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FDC 5/2817 (KZNY A0369/15) ZNY VA..SPECIAL NOTICE…DUE TO MILITARY ACTIVITIES ON 1030/1090 MHZ, THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) AND AUTOMATIC DEPENDENT SYSTEM BROADCAST (ADS-B) SURVEILLANCE MAY BE UNRELIABLE IN THE AIRSPACE OVER THE STATES OF VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA, AND EXTENDING APPROXIMATELY 200NM OFFSHORE. PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT THE TRAFFIC ALERT AND COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM (TCAS) MAY FAIL TO ESTABLISH TRACKS ON NEARBY AIRCRAFT AND MAY FAIL TO RECEIVE TRAFFIC ALERTS (TA) AND/OR RESOLUTION ADVISORIES (RA). FURTHER, PILOTS ARE ADVISED THAT TRACKS MAY FIRST APPEAR WITHIN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THEIR AIRCRAFT AND MAY IMMEDIATELY GO INTO TA/RA STATUS. FALSE ALERTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE GENERATED BY THIS MILITARY ACTIVITY AND ANY ALERTS SHALL BE TREATED AS REAL. PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO MAINTAIN AN INCREASED VISUAL AWARENESS IN THIS AREA. IF THE PILOT BELIEVES THAT AN AIRCRAFT SHOULD HAVE TRIGGERED AN ALERT, THE INCIDENCE SHOULD BE REPORTED TO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AT THE EARLIEST OPPORTUNE MOMENT. SFC-FL500 1509020500-1510010459
Apparently, AOPA and the NBAA are both concerned about late notice and ambiguous wording, saying that this is unusual and pilots need more notice.
Here is a statement from AOPA:
September 4, 2015 By Elizabeth A Tennyson
AOPA is trying to get to the bottom of ambiguous notam language and determine why the aviation community was given just one day’s advance notice of military exercises that could make Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and TCAS unreliable along a significant portion of the East Coast for a month.
A notam issued Sept. 1 announced that, beginning Sept. 2, both ADS-B surveillance and TCAS may be unreliable in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as in airspace extending approximately 200 nautical miles off shore. The situation is expected to last through Oct. 1 as a result of military exercises in the area.
But similar military exercises in the past have caused no interference with civilian ADS-B or TCAS, and AOPA is asking the FAA to explain both why the notam was issued so late and what has changed to raise these new concerns.
“We are working to get answers for our members,” said Rune Duke, AOPA director of air traffic and airspace. “This notam has caused considerable alarm and much confusion, while giving pilots little time to prepare. The long duration, ambiguous language, and short notice of this notam are all cause for serious concern. We have spoken with representatives of the FAA and the Department of Defense and will continue to pursue this until we get the answers pilots need.”
The wording of the notam has led many general aviation pilots to believe that ADS-B-based traffic information might not be available to them. But the notam does not specify any interference with 978 MHz ADS-B systems, which are most commonly used by light GA aircraft.
As a result pilots should continue to have access to TIS-B and FIS-B services. The greatest impact will be on aircraft using 1090 MHz ADS-B systems or TCAS, which are primarily used by larger, faster aircraft operating in the flight levels. Air traffic controllers will help ensure separation between military and civilian traffic during the exercises, and no delays or reductions in ATC services are anticipated.
If it is truly due to military activities, they are using a large chunk of very busy airspace. You'd think they would try and be more accommodating with the location.
If it is truly due to military activities, they are using a large chunk of very busy airspace. You'd think they would try and be more accommodating with the location.
That's some of what made me curious. why not use North Dakota or someplace less sensitive? The whole thing just seemed strange to me.
If it is truly due to military activities, they are using a large chunk of very busy airspace. You'd think they would try and be more accommodating with the location.
There used to be a large military training area off the Virginia capes that was instrumented via floating buoys so that air combat could be recorded and replayed in 3 dimensions (system called ACMI, planes uing it used a blue pod similar to a finless AIM9). I say used to because it was active when I was assigned to 1 TFW at Langley back in the late 70s and Early 80s. I have seen later pictures with similar pods since then. I can also remember when we had joint exercises with the Navy where we deployed A/C to Charleston AFB so we could range further along the coast when 'playing with' a Carrier task force.
It might also be that they are going to use some ECM as part of an excercise and are afraid of jamming or disrupting the civilian systems (There was a time when a 'war pod' was loaded on one of our F-15s and many TV and radio stations from Wilmington DE to Wilmington NC as well as ships navigation systems were affected for the 15 minutes it was turned on :-))
is there any chance this could also have to do with the Pope visit? I know sounds crazy but you would not believe the security measures being put into place here in Philly - they are shutting down road to traffic for days, walls being built requiring airport like security to enter etc.
He is flying into DC, then to NYC, then to Philly this month
is there any chance this could also have to do with the Pope visit? I know sounds crazy but you would not believe the security measures being put into place here in Philly - they are shutting down road to traffic for days, walls being built requiring airport like security to enter etc.
He is flying into DC, then to NYC, then to Philly this month
Doubtful, as even in areas of presidential activity this doesn't occur. At least not that I've seen.
ADS-B isn't even mandated until 2020. Interesting that AOPA is concerned with this outage, as a sizable portion of their membership spend their time complaining about the "big brother" aspect of ADS-B, and the cost to upgrade their aircraft.
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