Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)

Threat 

TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) is an airborne system designed to provide collision advice against suitably equipped intruders and increase awareness of nearby aircraft's flight crew. Currently, we have the TCAS I system, which warns of potential conflict by providing Traffic Advisory (TA), and TCAS II, which, in addition to TA, provides a second level of alert called Resolution Advisory (RA), which directs flight crews to make a vertical maneuver to avoid intruding aircraft.

The SIRM33 discussed the detailed analysis of TCAS events at regional versus global level for the April 2022 - March 2024 period that had been extracted from FDX (Flight Data eXchange) data. Though the data was limited due to low participation in FDX compared to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), it was still enough to illustrate how big a challenge is faced. 

Identified Issues 

• Low participation in data exchange programs (FDX).
• Only about 56% of States (AFI) have requirements on TCAS version 7.1 in place. 
• The hotspots currently in one AFI.

Call to Action - Industry 

• Enforcement of compliance on TCAS Ver.7.1 implementation in States where regulation is in place. 
• Efforts required to establish requirements in outstanding States and those still to be ICAO audited.

Call to Action – IATA 

• IATA to continue its efforts to grow FDX participation to gain more regional coverage for better monitoring of trends.
• IATA Regional Coordination Group for Operations Safety & Security (OSS) and IATA team will continue working with States and ICAO to address ‘hotspot’ areas through mitigation measures. 

Useful Links 

• Mid Air Collision 
• IATA Flight Data eXchange (FDX)