14 May 2015
Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD
Author: Ron Brent • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Audience : 27,386 • Page: 12 • Printed Size: 981.00cm² • Market: QLD
Country: Australia • ASR: AUD 6,192 • Words: 823 • Item ID: 407332100
Provided for client's internal research purposes only. May not be further copied, distributed, sold or published in
any form without the prior consent of the copyright owner.
Page 1 of 3
CLEARING
THE AIR
Criticism of
ILS focused on
noise concerns
Gold Coast Airport wants to install an
Instrument Landing System to allow most
planes to land in any weather, rather than
being diverted. Opponents fear it will lead
to more flights over residential areas. The
Bulletin asked Australia’s independent
Aircraft Noise Ombudsman, Ron Brent, to
comment on some of the arguments used
by critics of the ILS.
RNP.
BULLETIN: It is said that the
ILS is outdated technology. It
has been superseded by RNP
technology introduced at the
airport in 2014.
MR BRENT: It is true that RNP
is the newer technology, however the ILS is still a well-proven system used throughout the
world.
All commercial flights in
Australia can use an ILS while
only selected flights can use
ILS will remain an important and widely used technology for many years to come.
BULLETIN: This is all about
profits, and not safety. The airport can get more flights in
from Asia and there is no need
to introduce the system.
MR BRENT: As Aircraft Noise
Ombudsman, I make no comment in relation to airport
profits, nor can I make any
comments on the potential
flow-on economic benefit to
the Gold Coast of more flights.
Safety is also a matter outside my jurisdiction.
Nevertheless I can say that
the airport already safely accommodates flights to and
from Asia without an ILS system.
However, if one is installed,
then some operators may elect
to use the ILS whenever they
approach the airport from the
north.
14 May 2015
Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD
Author: Ron Brent • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Audience : 27,386 • Page: 12 • Printed Size: 981.00cm² • Market: QLD
Country: Australia • ASR: AUD 6,192 • Words: 823 • Item ID: 407332100
Provided for client's internal research purposes only. May not be further copied, distributed, sold or published in
any form without the prior consent of the copyright owner.
BULLETIN: You will not be
able to hear a conversation
outside your home under the
flight path.
MR BRENT: The closer the aircraft gets to the airport, the
lower the aircraft fly and therefore the louder they become.
Given the noise level estimates that have been published, many residents in the
Palm Beach area will have a
normal conversation disrupted
when there are flights overhead.
Some residents in the
Miami area might have a conversation disrupted, while in
Mermaid Beach a few residents may suffer a disruption
to their conversation.
Any disruption would be
limited to those periods when
there is an aircraft landing on
the ILS.
BULLETIN: The ILS may be
used on about 240 days each
year. There will be more and
more international flights
coming in to this airport and
they will all use the ILS once it
has been installed and fly the
length of the coastal strip.
MR BRENT: Based on historical data, aircraft arrive at the
Gold Coast from the northlanding Runway 14 – approximately 240 days per year
Whenever Runway 14 is use
for landing, some aircraft wi
use the ILS.
The actual number on an
given day depends on factor
such as the weather, operato
requirements and pilot train-
ing requirements. It is likely
that the actual number will be
a small proportion of the
flights coming into the Gold
Coast, perhaps five to eight per
fine weather day.
It is hard to predict airline
and pilot responses to the
availability of the ILS.
On days of very poor visibility the number of aircraft using
the ILS will likely be much
greater, depending on how
much of the day is affected by
the poor weather.
BULLETIN: The ILS should be
able to guide the planes in
from the south – the less populated approach. Why do planes
have to come over the land for
such a lengthy approach?
MR BRENT: Aircraft need to
land and take off into the wind.
Around two-thirds of the
flights at the Gold Coast Airport land from the north due in
part to the predominant winds
in the area.
If there is to be an ILS it
therefore makes sense to have
it on the runway most used for
landings.
An ILS flight path has to be
about 18km, long extending in
a straight line from the runway. That is why aircraft need
to be over land for such a long
period, compared to the curved
RNP approach which is mainly
over the ocean.
Page 2 of 3
Instrument
Landing System:
what you need
to know
IT is a precision, radio
navigation, ground-based
aid used by airports
worldwide to help planes
land in weather
conditions which might
cause a missed approach
or diversion.
The components
include an antenna to be
built on the NSW side of
the airport, widening of
the main runway, a new
communications and
power system, and
creating a flight path from
Surfers Paradise.
Pilots can use the ILS
or a satellite-based
system called Required
Navigational
Performance, available in
2016, in which signals are
sent giving a path across
the ocean.
Management says the
airport operates safely
without an ILS but it will
reduce costly diversions
and allow pilots to make a
decision much later on
landing when the runway
is obscured by cloud.
All non-Australian and
New Zealand
international heavy jets
need to complete an
instrument approach
regardless of weather
conditions. Some may opt
for other systems to
reduce noise.
14 May 2015
Gold Coast Bulletin, Gold Coast QLD
Author: Ron Brent • Section: General News • Article type : News Item
Audience : 27,386 • Page: 12 • Printed Size: 981.00cm² • Market: QLD
Country: Australia • ASR: AUD 6,192 • Words: 823 • Item ID: 407332100
Provided for client's internal research purposes only. May not be further copied, distributed, sold or published in
any form without the prior consent of the copyright owner.
Page 3 of 3