Reading module
Slide 1 of 11
TCAS Overview
- TCAS (Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System) is an airborne system designed to detect and help avoid collisions between aircraft, independent of ground-based ATC.
- A TCAS aircraft transmits an interrogation once per second.
- TCAS listens for replies from other aircraft's transponders to build a picture of nearby traffic.
- In Europe, the equivalent system is called ACAS (Airborne Collision Avoidance System).
Advanced
Avionics
TCAS
ACAS
Collision Avoidance
Avionics — Chapter 20: TCAS (Traffic Alert & Collision Avoidance)
TCAS operation, interrogations, threat determination, Tau concept, Traffic Advisories (TA) and Resolution Advisories (RA), whisper-shout, and directional antennas. Read the chapter then answer open-ended review questions in your own words.
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Systems & tools used
- TCAS processor
- Mode S transponder
- Directional antenna
SOP & compliance notes
- TCAS provides independent collision avoidance independent of ATC