University Park Airport to benefit from new aviation safety system

University Park Airport to benefit from new aviation safety system

University Park, Pa. -- Pilots and passengers traveling through University Park Airport, one the fastest-growing airports in the nation, will be an early beneficiary of a new technology designed to keep them safer in the air and make air travel more efficient.

Dubbed as the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), the new system includes several, state-of-the-art technologies, including global positioning satellite (GPS) navigation system data links, weather radar and multifunction cockpit displays.

"ADS-B is a benefit to University Park Airport because it allows aircraft equipped with ADS-B to be seen by other similarly equipped aircraft below the airport's current radar coverage,” said Bryan Rodgers, director of University Park Airport. “The ADS-B technology is a tool that will improve local air traffic issues. It's not the total solution for us, but it is a very important step in the right direction.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) plans to implement this new system for general aviation pilots by the end of this year at four Pennsylvania airports: University Park, Allentown's Queen City Airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport and Lancaster Airport. A statewide rollout of the technology is anticipated by 2009.

The ground stations at the four airports will provide coverage for most of the eastern portion of the state.

"Bringing such an advanced technology to Pennsylvania will better protect the people who fly airplanes and those who ride in them. It will also give air traffic controllers a good tool to guide planes in and out of airports," said PennDOT secretary Allen D. Biehler. "This new system represents the 21st Century way that pilots will see and react to each other and their environment while flying."

Tested in Alaska and first implemented at selected east coast airports, the technology expands far beyond the radar systems now in use and represents the future direction the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has chosen for monitoring aircraft.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast information available to pilots includes:

-- Traffic information, both in the air and on the ground, at airports. This will include location, aircraft identification, altitude, air speed and direction.

-- Updated weather, including forecasts and radar imaging of storms. Lack of real-time weather information is cited as a contributing factor in a significant portion of aviation accidents.

-- Terrain and other obstacles, including buildings, mountains and other hazards to aircraft.

-- Airspace status, such as temporary flight restrictions and special
use airspace.

"With the installation of an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast transceiver in an airplane, pilots are now saying, their 'cockpit of tomorrow is here today,'" Biehler said.

PennDOT's Bureau of Aviation will be working with the FAA, commercial airlines, general aviation operators, emergency health care providers, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Office of Homeland Security to fully develop the potential of the ADS-B system.

Biehler said the state and the FAA will split the costs to construct the four ADS-B stations. Money to underwrite the new technology is coming from the FAA ($300,000), a grant from U.S. Department of Homeland Security through PEMA ($250,000), and the state's Aviation Fund ($50,000).

The new system is the latest of many upgrades to University Park Airport, which hopes to add a control tower in the coming years to further enhance the management and safety of air traffic in the vicinity of the airport.

"A big part of the solution to address air traffic issues at University Park Airport will be the construction of an airport traffic control tower,” said Rodgers. “University Park Airport, having served over 270,000 total passengers in 2004 with 40 flights per day, is the busiest airport -- in terms of passengers -- in the United States without an airport traffic control tower.”

A site selection study and preliminary design of an airport traffic control tower is currently underway. However, the FAA has not yet committed the $5 million needed for construction, Rodgers said.

Pennsylvania has nearly 137 airports serving 18,000 pilots. A recent study completed by the Bureau of Aviation shows that, on an annual basis, aviation-related activities contribute more than $12.6 billion to the state's economy.