New York/New Jersey Airport Monitor System In Place After Over One Year Of Waiting

February 17, 2004

Airport Monitor System In Place After Over One Year Of
Waiting
Queens Chronicle, NY

 
   The Port Authority’s new Airport Monitor system may
have come too late for south Queens residents to track
the Concorde’s erratic movements over Howard Beach,
but you can now see the movement of every airplane
around the four tri-state airports on your computer in
real time. 
   The Port Authority and the computer company
Megadata teamed up to bring the system live last
Thursday after nearly 15 months of planning. It is
available at www.passur.com or through
www.nyflighttracking.org and tracks the movement of
planes in and out of Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and
Teterboro Airports.  
   The sysem provides “near real-time” displays of air
traffic and flight information in and around the four
airports. For security reasons, the live feed does not
indicate the airline or flight number of each plane,
but that information is available an hour later. 
   The software allows aviation authorities and
residents to monitor flights to ensure they are
following their scheduled flight paths at the correct
times of day. 
   Congressman Joseph Crowley allocated $240,000 for
the airport monitor in October 2002 with Congresswomen
Carolyn McCarthy and Nita Lowey. Crowley has fought
against airport noise for his constituents in north
Queens and the Bronx. 
   The Federal Aviation Administration planned to
activate the system last year until massive budget
cuts forced them to cut the project’s funding. The
situation was at a standstill until Megadata, the
company that created the software, approached the Port
Authority and agreed to offer the airport monitor for
free over the Internet with help from the
Whitestone-based Aviation Development Council. 
   “I’m thrilled that the network is up and running.
This is groundbreaking technology and it will help
enhance the level of credibility and the trust between
the airport and neighboring communities,” Crowley
said. 
   McCarthy called the system important in the
heightened age of terrorism. “9-11 changed how we
think about everything in our lives. Air safety is at
the top of the list. This monitoring system is one
more way of keeping our homeland secure. As we learned
on September 11th, airlines and airports cannot afford
to be surprised by emergency flight events,” she said
in 2002. 
   Bill Huisman, president of the ADC, is working with
the Port Authority to advertise the new system. An
official announcement will likely come sometime next
week. “Sometimes it can be difficult to be airport
neighbors. As neighbors and community members, you can
monitor the airport. If you hear a plane go over your
head at three in the morning, you can report it,” he
said. 
   Crowley said residents who wished to register a
complaint should still call the Port Authority. He
considered the system a victory over sometimes
reluctant parties, including the FAA, but said
everyone is now on the same page. “This is a major
step forward for the FAA,” he said. 
 

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