"System keeps planes apart on Pittsburgh runways"

Friday, September 27, 2002

System keeps planes apart on runways
By Mark Belko
The Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette


The latest bit of technology at Pittsburgh International Airport has a
big name and a bigger mission -- to prevent runway collisions.

The Airport Movement Area Safety System, which has been in use in
Pittsburgh since July 2, is designed to work in conjunction with
existing air and ground radar systems at the airport to warn air traffic
controllers of potential runway collisions.

Called AMASS for short, the system monitors arriving planes and the
speed and positions of jet and vehicular traffic on runways and taxiways
and makes calculations to determine if any are on a collision course.

Should that be the case, air traffic controllers receive verbal warnings
blared through a loudspeaker in the control tower so they can take steps
to head off the problem.

While the system will never replace the skills and knowledge of the
controllers themselves, it can help them to prevent accidents, said
Richard Pelkowski, air traffic manager in Pittsburgh.

"It's just another tool for the controller," he said.

Runway incursions -- instances mainly involving airplanes or vehicles
which are too close to one another or in danger of colliding -- have
been relatively rare at Pittsburgh.

In the last two years, there have only been two, one in 2000 and one
this year, out of roughly 450,000 operations annually. Both involved
smaller airplanes that crossed runways when they should not have. In
neither case were collisions imminent.

"It was never a safety issue. It was a separation issue," Pelkowski
said.

Nationwide, runway incursions increased from 304 in 1998 to 407 last
year. The world's worst crash, in 1977 in the Canary Islands, killed 583
people and was the result of a runway collision.

Amid growing concern about the number of "near misses," the Federal
Aviation Administration began installing AMASS at the nation's largest
airports in summer 2001.

The system costs $3 million per airport.

"If it works just once, it's worth its money," Pelkowski said.

While the system has been touted as being particularly effective during
periods of low visibility, such as fog or rain, Pelkowski said it also
has great value in guarding against complacency in the control tower.

"If someone were to become complacent and a situation developed, this
equipment would immediately get their attention," he said. "It's a
backup just in case that happens."

AMASS was developed in partnership with the air traffic controllers
union. It has been installed in 19 airports, with another 15 scheduled
to receive it.


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