…Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system before year-end
The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) systems which are aimed at bolstering safety in the aviation sector will become fully operational before the end of the year.
GCAA Director General Egbert Field
Speaking with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) Director General, Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d), Egbert Field said this would put Guyana ahead of the United States, since their mandatory commencement date is January 1, 2020.
The ADS-B Systems are currently installed at the Kaieteur, Port Kaituma, Annai and Kamarang air traffic control towers. The satellite stations at Port Kaituma and Kamarang are up and running. The two at Kaieteur and Annai are yet to come on stream; this is as a result of the uplink of the data being slower as a result of insufficient bandwidth.
“We have entered an agreement with E-governance to supply us with the bandwidth. They ran all the cables and necessary equipment to the tower at Timehri and we are awaiting the installation of the IP address. That should be taking place very shortly, which will activate the other two stations,” Field explained.
The Director General said the GCAA has included necessary elements of the ADS-B equipment which must be installed in aircraft in its regulation. He noted that the ADS-B programme was critical and necessary for Guyana’s aviation sector. Operators are urged to install the complementary equipment, the transponder, on their aircraft.
“On a weekly basis, I see documents where operators are asking for permission to do the modification of the aircraft to have the system installed. So, we are moving ahead and by the end of this year or before, we will be looking at moving from the test mode to fully operational. So, [we] will be ahead of the US in the implementation of the ADS-B,” the Director General explained.
An ADS-B system is one that allows an aircraft to determine its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcast its location, enabling it to be tracked. The systems were installed last year, upon acquisition of the simulator.
