Portuguese Airports, Use ERMO 482X3PRO-AIR

Case study: in Portuguese airports, ground traffic control
is supported by ERMO 482X3PRO-AIR

To prevent the occurrence of aircraft collision and ensure optimal safety for aircraft and passengers using its infrastructure, all main airports in Portugal rely on ERMO 482X3PRO-AIR barriers, installed in its taxiways to avoid runway incursions.

The requirement

Despite the professionalism of the personnel in charge of air ground traffic management, many accidents have occurred worldwide, essentially linked to poor visibility conditions that did not allow the control tower to have a complete view on the planes and therefore to confirm their position.

Since then, airports have been looking for detection solutions to confirm the position of aircraft on the ground, the compliance with minimum distances between aircraft on taxiways and the crossing of Runway Holding Point by aircraft.

The challenges

The airport environment is very restrictive a due to:

·        high radio frequency interference with heavy load of electromagnetic signals related to ground radars and navigation radars on board

·        impact of all possible climatic conditions: fog, snow, wind, heavy rain, etc.

.        prohibition of prominent elements (high poles) near runways which could crash into aircraft wings and engines.

The solution

ERMO 482X3PRO-AIR is a microwave barrier that improves safety during airplane taxiing on the runways. Regardless the weather conditions and immune to radiofrequency disturbance, the system detects aircraft crossing at stop bar locations, or entering the wrong direction on a runway and ultimately prevents collisions between aircraft in transit on the same runway. The system communicates when aircraft cross the Stop Bar and provides direction control at No Entry points on the runway

The benefits are significant to Air Traffic Ground Controllers who may be monitoring one area of the runway and enable a heads up of a potential hazardous situation before it occurs.