Air traffic control is definitely handicapped by its initial technology. The plan involves a number of satellite -based technologies that will allow commercial airliners to fly more efficiently and better handle inclement weather. The solution comes as more and more aircraft take to the skies in what is becoming an increasingly crowded environment. Coupled with bad weather conditions, too many flights can spell disaster for the nation s commercial carriers. The planes can broadcast that information from cockpit to cockpit where pilots can read the information on a computer screen.
Nearby aircraft know exactly where they are and can send the information to ground systems.
UPS Aviation Technologies, a unit of United Parcel Service, will be the first commercial transportation company to employ ADB-S in its fleet. It hopes to have the system up and running by the end of 2002. The ADS-B system is more accurate than radar because it updates itself every second, while radar information is relayed just once every 12.5 seconds. ADS-B can also be employed at low altitudes and can be used to track planes on runways. The hitch One hitch, however, is that until the system catches wide acceptance, it will not be of any use because planes must have the device installed in order for other planes to detect it.