Blue Sky Network offers a variety of real-time aircraft tracking devices to help you meet the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) requirements. Pair this with 100 percent global coverage, satellite voice, and two-way messaging for a complete solution that will improve the safety and reliability of your operations.
Blue Sky Network offers a variety of FAA approved, fixed installation tracking devices with ICAO-GADSS qualifying features.
With SkyRouter, the industry-leading asset tracking and communications platform, you get real-time insight and instant communication with your fleet—from anywhere in the world.
This White Paper provides a thorough overview of the ICAO-GADSS global flight tracking initiative.
The International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Global Aeronautical Distress & Safety System (GADSS) initiative is a recommended concept of operations that establishes a clear definition of the objectives of aircraft tracking and ensures information is relayed in a timely manner to the right people to support search and rescue efforts, recovery and accident investigation activities, and defines the roles and responsibilities of all commercial aviation stakeholders. GADS has been designed as an industry-lead initiative, seeing as this was the most streamlined and adaptable way to achieve implementation. For more information on the GADSS concept of operations, see our white paper on the global flight tracking initiative.
In order to comply with the aircraft tracking requirements, an operator should:
The ICAO-GADSS initiative consists of three key elements: the aircraft equipment, such as the tracking device, flight data recorder (FDR) or cockpit voice recorder (CVR); the communications link between the aircraft and other flight control authorities, and the airline operations center. Furthermore, the GADSS concept focuses on components of flight tracking: normal aircraft tracking, which involves reporting the aircraft’s latitude, longitude, altitude and exact time of position at a minimum every 15 minutes; autonomous abnormal aircraft tracking, which is triggered by a specifically defined event/anomaly; and autonomous distress aircraft tracking, which increases positional reporting due to a defined state of distress.
The regulation for normal aircraft tracking—as defined by ICAO—will take effect November 8, 2018.
The International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System’s (GADSS) Amendment 39 to Annex 6 of its normal aircraft tracking standards and recommended practices became applicable Nov. 8, 2018. This amendment requires operators to track aircraft operating under normal conditions every 15 minutes with an optional abnormal-event tracking capabilities. These are the first two phases in the ICAO-GADSS recommendations. Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, the subsequent guidelines take effect. These include a recommendation for new airframes to be equipped with the ability to produce position reports once a minute when under abnormal flight conditions, independent of aircraft power. This requirement must be able to be activated remotely as well. Other 2021 requirements call for new aircraft type designs to have accessible and timely flight data recovery, whether in the form of automatic deployable flight recorders or flight data streaming.
This applies to any aircraft with a seating capacity of more than 19. This 15-minute tracking interval further applies as a recommendation to all aircraft with a takeoff mass of 27,000 kg, or more, and to all aircraft with a takeoff mass of 45,500 kg, or more, when flying over oceans.
