WASHINGTON, D.C. – The NextGen Institute, a partnership between the government and private sector to work on the development and implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen), will hold its annual public meeting Sept. 21 at the Department of Transportation headquarters. The meeting, “NextGen: Great Promise and Challenges Remain for Government and Industry,” is from 9 a.m. to noon. Speakers include House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Tom Petri and Ranking Member Jerry Costello, and Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari. To register, click here.
Could NextGen be hacked?
August 15, 2012 by 1 Comment
Computer security experts worry that the Next Generation Air Transportation System, known as NextGen, is vulnerable to hackers. Reporters from NPR talk to one hacker who says he could place “ghost planes” in the system, essentially causing chaos. They quote him: “If you could introduce enough chaos into the system — for even an hour — that hour will ripple though the entire world’s air traffic control.” Check it out here.
Avidyne joins MIT, FAA in ADS-B development program
August 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Avidyne is working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the FAA on the Airborne Traffic Situational Awareness with Alerts (TSAA) program for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). The FAA-funded TSAA program, valued at $4 million over three years, includes the prototyping and demonstration of hardware, along with the drafting of industry standards for conflict detection and alerting to be adopted by ADS-B vendors, Avidyne officials said.
Contract towers equal in safety, less in cost
July 19, 2012 by 1 Comment
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 250 air traffic control towers operated under contract to the FAA handle 28% of all operations, but cost only 14% of the budget, according to statements before an aviation subcommittee whose members expressed concerns about possible severe cuts in operations if the President’s threatened automatic budget sequester goes into effect in January.
Garmin introduces ADS-B lineup
July 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Garmin has introduced a suite of certified and portable ADS-B solutions, providing options for any aircraft owner to satisfy the U.S. NextGen mandate for ADS-B Out and also gain access to the benefits of ADS-B In, including traffic and subscription-free weather information.
ADS-B’s two-for-one deal
July 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment
This is the 11th in a series of articles looking at the impact of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) on GA pilots.
Sounds like a sale doesn’t it? Well, not really. Instead, it’s a reference to the FAA’s decision as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) to use two different “systems” within the ADS-B environment, so everyone on both sides of the aisle would be happy.
This is how it came down: The big boys on top, the transport carriers, have been using the newer Mode S 1090ES (Extended Squitter) transponder system that we discussed last month for some time know. Perfectly understandable since they have all the necessary attributes to work in the proposed ADS-B system environment.
But — don’t you just hate those buts? — the Mode S transponders have some limitations.
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