Latest news with #ADS-B
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
US senators propose sweeping FAA air safety reforms after fatal collision
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A group of seven Democratic senators on Thursday introduced sweeping air safety legislation after a fatal collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet in January near Reagan Washington National Airport killed 67 people. Lawmakers have questioned why the Federal Aviation Administration failed to act for years to address close calls involving helicopters near Reagan. The legislation would require a review of helicopter and passenger operations at major airports, mandate new FAA safety reviews after fatal passenger airline accidents and require the use of use ADS-B, an advanced aircraft-tracking technology.
Business Wire
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Trinidad & Tobago Signs On for Aireon's ADS-B Air Traffic Surveillance Data
MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) marked a major step forward in aviation safety, signing a contract to deploy Aireon's space-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data for air traffic surveillance. Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) marked a major step forward in aviation safety, signing a contract to deploy Aireon's space-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data for air traffic surveillance. Share The contract covers space-based ADS-B data services for the entire Piarco Flight Information Region (FIR), a 2.5 million square kilometer area in the Eastern Caribbean. The Piarco FIR is critical piece of airspace, offering seamless air traffic flow visibility for European (NAV Portugal), African (ASECNA and Cape Verde), Caribbean (Curacao), and Central American (French Guiana, COCESNA) air navigation service providers (ANSP) all using Aireon data. Trinidad and Tobago has seen a robust increase in air traffic in the post-COVID era. The Aireon data will support the ANSP's efforts to more effectively manage that increase to ensure safe operations. 'The Piarco FIR is nearly surrounded by equally safety conscious ANSPs who are also using Aireon data. That means aircraft flying between Central America and Europe, and Central America and Africa, will all have the world's most reliable, and most accurate information. In the end, that means more efficiency and increased safety throughout the region,' said Don Thoma, Aireon CEO. About Aireon LLC Aireon has deployed a space-based air traffic surveillance system for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft throughout the entire globe. Aireon is harnessing next-generation aviation surveillance technologies that were formerly ground-based and, for the first time ever, is extending their reach globally to significantly improve efficiency, enhance safety, reduce emissions, and provide cost savings benefits to all stakeholders. Space-based ADS-B surveillance covers oceanic, polar, and remote regions, and augments existing ground-based systems that are limited to terrestrial airspace. In partnership with leading ANSPs from around the world, like NAV CANADA, AirNav Ireland, ENAV, NATS and Naviair, as well as Iridium Communications, Aireon is providing a global, real-time, space-based air traffic surveillance system, available to all aviation stakeholders. For more information, please visit
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trinidad & Tobago Signs On for Aireon's ADS-B Air Traffic Surveillance Data
MCLEAN, Va., June 03, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) marked a major step forward in aviation safety, signing a contract to deploy Aireon's space-based automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data for air traffic surveillance. The contract covers space-based ADS-B data services for the entire Piarco Flight Information Region (FIR), a 2.5 million square kilometer area in the Eastern Caribbean. The Piarco FIR is critical piece of airspace, offering seamless air traffic flow visibility for European (NAV Portugal), African (ASECNA and Cape Verde), Caribbean (Curacao), and Central American (French Guiana, COCESNA) air navigation service providers (ANSP) all using Aireon data. Trinidad and Tobago has seen a robust increase in air traffic in the post-COVID era. The Aireon data will support the ANSP's efforts to more effectively manage that increase to ensure safe operations. "The Piarco FIR is nearly surrounded by equally safety conscious ANSPs who are also using Aireon data. That means aircraft flying between Central America and Europe, and Central America and Africa, will all have the world's most reliable, and most accurate information. In the end, that means more efficiency and increased safety throughout the region," said Don Thoma, Aireon CEO. About Aireon LLC Aireon has deployed a space-based air traffic surveillance system for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft throughout the entire globe. Aireon is harnessing next-generation aviation surveillance technologies that were formerly ground-based and, for the first time ever, is extending their reach globally to significantly improve efficiency, enhance safety, reduce emissions, and provide cost savings benefits to all stakeholders. Space-based ADS-B surveillance covers oceanic, polar, and remote regions, and augments existing ground-based systems that are limited to terrestrial airspace. In partnership with leading ANSPs from around the world, like NAV CANADA, AirNav Ireland, ENAV, NATS and Naviair, as well as Iridium Communications, Aireon is providing a global, real-time, space-based air traffic surveillance system, available to all aviation stakeholders. For more information, please visit View source version on Contacts Emily Feliz +1
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
US Pentagon lost contact with helicopter causing jets to nix DC airport landing
