The Civil Air Patrol has partnered with uAvionix Corporation to deploy an ADS-B receiver network to complement FAA sensor data with low altitude aircraft positions to shorten the time it takes to search for and rescue crashed and missing general aviation aircraft.
Volunteers in CAP squadrons in Virginia have assisted uAvionix in locating suitable receiver sites, according to uAvionix officials. Those volunteers also supported the installation of FlightStation ADS-B receivers at various airports in the state.
The dual mode (1090Mhz and 978Mhz) FlightStations receive transponder data from aircraft, which is then sent to the National Radar Analysis Team (NRAT) at Maxwell Air Force Base, where it is combined with FAA sensor data to help locate missing aircraft.
NRAT is activated by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center (AFRCC) when there is a report of a possible missing aircraft or crash. Once the team is activated, analysis and data can be provided in minutes to an incident commander, which is used by air crews to conduct their searches. Before NRAT was created, it could take hours — or days — for this information to get to the CAP crews searching for downed aircraft, according to company officials.
The FlightLine roll-out consists of several ATC grade ADS-B receivers with overlapping coverage, according to uAvionix officials.
They note that traditional ADS-B and radar concentrate mostly on airports and higher altitudes in support of Air Traffic Control. Most other available data sources exclude coverage for 978Mhz transponders, typically used by general aviation aircraft.
“Virginia is the first state in the US to have 100% coverage down to 500 feet of altitude, rapidly expanding to other states,” uAvionix officials said.
“NRAT has been working several years to test small ADS-B receivers to place at locations with limited FAA coverage,” said Lt. Col. Mark Young, NTAT Commander. “The availability of these new receivers, built to RTCA aviation certification standards, and its subsequent real time data from FlightLine data available to CAP is a significant advancement for NRAT. Real time data at lower altitudes significantly improves NRAT’s ability to provide a fast and accurate location of missing aircraft that can be used to support the Emergency Services Search & Rescue mission and will result in lives saved.”
“uAvionix is proud to work together with CAP to improve low altitude data availability for this important public service,” said Christian Ramsey, Managing Director of uAvionix. “The introduction of ADS-B has resulted in a significant improvement of general aviation safety, expanding on the FAA coverage at lower altitude and for UAT transponders typically carried by general aviation will further enhance the tools used in safety of life activities such as CAP‘s Emergency Services mission.”
For more information: uAvionix.com, GoCivilAirPatrol.com.
As an old USCG pilot that’s chased a lot of of ELTs, including one in the trunk of a maint techs car when rural Alaskan a road road set it off as it traveled to his shop… we’ve come a LONG way. Everything helps. The 406 units and digital processing are huge, this looks like another solid step forward.