Aw169 Tcas Ii Pilot'S Guide: Publication Code 502169041
Aw169 Tcas Ii Pilot'S Guide: Publication Code 502169041
PILOT’S GUIDE
Source document:
AW169 TCAS II Pilot's Giude - Document N°169F3450X001 Rev A
RECORD OF REVISIONS
TCAS II PG
Date Basis of Revision Notes
Issue
Iss. 1 Rev. A 31/10/2016 Doc. 169F3450X001 Rev. A -
A1 and A2 A
B1 and B2 A
TOC-i and TOC-ii A
LOF-i and LOF-ii A
LOT-i and LOT-ii A
INTRODUCTION
I-1 thru I-4 A
SECTION I
1-1 thru 1-4 A
SECTION II
2-1 thru 2-6 A
SECTION III
3-1 thru 3-18 A
SECTION IV
4-1 and 4-2 A
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................I-1
GENERAL ................................................................................................................................I-1
REVISIONS (RE-ISSUES)........................................................................................................I-1
REVISION SYMBOL ................................................................................................................I-1
TEMPORARY REVISIONS ......................................................................................................I-1
ACRONYMS AND DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................I-2
Issue 1 TOC-i
Rev. A
TCAS II Pilot’s Guide Document N°
169F3450X001
Page
TOC-ii Issue 1
Rev. A
Document N° TCAS II Pilot’s Guide
169F3450X001
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
Issue 1 LOF-i
Rev. A
TCAS II Pilot’s Guide Document N°
169F3450X001
LOF-ii Issue 1
Rev. A
Document N° TCAS II Pilot’s Guide
169F3450X001
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Issue 1 LOT-i
Rev. A
TCAS II Pilot’s Guide Document N°
169F3450X001
LOT-ii Issue 1
Rev. A
Document N° TCAS II Pilot’s Guide
169F3450X001
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL
This manual deals with the Traffic Collision and Avoidance System II (TCAS II)
provided by Rockwell Collins and installed as a basic kit on AW169 helicopter.
The manual provides information on the use and operation of such system.
Information in this manual is current as of publication or revision date.
REVISIONS (RE-ISSUES)
This manual is subject to revisions (re-issues) which will be automatically dis-
tributed to all holders of the manual. It is the responsibility of the operator to
assure that the revisions (re-issues) are incorporated into the manual upon
receipt.
At the beginning of the manual there is the "List of Revision" table that shows
all pages of the manual which have been revised as well as number, subject
and approval reference of each revision.
REVISION SYMBOL
Revised text is indicated by a black vertical line on the outer margin of the
page, adjacent to the affected text and the revision number is printed in the
lower inner margin. The revision symbol identifies the addition of new informa-
tion, a change of procedure, the correction of an error, or a rewording of the
previous information.
TEMPORARY REVISIONS
Temporary Revisions are issued when immediate data is to be included in the
manual. The Temporary Revision data can add to or cancel the initial data in
the manual. They are numbered progressively for each section of the manual
and are printed on blue paper. Temporary Revision pages are not written in
the "List of Effective Pages". A complete list of active and inactive Temporary
Revisions is written in the "Record of Temporary Revisions" page.
ACRONYM DEFINITION
ABS Absolute
ABV Above
BLW Below
CB Circuit Breaker
DU Display Unit
H/C Helicopter
ACRONYM DEFINITION
NM Nautical Mile
OT Other Traffic
PT Proximate Traffic
RA Resolution Advisory
RAD Radalt
REL Relative
RTN Return
SL Sensitivity Level
STBY Stand-By
SW Software
TA Traffic Advisory
XPDR Transponder
SECTION I
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
GENERAL
The TCAS-4100 system, supplied by Rockwell Collins, is an airborne traffic
and collision avoidance advisory system that operates without the support
from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) ground stations and aids the flight crew by
detecting the presence of nearby aircraft (Traffic Advisory) and providing a
warning (Resolution Advisory) when the proximity of that aircraft is determined
to be a safety threat. The TCAS interrogates the transponders of the sur-
rounding aircrafts in the vicinity and uses the replies from those transponders
to compute their flight path. The data received from this interrogation are track,
range, altitude (when it is included in the reply message) and the bearing.
