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From: John Huft <aflyer@lazy8.net>
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Subject: Re: [LML] New Aircraft Tracking System
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Lorn H Olsen wrote:
> Of interest, from USA Today.
> 
> Feathers
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> --
> For archives and unsub http://mail.lancaironline.net/lists/lml/


Great...reconcile that with this--
John


Capstone Goes Off The Glass In Alaska

FAA Says Too Many Signatures Were On ATC Screens
By ANN Correspondent Rob Stapleton, Alaska Journal of Commerce

http://www.aero-news.net/#Just as the Alaska Region of the Federal 
Aviation Administration was receiving accolades from the Alaska Air 
Carriers Association for its part in creating and implementing the 
Capstone program, national program officials shut off parts of the program.

Capstone -- or automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) -- 
transmits and receives a real-time signal giving an equipped aircraft's 
altitude, speed, direction, destination, size and type from airplane to 
airplane, and from airplane to traffic controllers. Capstone is also 
capable of integrating weather information and a global positioning 
system onto a moving-terrain map that can be viewed on a display screen 
mounted in the instrument panel of the aircraft.

Capstone was taken off of air traffic controllers' screens at the 
Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center March 24 over a technical 
issue. The Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center oversees air 
traffic control for all aircraft coming into the state.

The FAA decision came after a team of 20 FAA air traffic inspectors came 
to Alaska April 10-14 to examine the system for safety reasons.

The result is air traffic controllers in Anchorage are no longer seeing 
the Capstone images of aircraft enroute on their screens. This action 
comes after the system was credited for improving flight safety by more 
than 40 percent in Southwest Alaska over the last five years.

Recent accident figures from the FAA show that there were no fatal 
accidents among air taxis and commuter airlines in the state in 2005. 
Capstone is largely credited for the improvement, along with a change of 
culture spirited by the nonprofit organization, the Medallion Foundation.

According to the FAA's Alaska Region Web site, Capstone went off air 
controllers' screens at the Anchorage center because, "Anchorage Air 
Route Traffic Control Center was exceeding current authorization to 
provide services in a mixed (radar and Capstone) environment. The 
timeline to restore the ADS-B separation services is unknown at this time."

http://www.aero-news.net/#

Air traffic controllers have many types of targets on their screens: 
radar-identified aircraft, Capstone-equipped aircraft and unidentified 
aircraft. Capstone was taken off the screen because there was too much 
other traffic for controllers to monitor.

Capstone program director Sue Gardner said that the team from the 
national Capstone program routinely examines the program.

"Yes, a team came up to examine the program. This is routine when 
something is taken off the controllers' screen," Gardner said.

Gardner said that the there is no exact date for the restoring the 
program at the Anchorage center and when it does go back online, a new 
procedure will be required for air traffic controllers at the Anchorage 
Air Route Traffic Control Center.
Loss of service angers industry

The FAA's decision to shut down the Anchorage control center portion of 
the Capstone program prompted a letter of protest by Alaska aviation 
industry leaders to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. The letter has 
received no response.

"We no longer have confidence in the actions of the FAA, who has 
implemented technology and then taken it away," said Jim Cieplac, a 
former Capstone employee who now works for the Alaska Aviation Safety 
Foundation. Cieplac said that the Alaska Air Carriers Association, 
Alaska Airmen's Association, the Alaska Aviation Safety Foundation and 
the Aviation Industry Council all signed off on the letter that fell on 
deaf ears in Washington, D.C.

"We wrote a letter and asked for a response from the FAA administrator 
by April 21, asking why it was turned off and when it will be returned 
to service," Cieplac said. "It looks like the FAA is taking steps 
backwards, no one is responding."

"We aren't getting any answers, things are pretty quiet about this, but 
we are hearing from the carriers in Bethel about it," said Karen 
Casanovas, executive director of the Alaska Air Carriers Association.

http://www.aero-news.net/#

The Capstone technology is still active and working in the Bethel area. 
The problem, however, is controllers in Anchorage cannot track aircraft 
using traditional radar once they reach Bethel. Before the Capstone 
technology was shut off at the Anchorage control center, controllers 
could track a Capstone-equipped aircraft from Anchorage to Bethel, 
switching over to the Capstone technology once the aircraft was out of 
the view of radar.

Following the recent FAA decision, Anchorage controllers once again can 
no longer "see" aircraft once they get into the Bethel area.

"Capstone is off the glass, and we aren't sure exactly why," said Bethel 
pilot Will Johnson with Yuut Yuqungviat Flight School. "But the carriers 
out here are steaming mad about it." The reason that the FAA developed 
the Capstone program in Bethel was to aid in tracking aircraft in the 
area without the expense of putting a $50 million radar facility.

http://www.aero-news.net/#"I find it ridiculous that the center has been 
providing radar and ADS-B service to aircraft for five years in the 
Bethel area, and now they can't do it," said Dee Hanson, executive 
director of the Alaska Airmen's Association.

"We are coming into the busy season, spring and summer. This is a very 
busy airport and when the weather gets bad, pilots tend to rely on that 
new technology," Johnson said.

Capstone, a $130 million program, was scheduled to have been implemented 
statewide during the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

According to the safety foundation's Cieplac, eight to 10 of the 
ground-based transceivers that send and receive the Capstone signal in 
the Bethel area are not functional despite being scheduled to be turned 
on in 2005. He added that many of the transceivers in Southeast Alaska 
are also not yet functioning.

"This is really discouraging," Cieplac said. "Everyone has worked to 
make this a tool, a pillar of safety, and now a vital part of this link 
is mysteriously missing. You have to have faith that it will someday be 
restored."
FMI: Read The FAA's Fact Sheet On ADS-B
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