Safety Topics: Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)

CONCERN about the development and implementation of collision avoidance systems has occupied companies and authorities for many years in various parts of the world and particularly in the USA where the density of all kinds of air traffic has increased substantially and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. Although increases of density occur worldwide, the vast amount of private and business flying in North America makes it essential that any workable scheme of collision avoidance must have mandatory general aviation participation. The necessity for such a system has been underlined by mid‐air collisions which have happened over a considerable period of time and growing pressure has meant that the FAA in 1987 issued a Notice of Provisional Rulemaking (NPRM) in which comments about its contents were to have been received before the end of 1987.