From these data, the TCAS calculate a time to reach the Closest Point of
Approach (CPA) with the intruder and by dividing the range by the closure
rate. This time value (TAU) is the main parameter for issuing alerts. If the tran-
sponder replies, from nearby aircraft, includes their altitude, TCAS also com-
putes the time to reach co-altitude. Through these calculations, the TCAS
system evaluates the potential threat.
The TCAS determines the relative position of surrounding aircraft by using its
directional antennas for bearing information and by measuring the time from
interrogation to reply to compute the distance. The altitude information is sup-
plied by the radio altimeter unit.
The maximum surveillance range of TCAS is about 14 NM with display of
detected intruder aircraft up to 12 NM. The TCAS-4100 system can track up to
60 aircraft simultaneously and display up to 30 aircraft.
The TCAS receiver/transmitter interrogates the transponders of neighbouring
aircraft and uses the replies to locate and track those aircraft. These replies
include altitude information. Bearing and distance information is derived using
the directional antennas and timing information based on transponder replies
to specific interrogations.
The bearing, distance, and altitude of each aircraft are used to calculate the
track. This data is used to evaluate any potential conflict. The system provides
no resolution advisories at altitudes below 1000 ft.
Descriptions of the three types of advisories that can be issued are listed
below:
— PFDs and MFDs used to display the Traffic and Resolution advisories
SECTION II
METHOD OF OPERATION
GENERAL
The operation of the TCAS II can be summarized by the following functions:
— Surveillance
— Threat Detection
— Threat Resolution
SURVEILLANCE
Target Surveillance
TCAS listen for the spontaneous transmissions, or squitters, that are gener-
ated once per second by the Mode S transponder. Among other information,
the squitter contains the unique Mode S address of the sending aircraft. Fol-
lowing the receipt and decoding of a squitter message, TCAS sends a Mode S
interrogation to the Mode S address contained in the squitter. The Mode S
transponder replies to this interrogation and the reply information is used by
TCAS to determine the range, bearing, and altitude of the Mode S aircraft. To
minimize interference with other aircraft and ATC on the 1030/1090 MHz
channels, the rate at which a Mode S aircraft is interrogated by TCAS is
dependent on the range and closure rate between the two aircraft. As the tar-
get aircraft approaches the area where a TA may be required, the interroga-
tion rate increases. TCAS uses a modified Mode C interrogation known as the
Mode C Only All Call to interrogate nearby Mode A/C transponders. The nom-
inal interrogation rate for these transponders is once per second. Because
TCAS does not use Mode A interrogations, the Mode A transponder codes of
nearby aircraft are not known to TCAS Mode S squitter transmission are typi-
cally detected up to about 30 NM. The maximum tracking range of the TCAS
is 14 NM around with display of detected intruders up to 12 NM. The TCAS
can track as many as 60 aircraft and displays up to 30 of them. The area to be
visualized on the CDS is set by the pilot.
Garble Rejection
TCAS surveillance of Mode C targets is complicated by problems of synchro-
nous and non synchronous garbling (replies from different intruder overlap),
as well as reflections of signals from the ground (multipath). Various tech-
niques have been incorporated into TCAS to cope with this condition. The
whispershout (WS) technique takes advantage of differences between the
receiver sensitivity of transponders and the transponder antenna gains of tar-
get aircraft. Another technique used to reduce synchronous garble is the use
directional transmissions to further reduce the number of potential overlapping
replies. Non synchronous garble is caused by the receipt of undesired tran-
sponder replies that were generated in response to interrogations from ground
sensors or other TCAS interrogations. These so-called fruit replies are transi-
tory so they are typically identified and discarded by correlation algorithms in
the surveillance logic.
THREAT DETECTION
THREAT RESOLUTION
The key to understanding the TCAS threat evaluation and resolution is in rec-
ognizing that it is based on a projected CPA (closest point of approach). This
CPA is at the centre of a volume of airspace cylindrical in shape with a radius
that is determined by either of two thresholds. TAU, which is a time threshold,
or a horizontal distance threshold, whichever occurs first. Both TAU and the
horizontal threshold increase with altitude. The vertical depth of this cylindri-
cally-shaped volume is determined by certain separation ranges that also
increase with altitude.
The TCAS in both aircraft interrogates the other airplane’s transponder and
acquires heading, altitude, and vertical and horizontal speed information. The
vertical speed is determined by the rate of change in altitude while the hori-
zontal speed is determined by the rate of change of distance and bearing.
