Air navigation equipment checks in Australian regional centres

The equipment being tested includes instrument landing systems (ILS), distance measuring equipment (DME), non-directional beacons (NDB), VHF Omni Range (VOR) navigation aids and Sydney airports world-leading ground-based augmentation system (GBAS). Together, these aids provide positional and navigational information to aircraft and assist pilots in landing safely. Maintaining the equipment is critical for the safe operation of aircraft in all weather conditions, particularly into many regional and remote communities for which air traffic is a lifeline. The inspections will be performed by twin-engine Beechcraft King Air aircraft, the airframe and avionics of which are integrated with technically complex computer equipment. Specialist air crew operate the aircraft and equipment to collect precision data while airborne. The data is then assessed and analysed by Airservices maintenance and engineering staff to ensure that each navigation aid is operating accurately.

The flights are necessary to check that the more than 500 navigational aids installed and maintained by Airservices are functioning accurately for safe aircraft operations in and around regional and major airports, aerodromes and airstrips. The Brisbane-based service will use a highly-modified aircraft to undertake 58 separate routine or special flight inspections on equipment at the following locations during April alone:

QLD Boulia

NT Bagot, Darwin, Howard Springs, Tennant Creek, Tindal, Victoria River Downs

WA Christmas Island, Curtin, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing

NSW Bathurst, Church Creek, Coffs Harbour, Lord Howe Island, Nowra, Nyngan , Parkes,

Sydney, Williamtown

ACT Canberra

TAS Tasmanian Wide Area Multilateration (WAM) system

The equipment being tested includes instrument landing systems (ILS), distance measuring equipment (DME), non-directional beacons (NDB), VHF Omni Range (VOR) navigation aids and Sydney airports world-leading ground-based augmentation system (GBAS). Together, these aids provide positional and navigational information to aircraft and assist pilots in landing safely. Maintaining the equipment is critical for the safe operation of aircraft in all weather conditions, particularly into many regional and remote communities for which air traffic is a lifeline. The inspections will be performed by twin-engine Beechcraft King Air aircraft, the airframe and avionics of which are integrated with technically complex computer equipment. Specialist air crew operate the aircraft and equipment to collect precision data while airborne. The data is then assessed and analysed by Airservices maintenance and engineering staff to ensure that each navigation aid is operating accurately.