Michael Braukus 
Headquarters, Washington, DC                     Nov. 8, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1979)

Judi Tull
Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
(Phone:  757/864-3189)

Dale Willis
Honeywell Technology Center, Phoenix, AZ
(Phone:  602/436-5302)

RELEASE: 99-133

NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL INCREASE ON-TIME LANDINGS

    Help may soon be on the way to air travelers frustrated with 
ever-increasing delays at the nation's airports.

    NASA, Honeywell Technology Center and Honeywell Airport 
Systems have developed new technology that could solve a 
significant part of the problem.  Called Airborne Information for 
Lateral Spacing (AILS) and Closely Spaced Parallel Approaches 
(CASPER), the systems expand on existing communication and 
navigation technology to allow planes to land safely in bad 
weather on parallel runways spaced as closely as 2,500 feet 
apart.

    Currently, the minimum runway separation during low 
visibility is 4,300 feet, which means that some of the nation's 
busiest airports have to shut down one of their closely spaced 
runways when weather conditions deteriorate.  Some of the 
airports where this new technology could improve on-time arrivals 
are Detroit, Seattle, Minneapolis and Memphis.

    Fewer bad-weather delays will mean financial savings for the 
airline industry, more efficient airports and travelers arriving 
at their destinations on time more often.

    NASA and Honeywell are conducting in-flight demonstrations of 
the system at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Nov. 
8 through 10 for Federal Aviation Administration officials and 
other government and industry representatives, and invited media.

    With the AILS/CASPER system, aircraft coming in to land 
"talk" to each other through Automatic Dependent Surveillance-
Broadcast, a technology under development by the FAA and 
industry.  Differential Global Positioning System signals provide 
precise information about each plane's location.

    Simultaneous use of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance 
System, AILS alerting functions, and simple, consistent pilot 
procedures assures safe approaches and landings.

                             - end -


Note to Editors/News Directors:  Media interested in participating 
in the flight demonstrations should contact Kathy Barnstorff in 
the Public Affairs Office of NASA's Langley Research Center at 
757/864-9886.