right risk control for that environment?

There’d be plenty of data to support that.

I’m sure there’s more angles to this bizarre scenario. Betts needs to remind his people of their Acts and how the system is designed to work.

In addition to Popinjay's bizarre, totally inappropriate advertorial, I note that CASA and AMSA have backed up Popinjay with social media sharing of the advertorial, with additional comments:

Civil Aviation Safety Authority
48,294 followers
1d •

‘What benefits can ADS-B provide?

This recent post from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau provides an example of how it can significantly improve situational awareness for pilots.

Don’t forget to apply for the government’s 50% rebate on ADS-B devices.

Find out more: civilaviation.au/adsb

---

Australian Maritime Safety Authority
23,473 followers
3d •

ADS-B data is a valuable tool used for search and rescue operations in Australia, which can help improve AMSA’s ability to locate aircraft in distress and save lives. It also helps to enhance safety of aircraft search and rescue operations.

If you’re a general or recreational aircraft owner, learn how you can take up the ADS-B rebate program to potentially improve search and rescue outcomes.

#searchandrescue #aircraft

Australian Transport Safety Bureau
20,415 followers
4d •

In mid-October 2023, a Sling light sport aircraft and a Piper Cherokee operating in the Moorabbin training area, south-east of Melbourne came within 100 metres of each other while both aircraft were flying at the same altitude.

The crew of the Sling reported to the ATSB they observed seeing the Cherokee pass in front of their aircraft in close proximity. ADS-B data obtained by the ATSB confirmed the Sling crew’s report, as well as showing just how close both aircraft came to colliding mid-air.

Neither aircraft were equipped with ADS-B IN systems, and nor were they required to be. An ADS-B IN capability with a cockpit display or an electronic flight bag application showing traffic information can significantly enhance the situational awareness for a pilot, particularly when flying in non-controlled airspace.

The ‘see and avoid’ principle for pilots has known limitations, and the use of ADS-B IN with a cockpit display or an electronic flight bag application showing traffic information greatly improves a pilot’s situational awareness and enhances the safety of their flight.

To support our investigation into the mid-air collision of two IFR training aircraft near Mangalore Airport in February 2020, we initiated an aircraft performance and cockpit visibility study to determine when each aircraft may have been visible to the pilots of the other aircraft*. The study clearly showed that had the aircraft been equipped with ADS-B IN, the pilots would have been assisted in locating the other aircraft and alerted to its position much earlier than by visual acquisition.

In lieu of a formal transport safety investigation into the Moorabbin training area near-collision, we are using this occurrence to further encourage all eligible general and recreational aircraft owners and pilots to equip their aircraft with ADS-B OUT, and to strongly consider using ADS-B IN for enhanced situational awareness.

To incentivise voluntary uptake of ADS-B installations in Australian–registered aircraft operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), the government is providing a 50 per cent rebate on the purchase cost – capped to $5,000 – of eligible devices and, where applicable, the installation. While eligibility rests on equipment providing an ADS-B OUT capability, devices that provide ADS-B IN, as well as low-cost portable ADS-B devices, are also eligible for the grant.

If you have not already, and you are eligible, please take advantage of the generous rebate to equip your aircraft with ADS-B before the offer ends on 31 May 2024.

More information, including on how to apply for the rebate is available at: https://lnkd.in/dk5bN3kV

*The image used in this post is extracted from an animation created for the aircraft performance and cockpit visibility study: https://lnkd.in/gc8SJ3fw

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts

Note the above link to the Department proving that EWB is in on it...

However bizarrely no link or reference to Harfwit's crew at ASA, even though the ADS-B tracking information for the Moorabbin training area incident would have been provided by ASA and presumably triggered a STCA alert?

From AO-2020-012 final report:

"..Because aircraft operate in non-controlled airspace, without published separation standards, it is not unusual for controllers to receive a short term conflict alerts (STCAs). Nuisance alerts, or alerts which need to be checked but very rarely responded to are of little benefit..."

I also wonder why the ADS-B record of the incident and the incident report itself have not been made publicly available to review? From my probing of the almost impenetrable ATSB occurrence database, this incident doesn't appear to have been recorded? see - HERE.

Very much related I note the following ISASI 'lessons learnt' paper: From see-and-avoid to detect-and-avoid:
Learnings from a mid-air collision investigation

Perhaps the passage under the subtitle 'Detect and Avoid' explains the rationale for the strong support of the ATSB advertorial?

The ATSB encourages the fitment of ADS-B transmitting and receiving devices in all aircraft. The technology not only provides for enhanced situational awareness to assist in self-separation outside controlled airspace; but also provides ATC with more accurate information on aircraft movements both within and outside controlled airspace. In Australia, ADS-B data is also accessed by rescue coordination centres, to assist in locating aircraft accidents, particularly in remote areas; and investigative agencies including the ATSB to assist with investigations.

