[ Originally published on September 3rd, 2015 ]
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The
United States Department
of Defense
recently announced
that it will be conducting
undisclosed military exercises from September
2nd through October
1st of
2015.
The exercises will encompass Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia and Florida, extending approximately 200
nautical miles offshore.
During
this time, TCAS [Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems] and ADS-B [Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcasts] will be unreliable [if
available at all].
Pilots and air traffic controllers use these systems to communicate
with one another and to track the position of nearby aircraft. With
these systems down, they will be unable to track aircraft [civilian,
military or otherwise] or receive traffic alerts or resolution
advisories.
The
announcements of these exercises were made via the United States Federal Aviation Administration’s website,
under the NOTAM [Notice To Airmen] numbers:
These announcements
were posted less than 24
hours before they were to take effect and specifically state:
“Pilots
are advised
that
tracks
may first appear
within
close
proximity to
their aircraft and may immediately go into TA
/ RA status.”
“RA
[Radar
Altitude]
Status”
refers to a minimum altitude on an instrument approach, determined by
the indication of the radar altimeter, rather than the barometric
altimeter. It is usually associated with Category
2
& 3
approaches, meaning that aircraft
could be flying within 1/4 mile of one another before they are able
to be detected
[putting
them well
within the range of a
military
air-to-air
missile].
Most
notably, the U.S. military disabled / hijacked the TCAS
and ADS-B
control systems on the morning of 9/11/2001,
preventing pilots and air traffic controllers from knowing which
blips on their radar were real and which ones were not.
Be
safe and mindful folks, especially if you live in any of the affected
areas. Stay conscious my friends.
~
Merit Freeman
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