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Learn more about the Share This widgetSunday, November 25, 2007
petition@ourairspace.org shared this with you: Spike in near misses over New York City
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Corzine and Spitzer support redesign
http://www.panynj.gov/AboutthePortAuthority/PressCenter/PressReleases/PressRelease/Airline_Delaysgovs1007.pdf
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Stop the Airspace redesign to protect our safety
Please review this article from The Economist on air traffic safety, flight delay, FAA funding and legislation.
The Airspace Redesign should not be implemented under these conditions.
Unfriendly skies
Nov 9th 2007
From Economist.com
http://www.economist.com/science/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=10120013
Why punctuality and safety remain up in the air
IF YOU’RE changing planes anywhere in America this coming winter, give yourself an extra hour or so between arrival and departure. So far this year, the number of flights arriving on time at the country’s 32 busiest airports is turning out to be the worst on record. One in four arrives late enough to miss a connection.
The airlines blame crowded skies, bad weather, extra security measures and government meddling. Actually, weather and security problems between them account for less than 4% of delays. If truth be told, the main culprits are airline management and staffing problems (23%), aircraft not departing (for various technical reasons) on time for their destinations or being held up en route (30%), and the antiquated air-traffic control system (34%).
Investment in infrastructure—extra runways, terminal buildings and new air-traffic control equipment—simply hasn’t kept pace with the explosive growth in air travel. At its current 4.5% annual rate, the number of air passengers travelling around the globe will more than double to 4.5 billion a year by 2025.
By then, America will need at least four new airports and major expansions at 14 existing ones. That’s a serious undertaking given that only two large airports (in Dallas and Denver) were built during the previous 40 years.
But punctuality is not the only victim of congestion in the skies and on the tarmac. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has just come in for withering criticism in Congress for trying to bury a damaging report on airline safety. Apart from hoisting astronauts into orbit, NASA oversees much of the collection and interpretation of safety data for the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA).
Or it did so until it was caught trying to bury an $11m study that quizzed 24,000 airline pilots and 5,000 general aviation pilots about near mid-air collisions, engine failures and runway incursions. NASA told the Associated Press, which had sought a copy under the Freedom of Information Act, that the data were being withheld because they could “affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies.”
In his testimony before Congress a fortnight ago, Michael Griffin, NASA’s administrator, regretted that the agency gave the impression that it put commercial interests ahead of public safety. NASA has now promised to release an edited version of the report before the end of the year.
With the twin issues of safety and congestion in the news of late, attention has focussed on the FAA’s long overdue “NextGen” upgrade to the country’s air transport system. The overhaul is expected to cost upwards of $30 billion, split between the airlines and the government.
Today’s air-traffic control system, based on a patchwork of ground-based radar control centres, is reasonably reliable but horribly inefficient. Planes are guided to their destinations along a network of zig-zag jetways, with flights handed off from one radar control centre to the next. One problem is that it can take anything up to half a minute for ground controllers to get a radar fix from a passing plane’s echo transponder.
That was fine when planes were few and far between and travelled little faster than a train. But at today’s jet speeds, an aircraft can easily be four or five miles further on from where it appears on an air-traffic controller’s screen.
Hence the need to keep planes spaced at least five miles apart horizontally when flying across the country, and no closer than three miles when preparing to land. Having to follow strict rules for safety makes it impossible for pilots to avoid congestion with short cuts or detours.
But improved safety and better use of air space need not be mutually exclusive. That’s the attraction of an entirely new form of air-traffic control known as ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast).
Instead of using radar to tell roughly where they are, planes equipped with ADS-B get their precise location and altitude from GPS satellites. They then encode this information along with data giving their flight number, speed, heading and manoeuvre, and broadcast it automatically every second to all ground stations and aircraft within a 150-mile radius.
Pilots and air-traffic controllers can then see immediately and precisely where all the surrounding traffic is at any given instant. That provides controllers with valuable extra time to resolve conflicts, while offering pilots greater control over their own flights.
Trials in Alaska show that, unlike conventional radar, ADS-B works equally well at low altitude and even on the ground. It can therefore be used to monitor aircraft on runways as well as in the air. It also works well in remote areas, over oceans or across mountainous terrain, where there is often little radar coverage.
But the really big advantage, as far as meeting the growing demand for air travel is concerned, is that ADS-B lets planes travel much closer together and take more direct routes. That would shorten the meandering 585-mile journey between Boston and Washington, DC, by as much as a third, providing comparable savings in fuel and time. Meanwhile, to hurry things up even more, landings can be spaced 45 seconds apart instead of many minutes.
