A transcript of communications between the dispatcher and the pilots indicates that the dispatcher warned them about the storm and recommended that they land before it arrived. Dispatchers use highly detailed weather reports provided by a private service that uses raw data from the National Weather Service and enhances it for aviation purposes. Dispatchers typically have better weather information than air traffic controllers, but they don't have real-time reports, said Mike Harkin, vice president of government and media relations for the Airline Dispatchers Federation. He declined to comment about the Little Rock crash. Whatever the dispatcher is telling the pilots might already be out of date, because it's based on information from 30 minutes ago.
Commercial aviation does fly in thunderstorm weather, and it is safe to do so.
But it is not safe to penetrate a thunderstorm or try to land in a microburst. The key is to get better information as to the location and severity of the storms. The system zeros in on areas close to an airport to detect potentially dangerous winds. The Little Rock controller told the Flight 1420 pilots that they had better weather- tracking equipment aboard the aircraft than he had in the control tower. Federal budget constraints have kept the FAA from installing more Doppler systems, the agency said.