AWACS System

AU the aircraft involved were flying in clear weather with excellent visibility, an AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft was providing surveillance and control for the aircraft in the area, and all the aircraft were equipped with electronic identification and communication equipment (apparently working properly) and flown by decorated and highly experienced pilots. 

AWACS Airborne Warning and Control System (a military air traffic control system in the sky)... 

The AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control Systems) acts as an air traffic control tower in the sky. The AWACS OPC mission was to ... 

The AWACS carries a flight crew (pilot, copilot, navigator, and flight engineer) responsible for safe ground and flight operation of the AWACS aircraft and a mission crew that has overall responsibility for the AWACS command, control, surveillance, communications, and sensor systems. 

Surveillance The surveillance section is responsible for the detection, tracking, identification, height measurement, display, and recording of surveillance data. As unknown targets appear on the radarscopes, surveillance technicians follow a detailed procedure to identify the tracks. They are responsible for handling unidentified and non-OPC aircraft detected by the AWACS electronic systems. The section is supervised by the air surveillance officer, and the work is carried out by an advanced air surveillance technician and three air surveillance technicians. 

The AWACS typically takes off from Incirlik AFB approximately two hours before the first air refueling and fighter aircraft. Once the AWACS is airborne, the systems of the AWACS are brought on line, and a Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS ) link is established with a Turkish Sector Operations Center (radar site). After the JTTDS Unk is confirmed, the CFAC airborne command element (ACE) initiates the planned launch sequence for the rest of the force. Normally, within a one-hour period, tanker and fighter aircraft take off and proceed to the TAOR in a carefully orchestrated flow. Fighters may not cross the political border into Iraq without AWACS coverage. 

The Joint Tactical Information Distribution System acts as a central component of the mission command and control system, providing ground commanders with a real-time downlink of the current air picture from AWACS. This information is then integrated with data from other sources to provide commanders with a more complete picture of the situation. 

Two F-15s were tasked that day to be the first aircraft in the TAOR and to sanitize it (check for hostile aircraft) before other coalition aircraft entered the area. The F-15s reached their final checkpoint before entering the TAOR approximately an hour after the helicopters had entered. They turned on all combat systems, switched their IFF Mode I code from 42 to 52, and switched to the TAOR radio frequency. They reported their entry into the TAOR to the AWACS. 

Thought AWACS using Delta point system. 

The Mission Director and ACE also did not have the information necessary to exercise their responsibility. The ACE had an inaccurate model of where the Black Hawks were located in the airspace. He testified that he presumed the Black Hawks were conducting standard operations in the Security Zone and had landed [159]. He also testified that, although he had a radarscope, he had no knowledge of AWACS radar symbology I have no idea what those little blips mean. The Mission Director, on the ground, was dependent on the information about the current airspace state sent down from the AWACS via JTIDS (the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System). 

Although not mentioned anywhere in the available documentation on the accident, it seems reasonable that either the AWACS crews started to use the Delta Point system or the Black Hawk pilots were told not to use it and an alternative means... 

When looking only at the proximate events and the behavior of the immediate participants in the accidental shootdown, the reasons for this accident appear to be gross mistakes by the technical system operators (the pilots and AWACS crew). In fact, a special Air Force task force composed of more than 120 people in six commands concluded that two breakdowns in individual performance contributed to the shootdown (1) the AWACS mission crew did not provide the F-15 pilots an accurate picture of the situation and (2) the F-15 pilots misidentified the target. From the twenty-one-volume accident report produced by the Accident Investigation Board, Secretary of Defense William Perry summarized the errors, omissions, and failures in the chain of events leading to the loss as ... 

In addition to the factors shown in figure 8.6, the analysis must consider the impact of having two controllers of the same component whenever this occurs in the system safety control structure. In the friendly fire example in chapter 5, for example, confusion existed between the two AWACS operators responsible for tracking aircraft inside and outside of the no-fly-zone about who was responsible for aircraft in the boundary area between the two. The FMIS example below contains such a scenario. An analysis must be made to determine that no path to a hazard exists because of coordination problems. 

In the friendly fire example in chapter 5, the AWACS controllers stopped handing off helicopters as they entered and left the no-fly zone. They also stopped using the Delta Point system to describe flight plans, although the helicopter pilots assumed the coded destination names were still being used and continued to provide them. Communication between the helicopters and the AWACS controllers was seriously degraded although nobody realized it. The basic safety constraint that all aircraft in the no-fly zone and their locations would be known to the AWACS controllers... 

Detecting migration toward riskier behavior starts with identifying baseline requirements. The requirements follow from the hazard analysis. These requirements may be general ( Equipment will not be operated above the identified safety-critical limits or Safety-critical equipment must be operational when the system is operating ) or specifically tied to the hazard analysis ( AWACS operators must always hand off aircraft when they enter and leave the no-fly zone or Pilots must always follow the TCAS alerts and continue to do so until they are canceled ). 

---