Capstone Program

The Capstone Program is an FAA funded safety program located in Alaska, primarily focusing on rural areas of the state. The program concentrates on increasing safety in aviation through technology and making the process of integrating that technology more efficient. Some of the systems currently being developed in Capstone includes GPS Receivers, Data Link Transceivers, ADS-B, Multi-Function Displays, Flight Information Services, Moving Maps, and Terrain Databases.

References

* http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/arc/programs/capstone/

History

Understanding the significance of Capstone requires some background on Alaska. Among the fifty (50) states Alaska is the largest in area, but with just over six hundred thousand (600,000) people it is one of the smallest in population. In the late 1990s, one out of every fifty-eight (58) people in the state was a pilot and there were six (6) airplanes for every ten (10) pilots. With a very limited highway and railroad infrastructure, aviation emerged as the essential and in most locations the only transportation system. However, in Alaska the vital infrastructure supporting this essential system fell short of the standards commonly expected or encountered elsewhere in the US.

The harsh operating environment of Alaska contributed to an average of one aircraft accident every other day. On average there was an accident-related fatality every nine days. More than one third of the annual air commuter accidents in the United States (US) occurred in Alaska, and more than ten (10) per cent of the professional pilots working there would not survive a thirty-year (30) career. Moreover, they seldom died alone.

In early 1997, the Federal Aviation Administration began developing a proposal entitled "Flight 2000." That initiative envisioned rapid deployment and field demonstration of advanced avionics capabilities leading toward implementation of Free Flight. The proposal was not well received by all segments of the aviation industry primarily due to differences in priorities. Industry's RTCA Select Committee on Free Flight has now endorsed a revised approach, documented in the "Joint Government/Industry Roadmap for Free Flight Operational Enhancements." Most Flight 2000 Program activities originally planned to occur in Alaska were included in the new roadmap.Within the Alaskan Region, Flight 2000 served as the "capstone" for many additional initiatives, providing a common umbrella for planning, coordination, focus, and direction with regard to development of the future NAS. A few additional "technology-driven" initiatives supportive of Flight 2000 are recommended in a March, 1995 NTSB Alaska Safety Study, however, the success of each is inextricably linked to success for the other. As an example, the additional aviation weather observing systems the NTSB called for in Alaska relies on the Flight 2000 Flight Information System (FIS) element to provide the information developed via data link to the pilot.A key objective of Flight 2000 had been to accelerate implementation and use of modern technology; however, uncertainties surrounding that program have actually slowed the transition. Several Alaskan avionics installers have reported customers seeking to acquire GPS equipment defer investing as they wait for Flight 2000 to take further shape.Within Alaska, the Flight 2000 "Capstone" has provided a framework to link several initiatives and/or programs and ensure coordination between the FAA, community and industry. This "Capstone" has outlined the process and scope for upgrading the operating infrastructure with airports, weather products, communications, and GPS driven systems. A major "Capstone" objective was/is to improve safety in Alaska while offering efficiencies to operators. Improvements realized under this program will yield immediate safety benefits. Many accidents could be eliminated through improved situational awareness for both pilots and controllers. For this reason, the Alaskan Region staunchly supported efforts to enhance the NAS and stepped forward to continue to be a test bed for new technology. A study of 112 Air Carrier Accidents occurring during a three-year period in Alaska indicated a likely 38% safety improvement from modern technology.The Free Flight Operational Enhancements Program (FFOEP) identified nine enhancements. Although field deployment of these enhancements was not scheduled to begin in Alaska until FY2000, a limited early deployment was within reach and highly desirable. It was thought that early deployment would have a positive effect on safety, create an infrastructure to permit initial procedures development, familiarize flight crews, controllers, and avionics installers with modern equipment and concepts, and address certification issues and procedures prior to the actual start of the FFOEP evaluation. Early deployment would also serve to validate the overall concept identified in the joint Government/Industry Roadmap.

