New York Area Airports Lack Critical Safety Radar

The region's three major airports lack technology designed to prevent airplanes from colliding with each other, and it could be years before all of them have it, a lawmaker said yesterday.

La Guardia, John F. Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International airports don't have the surface detection equipment technology that alerts air traffic controllers to potential collisions within five miles of an airport, including on runways, Senator Schumer said.

The airports remain at the bottom of the list to receive the new technology, and La Guardia will be among the last airports to receive it in December 2010, Mr. Schumer said.

Kennedy was slated to receive the new system in August of 2008 and Newark in July 2009, he said. Mr. Schumer's comments come three days after a plane taxied onto a runway where a plane was about to land at Newark Liberty. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating that incident, called an incursion.

Also last week, a congressional report said there was "a high risk of a catastrophic runway collision occurring" in the country because of poor leadership, unreliable technology and overworked air traffic controllers.

Mr. Schumer called on FAA officials to expedite the installation of the collision technology, which he said was particularly helpful in bad weather and at night, at New York area airports.

"As one of the busiest areas in the country, we should be at the top of the list when new technology is developed to make us safer," Mr. Schumer said. "On the heels of this week's scathing report, Thursday's near miss at Newark shows the FAA must not continue to drag its feet."

An FAA spokesman said the schedule to install the technology was based on several factors including how busy an airport is and the complexity of an airport's runway and taxiway infrastructure and procedures. Some airports received the technology ahead of New York's airports while others will get it later, an FAA spokesman, Jim Peters, said.

New York's three airports already have ground surveillance radar, although it doesn't offer as much detail about an aircraft's whereabouts as the new technology, Mr. Peters said.

Lawhawk has been writing about the problems at New York's three major airports. Before August 2008, when Kennedy Airport is slated to receive the new system, how many flights will pass through there? How many people will be put in danger? Why can't the system be installed in all three airports simultaneously?

And to turn this into a political debate -- Where is Hillary on this issue? New York's junior Senator seems to be quiet on every issue that truly effects New Yorkers. Now, I am not the biggest fan of Senator Schumer, but he is always outspoken about issues that matter to New Yorkers. He has been out front on gun control, ATM bank fees, port security, and aviation issues. Since Hillary's election I have not heard her speak out on any of these issues. The Country really needs to realize that she is ineffective, and would make a horrible President.