Flight Safety Foundation Airport Operations 1996

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November–December 1996

FAA Outlines Transition Plan for Satellite-based Navigation and Approaches 8 pages. [PDF 130K]

The global positioning system will revolutionize the U.S. national airspace system. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration plans a 15-year phase-in to ease the transition.

September–October 1996

Ramp Incidents Take Toll in Equipment Losses and Personnel Injuries 8 pages. [PDF 77K]

Flight and ground crews awareness of hazards during ramp operations is critical in further reducing injuries and equipment damage in gate and taxiway areas, a U.S. study says.

July–August 1996

Playing It Safe — How Much Inconvenience Will Passengers Tolerate to Reduce Terrorist Threats? 12 pages. [PDF 182K]

A U.S. National Research Council report recommends improving the effectiveness of current systems through better operator training and motivation, and providing new threat-detection technologies in response to specific threats.

May–June 1996

Air Traffic Controllers Operate Successfully Without Flight Progress Strips in Study 6 pages. [PDF 41K]

Changes in the human-computer interface for en route air traffic control may eliminate flight progress strips. Controllers in experimental no-strip conditions spent more time watching the plan view displays, called up more flight plan readouts and took longer to grant pilot requests. But there was no difference in performance workload in strip vs. no-strip conditions.

March–April 1996

Radar Technology, Satellite Systems at Forefront of Global Effort to Reduce Runway Incursions 8 pages. [PDF 88K]

With worldwide aircraft movements predicted to increase steadily and airport congestion worsening, runway incursion prevention has become a top priority for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other national civil aviation regulatory agencies.

January–February 1996

Canadian Study Finds Greatest Frequency of Bird Strikes to Turbofan and Turboprop Aircraft Below 100 Feet in Summer 4 pages. [PDF 31K]

Only 12% of bird strikes caused problems, which included obscured cockpit vision, an engine fire and a forced landing.