Problems with new air traffic system threaten safety, investigators say WASHINGTON (AP) =97 A problem-plagued $1.3 billion air traffic control= system=20 still has major flaws that must be corrected before it debuts in November,= =20 congressional investigators say. The problems remain so severe that they=20 will jeopardize air safety if not fixed, the General Accounting Office, the= =20 investigative arm of Congress, said in a report issued Tuesday. Federal=20 Aviation Administration spokesman Scott Brenner said the agency is=20 correcting any flaws and won't use the Standard Terminal Automation=20 Replacement System, or STARS, if it has safety-threatening problems.=20 "Obviously, we're not going to deploy a system that is not 100% safe,"=20 Brenner said. "This is new technology. We'll work out all the bugs before=20 we deploy it." But officials of the union representing the FAA employees=20 who certify and maintain air traffic control equipment say they worry that= =20 the agency will install the system even if it doesn't work properly. "We=20 are very, very concerned that the FAA is so determined to deploy STARS that= =20 they'll deploy it even if they shouldn't," said Tom Brantley, vice=20 president of the Professional Airways Systems Specialists. "If the system=20 is not certified properly, if we can't verify that the information is=20 accurate, then that could absolutely lead to big problems. They have to=20 know where that aircraft is. It's our job to make sure the system will tell= =20 them that." The full STARS is scheduled to make its debut in November in Philadelphia.= =20 Limited versions are now in El Paso, Texas; Syracuse, N.Y.; Memphis, Tenn.;= =20 Hartford, Conn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Detroit; Albany,=20 N.Y.; and Providence, R.I. Eventually, STARS will be installed at dozens of= =20 sites where controllers track planes from takeoff to cruising altitude. It= =20 will replace several different models of computers now in use and offer=20 full-color displays instead of monochrome. It contains weather maps and can= =20 be expanded to produce even more detail about storms. But the GAO, the=20 Transportation Department inspector general and the union say the equipment= =20 doesn't always present a reliable picture of area traffic. "These problems,= =20 if not corrected, might prevent FAA from using STARS to control air traffic= =20 and might jeopardize safety," the GAO said. Blanche Necessary, a=20 spokeswoman for Raytheon Co., which is building the system, said the=20 company and the FAA are testing STARS and making changes as needed.=20 "Everything keeps getting tested and retested," she said. STARS has been=20 plagued by cost overruns and delays, according to both the GAO and the=20 Transportation Department inspector general. In 1996, the FAA planned to=20 install STARS at 172 facilities beginning in 1998 at a cost of $940=20 million. Plans now call for 74 facilities at a cost of $1.3 billion; the=20 first systems went online this year, four years behind schedule. Brenner said the agency initially planned to buy commercial hardware and=20 software, but it wasn't reliable enough. The higher costs and delays=20 resulted because the FAA needed to buy custom-made, more reliable=20 equipment, he said. Even then, the first system, in El Paso, didn't=20 properly display the flights, Inspector General Kenneth Mead said in June.= =20 The old system remained in place as a backup because "tower managers stated= =20 controllers were not comfortable relying solely on STARS," Mead said. That same month the FAA invoked a never-before-used clause in its contract= =20 with its employees, declaring an emergency and ordering the technicians in= =20 Syracuse, N.Y., to certify the system there, which must be done before air= =20 traffic controllers can begin using the displays. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (ReadyMix) http://www.readymix.co.tt/ (ReadyMix Cement Ltd) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************