Using this information and similar information concerning its own flight param-
eters, it is able to calculate a closure rate and a projected CPA. In this sce-
nario, the airplanes are in danger of colliding at CPA. At 45 seconds before
CPA or at the horizontal threshold, whichever occurs first, TCAS alerts both
crews to the presence of the other airplane by means of a traffic advisory. It is
expected this advisory will cause the crew to attempt to acquire visual contact
with the other aircraft and mentally prepare for a TCAS commanded manoeu-
vre. With this advisory, the TCAS expects the crew to assume a vertical speed
of 1500 fpm. In order to satisfy the corrective advisory situation at this altitude,
TCAS expects a minimum separation of 400 feet.
When an intruder is declared a threat, a two step process is used to select the
appropriate RA for the encounter geometry. The first step in the process is to
select the RA sense, i.e., upward or downward. Based on the range and alti-
tude tracks of the intruder, the CAS logic models the intruders’ flight path from
its present position to CPA. The CAS logic then models upward and downward
sense RAs for own aircraft to determine which sense provides the most verti-
cal separation at CPA. In encounters where either of the senses results in the
TCAS aircraft crossing through the intruders altitude, TCAS is designed to
select the non-altitude crossing sense if the non-crossing sense provides the
desired vertical separation. If non-crossing sense doesn’t provide the required
vertical separation an altitude crossing RA will be issued.
The second step in selecting an RA is to choose the strength of the advisory.
TCAS is designed to select the RA strength that is the least disruptive to the
existing flight path. After the initial RA is selected, the CAS logic continuously
monitors the vertical separation that will be provided at CPA and if necessary,
the initial RA will be modified.
In a TCAS/TCAS encounter, each aircraft transmits interrogations to the other
via the Mode S link to ensure the selection of complementary RAs by the two
aircraft. The coordination interrogations use the same 1030/1090 MHz chan-
nels used for surveillance interrogations and replies and are transmitted once
per second by each aircraft for the duration of the RA. Coordination interroga-
tions contain information about an aircraft’s intended RA sense to resolve the
encounter with the other TCAS-equipped intruder. When an aircraft selects an
upward sense RA, it will transmit a coordination interrogation to the other air-
craft that restricts that aircraft’s RA selection to those in the downward sense.
The strength of the downward sense RA would be determined by the threat
aircraft based on the encounter geometry and the RA Selection logic. The
basic rule for sense selection in a TCAS/TCAS encounter is that each TCAS
must check to see if it has received an intent message from the other aircraft
before selecting an RA sense. If an intent message has been received, TCAS
selects the opposite sense from that selected by the other aircraft and commu-
nicated via the coordination interrogation. If TCAS has not received an intent
message, the sense is selected based on the encounter geometry in the same
manner as would be done if the intruder were not TCAS equipped.
RADIO
PRESSURE ALTITUDE
ALTITUDE
ADVISORY
1,000 5,000 10,000 20,000
UP TO UP TO ABOVE
TO TO TO TO
1,000 5,000 42,000
2,350 10,000 20,000 42,000
Preventive
Vertical
Resolution - 600 ft 600 ft 600 ft 600 ft 700 ft 800 ft
Separation
Threshold
Thresholds
at CPA Corrective
Resolution - 300 ft 300 ft 350 ft 400 ft 600 ft 700 ft
Threshold
SECTION III
CONTROLS, FUNCTIONALITIES AND
VISUALIZATIONS
GENERAL
The controls features are provided by mean of the pilot and copilot EDCU and
MFD. The TCAS II informations are displayed on the PFDs and MFD.
EDCU CONTROLS
Once the DataBase info has been checked, the Pilot can continue the initial-
ization process by pressing the SETTINGS button to reach the SETTINGS
page, displayed in On EDCU the TCAS II controls are integrated in the XPDR
Radio Tuning page accessible by selecting “CPDR/TCAS” icon on the EDCU
TOP page (see Figure 3-1). In the right side of the TUNE page the XPDR/
TCAS detail section is displayed while in the left side the XPDR/TCAS MODE
section is shown.
