Andrew Doyle/LONDON
BRITISH AIRWAYS and Air France have avoided the threat of a ban on their Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde operations to the USA, after Rockwell-Collins finally solved technical problems associated with the external antennae for the traffic-alert and collision-avoidance systems (TCAS) which it is supplying for the supersonic airliner.
The US Federal Aviation Administration had granted the type a waiver, until 31 December, from the mandatory requirement that all airliners operating in US airspace use a TCAS. The original deadline of 31 December, 1993, had already been extended twice despite protests from rival carriers such as American Airlines.
BA had fitted three Concordes with the modified antenna up to 20 November, by which time the lead aircraft (G-BOAC) had accumulated 148 cycles. The modified antenna was approved by the FAA on 22 November.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority still has to give its final approval, following flight trials with a BA Concorde on 4 December. Aerospatiale is expected to issue a mandatory service bulletin covering the modification on the same date.
Collins has delivered 12 antennae to BA and nine to Air France. Each aircraft has two antennae, positioned above and below the forward fuselage.
FR Group subsidiary Chelton (Electrostatics) was contracted to develop the new antenna, after it was determined that Collins' standard device could not withstand the physical stresses and extreme temperatures (-60¡ to +135¡C) encountered during a typical Concorde flight cycle.
Meanwhile, BA's board of directors is deciding when to equip the airline's entire 116-aircraft European fleet with TCAS.
Source: Flight International
