Acting Federal Aviation Administrator Robert Sturgell used an appearance at the annual Heli-Expo helicopter industry trade show to announce that Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) services will be available in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of 2009. He also announced the first major revision of airworthiness standards for rotorcraft in almost 20 years.
While attending the Helicopter Association International (HAI) event in Houston, TX, the FAA boss touted ADS-B, which he dubbed “a transformational technology that’ll create a brand new National Airspace System (NAS). It’ll be the go-to system for anyone and everyone who operates in remote areas at low levels.”
He said the FAA is “fully committed” to this program…The first wave of the ADS-B rollout, VHF air-to-ground communications, is already under way.”
He said the FAA is conducting a design review of prime contractor ITT’s ADS-B system. “Once that’s done, it’ll clear the way for the company to begin sending equipment out to the (oil) platforms. This is the equipment that’ll be used for air traffic separation services.”
Stated Sturgell: “What this all means is that by December of 2009, the FAA will, for the first time, be providing communications, weather and surveillance to helicopter operators in the Gulf of Mexico. Picture that. Houston center will now have the ability to separate ADS-B surveilled targets by next year.
“We’re essentially improving procedural NAS and creating something extremely beneficial out of it. We’re stretching the airspace–extending it to the altitudes and the areas that you operate in.
“Others may be able to benefit from what we’re doing too, like emergency medical services, or the air tour industry. With ADS-B, the possibilities are all there,” he has concluded.
Regarding helicopter safety in the region, Sturgell noted that there’s been a steady improvement in the overall accident rate and fatal accident rate in the past few years. In 2006, helicopters flew over one million hours in the Gulf. And in that time, the rate was 1.48 accidents for every 100,000 hours flown. Of the 1.48 accidents, 0.25 were fatal.
“While this isn’t on par with the commercial safety record,” he said, “it’s important to keep in mind the kinds of operations in the Gulf–brief trips from one elevated helipad to another, that take place all day long.
“With that kind of work, the margin for error is small because of the operational hazards. But ADS-B can not only stretch the boundaries of the NAS. It can stretch the net of safety too.
“All in all, we’re making great strides. And I think much of the credit goes to the International Helicopter Safety Team. Their goal is to reduce the worldwide military and civil helicopter accident rate by 80 percent by 2016. With members like HAI, FAA, Transport Canada, and ICAO, I don’t see how the IHST can’t hit that goal,” he added.
ADS-B is part of the FAA’s plan to transform air traffic control from the current radar-based system to the satellite-based system of the not-too-distant future. ADS-B will serve as the cornerstone for this transformation, bringing the precision and reliability of satellite-based surveillance to the nation’s skies.
With ADS-B, pilots for the first time will see the same kind of real-time traffic displays that are viewed by controllers. This will dramatically improve pilots’ situational awareness, since they will know where they are in relation to other aircraft, bad weather and terrain.
This technology is already showing benefits in Alaska, for example there is a projected 47 percent drop in the fatal accident rate for aircraft equipped with ADS-B in Southeast Alaska.
ADS-B uses GPS signals in conjunction with aircraft avionics to transmit the aircraft’s location to ground receivers for presentation to air traffic controllers. Pilots with ADS-B avionics will receive traffic and weather information on cockpit displays.
Radar coverage does not extend over the Gulf of Mexico. This means that controllers tracking aircraft flying at low altitudes over the Gulf currently use a procedural grid system based on reported — not actual — position.
In order to keep aircraft safely separated, a significant amount of airspace must be sanitized around each aircraft, severely reducing capacity.
ADS-B will greatly improve the safety and efficiency of aircraft flying over the Gulf. This includes high-altitude commercial aircraft flying between the U.S. and Mexico, and helicopters flying at low altitudes to and from oil rigs. There are approximately 5,500 oil platforms in the Gulf. Helicopters servicing those rigs fly between 5,000 and 9,000 operations per day.
The FAA will be able to install ADS-B ground stations on oil rigs due to a Memorandum of Agreement signed with HAI, operators and platform companies. The FAA will receive valuable space on platforms for ground stations, power, telecommunications and transportation to and from the rigs. Industry support continues to grow — 33 entities have now signed the MOA. This includes operators of 96 percent of the helicopters that operate in the Gulf and 50 percent of the offshore platforms.
Meanwhile, the FAA has signed a final rule for rotorcraft performance and handling, which raises the safety bar another notch higher, and more importantly, it reflects the evolution of rotorcraft capabilities.
The rule harmonizes U.S. and European airworthiness standards for rotorcraft. And, it represents the first changes to performance and handling regulations in almost two decades.