Originally Posted by
Capn Bloggs
Maybe the pollies (or whoever is feeding them this nonsense) think it can be bolted onto the TCAS, overnight job, done... problem solved.
No, they don't think that.
Sections 101-103 of ALERT drive the TCAS update that's been in the works since 2008, and require helicopters operating in class B airspace to have it.
Section 104 sets a timeline for ADS-B in in part 91 operations, with some kind of collision alerting. This type of "TCAS light" is for aircraft that didn't have anything before. It's not "bolted onto TCAS", and because it has audio alerts, pilots won't need to look at it constantly to reap some benefit from it.
I really don't see a downside in requiring the flying dentists to bring a tablet that'll tell them when they're about to fly into someone else.
It's an extra slice of cheese, sure it has holes, but it's still added protection.