ASA and the Federal Aviation
Administration will work together to initiate research and develop methods and technologies
that will make commercial aircraft service safer, more efficient and more affordable.
Volume 5, Number 1 January/February 1997
Advanced Technologies
ASA and the Federal Aviation
Administration will work together to initiate research and develop methods and technologies
that will make commercial aircraft service safer, more efficient and more affordable.
Dr. Robert Whitehead, NASA's Associate Administrator of Aeronautics, and George L. Donohue, FAA's Associate Administrator for Research and Acquisitions, have agreed to a NASA/FAA Integrated Plan for Air Traffic Management Research and Technology.
NASA and the FAA initiatives will improve the efficiency of our nation's airspace system using the latest aerospace technologies. A NASA/FAA Integrated Product Team will manage the plan. The team will address the plan's near- and long-term requirements, initially emphasizing improvements that can be implemented within the next 10 years.
Joint NASA/FAA activities will study the details of all aircraft classes' flight operations including the roles of flight crews and air traffic controllers, integration of air traffic management and cockpit and fleet management, cockpit situation awareness, conflict detection and resolution, and flight restrictions and safety.
The study and the ensuing system will accommodate all users, including transport and general aviation aircraft, rotorcraft and military aircraft. It will ensure that all avionics requirements are cost effective and affordable. Cost benefit assessments for more flexible flight operations will substantiate each step in the transition. The assessments will include projections on the impact to both airspace users and air traffic management service providers.
More flexible flight operations could mean new roles for flight crews and air traffic controllers. Emerging technologies may permit closer integration of air traffic management, cockpit flight management and operational control centers. Development of automation technologies and pilot/controller roles will enable users to accurately predict and resolve conflicts efficiently and safely.
Cockpit situational awareness, on the airport surface and throughout airspace, will be improved using technologies developed for the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B). Flight crews will have more say in air traffic management decisions once those technologies are developed further.
Flight restrictions will be minimized and aircraft operations maximized with development of concepts, technologies, responsibilities and procedures for those areas. Flight restrictions for high density areas will continue.
The team will analyze and simulate safety hazards and develop tools to proactively detect potential hazardous situations so that the highest level of safety may be maintained.
For more information, contact Herb Schlickenmaier at NASA Headquarters.
Call 202/358-4638 or E-mail: hschlickenmaier@hq.nasa.gov
Please mention that you read about it in Innovation.
