The Federal Aviation Administration installed a technology in airports that warns incoming planes when aiming at a taxiway instead of a runway. This system is an effort of the agency to avoid dangerous landings.
(Photo : PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
A United Parcel Service (UPS) Boeing 747 cargo aircraft taxis after landing at the Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) in Anchorage, Alaska on September 17, 2022. - The Ted Stevens International Airport is a critical supply chain hub as the fourth-busiest airport for cargo in the world with major transpacific cargo operations to and from Asia.
Avoiding Dangerous Landings
43 major airports in the United States have been provided by the Federal Aviation Administration with a technology that avoids airplanes from dangerous landings. Associated Press reported that the system's software predicts when a plane is landing on a taxiway following an alert that will be sent to air-traffic controllers.
Aside from the installation, the National Transporation Safety Board recommended FAA to require planes on landing at major airports that only have systems to alert pilots if they are not lined up with a runway. This recommendation is still in consideration, as commercial planes already have other equipment to help pilots with runways at big airports.
The Washington Post reported that the recent close calls between planes that involved aircraft lining up incorrectly and landing on a taxiway were not the main reasons for the Safety Board to suggest the installation.
This effort was recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board after the disaster happening at San Francisco International Airport in 2017 in which an Air Canada jet crashed into four planes on a taxiway at night.
Taxiways are paved surfaces that an airplanes use to position itself for takeoffs or taxis to terminals after landing. Landing airplanes involve general aviation or private planes that are much smaller than commercial ones. However, 16% also involve commercial flights as per FAA.
FAA Funding
CNBC reported that the Biden administration is aiming for additional funding to the Federal Aviation Administration, in an effort to boost the agency's recruitment for air traffic controllers and to facilitate other improvements to manage the growing congested airspace.
$16.5 billion was the proposed funding for the agency, which is $1.3 billion higher than what the agency received for this year. The request of the administration is part of the broad budget proposal for the 2024 fiscal year, which comes less than two months after a system outage that prompted FAA to ground flights nationwide for the first time since 2001.
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Just this month, Reuters reported that the two aviation authorities investigated a fresh incident that involve two airplanes cleared to use the same runway that force the aircraft to abandon a landing and renewed safety questions. The recent incident has attracted national attention.
As per FAA, the American Airlines flight crew abandoned the landing after the controller advised the pilot that the Air Canada airplane was departing from the airport. Both airplanes were about 3,100 feet apart. The agency will hold a safety summit in March as they form a team of experts to discuss airline safety after several incidents.
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