Traffic Collision Avoidance System - Impetus For A Collision Prevention System

Impetus For A Collision Prevention System

Research into collision avoidance systems has been ongoing since at least the 1950s. ICAO and aviation authorities such as the Federal Aviation Administration were spurred into action after several major mid-air collisions involving great loss of life. Some of these mid-air accidents include:

• The Grand Canyon mid-air collision in 1956;
• The New York air disaster in 1960;
• The Asheville midair collision in 1967;
• The Zagreb mid-air collision in 1976;
• The PSA Flight 182 collision with a Cessna 172 in 1978;
• The Ukraine Aeroflot mid-air collision, between two Tupolev Tu-134 in 1979;
• The Cerritos mid-air collision in 1986 (a case similar to PSA Flight 182), which finally spurred the US Congress and other regulatory bodies into action and led to mandatory collision avoidance equipment.
• The Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision over a town near New Delhi, India in 1996;

The implementation of TCAS added a safety barrier to help prevent mid-air collisions. However, further study, refinements, training and regulatory measures were still required, because the limitations and misuse of the system still resulted in other incidents and fatal accidents, which include:

• The Japan Airlines near-miss incident in 2001;
• The Überlingen mid-air collision, between a Boeing 757 and a Tupolev Tu-154 in 2002, where the Tupolev pilots declined to follow their TCAS resolution advisory (RA), instead following the directions of the air traffic controller, while the Boeing pilots followed their TCAS RA, having no ATC instruction. By the time the crews of the two planes actually saw each other, it was too late and the planes collided, killing 71;
• The Gol Flight 1907 collision with an Embraer Legacy 600 in 2006;