FAA Has Withdrawn Advance Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking For Glider Transponder Use

The FAA is withdrawing a previously published advance notice of proposed rulemaking that sought public comment from interested persons involving glider operations in the National Airspace System that would have changed the requirements for glider’s use of transponders. The FAA is withdrawing that action because the limited safety benefit gained does not justify the high cost of equipage.

The concern for changing the rules was in response to an accident that occurred in August of 2006. The accident was a midair collision between a Hawker 800XP aircraft and a Schleicher ASW27-18 glider near Reno Nevada that prove to be non-fatal. The collision occurred in an area where gliders are exempted from the transponder equipment requirements. However, the glider was equipped with a transponder, but the transponder was not turned on at the time of the accident.

In March of 2008 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommended that the FAA remove the glider exceptions pertaining to the transponder equipment and use requirements, finding that “transponders are critical to alerting pilots and controllers to the presence of nearby traffic so that collisions can be avoided.”

The issue dragged on until June 2015 when, the FAA published the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to respond to recommendations from two members of Congress and the NTSB. The FAA did not propose specific regulatory changes but rather sought public comment on the use of transponders in gliders operating within the excepted areas of § 91.215.

The ANPRM also sought input on more recent alternatives to glider equipage including the use of Traffic Awareness Beacon System (TABS) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipment. The FAA asked for comments from the public and industry to aid in the development of a proposed rule and the analysis of its economic impact.

While the FAA has determined it is not warranted to move forward with a proposal to remove the glider exception in § 91.215, the FAA stated they will continue to work with local glider communities to increase safety awareness. The FAA will also continue to consider surveillance system alternatives and to work with interested persons to mitigate the risk of aircraft collision with gliders.

Further, the FAA recommends that all glider aircraft owners equip their gliders with a transponder meeting regulatory requirements, a rule-compliant ADS-B Out system, or a TABS device.

FMI: Federal Registry