Technological advancement is moving on apace as Gold Coast Airport in Queensland adopts a new satellite-based aircraft navigation system. It was announced by Warren Truss deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure and regional development, though nothing was said about funding.
Smart Tracking navigation improves position accuracy of aircraft. The government jumped on the introduction to say it was part of its goal to improve services in the flight industry, an unannounced objective until now.
Airservices Australia managed the set up of Smart Tracking at Canberra, Adelaide, Melbourne and Cairns airports. The improvement has been going on since 2012 by Airservices and has now reached Brisbane. This will meet requirement for projected growth in demand. Let us hope growth actually occurs. At the moment Qantas is not doing very well.
The new system will enable flight controllers to keep aircraft flying over water longer instead of creating noise pollution in built-up areas. To put it bluntly, not all advancement proves useful. Keeping aircraft in the air for an extended time could create organizational problems. It could lead to more accidents.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
