FAA to Install RSL at Boston Logan

Air Safety Week,  April 14, 2008  

Tags: FAA

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

Technology that warns pilots about potential runway safety hazards will be installed and tested at Boston Logan International Airport under a partnership between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport).

The test system will be installed in November 2009 and testing will begin the following month.

The system, called Runway Status Lights, uses a series of red lights embedded in the pavement to warn pilots if it is unsafe to cross over or enter a runway.

The FAA and Massport are sharing the cost of the system, estimated at $5 million.

Boston will be the first location in the country to test Runway Status Lights for intersecting runways.

Pilots approaching a runway equipped with Runway Status Lights will see red lights illuminated if the airport's ground surveillance radar detects traffic on or approaching that runway. Clearance to cross or enter a runway must be given by air traffic control. Pilots must verify clearance before proceeding even after the warning lights are no longer illuminated. Runway Status Lights will also be used by vehicle operators.

The system is in place at Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego at non- intersecting runways and has improved runway safety without reducing capacity or increasing controller workload.

The concept for Runway Status Lights was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory.

"These lights add another layer to the safety systems designed to keep our runways safe," said FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell. "They will keep pilots focused and make our runways safer."

"Safety and security are our most important priorities at Logan,'' said Thomas J. Kinton Jr., CEO and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Port Authority. "We are pleased that Logan will be among the first airports in the nation to have runway status lights. They will reduce the potential for runway incursions and are an important tool to use in improving airfield safety.''

RSL is also going into Los Angeles International. Under an agreement between the FAA and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), pilots will begin testing Runway Status Lights at LAX -- the nation's fourth busiest airport -- early next year. LAWA is funding the system, which costs an estimated $6 million. The FAA will install, test, evaluate and maintain the system.

The Air Line Pilots Association said RSLs work in conjunction with an airport's ASDE-X radad, providing pilots with a direct indication of runway status, a recommendation endorsed by the NTSB. ALPA recommends that the RSLs become a standard technology upgrade for all large air carrier hub airports.

It's our hope that by 2011, at least 20 airports will have them," Sturgell said.

Toward that end, the FAA has begun the process of inviting companies to present proposals for a national rollout of runway status lights. The FAA expects to announce this summer the name of the winning contractor.

[Copyright 2006 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]

COPYRIGHT 2008 Access Intelligence, LLC
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning