TLD Optimizes Docking Safety with the Aircraft Safe Docking System, Offered by AERO Specialties

1. TLD Optimizes Docking Safety with the Aircraft Safe Docking System, Offered by AERO Specialties One of the most consistent sources of critical revenue loss for airlines—and often, associated businesses and third parties—is damage caused by aircraft strikes by ground support equipment (GSE). A single incident with an aircraft pushback or belt loader often results in thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, and can cost (directly and indirectly), millions. Collectively, GSE and aircraft collisions cost billions a year. As a result, airport efficiency specialists and GSE producers have prioritized minimizing those incidents. One of the most successful contributors to the field of aircraft strike and damage prevention is an organization with a reputation as an industry thought leader in GSE safety: AERO Specialties. One of their fairly recent, but game-changing contributions to reducing GSE and aircraft collision damage events is their SiPsHitch™ Linear Force Monitoring System that records and prevents overstress damage during towing. A similarly practical, easily retrofit-able, intuitive, and effective safety solution they have incorporated into their suite of leading-edge GSE innovations is the Aircraft Safe Docking (ASD) System from TLD. What is the ASD System?

2. With the increasing implementation of composite aircraft, on which dangerous impact damage to the fuselage may not be identifiable from a visual inspection, preventing aircraft strikes from an aircraft tug or any other GSE is more crucial than ever. ASD is a safety tool that employs the use of a 3-D camera sensor to aid GSE operators in avoiding damaging an aircraft’s fuselage on approach. When any GSE operator enters the “safety area” around an aircraft on a vehicle equipped with ASD, they press a button, activating the system. Immediately afterward, a flashing beacon begins cycling to alert anyone in the aircraft’s vicinity to the vehicle’s proximity and the activation of its safe mode. The ASD System limits the GSE vehicle’s speed to 5km an hour and engages a proximity sensor linked to a sensitive bumper. A buzzer goes off as a warning if the driver is traveling too fast too close to the aircraft. If necessary, ASD will automatically stop the GSE. In the final stage of the docking process, the GSE’s speed is automatically reduced to under 1km an hour. Benefits of the ASD System Should GSE transporting an aircraft ground power unit, lav cart, or other equipment still collide with the aircraft at this lower speed, the preventative measures employed by the ASD System ensures that the kinetic energy of the GSE is low enough to prevent damage or significantly minimize it. Should any impact take place, or if the operator fails to employ the ASD System, the sensor still measures the impact strength and automatically shuts down the GSE. It’s hard to beat an easy-to-install, reasonably priced, and effective safety tool capable of preventing untold loss of revenue. To browse efficient, durable GSE https://www.aerospecialties.com/ from AERO Specialties, visit