CHRIS KJELGAARD / WASHINGTON DC
Raft of aviation safety, security and efficiency technologies to undergo several years of study at a cost of $45 million
Louisville Airport in Kentucky has been selected by the US Department of Transportation (DoT) as the site for a comprehensive, integrated test of aviation safety, security and efficiency technologies.
The test, which will last several years, will involve the operational evaluation of eight or more technologies, including automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, traffic information services-broadcast and position-finding multilateration. Airport general manager Jim Delong estimates the installation will cost about $45 million.
Also tested will be the FAA's airport movement area surveillance system, designed to help controllers reduce the number and severity of runway incursions, and aircraft wake turbulence modelling, which can predict position, drift and duration in a variety of wind conditions.
An environmentally friendly "keep them high" approach technique will also be evaluated, using the vertical navigation capability of aircraft flight management systems to provide pilots with initial approaches at constant descent rates to intercept the instrument landing system glidepath.
This technology, under development by the Federal Aviation Administration with UPS and Boeing, is being modelled at New York Kennedy Airport, but will be flight tested for the first time at UPS's main hub in Louisville. It is designed to minimise aircraft noise over densely populated areas and reduce aircraft fuel consumption.
The trials will also include testing by the Transportation Security Administration of new technologies to address a range of issues, particularly ways of preventing unauthorised access to the airport operations area and handling security breaches.
The technologies will be integrated with a Lockheed Martin air traffic control automation system which is being installed at the airport. The multilateration system is already operational. Flight testing of the new approach technique will begin in October. Initial testing of wake turbulence modelling is under way at Dallas/Fort Worth and will enter the Louisville test programme in 14-15 months' time.
Source: Flight International
