ASCI 202 Discussion Posts

Gander Automated Air Traffic System vs  Air route traffic control centers  Gander Automated Air Traffic System (GAATS) The GAATS is  used for the oceanic airspace of the Gander area and is used for  airspace navigations between airports in that area (NAV Canada, n.d.). As the oceanic airspace does not make use of radars like continental airspace, the GAATS makes up for that difference by providing controller workstations in that area with a clear visualization of where aircraft are at by providing real-time viewing of the oceanic traffic in picture form, similar to that of a radar (NAV Canada, n.d.). Flying over the oceanic airspace becomes much safer as information can be automatically translated and transferred to aircraft from controller workstation in real-time via a data link to the aircraft's avionics system where it is easily accessible by the crew (ARINC, n.d.).  Figure 1.   Air Traffic Over Gander's Oceanic Airspace Figure 2.   An Example of a...

Impact of Water Quality During Airport Operations (De-Icing & Anti-Icing) There are many environmental impacts from day to day airport operations. A few examples are noise pollution, air pollution, and water quality issues. Out of the three, I think that water quality issues are of greatest concern.  Water quality issues that come about during airport operations usually result from airport construction and renovation, airfield deicing and anti-icing, fuel storage and refueling, aircraft, and vehicle cleaning and maintenance.  Such activities require the use of chemicals and when such chemicals are disposed of without controls in place, they pose a threat to the nation’s water quality due to its high toxic levels. As all living things depend on water to survive, the contamination of water can heavily affect human and animal life. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (2012), de-icers and anti-icers are one of the greatest threats to water quality w...

2018 FAA Reauthorization Act & 14 CFR 107 For this week's discussion, I would like to talk about the 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act and how it shaped the aviation industry by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the 14 CFR 107 regulation as examples. The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act was put into place with the goal to reauthorize Federal aviation programs and improve aircraft safety certification processes (FAA, 2018). It updates the old FAA Authorization Act of 1994 and includes modern considerations like lithium batteries and UAVs, allowing changes in regulations to match the current challenges faced in the aviation industry. This reauthorization brings present-day relevancy into the decades-old act. For this very reason, I believe that this law is instrumental in shaping the aviation industry. Although there are many examples under this act that could be used to display how it has influenced the aviation industry, the one...

  HUMAN FACTOR CHALLENGES IN LINE MAINTENANCE   HUMAN FACTORS IN AVIATION  Human factors in aviation are any human-based element that affects and influences other factors in the aviation industry. As technology advances, machines become smarter and more reliable, making flying a safer mode of transport. However, we still see aircraft accidents happening even in this technologically advanced age (ICAO, 1984). This is because humans are not perfect and continuously make errors. Therefore, to minimize such human-influenced mistakes, the need to study human performance in the aviation industry arose. A few years back, I took a human factors examination paper in preparation to be certified as a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. It is one of the papers required for anyone who intends to work in line maintenance, not just engineers. This goes to show just how important it is to understand human factors when working in the aviation line. Of all the 15 papers needed to ...

3D Printed Firearms - A New Threat to Aviation? 3D printing is a great invention that had gained rhythm over recent years. Printing parts are easy to get and with some simple knowledge on computer-aided drawings, 3D printers can print just about anything the user wishes, if the settings are done correctly. The threat that I would like to talk about for this discussion is the recent use of 3D printed weapons. Weapons like knives and guns were previously easily detected by metal detectors but since the current 3D printing technology which more commonly uses plastic, 3D printed weapons can easily slip past a few layers of airport security. 3D printed weapons pose a threat to the aviation industry as they can be easily taken apart and may not look like weapons at first glance. They would also slip past machine operated detectors yet passing through another layer of security. Although there are many layers of security, when the layers are thinned, there are lesser layers to work as an activ...