INMARSAT Plc. touted its partnership with Australian airlines on testing the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) as the Associated Press reported the Land Down Under responded on Monday to the Germanwings air disaster by mandating that at least two crew members be present at all times in cockpits of larger domestic and international airliners.
In replies to the Businessmirror’s queries on the ADS-C sent via electronic mail, Inmarsat has partnered with Airservices Australia (Airservices), Qantas and Virgin Australia in a trial where the frequency of ADS-C position reports has been increased to every 15 minutes from every 30 minutes to 40 minutes previously.
According to the Associated Press (AP) report, Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said airlines including Qantas and Virgin Australia would implement the changed security protocols beginning the afternoon of March 30.
It would apply to all commercial flights with a least two flight attendants or more than 50 passengers, the AP report said. Previously, most Australian airlines have allowed their pilots to be alone on the flight deck, it added. French prosecutors blame copilot Andreas Lubitz, 27, for
The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 claimed 150 lives in southern France on Monday last week. News report quoted authorities as blaming the crash on the copilot who was left alone in the cockpit of the Airbus A320 after closing its doors to the pilot who briefly stepped out.
Inmarsat, however, wasn’t asked about the Germanwings disaster and didn’t volunteer comments neither on the tragedy nor AP’s story.
The company, nonetheless, was widely-quoted in news articles on the tragic mid-air disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
In its response to the Businessmirror, Inmarsat said Australia Airservices has not determined the length of the trial of the ADS-C system that allows flight dispatchers and air traffic controllers to track the aircraft progress and predict its next position.
The company said the system is available around the world utilizing Inmarsat’s global satellite network.
Inmarsat explained that the ADS-C is the key global solution the company offers today to achieve aircraft tracking. “Its value is based on the existing equipage on approximately 90 percent of transoceanic wide bodied aircraft today,” Inmarsat said.
The company added that the ADS-C “is a well-established and the International Civil Aviation Organization [Icao] approved technology that is already available to airlines and air navigation service providers.” Inmarsat said the system works via transmission of data based on an explicit contract between an air navigation service provider and an aircraft.
This contract may be a demand contract, a periodic contract, an event contract and/or an emergency contract, Inmarsat explained. ADS-C is most often employed in the provision of air-traffic services over transcontinental or transoceanic areas.
“ADS-C provides active aircraft position tracking as it transmits the current position and the next two positions as programmed into the aircraft’s flight management system. It is this contract ‘intent’ feature of the ADS-C system that allows flight dispatchers and air-traffic controllers to track the aircraft progress and predict its next position.”
Inmarsat said that the ADS-C trial by Australia Airservices “does not have any impact on normal flight routes mainly because one of the important features is that we are supporting the trial with a proven and already approved tracking technology.”
“This trial is proving that our existing space based technology is compliant with the expectations set out by Icao.”
Dennis D. Estopace