The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced the introduction, from 11 November 2004, of a new radio frequency for use at aerodromes and airstrips in the UK where no specific VHF frequency is notified. This frequency is 135.475 MHz and will be known as ‘SAFETYCOM’.
SAFETYCOM is only to be used where there is no specific frequency notified. If a frequency is published for an aerodrome, pilots of radio-equipped aircraft must use that frequency even during out of hours operations. It must not be used prior to 11 November as the frequency is currently assigned to another user.
Head of the CAA’s General Aviation Department, John Hills, said: “SAFETYCOM has been introduced as an aid to flight safety and following a suggestion from a general aviation magazine. It is provided to help in avoiding potential collisions between aircraft by allowing pilots to broadcast their intentions for flight safety purposes. It is expected to be a busy frequency, used in many different locations, and it is particularly important that transmissions on SAFETYCOM are concise and unambiguous and are not made beyond the height and range limits applying to the frequency. For the same reasons, SAFETYCOM is not to be used as a ‘chat’ frequency.”
Pilots should also be aware that SAFETYCOM is not a UK equivalent of the UNICOM system used in the United States, and does not work in the same way. Procedures for use of the frequency are published in the recently amended CAP 413 Radiotelephony Manual Chapter 4 Section 6, the Aeronautical Information Publication GEN 3-4-5 and in an Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) 103/2004 (Yellow 153).
As at all other times, pilots using SAFETYCOM must maintain their lookout and comply with the Rules of the Air, particularly those for avoiding aerial collisions, as other pilots in the vicinity may not be monitoring the same frequency. Pilots must also remember that there is no air traffic service associated with SAFETYCOM and that use of the frequency does not confer any right of way or mean that they are receiving a service.
John Hills added: “SAFETYCOM will be monitored by the CAA and its use reviewed a year after its introduction. Its continued provision will depend on the outcome of the review and any evidence of abuse may result in its withdrawal.”