Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FAA's Aging Flight-Plan System Having Problems

Posted by Soulskill on from the avoiding-the-word-'crash' dept.

Eddytor takes us to eWeek for a look at the FAA's air-traffic control system, which, after 20 years of continuous operation, is in desperate need of an overhaul. Recent crashes have caused major delays, but the system's scope and importance make it difficult to test upgrades and improvements. "Many technologies are used in air traffic control systems. Primary and secondary radar are used to enhance a controller's 'situational awareness' within his assigned airspace; all types of aircraft send back primary echoes of varying sizes to controllers' screens as radar energy is bounced off their skins. Transponder-equipped aircraft reply to secondary radar interrogations by giving an ID (Mode A), an altitude (Mode C) and/or a unique callsign (Mode S). Certain types of weather also may register on a radar screen."

2 of 176 comments (clear)

  1. They are fixing it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was an intern this summer at the FAA Technical Center. They are currently working on an overhaul of the national air space. The system that crashed a few weeks ago (the NADIN system) is in the middle of being replaced by NADIN II. They were testing it this summer. Also, look up the capstone program, its an effort to replace the radar based navigation with a GPS based system. ADS-B is a huge part of that, with the teams working on it winning the Collier award.

  2. Re:FAA biggest joke ever by jshackney · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You're only paying 2x as much? Sounds like a good deal. We had a Learjet a couple years ago that had a bad EL panel. Nothing fancy, just an EL panel with a handful of switches for radios. When the panel was previously replaced (about 4 years ago) it cost about $300. Two years ago, when we had to replace it again, it cost over $1200. A 4x markup in two years! Same P/N, and since there is no such thing as *new* for planes this old, it was also refurbished/remanufactured/rebuilt, however you want to look at it. I definitely blame the FAA and Insurance for the insane costs that we are seeing today.

    "...TSA inspectors in the name of public safety by climbing up onto the aircraft, on these very sensitive pitot tubes."

    Were these Rosemount styled pitot tubes by any chance? The costs for those things can be jaw-shattering. We had a lineman bend one on a jet right after it came back from RVSM installation and certification. He was trying to tug the plane with his car because the company's tug was broken down. He no longer works there.