ACSS is celebrating in a big way. It submitted its final TSO certification papers to the FAA for its SafeRoute software on the Friday before the show [15th June].
This final step comes just one week after ACSS held its FAA-witnessed certification flight for SafeRoute aboard a UPS Boeing 757.
Kris Ganase, ACSS president, says that the FAA commented that the flight was “incredibly successful”.
“We said we would have SafeRoute certified by summer 2007 and we have done it,” says Ganase. “A lot of people have put in a lot of hours, but we met the deadline we promised – how many other companies at the show can say that?”
SafeRoute, which uses Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADSB) technology, offers a number of software options including Merging and Spacing (MAS) and Surface Area Movement Management (SAMM).
The system works by tracking every aircraft in its vicinity that is equipped with a standard-fit Mode S transponder.
UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company, is adding Saferoute to its fleet. Boeing has also been involved with the project by displaying the SafeRoute information via the Jeppesen class III electronic flight bag (EFB).
“As SafeRoute is software based it can be added as an upgrade to our existing ACSS TCAS products, including T2CAS, TCAS 3000, or TCAS 2000, or it can be hosted within a competitor’s system as long it complies with the ARINC653 standard,” says Ganase.
He says that SafeRoute’s SAMM capability offers pilots a better picture of what is happening around them when they are on the ground.
“The SAMM option not only shows a pilot where he is on a runway or taxiway, but where other aircraft are as well. It shows flight crews their position on an airport surface map and by using other aircraft’s ADS-B transmissions, plus TIS-B and CDTI data, can display the position of other aircraft on the map as well,” he says.
Source: Flight Daily News