LVNL has integrated an alarm into the air traffic control system that will sound when an aircraft executes a go-around. Unique in the world, this system will emit an audible alarm and show a warning on the radar screen, decreasing the chances that an unsafe situation will occur. LVNL is constantly improving the safety of air traffic in Dutch airspace.
Go-around
A go-around occurs regularly and is a standard procedure. A go-around is executed approximately 350 times per year, over a total of 230,000 landings at Schiphol. In the event of a go-around, the aircraft’s landing is aborted. This could be due to various reasons, such as exceptional weather conditions, technical circumstances, or a situation in which the previous aircraft is still on the landing runway. It is also possible that the cabin crew of the aircraft had not been able to make all necessary preparations for the landing. A go-around will be executed at the initiative of the pilot or air traffic controller, depending on the situation.
The air traffic controller gives instructions to inbound and outbound aircraft from the air traffic control tower at Schiphol. In order to alert the air traffic controller more specifically to a go-around, an automatic system has been developed that will both emit an audible warning sound and show a warning on the radar screen in case of a go-around. It has happened in the past that an air traffic controller saw that an aircraft had hit the runway, but a go-around was eventually still executed. That has led to risky situations.
Runway system at Schiphol
Schiphol has take-off and landing runways that can be used in various wind directions. Several of those runway combinations can lead to air traffic intersecting in airspace. Since a go-around is never planned, intersecting air traffic is always unexpected. That is why it is very important to have an excellent overview of the situation.
LVNL developed the Go-Around Detection System itself. The system has been tested and evaluated extensively. The air traffic controllers working from the air traffic control tower have been trained to use the system. The pilot study was carried out in part by NLR and was made financially possible by the Knowledge & Development Centre Mainport Schiphol.
