FAA's ATO COO Reviews Use of Technology to Improve Runway Safety

Testifying before the House Subcommittee on Aviation on February 13^th, Hank Krakowski, the FAA's Air Traffic Organization's chief operating officer, reviewed the agency's major initiatives to improve runway safety, including the use of new technology.

Mr. Krakowski told the committee that the FAA has spent more than $404 million to acquire and deploy ASDE-X (airport surface detection equipment ­ model X) and has accelerated its installation schedule by one year to 2010. Eleven air traffic control towers now have ASDE-X installed.

In addition, the agency is moving ahead with runway status lights, which provide a direct alert to pilots about potential runway conflicts, Mr. Krakowski said.  The system is currently being tested at Dallas/Ft. Worth and San Diego airports and the FAA is selecting other large airports for testing.

The FAA is also testing FAROS (final approach runway occupancy signal) at Long Beach Airport, and expects to begin operational trials at Dallas-Fort Worth by the end of fiscal year 2008.  The agency is developing a plan to implement FAROS at larger airports.

In addition, Mr. Krakowski told the committee that the FAA has been testing a low-cost ground surveillance system at Spokane, Washington, which would be used at airports not slated for ASDE-X, and plans to expand the test to more sites later this year.

The FAA has also continued to make progress in improving RSAs (runway safety areas), which help reduce damage and injury in the event of an overrun, undershoot, or excursion from the side of the runway, Mr. Krakowski, said.  By the end of 2010, 88% of RSA improvements will be completed, leaving 54 to meet the agency's 2015 goal.  Twenty-one of these improvements have included the use of EMAS (engineered materials arresting systems) which uses crushable material placed at the end of a runway to absorb the forward momentum of an aircraft. To date, four aircraft overruns have been caught by EMAS applications, a 100 percent success rate.

Use of EFBs for Runway Safety Purposes

Meanwhile, in a briefing before the House hearing, the FAA released a Fact Sheet, describing how EFBs (electronic flight bags) combined with GPS positioning information could be used to help pilots maintain situational awareness while taxiing on airports.

In discussing the use of EFB technology, a FAA spokeswoman disclosed that Jeppesen, Thales, and ACSS have made progress on certifying the use of EFBs for airport situational awareness, and that Jeppesen might soon accomplish the goal.

For its part, Jeppesen issued a statement saying: "Jeppesen is very pleased to be working closely with the FAA on this important initiative.  We expect our Airport Moving Map application for Class 2 EFBs to be certified soon."  02-14-2008.

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