Safety of aviation sector to be boosted

– Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast system to be operational before year-end

DPI, Guyana, Monday, July 23, 2018

The Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) systems which are aimed at bolstering safety in the aviation sector will become fully operational before the end of the year.

Speaking with the Department of Public Information (DPI) Director-General of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority, Lieutenant Colonel (retd), Egbert Field said this will put Guyana ahead of the United States since their mandatory commencement date is January 1, 2020.

The ADS-B systems are currently installed at the Kaieteur, Port Kaituma, Annai and Kamarang air traffic control towers. The satellite stations at Port Kaituma and Kamarang are up and running. The two at Kaiteur and Annai are yet to come on stream, this is due to the uplink of the data being slower as a result of insufficient bandwidth.

“We have entered an agreement with E-governance to supply us with the bandwidth. They ran all the cables and necessary equipment to the tower at Timehri and we are awaiting the installation of the IP address. That should be taking place very shortly which will activate the other two stations,” Field explained.

The Director-General said the GCAA has included necessary elements of the ADSB equipment which must be included in aircraft in its regulation. He noted that the ADSB programme is critical and necessary for Guyana’s aviation sector. Operators are urged to install the complementary equipment, the transponder, on their aircraft.

“On a weekly basis, I see documents where operators are asking for permission to do the modification of the aircraft to have the system installed. So, we are moving ahead and by the end of this year or before we will be looking at moving from the test mode to fully operational. So, will be ahead of the US in the implementation of the ADSB,” the Director-General explained.

An Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system is one that allows an aircraft to determine its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcast its location, enabling it to be tracked. The systems were installed last year, upon acquisition of the simulator.

 By: Ranetta la Fleur