Originally published January 20 2006
New navigation equipment means fewer delayed flights
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Precise navigation equipment is now on board airplanes instead of on the ground, allowing more runways to stay open during poor weather. Pilots can use the on-board navigation equipment to fly with little visibility.
Since September, the FAA has allowed pilots to use on-board navigation equipment to fly the curving route along the river even when the cloud ceilings are low and visibility is poor.
"The wave of the future is right here, right now on the tarmac at Reagan," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, alluding to a Bombardier Global 5000 business jet that would demonstrate the new approach yesterday.
They didn't touch the control yokes as the airplane banked to the left and right while swerving -- and descending -- along the river toward Runway 19.
The FAA calls it "required navigation performance," or RNP.
It's not a high-tech device but a standard for flying precision that can be met using satellite-based navigation equipment and on-board flight management computers.
Instead of flying straight to a point in space in order to line up with a runway, pilots stick to a tightly controlled path created by the FAA and coded into the airplane's computer.
The FAA has developed such paths, called RNP procedures, to airports with bad weather, mountainous terrain or both: Juneau, Alaska, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Palm Springs, Calif., and Sun Valley, Idaho.
"You're going to see a proliferation of RNP approaches at those approaches that make the most sense," said Nick Sabatini, the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety.
Blakey said they will relieve congestion, save fuel and reduce flight delays due to weather.
Alaska Airlines pioneered use of the technology in the mid-1990s because of the mountains and bad weather that make it tricky to land at Juneau International Airport.
Kevin Finan, the airline's vice president of flight operations, said Alaska flies into airports using RNP procedures 6,000 times a year.
The airline has flown along the required navigation performance path into Reagan National 10 times since Sept. 28.
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