UAVs are much on the
collective minds of the National Transportation Safety Board this
week. One day after publishing a list of recommendations for
all unmanned aerial vehicles operating over the United States
(A-07-65 thru A-07-69,) the Board added another 16 recommendations
targeted specifically at the US Customs and Border Protection
Agency.
As ANN reported, CBP operated
the Predator B that crashed April 25, 2006 near Nogales, AZ...
prompting the Board's first-ever issuance of a Probable Cause
report on a UAV accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that the US
Customs and Border Protection:
Require General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., to modify
the unmanned aircraft system to ensure that inadvertent engine
shutdowns do not occur. (A-07-70)
Require General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., to modify
the unmanned aircraft system to provide adequate visual and aural
indications of safety-critical faults, such as engine-out
conditions and console lockups, and present them in order of
priority, based on the urgency for pilot awareness and response.
(A-07-71)
Review the US Customs and Border Protection's methods of
developing lost-link mission profiles to ensure that lost-link
mission profile routes minimize the potential safety impact to
persons on the ground, optimize the ability to recover the data
link, and, in the absence of data-link recovery, provide the
capability to proceed to a safe zone for a crash landing.
(A-07-72)
Following completion of
the action requested in Safety Recommendation A-07-72, require that
pilots be trained concerning the expected performance and
flightpath of the unmanned aircraft during a lost-link mission.
(A-07-73)
Require that the unmanned aircraft system be modified to ensure
that the transponder continues to provide beacon code and altitude
information to air traffic control even if an engine shuts down in
flight and that the pilot is provided a clear indication if
transponder function is lost for any reason. (A-07-74)
Review all unmanned aircraft system (UAS) functions and require
necessary design changes to the UASs that the US Customs and Border
Protection operates to ensure that electrical power is available
for an appropriate amount of time to all systems essential to
unmanned aircraft control following loss of engine power.
(A-07-75)
Develop a means of restarting the unmanned aircraft (UA) engine
during the lost-link emergency mission profile that does not rely
on line-of-sight control, for example, through an autonomous
capability in the unmanned aircraft system's control system or
through use of control functions enabled via a backup satellite
communication system available to the pilot on the ground.
(A-07-76)
Participate in periodic operational reviews between the
unmanned aircraft system operations team and local air traffic
control facilities, with specific emphasis on face-to-face
coordination between the working-level controller and unmanned
aircraft (UA) pilot(s), to clearly define responsibilities and
actions required for standard and nonstandard UA operations. These
operational reviews should include, but not be limited to,
discussion on lost-link profiles and procedures, the potential for
unique emergency situations and methods to mitigate them,
platform-specific aircraft characteristics, and airspace management
procedures. (A-07-77)
Require that all conversations, including telephone
conversations, between unmanned aircraft (UA) pilots and air
traffic control, other UA pilots, and other assets that provide
operational support to UA operations, be recorded and retained to
support accident investigations. (A-07-78)
Identify and correct the causes of the console lockups.
(A-07-79)
Implement a documented maintenance and inspection program that
identifies, tracks, and resolves the root cause of systemic
deficiencies and that includes steps for in-depth troubleshooting,
repair, and verification of functionality before returning aircraft
to service. (A-07-80)
Require that aviation engineering and maintenance experts
oversee the definition of maintenance tasks, establishment of
inspection criteria, and the implementation of such programs. Also,
ensure oversight of contractor(s) implementing such programs.
(A-07-81)
Develop minimum
equipment lists and dispatch deviation guides for the US Customs
and Border Protection's unmanned aircraft system operations.
(A-07-82)
Assess the spare-parts requirements for US Customs and Border
Protection's unmanned aircraft operations to ensure the
availability of parts critical to unmanned aircraft launch, as
defined by the minimum equipment list requirements. (A-07-83)
Revise US Customs and Border Protection's pilot training
program to ensure pilot proficiency in executing emergency
procedures. (A-07-84)
Require that a backup pilot or another person who can provide
an equivalent level of safety as a backup pilot be readily
available during the operation of an unmanned aircraft system.
(A-07-85)
Develop a safety plan, which ensures that hazards to the
National Airspace System and persons on the ground introduced by
the US Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) unmanned aircraft
system (UAS) operation are identified and that necessary actions
are taken to mitigate the corresponding safety risks to the public
over the life of the program. The plan should include, as a
minimum, design requirements, emergency procedures, and maintenance
program requirements to minimize the safety impact of UAS
malfunctions in flight, continuous monitoring of the CBP's unmanned
aircraft operation, analysis of malfunctions and incidents, and
lessons learned from other operators of similar UAS designs.
(A-07-86)
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