During FY1999, the Alaskan Region's "Capstone" Program tied together three of the nine principal elements identified in the "Joint Government/Industry Roadmap for Free Flight Operational Enhancements" with two safety initiatives from the March 1995 NTSB Alaska Safety Study. Operational enhancements included in Project Capstone are: (a) Flight Information System for Special Use Airspace, Weather, Windshear, NOTAMS, and Pilot Reports, (b) Cost Effective Controlled Flight into Terrain Avoidance through Graphical Position Display, and (c) Enhanced See and Avoid. The concept of conducting a real world demonstration of these and other capabilities in Alaska was originally proposed for inclusion in FAA's "Flight 2000 Program." The Alaskan Region identified the following FFOEP elements and related NTSB safety improvements for limited deployment in FY 1999:The Alaskan Region's Capstone Program brought together several initiatives, some ongoing, some proposed, in order to make the flying community safer and more efficient while validating the deployment and operation of technology in the Bethel hub and surrounding area. It supports planning efforts of the FFOEP developed by the RTCA Select Committee by providing a cost effective and efficient method to demonstrate the program’s implementation processes.A Capstone Field Office was established in Anchorage, reporting to the Alaskan Regional Administrator to plan, coordinate and implement the project. Infrastructure and interim procedures and certification processes would be developed in conjunction with the respective Alaskan Region Divisions responsible for them. Equipage of evaluation aircraft would be voluntary with the Capstone program absorbing the cost of equipping and certifying. Capstone built an infrastructure consistent with the FFOEP, thereby enabling further procedure development and evaluation leading toward overall modernization. The Capstone program consisted of two phases in different geographical areas of Alaska. Phase I, which was conceived in 1998 and began implementation in 1999, was centered in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta area of southwestern Alaska. Phase II, which began in 2001, encompassed the panhandle area better known as Southeast Alaska. Phase III, would be a statewide implementation of the technologies developed and proven in Phase I and II.

Phase I

The Y-K Delta area of southwestern Alaska, the focal point for Capstone’s Phase I activities, typified most of the state in terms of transportation infrastructure. There were no roads connecting the more than fifty (50) villages in the one hundred thousand (100,000) square mile area, and even within the villages themselves there were few roads. The community of Bethel, the aviation operating hub and largest settlement in the area, had only fifteen (15) miles of mostly unpaved roads, all ending at the edge of town. Bethel, being the aviation hub, was the most developed of the villages in the Y-K delta but would be considered underdeveloped when compared to similarly populated cities within the other forty nine (49) states. In the late nineties, seventy-five percent (75%) of the households in Bethel had to have their water delivered and sewage hauled by truck. Until 1994, when the City-operated truck haul service was made mandatory, many of the residents had only the "honeybucket system" for sewage. Similar to the chamber pot concept of colonial days the "honeybucket system" is a bucket, usually a five (5) gallon plastic pail, which is used as a toilet in the home. When full, the bucket is taken outside and dumped into community collection bins or, in many villages, onto the frozen river ice in the winter and into the river in summer. Most villages in the Y-K delta still used the "honeybucket system" for sewage.

Under the Capstone Phase I program, a fleet of small commercial aircraft were equipped for an evaluation of the safety benefits stemming from the use of advanced technologies during day-to-day operations in Alaska's high-risk operating environment. The aircraft are fitted with IFR capable global positioning system (GPS) receivers, a Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) data-link system that enables Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) and Flight Information Services (FIS) including real-time weather, and a multifunction display (MFD) depicting terrain, other ADS-B aircraft, and weather graphics and text data. The bundle of avionics was installed on some 200 aircraft used for commuter, charter and mail flights in southwest Alaska. The avionics improved the pilot's situational awareness with the primary goal of preventing controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and mid-air accidents.

