Hopefully there are others who can speak with more knowledge on this.
Isn’t one of the problems that aircraft don’t have consistent, modern transponders so that they can be reliably seen by the towers? I think that was part of the DC crash between passenger plane and helicopter, no? ATC didn’t have good visibility of the helicopter, so they told the plane and the helicopter to just watch out for each other visually.
I don’t see AI helping all that much until all aircraft are retrofitted with modern transponders.
ATC could see both of them no problem, but ATC is often overloaded and will pawn off responsibility to the pilots to maintain separation.
Legally speaking, the controller in that accident did their job correctly. The helicopter pilots assured the controller multiple times that they would pass behind the jet.
The current hot topic is ADSB IN. Most aircraft are required to have ADSB OUT these days, but very few aircraft (especially airliners) have recievers to display that info.
It’s direct, line of site communication from aircraft to aircraft. Exact position in relation to each other, right on your nav display.
My understanding is that it’s an upgrade to the current situational awareness provided by TCAS. TCAS is wonderful but broke down in the DCA crash because [I don’t remember the real reason so I’d just be guessing here]. TCAS should have saved the day, but there was something missing (probably the helicopter transponder wasn’t “participating” in the TCAS conversation that airplanes usually have (the TCAS computers, not the pilots)).
Would ADSB IN have helped prevent DCA? Yes, assuming the helicopter had it they would have had better situational awareness. If the helicopter had their transponder turned off, though, it’s not clear to me if they would be broadcasting ADSB for the airliner to see.
Hopefully there are others who can speak with more knowledge on this.
Isn’t one of the problems that aircraft don’t have consistent, modern transponders so that they can be reliably seen by the towers? I think that was part of the DC crash between passenger plane and helicopter, no? ATC didn’t have good visibility of the helicopter, so they told the plane and the helicopter to just watch out for each other visually.
I don’t see AI helping all that much until all aircraft are retrofitted with modern transponders.
ATC could see both of them no problem, but ATC is often overloaded and will pawn off responsibility to the pilots to maintain separation.
Legally speaking, the controller in that accident did their job correctly. The helicopter pilots assured the controller multiple times that they would pass behind the jet.
The current hot topic is ADSB IN. Most aircraft are required to have ADSB OUT these days, but very few aircraft (especially airliners) have recievers to display that info.
It’s direct, line of site communication from aircraft to aircraft. Exact position in relation to each other, right on your nav display.
My understanding is that it’s an upgrade to the current situational awareness provided by TCAS. TCAS is wonderful but broke down in the DCA crash because [I don’t remember the real reason so I’d just be guessing here]. TCAS should have saved the day, but there was something missing (probably the helicopter transponder wasn’t “participating” in the TCAS conversation that airplanes usually have (the TCAS computers, not the pilots)).
Would ADSB IN have helped prevent DCA? Yes, assuming the helicopter had it they would have had better situational awareness. If the helicopter had their transponder turned off, though, it’s not clear to me if they would be broadcasting ADSB for the airliner to see.
Lot of things didn’t go right in that crash. Mentour Pilot has a really good video on the subject.