The Port Authority of NY&NJ has signed an agreement with the FAA and Continental Airlines to launch a test of the Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at Newark’s Liberty airport. In this press release, the Port Authority said EWR will be the nation’s first major commercial hub to install the technology, which allows for tighter spacing and precision approaches by providing supplemental, real-time aircraft position data to controllers.
Continental will pony up $1.1 million to equip 15 aircraft with GBAS gear, while the FAA will chip in $2.5 million. Honeywell will install the ground equipment.
In reporting the story, the north jersey Record newspaper put in a call to the Newark NATCA chapter rep, with the following result
Ray Adams, vice president of the Newark-based chapter of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, welcomed the new technology as long as the GBAS is phased in and backed up by the radar system. He said space debris and other related issues could interfere with the satellite signal.
“It can be disrupted very easily,” he said. “If you lose the signal and you have 5,000 planes in the air, you’re in deep doody.”
Why do buggy whip manufacturers always see everything from the seat of their buggy??? Its too bad the wisdom they had about transportation wasn’t integrated into the automobile, we’d probably have a much more efficient highway system today!