Currently all IFR aircraft operating within, or in and out of, Australia are required to be equipped with ADS-B transmitting equipment (ADS-B OUT). Additionally, some VFR aircraft, depending on their operational location and the type of operation, are required to be fitted with ADS-B transmitting equipment. There are currently no requirements for any aircraft operating in Australia to be equipped with ADS-B IN. There is currently no information available on the number of IFR aircraft in Australia that are fitted with ADS-B IN devices, however Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) recently published data on equipment fitted in VFR aircraft including ADS-B IN. The study found that in 2020, approximately 15-18% of VFR general aviation aircraft were equipped with an ADS-B IN system.

The study also found that approximately 90% of general aviation VFR pilots use some form of electronic flight bag application (EFB) to support their operations. With the introduction of low cost electronic conspicuity devices that can both transmit and receive ADS-B information, all of these pilots can have access to up to date ADS-B information about the aircraft local to them without needing to go to the expense of a full ADS-B IN system. These devices can also provide IFR aircraft that are already equipped with ADS-B OUT, with an ADS-B IN capability. Electronic conspicuity devices capable of either ADS-B IN only or with the transmitting functionality disabled can be used in
IFR aircraft to provide the pilot with ADS-B IN information without the cost of having new system installed.

While effective, these devices paired with EFB applications do not necessarily provide the full functionality of hard-wired ADS-B IN systems and must be correctly setup and configured to work effectively.

To encourage the take up of ADS-B technology both transmitting and receiving amongst VFR pilots the Australian Government opened a rebate scheme in July 2022. This scheme provided a 50% rebate, up to $5,000, on the purchase an installation of ADS-B devices for VFR aircraft. The rebate scheme included the purchase of electronic conspicuity devices to connect to electronic flight bag applications.

It must be noted that having an ADS-B IN display in an aircraft does not change a pilot’s responsibility to communicate to other aircraft via the appropriate radio frequency. These systems should not be used to make traffic avoidance decisions on their own, but rather as an additional source of accurate information for pilots to use when making arrangements with other pilots.

However perhaps the real truth, of the Popinjay bizarre advertorial, lies in the paragraphs that follow under the subtitle 'The Future':

The future

Despite the known limitations of the ‘see and avoid’ concept, including those demonstrated with this accident, it has been used effectively for a long time. However, the basic premise relies on the pilot of the aircraft viewing the environment around them and using radio calls to build situational awareness to identify other aircraft in the vicinity. However, the uptake of remotely piloted or uncrewed aircraft systems (RPAS or UAS) is beginning to challenge this as we are seeing more aircraft operating without a pilot onboard to use visual acquisition.

This is not a problem when the RPAS or UAS are small and operating within line of sight of the pilot who can also see other airborne traffic and manoeuvre to ensure separation. However, we are now seeing larger and higher performance RPAS and UAS operating in many different environments, at higher altitudes and beyond line of sight of the pilot operating them.

Currently in Australia there are several techniques used to ensure effective separation of crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The most common ones are segregated airspace, setting up temporary restricted or danger areas for the operation, putting in place NOTAMS to advise other airspace users of the operation, or the RPA pilots using ADS-B IN technology to assist them in locating other aircraft. However, in Australia without a special permission RPAS are not allowed to transmit ADS-B information to the aircraft around them.

The development of effective techniques to allow RPAS to ‘see and avoid’ other aircraft is currently ongoing and there are multiple systems that are using cameras and other sensors to assist RPAS to locate other aircraft. However, as with the human eye relying on cameras and sensors to detect other aircraft is not always a foolproof solution as with the human eye visible light cameras cannot see through cloud, heat sensors may incorrectly detect birds as threat, or a flock of birds may simply overcome the computers processing power to allow for effective avoidance. Furthermore, these techniques do not alert the pilots operating other aircraft around the RPAS about the hazard.

ADS-B technology can overcome many of these issues. If both the RPAS and the crewed aircraft are transmitting and receiving position information, they can know the type of aircraft and where it is well before it becomes a threat. Not only does this assist in collision avoidance but it reduces workload on agencies not having to segregate airspace or issue NOTAMS.

Soon the effective integration of RPAS and UAS into the airspace system around the world is going to be a necessity. ‘Detect and avoid' is, by necessity, going to have to replace ‘see and avoid’ as the main method by which aircraft and pilots ensure self-separation in airspace where ATC does not provide a separation service. Whether this is using ADS-B or a similar technology remains to be seen, but the mid-air collision at Mangalore demonstrated the limitations of ‘see and avoid’ as a risk control, and the ATSB simulation of both the cockpit view and the ADS-B technology shows how ‘detect and avoid’ will be a key piece of effective airspace management for both crewed and uncrewed aircraft well into the future.

The explosion of RPAS/UAV operations inside CTA in an already overburdened, understaffed and outdated ATC system, if not properly managed, certainly has the potential for disaster. However to state that the fitment of ADS-B would provide an enhancement of situational awareness for VFR aircraft operating inside a designated training area is beyond all reality and perhaps highlights how endemic AIOS ("acquired institutionalised ostrichitis syndrome") has become underneath the Canberra bubble??

MTF...P2