System started to make flying safer, faster
The United States Thursday began phasing in a highly precise $2.5 billion satellite navigation system meant to open up thousands of existing runways to pilots, even in bad weather.
Approaches to more than 200 U.S. airports have been mapped for the new Wide Area Augmentation System, or WAAS, which will pinpoint vertical and horizontal locations to within about 1.5 meters, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
With more reliable satellite signals "thousands of runways will be available to pilots even in very poor weather," FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told reporters at the facility in Virginia, which monitors U.S. air traffic.
This will translate into shorter routes, less fuel burned, less noise and a reduced impact on the environment.
The improved signal from Global Positioning System satellites also will help maritime users, surveyors and others who need a more precise navigation tool, FAA officials said.
"I won't tell you that WAAS is going to cure cancer, but I am telling you that it has great (benefits) across a wide array" of applications, said Blakey.
