Equipment Applications to 1970's ATC Proposals

Evolutionary development of the Air Traffic Control System to meet expanding air traffic volume during the 1970's requires more delegation of ATC functions into the cockpit by providing the pilot with appropriate airborne equipment. Such delegation must, however, be within the framework of ground management of traffic flow and surveillance. Proper development of distributed air traffic control as between the pilot and the controller will result in unloading the system and provide greater efficiency in the overall utilization of airspace and airports, increased safety with respect to avoidance of mid-air collisions and expanded air transportation capacity. Significant equipment applications to meet these objectives involve area navigation in four dimensions, automatic transmission of position information derived from the airborne area navigation equipment, proximity measurement (stationkeeping) and automatic transmission of ATC instructions. These equipment developments are within the current state of the art, they are economically feasible and significant implementation could be accomplished realistically during the early 1970's.