A group the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established to inform its development of aircraft tracking standards following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has called for extending the compliance date to begin tracking by two years. While technology is available to support the initial 15-minute tracking standard that ICAO will require, using it in practice may be complicated, according to the group, which included substantial airline participation.

In a September report to the international organization, the Normal Aircraft Tracking Implementation Initiative (NATII) steering committee offered several recommendations for ICAO requirements—called standards and recommended practices (SARPs)—and proposed extending their application date from November 2016 to November 2018. Member nations called on ICAO to sponsor the NATII initiative following the Second High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal in February.

“Normal” tracking envisions that aircraft report their position over oceanic expanses at 15-minute intervals versus the current 30 to 40 minutes, the first step toward a planned Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS) that will also accommodate abnormal and distress reporting events.

“The NATII recognized that the proposed SARPs were the foundation to achieve Normal Aircraft Tracking, however the discussions and activities identified areas that required further development,” the report states. “Most significantly, the NATII identified scenarios where the prescriptive nature of the proposed SARPs imposed an unrealistic operational burden across industry stakeholders. The proposed SARPs have the potential to result in a number of unintended consequences to operations especially when elements required for Normal Aircraft Tracking become unavailable.”

The initiative held a workshop involving industry vendors in Montreal in late April, then conducted a “table-top exercise” hosted by Qantas in Sydney, Australia, in June to evaluate six different tracking scenarios. It also monitored the Australian Enhanced Flight Tracking Evaluation Trial, involving Airservices Australia, satellite communications provider Inmarsat and carriers Qantas and Virgin Australia. That trial, which used automatic dependent surveillance-contract (ADS-C) position reporting, demonstrated that suitably equipped aircraft could meet or exceed the 15-minute tracking standard by adjusting their contracts with air navigation service providers (Ansps). One recommendation of the NATII is that ICAO “consider encouraging Ansps” to provide ADS-C services over oceanic areas with reporting contracts of 15 minutes or less.

Representatives of the U.S. and six nations in the Asia-Pacific region, along with representatives of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization, European Aviation Safety Agency, Eurocontrol and International Air Transport Association (IATA) served on the NATII steering committee. A 36-member working group, which included 13 representatives of IATA and two from the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, performed the detailed work. The NATII was to make its report to ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission.

Responding to an AIN inquiry, ICAO said that its permanent governing council will review the latest developments with the flight-tracking requirement at its next session in November. “At that point it will also be reviewing inputs received from ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission on any new considerations which may have arisen during the tracking implementation exercises conducted this summer, in conjunction with various airlines and other stakeholders,” the organization said.

“ICAO has been encouraged that many airlines are already implementing tracking requirements of various accuracies in advance of the Council’s final decision on an implementation timeline for the 15-minute global requirement, and we will continue to work with all concerned to see that flight tracking becomes a commonplace capability sooner than later.”