The
need for tracking
Today’s airline needs a modernized and integrated
way of tracking aircraft status and location globally.
Currently, most aircrafts
are tracked by manually manipulating templates on flight
and hangar deck scale models or simply on a whiteboard hanging
in the operations room. The managers of the boards continually
receive their inputs from ATC tower or by VHF /phones. This
method is manually intensive and subject to numerous human
errors. The “board based tracking”
is managed in the ops room and there is no connectivity
to other aircraft personnel. This requires other organizations
to conduct aircraft tracking independently.
The need of the hour is
technologies to automatically obtain aircraft position and
orientation tracking data, specifically aircraft identification
(by aircraft type), location and orientation, in real-time
for all aircraft, mobile and stationary, on the flight and
at airports. Such an automated tracking system would save
workload, and result in more accurate and current data.
Any hardware installed
on aircraft must be very small and light, so that placement
will not interfere with operations or require unnecessary
flight qualities certification. It must survive exposure
to weather, water, extreme heat and cold, physical contact,
fuel, solvents, hydraulic fluid, and the full flight envelope
of the host aircraft.
Airline Industry
Opinion
Talking to several senior airline executives we
understand that providing a suitable means of communication
globally gives them an advantage on getting extended ETPOS
certification, which is currently limited to 120 mins in
most cases. The airlines tend to save a lot of money if
they can get extended ETOPS (Extended Range Twin Engine
Operations as they would then be able to take a shorter
“as the crow flies” route thereby saving
travel time and above all fuel bills. (This is a point that
has to be verified with the DGCA).
Most airline senior management
have confirmed to us that after every safety audit of their
aircrafts the most common question that they are asked by
the auditors is what they are doing about tracking and monitoring
their aircrafts. What has surprised us that most of the
airlines are not aware of the global Aero C tracking capabilities
though they are using some form of a combined VHF
and ATC reporting mechanism for keeping a track of their
aircrafts.
Airlines are subject to more threats and terrorist attacks
than ships hence the requirement for an automatic tracking
system without any human intervention
The fitment of a Satcom communication system should be seen
as a safety and security measures and that ETOPS relaxation
should be given to aircrafts fitting satcoms of any kind.
The Advantages
of Aero C Tracking
Efficient management of resources is critical
to any type of mission or job involving aircraft. The most
economic and the easiest way to have a full-time “Gods
Eye view” of all aircraft location, track, and
status of the entire fleet under any circumstances
Greatly improved levels of operational efficiency, customer
service, crew support, and aircraft monitoring are achievable
when your fleet is equipped with Aero C Each. Aero C - equipped
aircraft transmits real-time position reports via satellite
to any authorized PC.
Track aircrafts at any altitude, anywhere in the world -
right from your personal computer. Flight tracking is effective
both in and out of ATC radar coverage range.
Flight monitoring can be done from multiple locations simultaneously.
The dispatch center, a flight operations manager, and the
company CEO can all receive full or filtered real-time flight
status data of a company’s fleet. Flight tracks are
recordable for subsequent review and debriefing.
Security benefits
of discreet tracking in case of Hijacking
Proven world class system in use with over 1500
aircrafts
Improves conflict prediction
if tracking info provided to ATC/ Ground controllers.
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