Minimum safe altitude warning
{{Short description|Air traffic control warning system}}
Minimum safe altitude warning (MSAW) is an automated warning system for air traffic controllers (ATCO). It is a ground-based safety net intended to warn the controller about increased risk of controlled flight into terrain accidents by generating, in a timely manner, an alert of aircraft proximity to terrain or obstacles.{{Cite web |title=EUROCONTROL Specification for Minimum Safe Altitude Warning |url=http://www.eurocontrol.int/sites/default/files/publication/files/20090519-msaw-guid-v1.0.pdf |date=19 May 2009|version=0.9 | publisher=Eurocontrol|accessdate=2010-05-24 }}
Description
International Civil Aviation Organization Doc 4444 requires that radar systems should provide for the display of safety-related alerts including the presentation of minimum safe altitude warning.{{cite book |title=Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Services |publisher=ICAO|id=Doc 4444-RAC/501}} The radar equipment predicts an aircraft’s position in 2 minutes based on present path of flight, and the controller issues a safety alert if the projected path encounters terrain or an obstruction. An unusually rapid descent rate on a non-precision approach can trigger such an alert.{{cite book |title=Instrument Flying Handbook |date=2012 |publisher=Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards Service |isbn=979-8776640544 |edition=FAA-H-8083-15B |url=https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/FAA-H-8083-15B.pdf |chapter=Chapter 2. The Air Traffic Control System |pages=5}} {{PD-notice}}
It is worth mentioning that ICAO Doc 4444 does not provide a definition of the term MSAW. Instead the term MSAW is ambiguously used in ATC community to identify such warnings as well as for data processing systems providing the alert function.{{CN|date=January 2025}}
References
External links
- [http://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/MSAW SKYbrary article on MSAW]