Travel Forecasting Takes Off
June 10, 2008
Planning to fly from New York to Los Angeles seems like a simple enough proposition. However, there's an array of factors for the traveler to consider. For starters, in the New York metro area, it's possible to depart from one of at least three airports, while in L.A., there are no less than five airports in the region, all of which support varying degrees of air traffic and passenger travel.
Air Traffic Control 101
April 25, 2008
Last August, the Department of Transportation reported that airline delays in the United States were at their highest level since the agency started keeping statistics in 1995. Part of the blame for the delays is that demand for air travel is rising at a rate of four percent a year. It doesn’t help matters that approximately two-thirds of the nation’s 15,000 air traffic controllers are expected to retire within the next decade.
Teaching the World to Fly More Efficiently and Safely
January 10, 2008
How do you teach non-English speakers and non-tech-savvy students about the latest in aviation systems and operations? "With patience and creativity," says Cheryl Andrews, course manager of the MITRE Aviation Institute (MAI), a unique resource for the global aviation community.
CAASD Unmanned Aircraft Work Recently Featured in The Edge
October 5, 2007
With unmanned aircraft now seeking a place in the nation’s airways, CAASD is playing an important part in determining how they can fit into civil airspace safely and systematically. Unmanned Aircraft in Civil Airspace: Challenges and Opportunities, by Robert Boetig, F063, and Matthew DeGarmo, F082. Originally developed for military applications, most unmanned aircraft were built with high-risk applications and environments in mind. Little, if any consideration was given to making these aircraft suitable for flights in a mature civil aviation system—one controlled and monitored by sophisticated systems and governed by a rigorous regulatory structure.
MITRE Develops Portable ADS-B Radio for Small Unmanned Aircraft
May 30, 2007
McLean, Virginia, May 8, 2007 — The MITRE Corporation has developed a Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) Beacon radio for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) that is designed to facilitate the safe introduction of these aircraft into the national airspace system. Despite the growing demand for and advantages offered by the portability, low cost, and sophistication of small UAS, their use in the national airspace system remains limited because they are difficult for pilots to see and for electronic sensors to detect and track, creating safety risks. One way to make small UAS more "visible" is through the electronic broadcast of data about their position and velocity.
FAA Project -
Developing Wake Vortex Procedures to Increase Airport Capacity
May 10, 2007
Wake vortex, the horizontal turbulence generated behind aircraft, limits airport capacity by making it necessary to space arriving and departing aircraft to keep them from encountering another aircraft’s wake. MITRE’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and other industry partners to increase runway capacity by developing new safety procedures to address wake vortex.
CAASD Director Elected Executive VP of The Institute of Navigation
March 9, 2007
Christopher J. Hegarty, CAASD's Director for Spectrum Management, was elected Executive Vice President of The Institute of Navigation (ION) last December. His one-year term of office began January 24, 2007.
FAA Project -
Performance-based Navigation Standards for the National Airspace System
March 1, 2007
To prepare for the anticipated growth and complexity in the nation’s airspace over the next decade, CAASD is working closely with the FAA and the aviation industry to develop and implement performance-based navigation procedures for the national airspace system (NAS). These new procedures—designed to increase efficiency, capacity, and safety—rely on flight deck automation to navigate with greater precision and accuracy.
Agam Sinha Appointed MITRE Senior Vice President and General Manager
January 18, 2007
McLean, Virginia, January 17, 2007 — MITRE's President and Chief Executive Officer Al Grasso is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Agam Sinha to the position of senior vice president of The MITRE Corporation and general manager of the Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD). He will also direct the Federal Aviation Administration's Federally Funded Research and Development Center. In this position, Dr. Sinha will lead MITRE's aviation and transportation security work program in support of the FAA, the Transportation Security Administration, and international civil aviation authorities.
Awards & Recognition -
CAASD Authors Win Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s Best Article Award
January 9, 2007
At the Plenary Session of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting on October 17, the 2006 Best Ergonomics in Design Article Award was presented in recognition of the article “Better Taxiway Surface Markings, Safer Airports,” by Steven Estes, Oscar Olmos and Cheryl Andrews of MITRE’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD), Anthony D. Andre of San Jose State University Foundation, and Susan Chrysler, a communications consultant and Dan Hannon, a consultant in the field of engineering psychology.
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