AP: FAA to expand landing abilities

[question everything]

FAA to expand landing abilities

By Leslie Miller, Associated Press
Long Beach Press Telegram

WASHINGTON — Precise navigation equipment that's on board airplanes instead of on the ground will allow pilots to slalom around mountains, tall buildings or restricted airspace and lead to fewer diverted and delayed flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday unveiled the technology and procedures that will open more runways when the weather's bad.

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The FAA calls it "required navigation performance," or RNP. It's not a high-tech device but a standard for flying precision that can be met using satellite-based navigation equipment and on-board flight management computers.

Instead of flying straight to a point in space in order to line up with a runway, pilots stick to a tightly controlled path created by the FAA and coded into the airplane's computer.

The FAA has developed such paths, called RNP procedures, to airports with bad weather, mountainous terrain or both: Juneau, Alaska, San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Palm Springs and Sun Valley, Idaho.

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http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3327728

[Spinzonner]

1. And this will solve wind shear and icy runways how ?