FAA Probing State-of-the-Art Radar System at Miami Airport
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MIAMI — Five times this month, planes have briefly disappeared from the screens of the state-of-the-art radar system at Miami International Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which is investigating the problems, insists that passengers have never been in danger. But controllers at the nation’s fifth-busiest airport disagree.
“Any time the radar fails it does pose a hazard,” said Jim Allerdice, southern region safety chairman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. “Our work is so precise that anything that throws off concentration is a hazard.”
A team of FAA engineers arrived in Miami this week to investigate the $6-million ASR-9 radar system, installed two years ago. The most high-tech equipment available, it also has been installed at many of the nation’s other big airports.
Controllers nationwide have been complaining about problems with the system, including planes vanishing from screens and phantom images appearing.
The FAA has acknowledged some problems while insisting that the radar system generally works well. FAA officials maintain that all but one of the Miami breakdowns stemmed from circuit-breaker glitches. The fifth malfunction is believed to have been caused by lightning.
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