NOTE: The compliance date for the ADT requirement was extended at ICAO and also EASA.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) released Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2022-104, Postponement of the requirements for locating an aircraft in distress, to its advisory bodies for consultation earlier today. The NPA is being issued for a limited consultation with the agency’s advisory bodies until 24 August 2022. The EASA NPA is being issued in response to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adoption of Amendment 48 to ICAO Annex 6, Part I, on July 18. GAMA is a member of EASA’s advisory bodies and welcomes feedback from member companies by Friday, August 19.
The proposed amendment would replace Commission Regulation (EU) No 965/2012, specifically CAT.GET.MPA.210, Location of an aircraft in distress – Aeroplanes, with the following text:
As of 1 January 2025, the following aeroplanes shall be equipped with robust and automatic means to accurately determine, following an accident during which the aeroplane is severely damaged, the location of the point of end of flight:
(a) all aeroplanes with an MCTOM of more than 27 000 kg, with an MOPSC of more than 19, and first issued with an individual CofA on or after 1 January 2024; and
(b) all aeroplanes with an MCTOM of more than 45 500 kg and first issued with an individual CofA on or after 1 January 2025.
The associated amendment to the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARP) adopted earlier this summer changed Section 6.18 of ICAO Annex 6 (Operation of Aircraft) Part I (International Commercial Air Transport – Aeroplanes) from an applicability to aeroplanes with an MCTOM of 27 000 kg with an individual certificate issued on or after 1 January 2023 to the following Standard:
6.18.1 As of 1 January 2025, all aeroplanes of a maximum certificated take-off mass of over 27 000 kg for which the individual certificate of airworthiness is first issued on or after 1 January 2024, shall autonomously transmit information from which a position can be determined by the operator at least once every minute, when in distress, in accordance with Appendix 9.
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NOTE: The compliance date for the GADDS requirement was extended by two years from January 1, 2021 until January 1, 2023
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Update on GADSS-Related Global Aircraft Tracking Initiatives
March 2016
Normal Aircraft Tracking
On 10 November 2015, the ICAO Council adopted Amendment 39 to Annex 6 — Operation of Aircraft, Part I — International Commercial Air Transport — Aeroplanes which included the normal aircraft tracking Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). These SARPs became effective on 20 March 2016 and will be applicable on 8 November 2018. Amendment 39 will be issued in April 2016.
The normal aircraft tracking SARPs establish the air operator’s responsibility to track its aircraft throughout its area of operations. It establishes an aircraft-tracking time interval of 15 minutes whenever air traffic services obtain an aircraft’s position information at greater than 15-minute intervals for aeroplanes with a seating capacity greater than nineteen. This aircraft-tracking time interval further applies as a recommendation to all operations of aircraft with a take-off mass of 27 000 kg and as a requirement to all operations of aircraft with a take-off mass of 45 500 kg when flying over oceanic areas.
The SARPs also establish the requirements for data retention to assist search and rescue (SAR) in determining the last known position of the aircraft. Finally, the SARPs establish when an air operator needs to report missing aircraft position information.
Location of an aeroplane in distress (ADT – Autonomous Distress Tracking)
On 2 March 2016, the ICAO Council adopted Amendment 40 to Annex 6, Part I which included, among other elements, SARPs relating to the location of an aeroplane in distress. These SARPs address the Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS) autonomous distress tracking (ADT) concept. The SARPs will become effective on 11 July 2016 and will be applicable on 1 January 2021. Amendment 40 will be issued in July 2016.
The SARPs relating to the location of an aeroplane in distress establish the requirement for an aeroplane to autonomously transmit information from which a position can be determined at least once every minute when in a distress condition. An aircraft is in a distress condition when it is in a state that, if the aircraft behaviour event is left uncorrected, could result in an accident. The SARPs are applicable to new aeroplanes with take-off mass greater than 27 000 kg from 1 January 2021. The requirement also recommends that it applies to new aeroplanes with take-off mass greater than 5 700 kg from the same date.
The SARPs specify that autonomous transmission of position information needs to be active when an aircraft is in a distress condition. This will provide a high probability of locating an accident site to within a 6 NM radius. It also specifies that the transmission can be activated manually. The SARP is not technology-specific and will allow for various solutions, including a triggered transmission system. It specifies performance criteria such as that the autonomous transmission of position information needs to be capable of transmitting the information in the event of aircraft electrical power loss, at least for the expected duration of the entire flight.
The SARP also establishes the requirements for making this information available to the relevant authorities such as SAR Regional Coordination Centers and air traffic services. Finally, although these SARPs apply only to newly manufactured aircraft, there is an incentive to retrofit aeroplanes with ADT systems since they can replace one of two required emergency locator transmitters (ELT).
Ongoing work
The above-mentioned adopted SARPs (Amendments 39 and 40) provide clarity on the information that will be available when they become applicable. ICAO is now working on reviewing procedures for air navigation services (PANS), and possibly other Annexes, to ensure that the flow of information is well established by the time these new systems come online.
These SARPs will be available in the ICAO online store at http://store1.icao.int on the above mentioned issuance dates.