Navigation & ATC

The International Civil Aviation Organization and other authorities recommend backup inertial-reference systems, ground-based navaids, and radar surveillance and vectoring to mitigate interference — unintentional and intentional — with navigation signals from space. Improved satellites and augmentation systems will help to lessen risks under instrument flight rules.

Precision-RNAV (P-RNAV) is the natural progression from Basic RNAV (B-RNAV) which became mandatory in European Airspace in April 1998 for en-route operations. Initial application is in the Terminal Area and P-RNAV track keeping equates to cross track accuracy of RNP 1 ( or - 1NM). P-RNAV procedures are designed to a common set of design principles specific to RNAV equipped aircraft. These P-RNAV procedures will replace the wide variation of RNAV procedures in European ECAC Terminal Airspace that do not have a common basis.

Standard phraseology is essential to ensure effective crew communication, particularly in today's operating environment, which increasingly features Two-crewmember operation and, International / worldwide contexts involving crewmembers with different native languages.

Boeing has developed a vertical situation display to help prevent controlled flight into terrain and approach and landing accidents. In addition, the vertical situation display is designed to reduce airline operating costs by decreasing the number of missed approaches, tail strikes, and hard landings and by reducing vertical navigation training time.

Technological advances have honed the accuracy of aircraft altimeters, but false indications still can occur at any altitude or flight level. Some involve limitations of the altimeters themselves, but most are associated with the weak link in altimetry the human.

This document has been published by Westjet and is well illustrated.

This Boeing document provides some information to better understand safe and efficient Polar Operations.

This Boeing document provides some information needed to implement safe and efficient Polar Operations.

English is the international language of aviation. But even when pilots and controllers both speak English fluently, there are pitfalls in the nature of language and the ways that language is heard. Subtle miscues can subvert messages that seem clear to the sender. Pilots and controllers must be aware of, and avoid, common types of linguistic misunderstandings. Ultimately, an intelligent voice interface may cut through confusion.

NAT Doc 007 is the main go-to guidance doc for ops over the North Atlantic. All the specifics about how to operate an aircraft safely through the complex airspace of the region are here

This introduction to Navigation covers Methods & equipment, procedures, Navigation and the FMC.

What you should know about IATA In-flight Broadcast Procedure (IFBP).

Everything is said in the title...

What is VNAV and how it works: another interesting document from Boeing

The purpose of this Airbus brochure is to provide Airbus Industrie aircraft operators with the agreed interpretations of the currently applicable CNS/ATM (i.e. FANS) regulations.

The purpose of this Airbus brochure is to provide Airbus operators with: the currently applicable ETOPS regulations, as published in the various relevant circulars, and the agreed interpretations thereto, which have been defined in the frame of the JAA/FAA Harmonization Committee.

The purpose of this brochure is to provide Airbus aircraft Operators with the agreed interpretations of the currently applicable RNP and RVSM and RNAV regulations.

The Performance Based Navigation concept allows to optimize the instrument procedure design with the aircraft navigation performance. This concept is used en route, to reduce aircraft separation, and in terminal area to optimize arrival and departure procedures. The utmost development of Performance Based Navigation for approach, missed approach and departure is known under different names. FAA initially referred to RNP SAAAR Operations, SAAAR standing for Special Aircraft and Aircrew Authorization Required. ICAO now refers to RNP Operations with Authorization Required (RNP AR). This brochure aims at providing Airbus customers with the background information necessary to launch an RNP AR project.

Airlines should make sure they update their inertial reference systems to the latest magnetic variation (MagVar) tables in order to avoid potentially hazardous magnetic heading-related navigation errors

The US FAA reviews the concept of a CDA approach: a flight procedure where the vertical profile of an arrival has been optimized so that it can be flown with engines « idle » from a high altitude (potentially from cruise) until touch down on the runway.

CDFA is a technique, consistent with stabilized approach procedures, for flying the final approach segment of a non-precision approach (NPA) procedure as a constant descent, without level-off, from an altitude at or above the final approach fix altitude to a point approximately 15 m (50 ft) height above the landing runway threshold or the point where the flare manoeuvre should begin for the type of aircraft flown.

Applying a common conceptual model approach to vertical navigation automation. A publication from the International Center for Air Transportation Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (USA).

Investigating RAs

ATC instructions

Equipment matters

Bizjet

Low Level events

Interactions flight crew

Notable recent operational events

Level Off RA

TCAS Traffic Advisories

Not So Fast

Version 7.1 is Coming

Reversing to Resolve

Focus On Pilot Training

When ATC meets TCAS II

ACAS world is moving on

Frequently Asked Questions

TCAS II Operations in European RVSM Airspace

Dos and Don'ts of TCAS II Operations

Incorrect use of the TCAS traffic display

Controller and Pilot ACAS regulation and training

TCAS II and VFR traffic

Wrong reaction to ''Adjust Vertical Speed''

RAs and 1000 ft level-off manoeuvres

Follow the RA!

Terrain awareness can be defined as the combined awareness and knowledge of the following: aircraft position,aircraft altitude, applicable minimum safe altitude (MSA), terrain location and features, and other hazards.

Many years experience of Performance Based Navigation (PBN) based on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) such as GPS for en-route and terminal area navigation has led to an extension of the same principle to RNAV approaches as an alternative to those relying entirely on ground-based aids. The good understanding of the RNP approach is essential.

Near collision over Yaizu