Flying Without RADAR
Flight without primary (or secondary surveillance) RADAR is immensely dangerous and not advised, especially not for international and busy airports. It's the same as navigating blind, and broadcasting on a common frequency, with your only hope that other aircraft hear you, and ATC (Air Traffic Control) has you safe ... somehow.
Position updates, ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast), and ACAS (Airborne Collision Avoidance Systems) can only serve to a point, basically if aircraft are equipped with it, and if other aircraft have a transponder to return an interrogation. These are nice to have, but shouldn't be relied on as a primary method of surveillance. Some sort of mitigation could be flight in VMC (Visual Meteorological Conditions) only, fairly limiting for scheduled operations! Procedural control could work but again immensely limiting, requiring vast separation standards, and loss of time, which is money, for commercial, airline and cargo operators. This type of situation would really be an emergency situation, when primary RADAR fails.
We've long debated the possibility of using Standard Arrivals or Departures without dependence on radar. All great for a departure until reaching the enroute segment, however hoping by then you've got some sort of RADAR coverage, or leaving the enroute segment to join the arrival, hoping that there is no other aircraft crossing your path.
Also, how current are the Departure and Arrival Procedures being relied upon especially where there is no RADAR available. Also, most Departure and Arrival Procedures are not available if Surveillance RADAR is not in force. If the Survelliance Minimum Chart is referenced, how current is that Chart? Not to mention, that this is a high-level security risk for foreign and unknown, unmanned aircraft or airborne equipment to enter your airspace.
Let's get you're opinion on whether you'd take the risk with the knowledge of no primary RADAR, and your mitigation:
1. As a Passenger:
2. As a Commercial or Airline Pilot:
3. As an Airline:
4. As an Air Navigation Service Provider:
5. As an Air Traffic Controller:
Article taken from Fly-By Nunes’ LinkedIn Page
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