An Airservices Australia survey as part of the post-implementation review (PIR) into Australia's back-up navaid network has only three days to run, and so far has collected only 10 responses.
The survey, which closes on midnight Sunday night, asks the aviation community to provide feedback on effectiveness of the 200 navaids that make up the back-up network, but so far has had minimal engagement.
"In 2016, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) mandated the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) as the primary means of instrument flight rules (IFR) navigation in Australia," Airservices points out.
"With the reduced reliance on ground-based navigation aids (navaids) as a result, a number of navaids were subsequently decommissioned. The remaining navaid network formed the Backup Navigation Network (BNN), consisting of over 200 navaids at 124 airports across Australia.
"The BNN is maintained and monitored by Airservices to support a GNSS contingency mode of operation, in the unexpected case where a pilot is unable to access the GNSS service.
"As part of a post implementation review (PIR), Airservices is seeking feedback from aircraft operators on the use and effectiveness of the BNN."
Australia's back-up network is made up of Non-directional Beacons (NDB), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) and VHF Omni-directional Radio Ranges (VOR) covering 124 airports, which once formed a primary source of navigation for IFR flight.
The CASA mandate and the proliferation of GNSS enabled Airservices to shut down the costly navaids, leaving only a few operational in the event that GNSS services were disrupted.
The survey can be found on the Airservices Australia engagement website.