Integrated FAA Wind Shear Program Plan.

Abstract

Wind shear can have serious and sometimes disastrous effects on the flight path of an aircraft, especially when encountered below 1.000 feet AGL. In the last 10 years, wind shear was a contributing factor in 14 major aircraft accidents, 4 of which resulted in a total of 401 casualties. Following these accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a number of recommendations urging the FAA to address the wind shear problem. Recommendations pertaining to wind shear were also issued by the National Research Council (NRC) in an in-depth study on wind shear published in 1983. The NTSB and NRC recommendations serve as a backdrop to the development of the Integrated FAA Wind Shear Program Plan. Program elements include education and training, ground sensors, airborne sensors, and flight guidance systems, terminal information systems, and low-level meteorological hazard characterization. The plan emphasized how each program element operationally relates to the others and incrementally adds to the overall National Airspace System safety. Other branches of the government, the industry, aviation community and the academic sector are also involved in developing this program. This report outlines FAA's efforts to address the wind shear hazard, and to facilitate the transfer of technology to the operational arena. Keywords: Aviation safety; Lidar; Airport terminal areas; Weather; Thunderstorms; Radar.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA180283

Entities

Organizations

  • Federal Aviation Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accidents
  • Aircrafts
  • Aviation Accidents
  • Aviation Safety
  • Casualties
  • Education
  • Flight
  • Flight Paths
  • Hazards
  • Information Systems
  • Safety
  • System Safety
  • Terminals
  • Training
  • Wind
  • Wind Shear

Fields of Study

  • Engineering
  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Aviation Safety Risk Assessment.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management

Technology Areas

  • Space