One of the system installed on a modern passenger aircraft is the TCAS. It stands for Traffic Alert and Avoidance System. As the name indicates, it consists of at least two functions, to alert of the traffic or another flying aircraft and a system to avoid the disaster.
It has an historic reasons for the introduction of the TCAS. In the earlier period of aviation history, the number of aircraft in a given area were small, so there was lesser chance of mid-air collision. However, aviation had grown by leaps and bounds, nowadays the traffic density is high and the separation between aircraft is a matter of concern to the authority. The history of mid-air collision such as the Saudi Arabian Airlines and Kazakhstan Airlines in 1996 which killed 349 people had convinced the authorities to make the system mandatory.
ICAO annex 10 was modified to make it mandatory for all aircraft above 5700 kg to be fitted with TCAS
TCAS operates like a secondary radar, scanning the area around the aircraft. The system consists of two antennae, TCAS receiver transformer and Indicator. Most of the aircraft will use the existing display such as the EHSI. One of its set back is, the aircraft can only be detected if it is fitted with TCAS, that mean, aircraft below 5700kg are not visible.
Material from the internet
Traffic Collision & Avoidance TCAS
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