New Aviation Safety System Coming to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania announced steps to make air travel safer and more efficient by adopting a recommendation from the Governor's Aviation Advisory Committee to begin using new technology at its airports.

PennDOT Secretary Allen D. Biehler, P.E., said the commonwealth will begin using advanced technologies for general aviation pilots, called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast systems, by the end of this year.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast information available to pilots includes:

• Traffic information, both in the air and on the ground, at airports. This will include location, aircraft identification, altitude, air speed and direction.
  
  
• Updated weather, including forecasts and radar imaging of storms. Lack of real-time weather information is cited as a contributing factor in a significant portion of aviation accidents. Terrain and other obstacles, including buildings, mountains and other hazards to aircraft.
  
  
• Airspace status, such as temporary flight restrictions and special use airspace.

Working with the Federal Aviation Administration, PennDOT is using the systems at Allentown's Queen City Airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, Lancaster Airport and University Park Airport in State College.

Biehler said the ground stations at the four airports will provide coverage for most of the eastern portion of the state. Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast coverage across the entire state is planned within four years.

The FAA developed the system, which was tested in Alaska and first implemented along the East Coast between Florida and New Jersey.

"Bringing such an advanced technology to Pennsylvania will better protect the people who fly airplanes and those who ride in them. It will also give air traffic controllers a good tool to guide planes in and out of airports," Biehler said. "This new system represents the 21st Century way that pilots will see and react to each other and their environment while flying."

Pennsylvania has nearly 137 airports serving 18,000 pilots. A recent study completed by PennDOT's Bureau of Aviation shows that, on an annual basis, aviation-related activities contribute more than $12.6 billion to the state's economy.

Biehler said the state and the FAA will split the costs to construct the four Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast stations. Money to underwrite the new technology is coming from the FAA ($300,000), a grant from U.S. Department of Homeland Security through PEMA ($250,000), and the state's Aviation Fund ($50,000).