The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is undertaking a three-part technology “sprint” that aims to quickly deploy three tech upgrades aimed at increasing runway safety, according to a senior FAA official who testified before Congress this week.
Tim Arel, chief operating officer at the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO), discussed those technological initiatives during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations and Innovation hearing on Nov. 9.
“The agency is in the process of doing its technology sprint launching in three areas of technology,” stated Arel.
The first of these actions is the Surface Awareness Initiative, which will deploy a situational awareness display of airports surface traffic to tower air traffic controllers for airports that currently do not possess one.
“We’ve kicked off for rapid acquisition and hope to have in place at our first facility by June of 2024 for commercially available services that provide situational awareness,” stated Arel.
The technology sprint also include the Approach Runway Verification project, which is focused on adding functionality in the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS).
“[It] will be available in all of our approach control automation systems [and] can be programmed locally to detect wrong surface landings,” stated Arel.
The last initiative covers Runway Incursion technology, which features a memory aid device that to help air traffic controllers maintain situational awareness.
“[It] will be deployed in the next year to year and a half to over 70 towers to provide an audible and visual alarm to controllers if they were to clear someone for takeoff or landing on a runway that had been released for another activity,” stated Arel.
“The FAA is committed to the relentless pursuit of continual improvement in everything we do. Any runway incursions or other event in the National Airspace System (NAS), whether isolated or part of a possible trend, is a concern, and we don’t take it lightly,” Arel said.
