Overview of Instrument Landing Systems

at Jersey Airport

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Introduction Aim is to provide a better understanding of:

The landing systems at the airport;

The challenges of being an island airport and being on the edge of a cliff;

What landing systems are in place in Jersey and

— …what capability these systems give us;

What is planned

— Immediate future

— Some longer term possibilities

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Two types of Landing ‘Approaches’

Non-Precision: At best only provides the pilot with distance (horizontal) information only

— How far away am I?

Precision: Provides pilot with both distance and height

— How far away am I? plus

— How close is the ground?

ILS: (Instrument Landing System)

• Most common, internationally recognized, Precision Approach system

• Not a ‘stand alone’ solution – ground based and to get maximum benefit needs to work with a range of other systems on the ground and in the aircraft and also has to be calibrated with ground lighting

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ILS Precision Approach Categories

3 Categories as defined by ICAO, CAA & EASA;

CAT I is the lowest Precision Category (Jersey, Guernsey, Exeter, Southampton);

CAT II requires more lighting and a clearer obstacle environment (Birmingham);

CAT III requires specific aircraft equip + training + recency etc (Gatwick, Heathrow);

Jersey is a CAT 1 (mainly determined by topology, location on Jersey and runway length)

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ILS Precision Approach Categories

What does this mean for Jersey – what is our capability?

From the East (overland):

DH (Decision Height) of 200ft and 550m horizontal visibility

From the West (oversea St Ouen): DH of 200ft and 1000m horizontal visibility

Operating ILS in Jersey

To achieve CAT I standard certain components must be fully operational

Jersey has all the major ILS Components and Lighting required such as:

Localizer, Glide Path, Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Instrument Runway Visual Range (IRVR)

Approach Lights, Runway Threshold Lights, Centreline Lights, Runway Edge Lights, Runway End Lights,

Additional components for resiliency:

Non-Directional Beacon (NDB) & DVOR (enroute beacon)

Airport location means we cannot have all of the ‘normal’ equipment in place.

What we don’t have is full Approach Lighting at the 090 end.

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Existing Landing Capability – Minima

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2012 Decision Height (feet) Visibility (metres)

From West 090 From East 270 From West 090 From East 270

ILS (inc GP, DME, IRVR) 200 200 1000 550

ILS (inc GP) 320 359 1200 900

DVOR 380 489 1500 1500

NDB (inc DME) 320 379 1200 1000

Decision Height (feet) is referenced to the airfield threshold elevation

Visibility (metres) is the distance that a pilot of an aircraft on the centreline can see the runway surface markings

All the above equipment is Ground Based. DH - St Peters Church 130 ft

Improving the Landing Capability – Minima

End 2012/2013 Decision height (feet) Visibility (metres)

From West 090 From East 270 From West 090 From East 270

LTS CAT 1 ILS (inc GP, DME, IRVR)

200 200 600 450

GNSS 350 379 1400* 800*

GNSS (BaroVNav) 290 330 1200* 650*

GNSS (SBAS) 250 260 1000* 600*

Lower Than Standard CAT 1 (LTS CAT 1 Ground Based) Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Barometric Vertical Navigation (BARO VNAV), Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) * To be confirmed

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Improving Jersey to CAT 2 Approach Improvements might include DH reduction from 200’ to 100’;

Undertook a review with Cyrrus late last year of CAT 2 ILS requirements;

Only 270 (eastern end/overland) possible due to topology (radio alt);

Challenges are:

Runway too short by 200m for ILS to operate at CAT 2 parameters;

Runway strip not protected adequately;

Taxiway layout and airfield lighting needs investment;

Obstacle environment too dense (eg Arrivals Building & Hangar 4);

October 2012 – ILS out of service

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Event Timeline

Date Activity

Week 35 Outline inspection of 09 ILS – all clear

Week 39 Routine inspection of 09 ILS – damage identified

ILS taken out of service & NOTAM issued

Week 40 Manufacturer engineer assesses damage

Parts ordered

Week 42 Parts arrive in Jersey and installation commences

Week 43 System testing

Flight calibration

09 ILS returned to service

Reason Cancellations %

Visibility lower than operating minima on both 09 and 27 runways 19 20% Aircraft/Airline decision to cancel - unrelated to 09 ILS

Runway 09 in use with visibility within limits for the available equipment (i.e. even though 09 ILS was out of service)

11 12%

Runway 27 in use with visibility within limits of 27 ILS 37 40% Reasons for cancellation not communicated to Airport 2 2%

Aircraft/Airline decision to cancel - potentially related to 09 ILS

Aircraft offered alternative approaches on Runway 27 as conditions were within operating limits, but chose not to accept

16 17%

Aircraft were not offered alternative approaches 8 9% Total 93 100%

Impact of Runway 09 ‘Localizer’ being out of service

Heavy fog over a period of 6 days in October 2012 Circa 350 schedules flight arrivals during that period (circa same departures) Localizer u/s for 4 weeks waiting for specialized cable and flight calibrator aircraft

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Main Investigation Issues Management Response

Damage to ILS • Improve resilience (eg Satelite) • Audit damage risk to critical equipment • Tighten policy and controls for wildlife management

Decision to take ILS out of Service • NOTAM and Operations Communications conducted well • Improve on public communication

Length of time to return to service • Source and stock critical spares (eg cable), where manufacturer continues to support

• Replacement of ILS scheduled to start in 2016

Inability to identify the person/s responsible

• Implemented revised procedures and tightened control • Continue to review data • Re-enforcing ‘Just’ culture for incident reporting • Address procedure control issues with managers

Internal Investigation

Summary for Instrument Landing in Jersey

We have the best we can within the constraints of Jersey

We have improved our operating capability (Lower than CAT I)

We continue to improve our resilience (Satellite)

We will continue to review technologies which may enable CAT II

Since the damage to 09 ILS

1. Set an operating objective : no impact due to failure of a landing system (2015)

2. Reviewed and tightened procedures and ensured management accountabilities

3. Investing in critical spares to reduce potential lead time

4. Set up briefings to better communicate about Instrument Landing in Jersey

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ILS Components

Localizer: provides horizontal course guidance along the extended runway centreline

Glide Path: provides information on angle of approach

DME: provides distance information - very high degree of accuracy

IRVR: horizontal visibility

NDB: radio beacon transmits non-directional signals - pilot able to determine bearings and ‘home in on’ the station.

DVOR: An en-route, high altitude navigation aid for aircraft as they fly from one control zone to another.

— In Jersey it is positioned on the extended runway centreline so it can also provide horizontal course guidance to the airfield.

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