I am at the SUN ‘n FUN International Fly-In today because it’s a great opportunity to talk to general aviation (GA) pilots about what we in the ATO are doing to make sure they stay safe, and to ask them to do everything they can as well.
More than 211,000 GA aircraft fly more than 27 million operations a year in the United States, so they’re an important part of our national airspace. While the GA fatality rate has dropped, we’d prefer for that number to be zero and we have a number of initiatives underway to contribute toward that goal.
I updated the GA pilots on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), which our team has successfully implemented at our 24 en route and oceanic centers and 114 of our terminal facilities. The pilots who are already equipped and using it say they love it – we have heard many examples of how near misses have been avoided because ADS-B allows them to see other aircraft and be visible themselves in congested airspace.