A month ago, the FAA announced that the ground-based part of its NextGen air transport system would be completed by 2013. And all aircraft operating in American airspace would be required by law to carry ADS-B transmitters by no later than 2020.
Will that actually happen? The depressing thing is that similar pronouncements have been heard from the FAA before. The much-hyped MLS (Microwave Landing Systems) of the 1970s promised to unclog airports by allowing much closer approaches and landings. That got nowhere either.
Also, the FAA’s funding for NextGen is far from assured. An initial contract worth $200m or so to ITT and its partners for a handful of ADS-B ground receivers was signed in August. But thereafter hang a number of question marks.
The biggest is a recent move by Congress to raid the FAA’s trust fund—a reserve raised from excise duties on airline tickets and fuel, and earmarked for infrastructure investments like air-traffic control equipment. With an election year ahead, Congress urgently needs $50 billion to prevent 20m middle-income Americans from being clobbered by the so-called Alternative Minimum Tax. As promising and necessary as it may be, many fear the clever new air-traffic technology will be trumped, at least in America, by politics.
Heather V. Wolf
Our Airspace
contact-at-ourAirspace.org
http://ourairspace.org
The Airspace Redesign should not be implemented under these conditions.
Unfriendly skies
Nov 9th 2007
From Economist.com
http://www.economist.com/science/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=10120013
Why punctuality and safety remain up in the air
IF YOU’RE changing planes anywhere in America this coming winter, give yourself an extra hour or so between arrival and departure. So far this year, the number of flights arriving on time at the country’s 32 busiest airports is turning out to be the worst on record. One in four arrives late enough to miss a connection.
The airlines blame crowded skies, bad weather, extra security measures and government meddling. Actually, weather and security problems between them account for less than 4% of delays. If truth be told, the main culprits are airline management and staffing problems (23%), aircraft not departing (for various technical reasons) on time for their destinations or being held up en route (30%), and the antiquated air-traffic control system (34%).
Investment in infrastructure—extra runways, terminal buildings and new air-traffic control equipment—simply hasn’t kept pace with the explosive growth in air travel. At its current 4.5% annual rate, the number of air passengers travelling around the globe will more than double to 4.5 billion a year by 2025.
By then, America will need at least four new airports and major expansions at 14 existing ones. That’s a serious undertaking given that only two large airports (in Dallas and Denver) were built during the previous 40 years.
But punctuality is not the only victim of congestion in the skies and on the tarmac. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has just come in for withering criticism in Congress for trying to bury a damaging report on airline safety. Apart from hoisting astronauts into orbit, NASA oversees much of the collection and interpretation of safety data for the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA).
Or it did so until it was caught trying to bury an $11m study that quizzed 24,000 airline pilots and 5,000 general aviation pilots about near mid-air collisions, engine failures and runway incursions. NASA told the Associated Press, which had sought a copy under the Freedom of Information Act, that the data were being withheld because they could “affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies.”
In his testimony before Congress a fortnight ago, Michael Griffin, NASA’s administrator, regretted that the agency gave the impression that it put commercial interests ahead of public safety. NASA has now promised to release an edited version of the report before the end of the year.
With the twin issues of safety and congestion in the news of late, attention has focussed on the FAA’s long overdue “NextGen” upgrade to the country’s air transport system. The overhaul is expected to cost upwards of $30 billion, split between the airlines and the government.
Today’s air-traffic control system, based on a patchwork of ground-based radar control centres, is reasonably reliable but horribly inefficient. Planes are guided to their destinations along a network of zig-zag jetways, with flights handed off from one radar control centre to the next. One problem is that it can take anything up to half a minute for ground controllers to get a radar fix from a passing plane’s echo transponder.
That was fine when planes were few and far between and travelled little faster than a train. But at today’s jet speeds, an aircraft can easily be four or five miles further on from where it appears on an air-traffic controller’s screen.
Hence the need to keep planes spaced at least five miles apart horizontally when flying across the country, and no closer than three miles when preparing to land. Having to follow strict rules for safety makes it impossible for pilots to avoid congestion with short cuts or detours.
But improved safety and better use of air space need not be mutually exclusive. That’s the attraction of an entirely new form of air-traffic control known as ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast).
Instead of using radar to tell roughly where they are, planes equipped with ADS-B get their precise location and altitude from GPS satellites. They then encode this information along with data giving their flight number, speed, heading and manoeuvre, and broadcast it automatically every second to all ground stations and aircraft within a 150-mile radius.
