The Federal Aviation Administration is accelerating plans to equip airport ground vehicles with tracking transponders after a deadly runway collision at New York’s LaGuardia Airport exposed gaps in surface surveillance.
The move follows a March 22 crash in which a Jazz Aviation aircraft operating for Air Canada struck a fire truck that was crossing the runway while the plane was landing, killing both pilots. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that LaGuardia had an appropriate surface surveillance system, but the fire truck involved did not carry a transponder, meaning controllers were not alerted to the impending collision.
The FAA has announced a $16.5 million program to install Vehicle Movement Area Transmitters on 1,900 FAA-operated vehicles at 44 airports that use two specific surface surveillance systems, as well as at 220 additional airports that have or will receive similar technology. The agency said the project had been in development for several months but was sped up after the LaGuardia accident.
The NTSB has recommended such technology for years, arguing that controllers should have full visibility of aircraft and vehicles on runways and taxiways. The FAA has reminded airports they can use federal grant funding to equip their own fleets and has urged airlines and other airfield operators to add transponders to their vehicles. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has already announced plans to deploy the technology at its three major airports in the region.