Australias critical air navigation equipment checked for safety

The maintenance of this equipment is critical for many regional and remote communities where air traffic is a lifeline. The Brisbane-based service checks the 500 plus navigational aids installed and maintained by Airservices for flight safety at regional and major airports, aerodromes and airstrips on a three-year rotational basis. The service will undertake 42 separate routine or special flight inspections on equipment at:

QLD Brisbane, Cairns, Mackay, Maroochydore, Jacobs Well

NSW Sydney, Cowra

TAS Hobart, Launceston, Nile, Tea Tree

VIC Mangalore, Rockdale, Avalon, Moorabbin

NT Tennant Creek, Christmas Island.

Equipment being tested includes instrument landing systems (ILS), distance measuring equipment (DME), non-directional beacons (NDB) and wide area multilateration (WAM) navigation aids plus surveillance radars. Positional and navigational information is relayed from these aids to aircraft and assists pilots in landing safely. The inspections will be performed by specialist air crew who operate the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air aircraft and equipment to collect precision data while airborne. The data gathered is later assessed and analysed by Airservices maintenance and engineering staff to ensure that each navigation aid is operating accurately.