The Federal Aviation Administration held a security summit in Washington Wednesday following a series of security-connected incidents at airports across the nation.
At the summit, the current dramatic improve in air travel and the have to have for superior technologies have been cited as factors for the increasing quantity of close calls. But Logan Airport — exactly where a single of these current incidents occurred — is a single of 43 airports across the nation that have been outfitted by the FAA with the newest technologies to deter prospective collisions.
On Feb. 27, a LearJet started taking off on a runway at Logan Airport that crossed the landing path of an arriving JetBlue flight. The JetBlue plane all of a sudden aborted its landing to stay away from collision. The situations that led to this close hall are nonetheless below investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Security Board.
David Ishihara, director of aviation solutions at Logan, attended the FAA security summit. On Thursday, he explained to Massport’s board that Logan was an early adopter of two security systems to aid protect against collisions. A single is a ground-primarily based radar that permits pilots to see each cars and other airplanes on the ground. It also will alert the pilot and handle tower if an airplane on final strategy is not headed for the runway on which it is cleared to land. The other security program is a network of runway status lights installed along taxiways and runways all through the airport. They flash red and warn pilots of prospective conflicts among planes taking off and landing. Ishihara stated that light program will be expanded this summer time.
Massport Director of Aviation Ed Freni reminded the board that all the radar systems that Ishihara referenced are maintained and installed by the FAA and not inside Massport’s handle.
