Test Results of Initial Installation DATAS/TCAS Monitor: DFW Airport

Details

• Creators:
  Wapelhorst, Leo J. ; Van Dongen, John
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Air Traffic Control Air Traffic Control Facilities Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) Airport (Texas) Data Link Test And Analysis System (DATAS) Detection And Identification Systems Evaluation And Assessment Field Tests Mode S Radar Air Traffic Control TCAS Resolution Advisories (RA's) Traffic Alert And Collision Avoidance System

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• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/CT-TN91/56
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.21949/1403080
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Texas ; United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration
• Abstract:
  This document presents the results of initial tests with the Data Link Test and Analysis System (DATAS)/Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). Since a significant amount of air carriers have recently been equipped with Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) there have been reports from various airport terminals of a higher than expected amount of TCAS Resolution Advisories (RA's). In some cases, the TCAS logic could project possible conflicts which give advisories which could be contradictory to clearances made by Air Traffic Control (ATC) personnel. These situations need to be examined to determine if there is a problem with the existing air traffic patterns or if the TCAS threat sensing logic needs to be modified for certain situations. One of the objectives of the TCAS transition plan is to collect and analyze TCAS data. The Data Link project design team modified the existing Data Link Test and Analysis System (DATAS) to perform as the TCAS monitor to record TCAS RA messages as they occurred. Along with such messages, the system stored aircraft identification data, capability reports, and altitude histories. All data transactions are "time tagged" so that it can be correlated with independent surveillance data from systems such as the Automated Radar Terminal Systems (ARTS) III, ARTS II, or Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR)-9. Given such information, systems analysts could determine what types of advisories are occurring and with what frequency, the altitudes at which they occur, and whether or not the pilots are maneuvering in response to the advisories. The TCAS monitor was deployed at the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) airport complex. However, in 11 recorded cases two TCAS equipped aircraft were involved in an RA. Each of these 11 RA's occurred between a DFW arrival and a DFW departure. This report contains altitude plots for both aircraft in all 11 cases. This data is the best available to examine the apparent conflicts, but the analysis process emphasized the fact that azimuth data are required in order to completely analyze the data.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2407c75b4085c58f50e9ff8bc38ef845f91f56be1d7f10943c2e386703682b93bfd4775f8226bee8f41794067f1fcc8ae44151061e27f7cdb2dba238e2ffa22f
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/4397/dot_4397_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 276.08 KB ]