The lack of a usable Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) infrastructure and radar coverage combined with the harsh weather conditions caused Alaska to have a high rate of CFIT accidents. Pilots, departing for VFR-only destinations with the intention of maintaining visual separation with terrain or water, continued flying toward their destination after encountering marginal weather conditions which would normally involve instrument flight operations. The terrain awareness function of the Capstone avionics provided ground proximity functionality. The terrain function showed terrain via an intuitive high-resolution color display using black, green, yellow and red to indicate the proximity of terrain to the aircraft. The avionics continuously monitored the aircraft's; altitude, GPS derived position, ground speed, route of flight, and compared this data to a built-in database of terrain elevation. The display automatically provided a terrain advisory to the pilot if the aircraft is within two minutes of a close encounter with the ground.Second to CFIT accidents was mid-air collisions. Capstone sought to address this by using ADS-B technology to reduce airborne collisions. ADS-B equipped aircraft continuously broadcast their position whether they are flying or taxiing on the airport surface. Displayed on the multifunction display, ADS-B gave pilots in the cockpit a clear view of the other ADS-B traffic around them. When the Capstone aircraft were flown to a radar service area, such as exists in Anchorage, a capability called Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B), depicted non-ADS-B aircraft on the MFD as well. A network of data link ground stations has been installed at eleven existing FAA and joint-use military facilities in the Phase I region, and connected via existing communications systems to the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center. The existing Micro Enroute Automated Radar Tracking System (Micro-EARTS) had been programmed to depict ADS-B targets on the air traffic controller displays fused with radar targets. ADS-B aircraft position reports were also made available to Airport Traffic Control Tower controllers in Bethel and to the commercial aircraft operators via the Internet for flight monitoring purposes.

As part of the initial Capstone initiative, the FAA purchased, installed, and maintained the avionics for the 5-year evaluation period. In return, participants assisted the program by providing evaluation data so that safety and operational benefits could be identified and documented. Ownership of the avionics transferred to the participating operators in December 2004. The initial evaluation concentrated on an affordable means to reduce CFIT and provide the pilot with an enhanced means to see nearby traffic and receive current weather in the cockpit.The Capstone program also provides training for pilots, operators, safety inspectors, air traffic control specialists, and technicians to ensure that the greatest benefits resulting from evaluation activities were realized.In order to support the most effective use of this technology, nineteen (19) GPS stand-alone non-precision instrument approach procedures were prepared and published for one or more runways of ten (10) remote village airports within the Capstone Phase I evaluation area. Also, an Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) was installed at these airports to enable air carrier use of the new non-precision GPS instrument approach procedures.The natural boundaries of the Y-K Delta confined the operation of most of the participating aircraft to the area, with Bethel as the operating hub, and also limit radar coverage below six thousand (6,000) feet mean sea level (MSL). Capstone provided an IFR infrastructure for Bethel and the nine (9) additional airports in the Y-K delta as well as making radar-like ADS-B coverage possible throughout this area. To enable air traffic services (ATS) to use ADS-B in the Bethel non-radar environment, the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) air traffic automation equipment was modified to permit display of ADS-B together with available radar on the air traffic controller display.To document the results, Capstone enlisted the help of the University of Alaska at Anchorage (UAA) and the MITRE Corporation. The university documented a baseline of current operations tracked, evaluated and documented the improvements as they occurred. UAA also provided crew training on the Capstone avionics equipment. The initial results showed a 40 percent reduction in accidents had resulted from the Capstone Program.

Phase II

Under Phase II, the Capstone Program concentrated efforts in the terrain-constrained area of Southeast Alaska (Figure 5). Again, in partnership with the aviation industry, Capstone worked to improve safety and access to that area using lessons learned from the Phase I program in the Y-K delta, as well as incorporating other technologies to further improve surveillance and navigation capability. Additionally, Phase II also included a demonstration of technology aimed at reducing the potential for runway incursion accidents. In addition to the CFIT and mid-air concerns one of the critical elements needed in Southeast Alaska was a usable IFR infrastructure.

