SKYTRAC Systems presented its satellite-based flight tracking solution at the May 2014 ICAO Multidisciplinary Meeting Regarding Global Tracking.
In response to the disappearance of Mayalsia Airlines flight MH370 and other recent events, the international aviation community continues to investigate best practices for monitoring aircraft flying in remote regions. SKYTRAC was one of a select group of vendors invited by ICAO to provide information on commercially available global distress monitoring technologies.
SKYTRAC has provided flight and distress tracking services to the aviation community since the 1990’s. The solution combines an onboard satellite transceiver with mapping software, data logging and analysis, text and voice communication, and automatic emergency alerts.
SKYTRAC automated flight tracking operates off of the Iridium low-earth orbit satellite network. This architecture offers true-pole-to-pole communications coverage unlike traditional ADS-B systems which rely on a network of land-based radio towers to relay air-to-ground messaging.
In a traditional SKYTRAC implementation, dispatchers are able to chart the progress of a flight in real-time while at the same time monitoring weather conditions, and staying abreast of local hazards and recent NOTAMS. In the event that an aircraft encounters an in-flight emergency – due to loss in altitude, drop in fuel, overheating of engines or other pre-defined warning conditions – an automatic alert is triggered to notify operations control. The solution also initiates automated alerts if an aircraft is overdue at a specified check-point, misses a predefined number of GPS position reports, or if an aircraft deviates from a planned flight path.
Due to its global availability, SKYTRAC automatic flight tracking has been used to assist with safe operations in offshore Oil & Gas fleets, Emergency Services, remote charter operations and international aid missions.
ICAO continues to investigate options for a global flight awareness and distress tracking safety systems.
