European Airline Training Symposium, 6 November 2012 1 European Airline Training Symposium, 6 November 2012 1 The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation
TCAS II version 7.1
Changes & training needs
www.eurocontrol.int/acas
European Airline Training Symposium, 6 November 2012
Presented by: Stan Drozdowski
EUROCONTROL
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EUROCONTROL & TCAS
• Civil-military organisation
• 39 Member States
Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System
• TCAS is an established and proven safety net
• New version (7.1)
• Training and awareness required
EUROCONTROL initiated the development of TCAS version 7.1
following the discovery of two safety issues
European Organisation for the Safety of Air
Navigation: EUROCONTROL
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TCAS version 7.1 mandate
• Existing aircraft: before 1 December 2015
• New aircraft: from 1 March 2012
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EU mandate sets an earlier equipage requirement than
ICAO Annex 10 (existing aircraft: 2017, new aircraft: 2014)
Applies to:
• European Union airspace
• All aircraft above 5,700 kg MTOW, or
• Authorised to carry more than 19 passengers
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Two changes in Version 7.1
1. “Level off, level off” RA
replaces “Adjust Vertical
Speed Adjust” (AVSA) RA
2. Improvements to reversal
logic
Source: EUROCONTROL PASS project monitoring (880 RAs)
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New “Level off, level off” RA
2000 ft/min.
1000 ft/min.
500 ft/min.
0 ft/min. 0 ft/min.
RA requires one of these
vertical speeds RA requires a PROMPT level-off
(vertical speed 0 ft/min) “Adjust vertical
speed, adjust” RA “Level off,
level off” RA
Version 7.1 Version 7.0
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Improvement to the reversal logic
Pilot does not comply with a “Climb, climb” RA
or TCAS unequipped aircraft following an ATC
instruction or visual avoidance Version 7.0: No reversal
“Descend, descend” RA
Version 7.1:
Threat’s non-compliance detected,
reversal RA issued
“Climb, climb NOW” RA
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Pilot training will be needed
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A pilot who never follows RAs faces three times the risk faced by a
pilot who always does it correctly
• To communicate changes in
Version 7.1
• And to help improve overall TCAS
compliance
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TCAS compliance is an issue
TCAS RAs must be followed promptly and correctly
Major reasons for non-
compliance
• Rare events (±18/day)
• Relatively low pilot/controller
exposure
• Shortcomings in training
• Simulator exercises not too
frequent and often not realistic
Source: 2010 Egis Avia TCAS-SAF study
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Reporting RAs to ATC is also an issue
RA reporting to ATC
• Only RAs requiring a departure from the current clearance are to be reported (“[callsign] TCAS RA”)
• Only 30% of these RAs reported timely and correctly
Why critical for ATC?
• Signifies when ATC should no longer change the flight path
• Increases ATC situational awareness
• Changes still not reflected in the Ops Manuals
• Some operators do not prioritise RA reporting
• Some instruct to report only after “clear of conflict”
Airlines response to changes in ICAO
provisions (2007)
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Why is TCAS training challenging?
• RAs are stressful - difficult to recreate
• TCAS-related procedures are counter-
intuitive
• Once the RA is reported, ATC ceases
issuing instructions until ‘clear of
conflict’ is reported by the crew
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Many RAs involve more than one TCAS equipped aircraft -
essential that each flight crew respond in the expected manner
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Operational training using real-life
examples will help
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• Strengthening RAs
• Reversal RAs
• TCAS traffic display
• Reporting to ATC
• Vertical speed
Learning points
• How others reacted …. What kind of mistakes were made
• How correct action improved (or could have improved) the situation
4000
Cessna Citation
B777
3600
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ACAS Bulletins are a useful resource
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“Practical real-life examples de-identified for training purposes”
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Also other training aids
Available from www.eurocontrol.int/acas also www.skybrary.aero
Email: [email protected]
Overview of ACAS II
(presentation)
ACAS II Guide
TCAS II version 7.1 for pilots
(presentation)
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Summary
• TCAS RAs are rare but critical events
• Non-compliance needs to be addressed
• Aircraft operators should ensure crews are
• Aware of the TCAS version 7.1 upgrade
• Trained on the new “Level off, level off” RA
• Understand how to respond correctly to all RAs
• Recurrent training
• Will improve flight crew responses to RAs
• Should focus on the operational rather than technical aspects
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