Would Allow Some Business Aircraft The Ability To Keep Position Data Private

As the ADS-B deadline nears, concerns remain among the owners of business airplanes that the system would allow flights to be tracked in real time by anyone with the knowledge of how to do so. But a deal may be near that would allow some aircraft to have that information kept private.

Associations like the NBAA have raised concerns that the safety of some people flying in private aircraft could be jeopardized by the availability of position information. The Wall Street Journal reports that NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen has argued that "people should not have to surrender their security just because they board an airplane.”

A tentative, short-term solution could be a system that would change aircraft-specific identity codes on a regular basis that would thwart attempts to track aircraft. An NBAA spokesman said that meetings with the FAA are ongoing, and the agency continues to ask for additional information.

At issue, however, is how the system could be modified to accommodate such changes, and the cost of software modifications to the ADS-B system, which is already overdue and over budget.

A longer-term solution would be encryption of the data to shield the information for business or private aircraft, but the FAA still has questions about the feasibility and practicality of such encryption, according to Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) representative Richard Jennings.

FMI: www.faa.gov