Aircraft owners want 100% compliance to use ADS-B tracking

…to enable faster search and rescue
The Aircraft Owners’ Association of Guyana (AOAG) on Thursday lobbied for a blanket use of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADSB), which would enable faster response to an emergency, and would keep aircraft connected across Guyana’s airspace.

At their Annual General Meeting, AOAG President Michael Correia Jnr noted that this feature, when installed on aircraft, provides an ease in facilitating search-and- rescue operations.
ADS–B is categorised as a surveillance technology in which an aircraft determines its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcasts it, enabling that aircraft to be tracked.
The association noted that compliance should reach 100 per cent in Guyana. This equipment is said to be much cheaper than the radar tracking devices.
“It is essential that this network be extended to provide 100 per cent coverage of the country. It is a technology that is less expensive than radar, and will enhance the country’s search-and-rescue capability. We urge therefore that the [GCAA] now institute 100 per cent for all aircraft to have this equipment fully installed and fully operational,” the Association President noted.
He further stated that this technology is vital for aviation safety. In the event that an aircraft crashes in Guyana’s jungle, it can be used immediately to locate the wreck and extract survivors. With the advent of the oil and gas sector, Correia said, it is important to develop the country’s aviation industry.
“We, as a country, are poised to take off into a whole new phase of development, and the aviation industry continues to play a critical part in this process. Taking this into considering, there are a number of priority areas which need urgent addressing.”
Support was thrown behind Government’s support for the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority with regards to budgetary allocations. Correia said that with adequate financial backing, the agency can fulfill its mandate of responding to demands.

“There is no question that the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority is in a better place to support the growth of the aviation industry, not only in Guyana, but in the region for the foreseeable future. Our association is in full support of giving the authority the financial and administrative means to serve our country as a modern, fully functioning and active authority, fitting and responding to the demands of a rapidly expanding, growing economy to be expected from a soon to be major oil and gas producing country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Director General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCCA) Lieutenant-Colonel Egbert Field, shared that two of the four antennas to emit ADS-B signals were not functioning efficiently and the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a hindrance in fixing the problem immediately.
“The ADS-B, we reached a stumbling block just a few months ago. We have four antennas spread across Guyana: Kaituma, Kamarang, Annai and Kaieteur. The Kaieteur and Annai antennas were giving us some weak signals, so we engaged e-governance,” Field highlighted.
He noted that equipment was available at that time to improve the signals, and stakeholders were ready. After revision of the circumstances as they relate to the pandemic, he said they will be going out to install the equipment.
“At the same time, COVID-19 hit us and e-governance decided that they were not sending their workers out there…My discourse with them, about two weeks ago, is that they’re ready to proceed out and to install the antenna.”
Meanwhile, the Liza Unit FPSO vessel which is yet to reach Guyana’s shores will be outfitted with an antenna to provide coverage for the choppers as they proceed offshore.