Tim Shaver, manager of the FAA’s avionics maintenance branch (AFS-360), told attendees at the “ADS-B OUT Avionics Equipage & Installation” forum here at Heli-Expo that only 4 percent of helicopters in the U.S. are currently equipped with compliant ADS-B OUT transmitters. If current installation trends continue, he said, many rotorcraft will not meet the FAA’s Jan. 1, 2020 deadline for compliance. The forum is part of the FAA’s outreach effort to help the helicopter industry meet ADS-B mandates.

Joined by FAA aviation safety inspector John Fisher, the pair highlighted the agency’s ADS-B focus team (AFT) that was formed to foster the consistent interpretation and application of ADS-B-related regulatory policy, as well as provide guidance to support effective and efficient equipage and continuous compliance of avionics performance standards. The FAA is also sponsoring projects with FreeFlight Systems and Rockwell Collins that “will incentivize installation of ADS-B,” Shaver said.

Also, while previous FAA policy mandated all installations be performed through an STC, type certificate or amended type certificate, the current policy, adopted in 2012, allows any approved installation “to be applied to other like models as long as the installation is done the same way,” Shaver said.

One forum participant raised the point that FAA inspectors in the field often don’t interpret regulations the same way as FAA headquarters, creating challenges for operators in gaining approval for installations. Another participant questioned whether the policy of approving identical installations meant even the wires had to be the same length. The question triggered a back-and-forth between the forum’s FAA moderators, suggesting the continuing challenges and fine points on the road to ADS-B OUT compliance.