A CONCEPT FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL

Abstract

To increase the number of aircraft which can operate safely in high traffic areas and to expedite traffic at busy airports, it is proposed that each commercial flight travel from terminal to terminal along a 'flight tube' reserved for its exclusive use. To make this possible, an instrumentation system is described which would continuously provide an aircraft with both accurate position information and with instructions for progressing along any selected 'flight tube.' Every few seconds each aircraft would report its identity, position and altitude via a digital air-to-ground data link to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) centers. This accurate, unambiguous information will enable the centers to monitor automatically all aircraft movements, and any deviation of an aircraft from an assigned flight plan would be detected by the computer and brought to the attention of the appropriate ATC controller.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 17, 1968
Accession Number
AD0678060

Entities

People

  • Herbert G. Weiss

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Aircraft Equipment
  • Aircraft Industry
  • Aircrafts
  • Altitude
  • Collision Avoidance
  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Control Systems
  • Coordinate Systems
  • Data Storage Systems
  • Digital Data
  • Electronic Equipment
  • General Aviation Aircraft
  • Grids
  • Jet Aircraft
  • Measurement
  • Navigation

Readers

  • Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management
  • Systems Analysis and Design