Alaska May Be Getting New ADS-B Equipage Program

According to a report in the Alaska Journal of Commerce, the FAA and several Alaskan aviation groups have signed an agreement that would equip up to 5,000 Alaska-based general aviation and commercial aircraft with ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) avionics.  (Although the Journal report didn't explicitly say so, it could be inferred that FIS-B (flight information system-broadcast) capability would be included as well.)

The Journal report also says the agreement has provisions to install communications, surveillance, navigation and weather reporting infrastructure at select locations in Alaska, by upgrading some Alaskan airports from VFR to IFR (visual to instrument flight rule) capabilities, and to provide surveillance services at locations where none previously existed.

For its part, industry would equip aircraft with the necessary complementary avionics.  "The agreement will be considered null and void if industry is unable to successfully equip aircraft as expected in this agreement," the document states.  However, Howard Swancy, an advisor to the deputy administrator of the FAA, said "this statement within the agreement is not hard and fast."

The agreement also contains a caveat "that a draft detailing the coordination and planning, equipage assistance, financing options and evaluation of recommended sites be submitted to the FAA Surveillance Broadcast Office by April 27 by a committee made up from the Alaska signatories," according to the Journal report.

The agreement was signed by the Alaska Air Carriers Association, the Alaska Airmen's Association, Alaskan Aviation Safety Foundation, Frontier Flying Service, Peninsula Airways Inc., the Helicopter Association International, and Surveillance and FAA Broadcast Systems program manager Vincent Capezzuto.

Missing from the agreement were signatories from the state of Alaska, which owns and operates the airports, the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Era Aviation and Warbelow's Air Ventures, the Journal report said, but state officials were at the table during the writing of the agreement.  02-23-2007.

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