TCAS: AN EFFICIENT WAY TO PREVENT COLLISION

A typical aircraft has many sensors that monitor each of the activities that are being performed by the aircraft. There are literally thousands of sensors that a typical Airbus 320 has and each of this sensors perform different functions in an aircraft.From providing various data and monitoring different parts of an aircraft. These sensors give the required data on a real time basis. Its not possible to cover all of the sensors in a single article so we'll cover in parts. And the first sensor is TCAS(Traffic Collision Avoidance System) as its name suggests it gives real time update on the incoming traffic.

TCAS System typically consists of three parts: A Sensor, a Computer System and a Screen. There is a sensor fitted on top of the aircraft that forms a 3 Dimensional image in front, the sensors are connected to a central computer that processes all the data coming from the sensors and maintains the data, it is then displayed on the screen present in the cockpit.

So lets take a situation Flight 124 is cruising at an altitude of 25000 ft and there is another aircraft that is coming from an opposite direction at 25000 ft, so what the TCAS does is that it sends a warning signal in the cockpit to make the pilot aware about an Incoming traffic, after few seconds it again sends a warning signal if no action is taken by the Pilot. At the Third Time it sends a signal along an Action to be taken, basically the actions are categorized on the basis of the analysis done by the system. Some of the

signals categorized are:- "Reduce Climb", "Level Off","Descend Descend" and many more , however the final decision is in the hands of the Pilots. It is the SOP that the pilots have to follow the directions provided by the TCAS, however it also depends on the Culture of a Particular Country and the way they Interpret the Laws.

Some of the Accidents that were prevented were:-

A Mid car Collision between Boeing 777 and Airbus A 320 near Mumbai, India.

A 747 with MD 10 In Japan.

But many aren't so lucky, there were some of the Incidents that changed the course of history and They were:-

Charkhi Dadri Incident.

Uberlingen Air Disaster.

So , it entirely depends on how the pilots take the decision, This Sensor can only provide Information its the Ultimate Discretion of the Pilots to take the necessary action.