Southeast Alaska is a very rugged environment of mountains and ocean. Forested islands create the states famous Inside Passage. In many areas the ocean comes directly up to the base of tall majestic mountains capped by glaciers and ice fields. Although access to most settlements in the Southeast is available by boat, the lengthy travel time makes it impractical for everyday and emergency use. A less than two hour journey from Ketchikan to Juneau by air requires sixteen (16) hours by boat and a voyage on the ferry from Bellingham Washington to Juneau, Alaska takes over fifty (50) hours.

There are over forty-five (45) communities scattered throughout Southeast Alaska on islands and the mainland. Juneau, the capital, is the largest with about thirty thousand (30,000) people (figure 6). Only three of the cities, Haines, Hyder and Skagway, are reachable by road via the "Alcan" (Alaska-Canadian) highway. Even these, because of the lengthy drive, depend on aviation for most of their transportation needs. To reach Haines from Skagway is only fifteen (15) minutes by air but requires over seven (7) hours driving time via the three hundred and sixty (360) mile road trip.

Flying in this area was very different due to the constraints of the terrain. The Minimum Enroute Altitude (MEA) of the airways were typically above the altitudes that the general aviation fleet of aircraft could safely fly without encountering icing conditions, even in the summer.Legacy enroute navigation aids required land-based sites where power was available and maintenance crews had access. This land-based system resulted in a traditional IFR route structure that was not optimized for the terrain or typical small aircraft users in Southeast Alaska. The technology that changed this and put the routes and approaches where they were needed, at low altitudes over the fjords, is the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS).

Basic GPS service failed to meet the accuracy (the difference between the measured position at any given time to the actual or true position), availability (the ability of a system to be used for navigation whenever it is needed by the users, and its ability to provide that service throughout a flight operation), and integrity (the ability of a system to provide timely warnings to users or to shut itself down when it should not be used for navigation) requirements critical to safety of flight. The bottom line for assessing a navigation system is its "availability." A system that fails to meet prescribed standards for accuracy, integrity, etc. is not "available" for use although even the "raw" GPS signal in Alaska is better than what was available through FAA's legacy systems. The traditional, VOR and ADF, ground based enroute system has an availability rate of ninety-eight point five percent (98.5%). The GPS signal had an availability of approximately ninety-nine point nine percent (99.9%) and was/is available over a much wider area.

Being able to receive the WAAS signal improves basic GPS accuracy to approximately 7 meters vertically and horizontally, improves system availability through the use of GEOs carrying navigation payloads, and provides important integrity information about the entire GPS constellation.WAAS provides the safety-critical navigation system that will allowed the Capstone program to design airways and approaches where they can be best used by the aviation industry in Southeast Alaska. Capstone utilized WAAS receivers in all participating aircraft. The WAAS signal was the basis for new IFR routes and procedures that were designed to serve low flying aircraft throughout Southeast Alaska. The first air carrier validation flights by Harris Air, located at Sitka, Alaska, took place in March 2005 and resulted in FAA approval.

WAAS delivered the safety assurances essential for building a new U.S. navigation and air traffic management system based on more cost-effective satellite technology. The WAAS signal, which has been available for several years for non-critical use has an availability rate of ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent (99.999%).

Capstone worked with the WAAS program office to help provide the WAAS signal to the Phase II Capstone equipment. Certification and initial installations of Capstone Phase II WAAS avionics took place in 2002.

Introduction of WAAS-based navigation and surveillance capabilities also required new regulatory provisions. On March 13, 2003, Special Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 97 was approved by FAA authorizing en route IFR navigation in Alaska based solely on satellite technology without reference to ground radio navigation stations.

New WAAS routes were also designed and charted to serve the entire state of Alaska. Conflict within the Air Traffic Organization resulted in the WAAS routes being NOTAMed out of service and later removed from public charting.