US FEDERAL AVIATION Administrator David Hinson has strongly defended the Raytheon terminal Doppler weather-radar (TDWR) system, saying that it is meeting expectations.
Hinson's defence of the radar system, which is designed to detect windshear around the nation's major airports, follows leak of an internal FAA memorandum which said that the TDWR installed at Washington National Airport has been shut down nearly once a week on average since it became operational in January.
It was also reported that TDWRs installed at 15 other US airports are suffering similar intermittent technical problems. Forty-seven US airports are destined to receive TDWR under the $373 million contract.
Hinson says: "The TDWR is working exactly as we expected it to work." The FAA's objective was 95.5% availability with initial TDWR deployment, growing to 99.5% over the next 18 months. Hinson says that the 95.5% mark is being achieved. "There is nothing wrong with it. In fact, it is a great success," he emphasises.
Source: Flight International