The Philippines and Singapore governments inaugurated the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) project in the municipality of Bataraza in the southernmost tip of Palawan on December 2, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.
The ADS-B is a collaboration between Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).
Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez, DOTr Undersecretary for Aviation Manuel Antonio Tamayo, CAAP Director General Jim Sydiongco, and officials from CAAP and CAAS were present.
DOTr said the ADS-B technology allows an aircraft to determine its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcasts it, enabling it to be tracked. An aircraft equipped with ADS-B can broadcast useful information such as their identities, positions, altitudes, and velocities twice every second.
Aside from enhancing the safety and efficiency of air traffic services, ADS-B also improves the ability to perform life-saving search and rescue missions. It can provide more accurate information about last reported positions, minimizing the search period, in such operations.
By 2018, the DOTr, through CAAP, shall likewise establish ADS-B ground station in the Kalayaan Group of Islands. In 2019, additional ADS-B ground stations in Iba, Zambales and Bolinao, Pangasinan.