Figure 3-1 EDCU Radio Tuning page when TUNE key is pressed
The TCAS II mode controls “TA ONLY” and “TA/RA” are added to the Tran-
sponder mode controls into the EDCU XPDR/TCAS Radio Tuning pages, so
the integrated XPDR-TCAS mode have the following mode selection:
— STBY: The TCAS and XPDR systems are always forced to STBY mode.
This setting is the default at helicopter electrically power on
— TA/RA: Traffic and Resolution Alerts (Both TCAS and XPDR operative).
The TCAS system is operative selecting the modes TA/RA and TA ONLY. The
TCAS and XPDR system works coupled: since the TCAS detects the tran-
sponder signals transmitted by other aircraft, the on board the AW169 tran-
sponder is automatically muted through a dedicated suppression line when
the TCAS scans for traffic.
The TA/RA mode selection is accepted as valid if the TCAS II system echoes
indifferently TA ONLY or TA/RA. Although the TCAS RA function is inhibited,
with the system selected on, when an aircraft is on the ground and also at low
altitudes when airborne, it is very important for operational safety that the sys-
tem is selected on before take off, to ensure that the RA function will be active
as soon as the built-in system constraints allow this during the initial climb. In
any case, the CDS continues to provide flight crew with useful TCAS situa-
tional awareness, both below the RA inhibit altitudes and on the ground.
When TA ONLY or TA/RA is selected, the avionics system forces the Tran-
sponder in the ALT ON condition (if not) before the relevant TCAS II control
mode.
When STBY, ALT OFF or ALT ON is selected, the TCAS II control mode is
forced to TCAS STBY; when the command TCAS STBY is received from the
display, the TCAS is forced to TCAS STBY and the Transponder mode ALT
ON is selected.
The EDCU XPDR/TCAS Radio Tuning page (Figure 3-1) provides a control for
the altitude view of the traffic (ALT LIMITS); this defines the TCAS Display Vol-
ume for TCAS intruders filtering:
The EDCU XPDR/TCAS Radio Tuning page provides a control for the intruder
altitude reference selection:
— Relative (REL)
— Absolute (ABS).
— activate the TCAS test functionality selecting the “TCAS” icon (see
Figure 3-3).
When the pilots switch the Test ON the system provides self test for TCAS II
system. During the TCAS self-test the EDCU status display will read “TEST”
and then “PASS” or “FAIL” depending on the TCAS test result (see Paragraph
TCAS II TEST FUNCTION for TCAS II functional test details).
Figure 3-3 TEST - COMMS/NAV TUNE TEST page (for reference only)
MFD CONTROLS
On MFD and copilot PFD when in MFD format the TCAS II controls are avail-
able (see Figure 3-4) when the B-8 key is pressed on MFD. These controls
are usable via the on-side CCD in the interseat console or CCJ on the cyclic.
The functionalities are the same described for EDCU (see Paragraph EDCU
CONTROLS).
Figure 3-4 MFD TCAS II controls when CTRL button key (B-8) is pressed
on the MFD
TCAS II ON PFD
based on threat level, used in the TCAS traffic display. They are Resolution
Advisory (RA), Traffic Advisory (TA), Proximate Traffic (PT), and Other Traffic
(OT). The classification of the targets is done by the TCAS computer.
If the intruder is reporting altitude, intruder relative altitude is shown on the dis-
play near the threat traffic symbol. The relative altitude data tag will consist of
two digits indicating hundreds of feet and the color match the color of the cor-
responding traffic symbol. The data tag shall be centered above the traffic
symbol preceded with a "+" if the intruder aircraft is above own aircraft's alti-
tude and centered below the traffic symbol preceded with a "-" if the intruder
aircraft is below own aircraft's altitude. In addition, the arrow points down for
descending traffic and up for ascending traffic.
The TCAS system is able to display also the Flight Level (absolute altitude), of
the intruder aircraft, in place of the relative altitude, when selected from the
TCAS II menu on MFD or EDCU.
TA and RA traffic for which TCAS cannot calculate a bearing (No Bearing
Advisories) show on a two-line annunciator field at the bottom middle of the
display. Then a NBA annunciation shows the type (TA or RA), range displayed
in NM (XX,X ; for example 2 NM = 02,0), and relative or absolute altitude of
the traffic displayed in hundreds of feet as a two digit value with leading zeros.
