The AMASS Mess
With runway incursions in the media spotlight this summer, controllers are once again calling for equipment that can aid in the prevention of collisions at the nation’s airports, rain or shine.
The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) is installed at many busy airports across the country. The runway surveillance equipment is designed to help prevent runway collisions, but there is one slight hitch: it doesn’t function in bad weather. “As designed, the AMASS safety alerting function must be placed in limited mode during periods of moderate or greater precipitation,” explained Doug Fralick, NATCA’s director of Safety and Technology. “If this is not done, controllers have to contend with constant false alarms as the ASDE-3 radar confuses inclement weather with actual aircraft.”
Fralick finds it ironic that AMASS, a system designed to enhance runway safety, is useless when controllers need it the most. “Logically, controllers need this type of surveillance most when weather and visibility is poorest,” Fralick said. “The system should function in times of poor weather as well as good.”
Problems related to AMASS have surfaced at airports such as Baltimore, Boston, Kennedy and O’Hare. Fralick believes Airport Surface Detection Equipment – Model X (ASDE-X), would greatly enhance airport safety during poor weather. “ASDE-X should replace AMASS at major airports across the country,” Fralick asserted. “It uses multilateration [a transponder surveillance source] instead of just relying on raw radar returns. This additional surveillance source acts as backup to ensure radar is actually detecting aircraft rather than precipitation, allowing the safety-alert feature to remain in effect at all times because false alarms no longer present an operational issue.”
In the Kennedy incident, an Israeli pilot accidentally crossed a runway after an Airport Express cargo jet was given clearance to take off. The incident took place during overnight hours in a period of fog and heavy rain. AMASS was in limited mode at the time and the consequences were nearly disastrous.
Barrett Byrnes, NATCA’s facility representative at Kennedy Tower, believes it will take a catastrophe for the FAA to change its stance on this important safety issue. ‘’It’s going to take a collision on a runway at a major airport that doesn’t have the ASDE-X technology to get the FAA to move or Congress to provide the equipment,’’ he told the New York Times.
Byrnes believes it is a miracle the runway incident at his facility did not lead to fatalities. “I’m still amazed those airplanes didn’t collide. I’m thankful the pilots had enough visibility on the ground to narrowly avert disaster,” he said. “I think AMASS is a great tool, but it just doesn’t work anytime there is moderate or greater rain. And these are the situation where mistakes are made.”
The speed at which the FAA has deployed ASDE-X technology to the country’s air traffic facilities has fallen well behind its original schedule. “The deployment is already behind what the agency promised,” Fralick said. “If the FAA takes ASDE-X and installs it at the AMASS airports, it will likely deny the equipment to other airports originally designated to receive it. That is not our objective. We want ASDE-X installed at all airports currently equipped with AMASS, but not at the expense of other facilities. It’s time the FAA lives up to its promise and provides ASDE-X safety equipment to airports where it is sorely needed.”
Byrnes echoes Fralick’s sentiment on the FAA’s deployment schedule. “The deployment of ASDE-X, formerly set for 2002-2003, is now scheduled for 2008-2009,” Byrnes lamented. “No airports in the New York area—one of the busiest markets in the country—are slated to receive this technology. Apparently, the FAA considers AMASS ‘good enough,’ despite the risks.”
