In late Marc h, the airport's Common Automation Radar Terminal System, which
was developed in the 1960s, was replaced with the new Standard Terminal Automation
System as part of a more than $900 million nationwide project by the Federal Aviation
Administration and Rayt heon.
The new layers of weather data will allow controllers to have additional
information when trying to land planes, leading to increased safety.
"The new technology is absolutely amazing, we have information available to us
that was not available in the old system," Elias said. "There is definitely a learning curve
when it comes to using this new equipment, but it's a nice change. A lot of what we do
has not changed, but the tools that this system has allows us to see more things."
If the radar went out under the old system, air traffic controllers had to go through
a laundry list of steps to switch to another radar. With the new system, it can be done
with the touch of a button, Elias said.
"If you are looking at a score of airplanes and the radar goes o ut, it is not a good
time," Elias said, adding that every second counts in those types of situations."
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