Military air traffic controllers lost contact with an Army helicopter for about 20 seconds as it neared the Pentagon on the flight that caused two commercial jets to abort their landings this month at a Washington airport, the Army told The Associated Press on Friday. The aborted landings on May 1 added to general unease about continued close calls between government helicopters and commercial airplanes near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people. Also Read: Another close call at Reagan Airport: Plane carrying lawmakers struck by aircraft| Video In March, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that helicopters would be permanently restricted from flying on the same route where the collision occurred. After the May 1 incident, the Army paused all flights into and out of the Pentagon as it works with the FAA to address safety issues. Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the head of Army aviation, told the AP in an exclusive interview that the controllers lost contact with the Black Hawk because a temporary control tower antenna was not set up in a location where it would be able to maintain contact with the helicopter as it flew low and rounded the Pentagon to land. He said the antenna was set up during construction of a new control tower and has now been moved to the roof of the Pentagon. Also Read: Who is Lue Elizondo? The ex-Pentagon official behind the controversial '1,000-foot UFO' photo Braman said federal air traffic controllers inside the Washington airport also didn't have a good fix on the location of the helicopter. The Black Hawk was transmitting data that should have given controllers its precise location, but Braman said FAA officials told him in meetings last week that the data the controllers were getting from multiple feeds and sensors was inconclusive, with some of it deviating by as much as three-quarters of a mile. 'It certainly led to confusion of air traffic control of where they were,' Braman said. Former FAA and NTSB crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said he thinks the air traffic controller did the right thing by ordering the two planes to go around that day. Also Read: Who is Jo Ellis? Trans Black Hawk pilot wrongly named in crash breaks silence; 'I don't deserve this' 'The Army, to me, seems to be attempting to sidestep some of their responsibility here. And it just sounds like excuses to say 'Hey, we had our ADS-B on and that should have been enough for them to see where we were.' That sounds too simplistic to me,' Guzzetti said. The FAA declined to comment on whether its controllers could not get a good fix on the Black Hawk's location due to their own equipment issues, citing the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is pushing to have the agency modernize its air traffic control systems and equipment, which has failed controllers responsible for Newark Liberty Internal Airport's airspace at critical moments in recent weeks. In the initial reporting on the aborted landings, an FAA official suggested the Army helicopter was on a 'scenic route.' But the ADS-B-Out data, which the Army shared with the AP on Friday, shows the crew hewed closely to its approved flight path — directly up the I-395 highway corridor, which is called Route 5, then rounding the Pentagon. FAA air traffic controllers at the airport aborted the landing of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 during the Black Hawk's initial flight toward the Pentagon because they realized both aircraft would be nearing the Pentagon around the same time, Braman said. Because of the 20-second loss of contact, the Pentagon's tower did not clear the Black Hawk to land, so the helicopter circled the Pentagon a second time. That's when air traffic controllers at the airport decided to abort the landing of a second jet, a Republic Airways Embraer E170, because they did not have a confident fix on the Black Hawk's location, Braman said.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-05-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
Pentagon lost contact with Army helicopter on flight that caused jets to nix landings at DC airport
WASHINGTON (AP) — Military air traffic controllers lost contact with an Army helicopter for about 20 seconds as it neared the Pentagon on the flight that caused two commercial jets to abort their landings this month at a Washington airport, the Army told The Associated Press on Friday. The aborted landings on May 1 added to general unease about continued close calls between government helicopters and commercial airplanes near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport following a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter that killed 67 people. In March, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that helicopters would be permanently restricted from flying on the same route where the collision occurred. After the May 1 incident, the Army paused all flights into and out of the Pentagon as it works with the FAA to address safety issues. Brig. Gen. Matthew Braman, the head of Army aviation, told the AP in an exclusive interview that the controllers lost contact with the Black Hawk because a temporary control tower antenna was not set up in a location where it would be able to maintain contact with the helicopter as it flew low and rounded the Pentagon to land. He said the antenna was set up during construction of a new control tower and has now been moved to the roof of the Pentagon. Braman said federal air traffic controllers inside the Washington airport also didn't have a good fix on the location of the helicopter. The Black Hawk was transmitting data that should have given controllers its precise location, but Braman said FAA officials told him in meetings last week that the data the controllers were getting from multiple feeds and sensors was inconclusive, with some of it deviating by as much as three-quarters of a mile. 'It certainly led to confusion of air traffic control of where they were,' Braman said. Former FAA and NTSB crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said he thinks the air traffic controller did the right thing by ordering the two planes to go around that day. 'The Army, to me, seems to be attempting to sidestep some of their responsibility here. And it just sounds like excuses to say 'Hey, we had our ADS-B on and that should have been enough for them to see where we were.' That sounds too simplistic to me,' Guzzetti said. The FAA declined to comment on whether its controllers could not get a good fix on the Black Hawk's location due to their own equipment issues, citing the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is pushing to have the agency modernize its air traffic control systems and equipment, which has failed controllers responsible for Newark Liberty Internal Airport's airspace at critical moments in recent weeks. In the initial reporting on the aborted landings, an FAA official suggested the Army helicopter was on a 'scenic route.' But the ADS-B-Out data, which the Army shared with the AP on Friday, shows the crew hewed closely to its approved flight path — directly up the I-395 highway corridor, which is called Route 5, then rounding the Pentagon. FAA air traffic controllers at the airport aborted the landing of a Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 during the Black Hawk's initial flight toward the Pentagon because they realized both aircraft would be nearing the Pentagon around the same time, Braman said. Because of the 20-second loss of contact, the Pentagon's tower did not clear the Black Hawk to land, so the helicopter circled the Pentagon a second time. That's when air traffic controllers at the airport decided to abort the landing of a second jet, a Republic Airways Embraer E170, because they did not have a confident fix on the Black Hawk's location, Braman said. —-
