An article (see
here) from Aviation International News Online headed “Natca calls for NextGen Moratorium” makes interesting reading – especially the quote attributed to the US air traffic controllers’ union President, Patrick Forrey:
He said the FAA should suspend all work on the $1.8 billion automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) contract until a reappraisal of NextGen is completed.
Those who read this article and agree with the principle of it must also want to know what is happening here in Australia. I ran a short campaign communicating some of the doubts in relation to ADS-B – especially the ease with which it could be “spoofed”. Other than Airservices cancelling a contract with a Queensland company to develop ADS-B, there has not been a word about the future of the proposed low level ADS-B system.
A second article headed “Back to drawing board on ADS-B proposal” (see
here) also makes important reading for those involved in the Australian aviation industry.
The following claim by the Acting FAA Administrator Bobby Sturgell in relation to the benefits of ADS-B is just about as incorrect as similar claims made here in Australia. He states:
within the cockpit, pilots will know where other airplanes are around them.
Airservices showed the costs of ADS-B “out”, but then linked it with the benefits of ADS-B “in” – which was not costed, does not exist in a certified form, and could be very expensive.
It appears that the FAA is now going to come up with a completely new proposal. Let’s hope Airservices does the same thing!