Transport secretary Sean Duffy announced plans to strengthen airport checks of the airport with the latest technology in the coming four years, while they also use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify “hotspots” where close meetings often occur.
The announcement came in after an update of an investigation into a crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Arlington, VirginiaWhen an American army helicopter and one were operated by the American airlines, the Potomac River collided on January 29.
“We are here because 67 Souls lost their lives on January 29,” Duffy told reporters on Tuesday and noted that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed its provisional findings earlier in the day in the crash.
The findings noted that in the last 2½ years there have been 85 near -missers or Concluding calls at Reagan National. Close calls were identified as incidents when there are less than 200 feet vertical separation and 1500 feet lateral separation between aircraft.
The Potomac River and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, from, 30 January. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
Duffy seemed shocked about the findings and wondered how the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) knew nothing about the ‘hotspot’, where almost misses often happen.
“We almost have misses, and if we don’t change our way, we will lose lives,” he said. “That was not done. Maybe there was a focus on something other than safety, but in this administration we focus on safety.”
The FAA has used AI tools to search data and find extra hotspots in the American airspace near airports to find similar situations if what happened at Reagan National.
Transport secretary Sean Duffy has a briefing on the deadly January 29 Midair aircraft crash near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. (Fox News/Pool)
Once the hotspots have been identified, the Duffy team will make changes to reduce the close encounters between planes.
Duffy also said he learned that air traffic control systems are 25 to 30 years old throughout the country, and some of them even use floppy drives as if they were stuck in the 1980s.
Although the system is outdated, the secretary emphasized that it was safe. Although the system is safe, Duffy said it should be upgraded.
“This should have happened four years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago,” he said. “But at the moment we are at a point where we can actually do it. And we can do it very quickly.”
Transport secretary Sean Duffy has a briefing on deadly January on January 29 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in which 67 people died. (Fox News/Pool)
Duffy said the task could take up to four years to complete.
The task means that a brand new air traffic control system is brought in, from copper threads to a combination of fiber, wireless and satellite systems.
The current radar system from the 1970s or early 1980s work, but Duffy wants to set up state-of-the-art radar and terminals with the right screens and the best technology.
‘Gate Lice’ Run-Ins have flyers who demand more airlines ‘Crack Down’ on annoying traveling
The Stansted Airport Control Tower in the United Kingdom (Nats UK)
“We are going to use resources for landing job safety – new technology with which our air traffic controllers cannot use binoculars in the tower to see where aircraft are, but to actually have ground radar sensors at our airports with which air traffic controllers can see where aircraft are,” he said.
“We have heard many new stories about almost misses on the asphalt. And how do you illuminate that? Remove the binoculars and give them technology so that they can see on their scenes where every plane is located.
“By doing this, we will greatly improve our safety in the system.”
Technology, on the other hand, is not cheap, what the secretary recognized.
In an environment in which the Department of Government Efficiency is looking for ways to save costs and save money, Duffy explained to make upgrades in the name of safety worth the investment.
Click here to get the Fox News app
In the coming weeks, Duffy said, he is planning to set up his plan to the congress and to record their feedback.
As soon as he goes through the feedback, Duffy said he intends to return to the congress and ask the money in advance to speed up the process of upgrading air traffic control systems.
“It is not that the FAA did not want to do the upgrades,” he said. “It just takes too long. So they have to give us the money. We’ll prepare our plan later to do it really quickly.”