The annunciator shows in amber for TA traffic and in red for RA traffic. Range
shows as a two-number readout in nautical miles with a resolution of one-
tenth of a nautical mile. The altitude data has two numbers and, in the relative
mode, a preceding (+) or (–) sign. The number on the left shows thousands of
feet of altitude and the number on the right shows hundreds of feet of altitude
(i.e., +22 = 2200 ft above the aircraft and –02 = 200 feet below the aircraft, see
Figure 3-5).
TCAS NBA Intruder Vertical Trend Vector using Vertical Sense information as
received from the TCAS with following logic:
— Vertical Sense = "Level Flight": blank (no Vertical Trend Vector displayed)
— Vertical Sense = "No data" blank (no Vertical Trend Arrow displayed).
The RA and TA targets which are off scale are indicated by placing one half of
the symbol at the edge of the active display area, while the Proximate and
Other Intruders which are outside of the current display area shall not be dis-
played.
The Proximate and No threat intruders are not displayed when the relative
intruder altitude falls outside the selected TCAS display volume. The volume
is defined by the TCAS Altitude selection:
— Normal
— Below
— Above
— Above/Below (unrestricted).
On the PFDs the TCAS Status annunciation is displayed in two reserved fields
on the left side of the compass rose (see Figure 3-6). In the first field the fol-
lowing TCAS Status annunciation can be displayed:
— “NORMAL”
— “ABOVE”
— “BELOW”
— “ABV/BLW”.
The Altitude select annunciation is completed with "ABS" annunciation when
the absolute altitude is selected.
In case of RA:
— a corrective down advisory displays a green fly-to band at the down advi-
sory’s recommended descent rate, and a red up avoidance zone extends
from the top of the fly-to band to the top of the vertical speed tape
TCAS II ON MFD
To enable the TCAS on MFD, at power-up TCAS OVERLAY is set to
“selected”, so the TCAS data are displayed on the MFD Map format’s flight
plan when the pilot selects the appropriate overlay for the display (see Figure
3-8).
— TEST PASS if the system has completed its functional tests and has not
detected a failure
— the following traffic symbols are displayed on the CDS (see Figure 3-5):
– a solid red square RA symbol at 2 nmi, at 200 feet relative altitude,
above (+02), with no VS arrow, at a relative bearing of +90°
– a solid yellow circle TA symbol at 2 nmi, at 200 feet relative altitude,
below (–02), with ascending arrow, at a relative bearing of –90°
– a solid cyan diamond symbol at 3.625 nmi, at 1000 feet relative alti-
tude, below (–10), with descending arrow, at a relative bearing of
+33.75°
– an open cyan diamond OT symbol at 3.625 nmi, at 1000 feet relative
altitude, above (+10), with no arrow, at a relative bearing of -33.75°.
— the message “TRAFFIC” (it flashes for the first five seconds, 500 ms red
on black, 500 ms white on red then steady white text on red background)
is displayed during the test in progress, on both the PFDs, to the left of the
attitude indication.
After the test is completed:
— the RA on the VS tape, the “TRAFFIC” message and the traffic symbols
are removed
— the TCAS II system comes back to the previous state in terms of controls.
Note
If the test recognizes problem with the TCAS system the aural
message “TCAS SYSTEM TEST FAIL” (See Paragraph TCAS
II AURAL WARNINGS) is reproduced throughout the pilot and
copilot headsets and the annunciation “TCAS FAIL” is displayed
as TCAS status.
— CLIMB CLIMB: repeated one cycle (Climb at the rate depicted by the
green (fly to) arc on VSI nominally between 1500 and 2000 fpm)
— LEVEL OFF LEVEL OFF: repeated one cycle (Reduce rate of climb or
descent to achieve level flight)
— CLIMB CLIMB NOW - CLIMB CLIMB NOW: repeated one cycle (Climb at
the rate depicted by the green (fly to) arc on VSI nominally between 1500
and 2000 fpm. Received after ‘DESCEND’ resolution advisory and indi-
cates a reversal in direction is required to achieve safe vertical separation
from a manoeuvring threat aircraft)
INHIBIT PARAMETERS
SECTION IV
LIMITATIONS, NORMAL AND EMERGENCY
PROCEDURES
GENERAL
Limitations, Normal and Emergency Procedures are provided within AW169
TCAS II RFM Supplement 14.