Small Aircraft Transportation System, Higher Volume Operations Concept and Research Summary

Abstract

The ability to conduct concurrent, multiple aircraft operations in poor weather at virtually any airport offers an important opportunity for a significant increase in the rate of flight operations, a major improvement in passenger convenience, and the potential to foster growth of operations at small airports. The Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS), Higher Volume Operations (HVO) concept is designed to increase capacity at the 3400 nonradar, non-towered airports in the United States where operations are currently restricted to “one-in/one-out” procedural separation during low visibility or ceilings. The concept’s key feature is that pilots maintain their own separation from other aircraft using air-to-air datalink and on-board software within the Self-Controlled Area (SCA), an area of flight operations established during poor visibility and low ceilings around an airport without Air Traffic Control (ATC) services. While pilots self-separate within the SCA, an Airport Management Module (AMM) located at the airport assigns arriving pilots their sequence based on aircraft performance, position, winds, missed approach requirements, and ATC intent. The HVO design uses distributed decision-making, safe procedures, attempts to minimize pilot and controller workload, and integrates with today’s ATC environment. This paper summarizes the HVO concept and procedures, presents a summary of the research conducted and results, and outlines areas where future HVO research is required.