Every Minute Matters: Autonomous Distress Tracking of Airborne Aircrafts in the UAE
Transport & Insurance Focus
The International Civil Aviation Organization Council (ICAO) aime to raise international standards of air travel safety and provide a globally consistent approach to tracking aircraft and initiating prompt search and rescue (SAR) actions.
Law Update: Issue 366 - Transport & Insurance Focus
Bushra Abu TayehSenior Counsel,Transport & Insurance
Ameen KimAssociate,Transport & Insurance
On 8 March 2014, the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared from radar and was never found, sending shockwaves throughout the aviation industry. This tragic incident sparked a global discussion concerning the need for enhanced safety measures, as well as the challenges of tracking aircrafts in real-time. Subsequently, the International Civil Aviation Organization Council (ICAO) directed its efforts to raise international standards of air travel safety and provide a globally consistent approach to tracking aircraft and initiating prompt search and rescue (SAR) actions.
The ICAO’s desire to raise global standards of aircraft safety has been given effect through the GADSS, which was established in June 2017 as a multiplayer global system to timely identify and locate aircraft in distress and effectively mobilize SAR teams to the aircraft’s location. Annex 6, Part I of the Convention on International Civil Aviation prescribes the necessary equipage of the autonomous distress tracking capability, which mandates autonomous tracking of aircraft positions at 15 minutes intervals or less for aircrafts with the maximum certificated take-off mass of over 27,000 kg. This Autonomous Distress Tracking (ADT) system’s standard has since been raised to 1-minute intervals or less in 2021 to ensure that applicable aircrafts in operation are virtually always locatable.
The GADSS contains three main components:
Aircraft tracking (AT);
Autonomous Distress Tracking (ADT); and
Postflight Localization and Recovery (PFLR).
The GADSS requires seamless coordination among multiple participants in order to be effective. First, the ADT equipment must be installed and activated in the aircraft to be automatically transmitting signals to a satellite when airborne. In the event of an emergency or abnormal flight conditions, the aircraft’s distress signal will be communicated to the ground station within one minute or less via the satellite connection. The ground station will in turn will alert the concerned control centre or authority which will then release a team to conduct prompt SAR to the identified location of the aircraft. The ADT can assist the operator in determining the location of the aircraft within an approximate 6 nautical mile (approx. 11 km) radius.
Achieving ADT at 1-minute intervals for all applicable aircrafts will be an ambitious global endeavour. However, it is a necessary move to ultimately reassure the public’s trust in air travel safety and reliability. There are several challenges involved to fully implement this, due to the substantial increase in the volume of data, communication infrastructure requirements and procuring transmission systems that are reliable. Furthermore, practical consideration of integrating these advanced tracking systems with existing aircraft avionics and ensuring compatibility may involve complex retrofitting and potential modifications.
Due to these challenges, in 2020, the ICAO postponed the ADT requirement for new-build aircraft by two years, to 2023. On 19 August 2022, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) issued a safety decision to echo the ICAO decision by amending the existing legislation to state that as of 1 January 2025, applicable aircrafts must be equipped with “robust and automatic means” to determine the location of the aircraft and the point end of the flight. The UAE has added an additional requirement compared to that of the ICAO, by providing that applicable aircrafts must have seating capability of more than 19 passengers, similar to European.
In the UAE, tech companies are diligently working with airlines and the National Search & Rescue Center (NSRC) to create and install Electronic Locater Transmitters (ELT) that meet ICAO standards to implement the ADS to new and existing aircrafts to enable the effectiveness of GADDS.
Al Tamimi & Company's Aviation team has extensive experience in advising airline and aviation companies in matters of UAE and KSA law. Our Digital & Data team has equal capabilities in providing advisory work in relation to automated systems and data protection. In addition, we have rights of audience before the courts across in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, as well as local insights have enabled us to represent clients in complex local and multi-jurisdictional claims, defences, and commercial transactions.
For further information on this sector or for any inquiries for assistance, please contact our team.
For further information,please contact Bushra Abu Tayeh, Ameen Kim and Omar N. Omar.
Published in March 2024
