The National Transportation Safety Board has eliminated one reporting requirement of a rule that mandates notifying the agency about Airborne Collision and Avoidance System (ACAS) resolution advisories issued to aircraft operating in Class A airspace or on instrument flight plans.
Effective Feb. 16 under 49 CFR. § 830.5(a)(10), “operators are only required to report ACAS resolution advisories issued when an aircraft is being operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan and compliance with the advisory is necessary to avert a substantial risk of collision between two or more aircraft.” The requirement to report ACAS advisories issued to aircraft operating in Class A airspace has been discontinued, except when an aircraft is being operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan and compliance with the advisory is necessary to avert a substantial risk of collision between two or more aircraft, the NTSB said in a news release.
“Review of notifications received under the rule showed that the scope of the requirement could be reduced while still providing notice to the NTSB of events that may benefit from an independent safety review,” the agency said. “In the interest of ensuring that NTSB regulations are up-to-date and only require necessary reports, the NTSB decided to use its direct final rulemaking procedure to amend the rule in an expeditious manner.”
In December 2015, the NTSB published a notice of its intent to amend its regulations, which it said would reduce the regulatory burden on aircraft operators. The public had the opportunity to comment by Jan. 14, but the NTSB did not receive any comments on the proposal.
The now-narrowed reporting rule had been in effect since 2010. As amended, the rule should continue to deliver its safety objective, “which is to increase our awareness of potentially hazardous occurrences in the air traffic control system,” the NTSB said in the December notice.
Dan Namowitz
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