I understand there are some 190 airline aircraft of between 10 and 30 passengers flying in Australia which are not equipped.
This is alarmist and WRONG!! Where do you get your figures?
I can give you the registrations of 54 aircraft that are not required to have TCAS but do! And there must be many many more that I don't know of!
Even the most advanced ADS-B (in relation to being proven) the US Capstone project has a display and no audio - you have to look down at it all of the time rather than looking out. Of course after three months of looking down and not seeing an aircraft, it is the aircraft that comes close that you hit.
Even TCAS I gives a traffic advisory, and you can simply look at the screen at that time, see where the traffic is, then look out and work out how to avoid it. With TCAS II, you get a full resolution advisory. This is existing, proven equipment that is not that expensive.
Do you even know how airlines use TCAS as part of their SOP's? If it get's to a traffic, or resolution advisory, the crew were not doing their job effectively and would require a written report!
I have been saved many times by TCAS without a traffic or resolution advisory! Simply by knowing the whereabouts of another aircraft helps you to avoid it. You do not need to know it's direction of travel nor it's intentions to be able to take safe early avoidance action.
Now as these situations are not 'near misses', nor do they require a written report as no audible alert was sounded, I cannot support my theory with factual data, but ask any airline pilot who regularly arrives at airports in G airspace and I am sure they will have similar stories.
In my opinion an aircraft fitted with ADSB, even without an audible warning, would still increase both situational awareness and safety ten fold!
PS: Please do not bother AFAP, they are busy negotiating me a long overdue pay rise.
