Wednesday, February 21, 2001

By Wayne Specht
Stars and Stripes

Japan’s leading airlines are installing advanced versions of Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems in their aircraft to meet new European regulations.

The updated software programs — to be installed by Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways — are expected to give pilots a greater degree of safety when other aircraft come in close proximity, company spokesmen said.

TCAS, mandatory on all U.S. commercial aircraft with 10 or more seats, is also found on most Japanese commercial aircraft.

It forms a 10-mile electronic "bubble" around aircraft by using radio signals to determine the altitude and proximity of other aircraft.

When another aircraft comes close, audible alarms go off in the cockpit 40 seconds prior to a potential collision, warning pilots that evasive action is necessary.

Some pilots have complained the system is sometimes too sensitive and TCAS alerts have been triggered when no aircraft were near.

Airline officials said the new system will avoid issuing unnecessary warnings by more accurately analyzing altitudes and approach rates of other aircraft in the vicinity.

Ko Iwamitsu, an ANA spokesman, said the new system is already onboard the company’s aircraft that fly to European destinations. Euro-Control, an air traffic control organization equivalent to America’s FAA, requires all carriers to have the systems installed by April, he said.

JAL spokesman Takeshi Suzuki said his airline is expected to complete the updates by the end of February.

Military fighter jets are not required to be equipped with TCAS.

In the last several years, pilots at Misawa’s 35th Fighter Wing have greatly reduced incidents of setting off TCAS alerts while F-16s are conducting training flights over northern Japan.

Under a three-prong program introduced about three years ago, Air Force pilots have become cognizant of commercial air traffic routes near training areas, and are guided by Sapporo air traffic controllers when weather conditions warrant instrument flight rules.

Another initiative, flight following, involves the Sapporo control center and Misawa’s 610th Sabre Control Flight, which provide Misawa pilots with the location of airliners in airspace controlled by the Sapporo center.

These initiatives, Air Force officials at Misawa said, have seen the number of TCAS incidents involving F-16s drop from a high of 16 in 1997 to none in 2000.

Following a 1997 collision between a C-141 and a German plane off Namibia, Africa, Air Force officials ordered TCAS systems be installed on Air Force cargo aircraft, including newer models of C-141 now being retired, and the newer C-17.

Norio Muroi contributed to this report.

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