RWY Safety - why Latin America should care about it !
For decades, Latin America has historically ignored ICAO′s recommendations with regards to the use of surface surveillance technologies, for RWY Safety purposes. ?
Due to a mix of cultural and economic reasons, the adoption of ICAO Doc. 9830 A-SMGCS platform, has become the exception rather than the rule in the region.
On the economic side, the high costs associated with A-SMGCS′ cooperative surveillance sensor (Surface Movement Radar) have posed a critical obstacle to Air Navigation Service Providers′ intentions.
On the cultural side, air transport stakeholders in the region, have tacitly accepted that average weather conditions in the region, turned A-SMGCS platform into a too expensive a luxury for our airports.
Such assumption though reflects a serious misinterpretation of ICAO Doc. 9830, which clearly defines that the level of RWY Safety protection required at any given airport is dictated by a combination of:
In effect, the vast majority of RWY incursion events, which have been escalating at a scaring rate, are not related to poor visibility conditions. They are rather an evidence that average air traffic complexity at mid/large airports, exceed air traffic controllers′ human capacity, to identify (without the support of due technological resources) the imminence of hazardous events, in the growing number of potential conflict zones of modern airports.
It goes without saying this is especially true in Latin America, where air traffic controllers are expected to guide pilots, within the non-controlled apron area, which lie under airport operators′ responsibility. ?
For many years, I have wondered why international advice entities never thought of proposing a lower costs version of A-SMGCS, as a means to improve RWY safety at airports in Latin America and other regions, under the same cultural/economical limiting scenario.
And I must say I have never heard a convincing answer !
A pretty basic assessment under pareto principle (the 80/20 rule) would lead to the conclusion that a combination of cooperative surveillance (MLAT/ADS-B) and some safety-net like algorithm, would yield considerable level or RWY safety at a fraction of the cost of A-SMGCS full platform.
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My best personal assumption was that RWY Safety in Latin America and other not-so-wealthy regions was simply not relevant.
But let′s have a look at what is happening out there, as the number of RWY Incursion events seem to be steadily growing, worldwide.
In United States, the FAA has recently published its Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) RFI:
“The FAA is specifically interested in learning more about?cost-effective technological solutions that may be viable for deployment at 450 US airports operating without surface surveillance capabilities”.
In Europe, Eurocontrol NSUR (Network Surveillance User Group) has been actively working in the development of SMAS (Surface Management Awareness System), which may be fairly described as an A-SMGCS light platform:
“A system supported by cooperative sensors, providing as a minimum a Surveillance Service and can include an Alerting Service to maintain the airport throughput under all local weather conditions and an acceptable level of safety”
It looks like worldwide, the acknowledgement of air traffic controllers′ human limitation to safely control an increasing number of flights at increasingly complex airports is a fact.
Under a purely business perspective, the fact that Latin America (and other similar regions) are in the need for exactly the same type of solution, should be wisely used to encourage the industry to consider a much broader potential market for initiatives as FAA′s SAI and Eurocontrol′s SMAS.
It will pretty much depend on how actively and clearly Latin American air transport authorities and stakeholders voice their need and wish for RWY safety. ?