The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has mandated that all aircraft operating in certain airspace will be required to carry and use Automatic Depedent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) Out technology from 2020 as part of its NextGen project.
“This rule gives the green light for manufacturers to begin building the onboard equipment that will allow our air traffic controllers to know where aircraft are with greater precision and reliability,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “That is one of the key elements of NextGen that will improve the safety and efficiency of flight.”
By 2020, the FAA will require ADS-B equipment for aircraft flying in airspace including Classes A, B and C, around busy airports and above 10,000ft. ADS-B is already in limited use in the Gulf of Mexico, South Florida and in the airspace above Louisville, Philadelphia and Juneau, Alaska, while a nationwide rollout of ADS-B ground stations is expected to be complete by 2013.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association welcomed the announcement, with CEO Pete Bunce saying, “With this rule, we have the standards in place that will allow for further acceleration of air traffic modernisation particularly if we can incentivise operators to expedite the equipage of their aircraft.”
