The last time it was really close was at the beginning of April at La Guardia Airport. A Boeing 737 went off course on approach and came dangerously close to the control tower. How this came about is still being determined. But it was just the latest in a series of similar incidents.
After numerous near misses at US airports: Aviation authorities react
In recent months there have been repeated near-misses in the USA in which aircraft came too close to each other at airports or during arrival or departure. This also worried the investigative agency, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). “This year alone, investigations have been initiated into seven incidents in which aircraft approached within several hundred meters,” said boss Jennifer Homendy at the end of 2023. The system was overloaded.
The aviation authority has also realized this and is taking action. Airports in the US are now getting a new monitoring system designed to prevent the risk of collisions on the ground. Austin-Bergstrom, Indianapolis, Nashville and Dallas will be the first airports in the country to be equipped with the new technology starting at the end of July, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said. “Numerous other” airports are expected to follow by the end of 2025.
The technology, called Surface Awareness Initiative, or SAI for short, is intended to improve air traffic controllers’ situational awareness. It uses ADS-B data from aircraft to accurately display traffic on the ground to controllers at airports that do not have their own ground surveillance system.
With new technology, aircraft appear live on the map
Aircraft and ADS-B-equipped vehicles appear as symbols on an airport map showing runways, taxiways, loading docks and other areas. “This cost-effective technology provides air traffic controllers with timely and accurate representations of aircraft and vehicles across the entire airfield in all weather conditions,” says FAA boss Mike Whitaker, praising the new technology.
Alarm system is intended to prevent collisions
It is one of three measures the FAA has taken to improve and support air traffic control awareness. A visual and acoustic alarm system is also gradually being introduced at various airports: When an aircraft approaches the airport, the controller issues permission to land on a specific runway. The system detects if the crew is on the wrong runway and warns air traffic control.
As a third measure, the so-called Runway Incursion Device RID warns air traffic controllers acoustically and visually when a runway is not available for aircraft taking off or landing.