ATC's e-navigation for safety in sky

New Delhi: Even as a new runway is coming up at the IGI airport to ease traffic congestion, the air traffic control (ATC) is in the process of finalizing a procedure that will reduce risks of accidents in air even further. The performance based navigational system (PBNS) is in the final stages of its draft form and should be in place by June.
The PBNS, being used in south Asia for the first time, will be made operational in Delhi and Mumbai simultaneously.
At present, the procedure that defines the height to be maintained by aircraft at a particular distance from the runway and in relation to other aircraft exists on paper. With the new system in place, this will be available to the pilot in his cockpit through a computer program.
"There are computers in the cockpit and the procedure to be maintained will be fed into that. Depending on which city the aircraft is going to and on which runway it has to land, the pilot can choose the particular option and instructions will be there before him to follow," said a senior official.The process, say officials, will reduce the interface between pilots and air traffic controllers, making the flying system more organized and smooth.
31/03/08 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Mar 2008, New Mar 2008, Safety Mar 2008