ICAO rapidly revises aircraft tracking rules

The 191 member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), often accused of lumbering decision-making, achieved an unusual feat in February. In a single meeting, they agreed to revise the rules for real time, global tracking of commercial aircraft.

by CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

March 1st 2015

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It’s not official yet, but ICAO’s Second High Level Safety Conference (HLSC2015) last month backed new rules that will make it obligatory for all airliners to be tracked in real time from November 2016. Airlines will be required to track their aircraft using a system that routinely identifies their positions at 15 minute intervals. Read More »

The decision, announced at the conclusion of the ICAO meeting in Montreal in early February, will apply to aircraft wherever they are flying. The new rules are expected to be ratified at ICAO’s Council meeting in November this year.

International Civil Aviation Organisation keen to set up a central information centre that monitors and assesses risks to safe travel of commercial airliners after MH17 was shot down.

When an airplane is in distress, the system will repeat the signal every minute,’’ explained ICAO chairman, Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu. “Global tracking will not prevent accidents, but it will mean no more lost jets,”

The trigger for minute-by-minute reporting would include any unexpected change in altitude or deviation from a flight path. These changes will allow search and rescue teams to more accurately pinpoint a flight’s last known location within six nautical miles (11 kilometers).

The outcome of the Montreal gathering, attended by more than 850 aviation safety professionals representing regulatory authorities and air transport industry stakeholders, was a win for airlines. They had been concerned the ICAO gathering would order them to add expensive equipment on their aircraft to track their flights.

Most big airlines, operating new, high technology aircraft, have the capability to meet the new rules with little change to their operations. In the end, the ICAO conference decided to allow airlines to choose how they will comply with the proposed new rules.

Welcoming the proposed adoption of a new standard for global aircraft tracking, Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director general, Andrew Herdman, said it would be “performance-based, non-prescriptive and not technology limiting. Global airlines would be able to meet it effectively, using a range of available technologies and appropriate operating procedures developed in conjunction with other relevant service providers”.

International Air Transport Association (IATA) director general and CEO, Tony Tyler, said: “The move will continue the industry’s successful record of working with governments to improve safety through global harmonization. We are all moving in the same direction. The conference conclusions should be a reassurance to all travelers that safety is always aviation’s top priority.”

In substance, the ICAO recommendation is for aircraft to report their position every fifteen minutes during normal operations. It applies only to remote areas that are not covered by surveillance or by air traffic services. The IATA-coordinated Aircraft Tracking Task Force noted in its recent report that tracking over remote and oceanic airspace could be achieved through existing means of reporting and that new space-based technologies may play a key, future role.

“Through a combined effort of all stakeholders we can reach performance-based provisions that are founded on proper research and operational experience. We look forward to working with ICAO in the pursuit of effective and sustainable solutions that do not create unnecessary redundancy nor have unintended impacts on safety,” said Tyler.

As well as the key issue of tracking, the Montreal gathering had three major themes on its agenda: reviewing the current situation, the future approach to managing aviation safety and facilitating increased regional cooperation.

It focused on emerging safety issues, along with tracking the risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones (an aftermath of the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over the Ukraine last July) and the protection of safety information.

ICAO has proposed that a centralized repository of factual information and potential threat evaluation be set up to support comprehensive risk assessments by airlines and other industry stakeholders as is necessary.

But developing a fact based and risk assessment information base will not be easy. The information gathering crosses into issues of data privacy and may impinge on the national security of individual nations.

At the ICAO High Level meeting Russia and Europe and the U.S clashed in discussions about the industry’s response to MH17, the airliner that was allegedly brought down in the Ukraine by Russian-backed rebels armed with a sophisticated ground-to-air missile.

A senior Russian official told the ICAO meeting plans for a central information-sharing system “posed legal risks” that could only be addressed by a full meeting of all 191 member states in 2016. Patricia Hayes, Britain’s top aviation official responded: “I think it would reflect on us very badly if we did not see these ideas through to delivery.”

The Netherlands representative, speaking for the European Union said there was no need to delay setting up an information-sharing prototype. One hundred and ninety six Dutch citizens died when MH17 was fatally attacked. ICAO’s chairman said most members supported the scheme, but a final decision is not expected to be made until later this year.

Governments need to demonstrate greater efforts towards full compliance with globally agreed ICAO standards and recommended practices, supported by efforts of the region’s operators, working in close partnership with regulators and other involved stakeholders,” said Herdman.

Singapore to upgrade aircraft tracking Singapore’s safety regulator announced on the sidelines of the Second High Level Safety Conference of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal last month that it intends to upgrade its aircraft tracking capabilities. The director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), Yap Ong Heng, said he had signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Aireon, a U.S. air navigation provider, that will deploy a space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast (ADS-B) service to cover the entire Singapore Flight Information Region (FIR). It may come as a surprise to some in the industry that parts of the Singapore FIR, such as remote areas and over oceans, are not under surveillance coverage. The present system requires air traffic controllers to maintain a larger separation between aircraft to ensure safety. When the ADS-B is in place, Yap said, the real-time positions and en route status information of all ADS-B equipped aircraft flying in the Singapore FIR could be tracked. “This new space-based ADS-B capability represents the next level of surveillance capability. It will complement our existing ground-based air traffic surveillance systems. This technology, together with the right operational procedures, can potentially enhance flight efficiencies and help reduce fuel costs for airlines,” the CAAS director general and chief executive said. Virginia-based Aireon LLC delivers to air navigation service providers the capability to track aircraft anywhere in the world in real time, including coverage over oceanic, polar and remote regions. Don Thoma, the company’s president and chief executive, said: “Singapore is a leader in air traffic management deployment and implementation, and we will be working closely with CAAS to explore and define how Aireon’s capabilities can greatly improve aviation operations in the Singapore FIR and in the region.” Separately, global mobile satellite communications services provider, Inmarsat, has successfully launched its second Global Xpress (GX) satellite (Inmarsat-5 F2) on board an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M rocket launched from Kazakhstan in Central Asia. Built by Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inmarsat-5 F2 is part of a $1.6 billion investment in next gen global mobile broadband communications. A third satellite will soon be launched, with the goal of achieving global satellite coverage.