LZControl has signed a research agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct testing for the purposes of improving the U.S. airport master record (5010) database. The FAA and industry safety groups, including the United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), have identified a need to improve and enhance low-altitude infrastructure. Accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive information on heliports, airports, and predesignated medical emergency scene sites has been identified as a critical component to the success of these efforts.
“With the issuance of the January 2019 NASA Safety Report, ASRS No.1599969, that indicated upwards of some 2,000 heliports were unaccounted for in the U.S., LZControl has been working diligently to help facilitate a more comprehensive and reliable database system both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Jonathan Godfrey, COO at LZControl.
Both parties expect to conduct cooperative research and testing that will result in the data necessary to assist in the modernization of the 5010 airport master record database for private-use heliports and landing zones in accordance with recent recommendations published by industry via the USHST.
“I see this effort being a major opportunity in not only helping coalesce the large number of private-use facilities currently unaccounted for in the U.S., but also for paving the way for the future of urban air mobility, where data-integrity for infrastructure will be paramount to safety and success,” said Rex Alexander, SVP/Aeronautical Integration at LZControl. “These efforts could one day provide the necessary oversight to the Secretary of Transportation to achieve their mandate by U.S. Code for the collection and dissemination of airport safety data beyond just public-use facilities to encompass all private-use facilities as well.”
