Qantas Makes First Commercial Landing Using Augmented GPS

Airservices Australia reports a Qantas B-737-800, operating as QF flight 513 from Brisbane to Sydney, became the first commercial flight to use GPS along with a GBAS (ground-based augmentation system) for guidance on it final approach to landing.

The approach and landing was accomplished on a prototype category-1 GBAS installed on Sydney's Runway 16 Left in late November.

GBAS provides augments to the positioning signals of GNSS (global navigation satellite systems), such as GPS, by transmitting needed accuracy and integrity data to an equipped aircraft every second, to ensure that its flight guidance systems have the necessary precision, to make landings in extremely low visibility conditions.  But unlike current ILS (instrument landing systems), which can only work on a single runway end for this purpose, one GBAS can give guidance to all nearby runways.

Nine Qantas B-737-800s are capable of using GBAS under the trial's parameters.  Airservices says work is continuing to develop and fully certify a production system within two years time.  12-12-2006.

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