Sliced Bread?

Beginning on page 12, Frank Bowlin tackles the question, "Can ADS-B Work?" We all should hope the answer is a resounding "yes." The FAA is busy firewalling its throttle and pushing its nose down, intending to get us there by 2020. In October, the agency released the first of several proposed rules on ADS-B, on complying airborne equipment. Im a confessed ADS-B skeptic. Put bluntly, I have zero confidence in the FAAs ability to manage a multi-year project of this scope. Im also not sanguine about doing away with much of the ground-based surveillance radar network as the agency proposes, and dont believe all the airspace efficiency claims being made. (The vast majority of congestion problems dont involve airspace; they involve available runways and airline scheduling.)

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Monday, October 22, 2007 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The author expresses significant skepticism about the FAA's ability to manage the large-scale ADS-B project, questioning its claims of airspace efficiency and the wisdom of replacing ground-based radar.
Key concerns include the loss of pilot privacy due to continuous flight tracking and a lack of clear operational "rules of the road" for self-separation, which the author views as a potential safety and workload issue.
It is argued that ADS-B's justification primarily benefits the FAA through cost savings, offering minimal financial or safety advantages for general aviation pilots who face mandatory installation investments with little personal return.

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Beginning on page 12, Frank Bowlin tackles the question, “Can ADS-B Work?” We all should hope the answer is a resounding “yes.” The FAA is busy firewalling its throttle and pushing its nose down, intending to get us there by 2020. In October, the agency released the first of several proposed rules on ADS-B, on complying airborne equipment.

Im a confessed ADS-B skeptic. Put bluntly, I have zero confidence in the FAAs ability to manage a multi-year project of this scope. Im also not sanguine about doing away with much of the ground-based surveillance radar network as the agency proposes, and dont believe all the airspace efficiency claims being made. (The vast majority of congestion problems dont involve airspace; they involve available runways and airline scheduling.)

Theres also a privacy concern with ADS-B: Not only will other aircraft know who is