Los Angeles International Airport to Participate With NASA FutureFlight Central in Airport Safety Study
(Los Angeles, California – August 22, 2000) The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners approved a $225,000 contract today with NASA FutureFlight Central to share the cost of a $485,000 joint study to enhance runway safety at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
LAX will work jointly with the Federal Aviation Administration and its LAX-based air traffic controllers, LAX-based pilots from United Airlines, and scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, CA.
The NASA FutureFlight Central is a full-scale, one-of-kind air traffic control simulation facility capable of providing a dynamic, real-time environment where air traffic controllers and pilots can test and evaluate safety and operational procedures without disrupting real airport activities. The facility features a 360-degree, high-fidelity, high-resolution simulated airfield view. The facility’s visual database can support up to 200 simulated aircraft movements at one time, as well as simulate weather effects, fog, clouds, thunder, and night-time operations. In addition, pilots can interact in a separate B-747 cockpit simulator also located at the facility and interact with air traffic controllers in a real-world setting using radio headsets. The facility opened December 1999 and LAX is the first airport to use it to test new safety and operational procedures.
Lydia H. Kennard, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports which owns and operates LAX, said, "We are pleased to be a part of this research project that is using the latest technological advances to find ways to enhance aviation safety. Los Angeles International Airport is one of the first airports to participate with NASA on such a project."
Nancy S. Dorighi, manager of the NASA FutureFlight Central facility, said, "The outcome of our simulation efforts could be the development and implementation of new procedures that enhance runway safety and prevent airfield accidents at LAX, as well as airports throughout the United States."
LAX is already spending $5 million in airfield safety improvements projects that exceed FAA requirements. These projects include additional airfield lighting equipment, taxiway markings, and signage. The airport’s airfield operations personnel also conduct familiarization programs for all airport-wide employees working on the airfield, and produce and distribute safety posters about current operational issues.
Los Angeles World Airports is working with the FAA and its air traffic controllers, and the airlines and their pilots to enhance safety at LAX, especially to prevent runway incursions between aircraft. A runway incursion occurs when an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object enters a runway assigned to a departing or approaching aircraft and there is less than 200 feet of separation. Last March, LAWA co-sponsored with the FAA a major regional conference on the subject of runway incursions. The results of this conference led discussions at a national summit on aviation safety issues in Washington, D.C., last June.
Out of 779,000 takeoffs and landings in 1999, LAX experienced 16 runway incursions – none of which were attributed to areas where LAWA has jurisdiction. Almost all of LAX’s runway incursions were attributed to pilot deviation or air traffic controller error. Two other incidents last year were due to airline personnel moving aircraft across runways without receiving prior permission from air traffic controllers.
LAX officials reported the number of runway incursions since January 2000 compared to last year has decreased significantly to five incidences to-date due to the combined efforts of the FAA, airline industry, and LAWA.
LAX officials believe that the capability of the NASA FutureFlight Central to simulate the interaction between procedures used by air traffic controllers and pilots can enhance future safety at the airport. Prospective preventative measures can be tried and evaluated without harm to anyone or causing flight delays.
The FAA is contributing $160,000 to the study’s cost and NASA is spending $100,000.
