Florida’s SkyLease faces hefty fine from FAA

Florida’s SkyLease Cargo (GG, Miami Int’l) faces a USD422,500 fine from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for allegedly flying its two B747-400(ERF)s on dozens of flights without the required avionics equipment. The FAA in a statement alleged the cargo specialist had operated N903AR (msn 33096) and N904AR (msn 33097) on 56 flights between June 21, 2020, and July 12, 2020, without the required version of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out. This onboard equipment broadcasts an aircraft’s position, velocity, and other information. The FAA required aircraft flying in certain controlled US airspace to have this equipment by January 1, 2020. The flights in question happened in the US and to/from Bolivia, China, Canada, Colombia, and Peru. The aircraft had entered controlled airspace around Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and Anchorage, the FAA said. SkyLease Cargo has 30 days after receiving the FAA’s enforcement letter to respond to the agency. According to a fact sheet on the FAA website, Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is a foundational NextGen technology that transforms aircraft surveillance using satellite-based positioning. ADS-B Out is a function of an aircraft’s onboard avionics that periodically broadcasts the aircraft’s state vector (three-dimensional position and three-dimensional velocity) and other required information. Amongst other things, the aircraft must transmit its position and velocity at least once per second while airborne or while moving on the airport surface. Under FAA regulations, ADS-B Out is mandated for aircraft flying in busy, controlled airspace. To meet the minimum requirement for ADS-B Out, aeroplanes must be equipped with an approved GPS receiver, an ADS-B Out system (extended squitter or universal access transceiver), and antennas for the GPS receiver and ADS-B Out system.