Pilots and air-traffic controllers can then see immediately and precisely where all the surrounding traffic is at any given instant. That provides controllers with valuable extra time to resolve conflicts, while offering pilots greater control over their own flights.
Trials in Alaska show that, unlike conventional radar, ADS-B works equally well at low altitude and even on the ground. It can therefore be used to monitor aircraft on runways as well as in the air. It also works well in remote areas, over oceans or across mountainous terrain, where there is often little radar coverage.
But the really big advantage, as far as meeting the growing demand for air travel is concerned, is that ADS-B lets planes travel much closer together and take more direct routes. That would shorten the meandering 585-mile journey between Boston and Washington, DC, by as much as a third, providing comparable savings in fuel and time. Meanwhile, to hurry things up even more, landings can be spaced 45 seconds apart instead of many minutes.
A month ago, the FAA announced that the ground-based part of its NextGen air transport system would be completed by 2013. And all aircraft operating in American airspace would be required by law to carry ADS-B transmitters by no later than 2020.
Will that actually happen? The depressing thing is that similar pronouncements have been heard from the FAA before. The much-hyped MLS (Microwave Landing Systems) of the 1970s promised to unclog airports by allowing much closer approaches and landings. That got nowhere either.
Also, the FAA’s funding for NextGen is far from assured. An initial contract worth $200m or so to ITT and its partners for a handful of ADS-B ground receivers was signed in August. But thereafter hang a number of question marks.
The biggest is a recent move by Congress to raid the FAA’s trust fund—a reserve raised from excise duties on airline tickets and fuel, and earmarked for infrastructure investments like air-traffic control equipment. With an election year ahead, Congress urgently needs $50 billion to prevent 20m middle-income Americans from being clobbered by the so-called Alternative Minimum Tax. As promising and necessary as it may be, many fear the clever new air-traffic technology will be trumped, at least in America, by politics.
Heather V. Wolf
Our Airspace
contact-at-ourAirspace.org
http://ourairspace.org
Friday, November 9, 2007
Near misses and the FAA denial
Near-Misses Over NYC In May
NEW YORK (CBS News) — With all the concerns about terrorism at United States airports, air travelers may now have another thing to worry about.
http://kdka.com/national/FAA.new.york.2.284953.html
NEW YORK (CBS News) — With all the concerns about terrorism at United States airports, air travelers may now have another thing to worry about.
http://kdka.com/national/FAA.new.york.2.284953.html
Dec 17 2007 implementation of PA begins
Post From Thomas Sullivan - Quiet Rockland
I have come into possession of a document that shows that the FAA is looking to start making changes to the airspace as early as December 17, 2007. The attached document shows that the FAA is looking to make changes to departures out of Philadelphia Airport in about 6 weeks time.
Two of the questions we need answered as soon as possible:
1) Are any similar premature changes slated for Newark airport and the airspace over Rockland county?
2) What are the safety implications of rushing this type "extremely complex" change?
It is extremely important for us to understand what the FAA is planning for us and when. (it is becoming evident what they are planning for our neighbors to the south just in time for the holidays)
Thanks and Best Regards,
Thomas Sullivan - Quiet Rockland
Www.quietrockland.com
I have come into possession of a document that shows that the FAA is looking to start making changes to the airspace as early as December 17, 2007. The attached document shows that the FAA is looking to make changes to departures out of Philadelphia Airport in about 6 weeks time.
Two of the questions we need answered as soon as possible:
1) Are any similar premature changes slated for Newark airport and the airspace over Rockland county?
2) What are the safety implications of rushing this type "extremely complex" change?
It is extremely important for us to understand what the FAA is planning for us and when. (it is becoming evident what they are planning for our neighbors to the south just in time for the holidays)
Thanks and Best Regards,
Thomas Sullivan - Quiet Rockland
Www.quietrockland.com
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Officials Cross State Lines to Join Airspace Alliance
New Canaan
Members of the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning were joined by Governor Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in opposing the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) flight plan redesign proposal during a press conference last week. Comments regarding the opposition were voiced by Governor Jodi Rell, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and New Canaan First Selectman Judy Neville.
Governor M. Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced a state lawsuit that had recently been filed against the FAA. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which intends to block a new FAA flight path plan that would allow an increased number of large aircrafts, at lower altitudes, to fly over a considerably large region of southeastern Connecticut causing considerable damage to the region’s environment.
Governor Rell specifically cited the increased air traffic over western Connecticut—as many as 150 additional planes per day—and enlarged holding patterns over many Fairfield County towns as “unacceptable.”
Additionally, on behalf of The Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning, New Canaan First Selectman, Judy Neville announced the filing of a petition to oppose the FAA Airspace Redesign proposal.
The Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning (ASAP) was formed to bring together existing cross-state constituents opposition of FAA’s redesign proposal. Members of the Alliance in attendance this morning included the chief elected officials of the towns of New Canaan, Greenwich, Wilton, Weston, Westport, Redding, Ridgefield, Darien, Pound Ridge, N.Y. and the Cities of Norwalk and Stamford.
Members of the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning were joined by Governor Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in opposing the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) flight plan redesign proposal during a press conference last week. Comments regarding the opposition were voiced by Governor Jodi Rell, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and New Canaan First Selectman Judy Neville.
Governor M. Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced a state lawsuit that had recently been filed against the FAA. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which intends to block a new FAA flight path plan that would allow an increased number of large aircrafts, at lower altitudes, to fly over a considerably large region of southeastern Connecticut causing considerable damage to the region’s environment.
Governor Rell specifically cited the increased air traffic over western Connecticut—as many as 150 additional planes per day—and enlarged holding patterns over many Fairfield County towns as “unacceptable.”
Additionally, on behalf of The Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning, New Canaan First Selectman, Judy Neville announced the filing of a petition to oppose the FAA Airspace Redesign proposal.
The Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning (ASAP) was formed to bring together existing cross-state constituents opposition of FAA’s redesign proposal. Members of the Alliance in attendance this morning included the chief elected officials of the towns of New Canaan, Greenwich, Wilton, Weston, Westport, Redding, Ridgefield, Darien, Pound Ridge, N.Y. and the Cities of Norwalk and Stamford.
Westchester Towns Strategize next steps
Numerous Westchester towns and municipalities passed resolutions to urge Westchester County as petitioner, to take legal action to stop the FAA Airspace Redesign. The County did not file by the deadline.
Inaction by the County leaves these towns without legal standing to take action themselves.
Westchester County residents are concerned about how airport operational changes, volume increases and airspace redesign will impact their towns. Westchester County Airport (HPN) is planning for operational changes which have received funding. A public meeting is set for Nov 29 at the County Center. Jet Blue is also introducing new flights from HPN December 1.
According to FAA officials, extended detours from published routes relating to foul weather and flight delay may leave new communities vulnerable to new overflight.
Stewart Airport will be aggressively expanding operations. Management was transferred to the Port Authority this month. Industry Insiders predict Stewart Airport will take JFK overflow and built eventually into a new transportation hub. All communities in a 90 mile radius must be made aware of these changes and request impact study, and analysis.
Towns are suggested to appoint permanent aviation committees to gather overflight data, attend airport and FAA meetings, and represent their resources. Communities who stand to be impacted by increased overflight should be at the bargaining table when volume increases or related airspace changes are impending.
The Town of Pound Ridge and 10 Connecticut towns filed by the FAA’s deadline as a members of the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning (ASAP). Rockland County NY, Elizabeth NJ, the State of Connecticut, Delaware County filed by the FAA’s deadline in addition to other entities.
Check with http://www.ourairspace.org for updates, action items, news and research. The site has been updated with a real time legislation tracker and will include an interface to a data bank which tracks overflight in your area (live Dec 1)
Inaction by the County leaves these towns without legal standing to take action themselves.
Westchester County residents are concerned about how airport operational changes, volume increases and airspace redesign will impact their towns. Westchester County Airport (HPN) is planning for operational changes which have received funding. A public meeting is set for Nov 29 at the County Center. Jet Blue is also introducing new flights from HPN December 1.
According to FAA officials, extended detours from published routes relating to foul weather and flight delay may leave new communities vulnerable to new overflight.
Stewart Airport will be aggressively expanding operations. Management was transferred to the Port Authority this month. Industry Insiders predict Stewart Airport will take JFK overflow and built eventually into a new transportation hub. All communities in a 90 mile radius must be made aware of these changes and request impact study, and analysis.
Towns are suggested to appoint permanent aviation committees to gather overflight data, attend airport and FAA meetings, and represent their resources. Communities who stand to be impacted by increased overflight should be at the bargaining table when volume increases or related airspace changes are impending.
The Town of Pound Ridge and 10 Connecticut towns filed by the FAA’s deadline as a members of the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning (ASAP). Rockland County NY, Elizabeth NJ, the State of Connecticut, Delaware County filed by the FAA’s deadline in addition to other entities.
Check with http://www.ourairspace.org for updates, action items, news and research. The site has been updated with a real time legislation tracker and will include an interface to a data bank which tracks overflight in your area (live Dec 1)
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