Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. Announces Extended Testing of its SOCRATES(R) Wake Vortex Sensor at Denver International Airpor
06 Octobre 2005 - 10:26PM
Business Wire
Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. (AMEX:FLT) intends to release the
following information at a press conference scheduled for Friday,
October 7, 2005, at the Denver International Airport SOCRATES(R)
wake vortex sensor test site. The following information has been
approved for release by NASA and Volpe/US DOT: Flight Safety
Technologies, Inc. is developing a new sensor intended to track
hazardous wake vortices, the horizontal tornadoes that trail behind
an airplane's wing tips, is being tested on the north side of
Denver International Airport. The sensor is being designed to
provide inputs to a system for air traffic controllers that might
someday make takeoffs and landings safer and more regular. Our
SOCRATES(R) wake vortex sensor employs an acoustic technique
borrowed from underwater sonar that uses lasers as microphones to
pick up sound generated by the vortices. These vortices can be
hazardous to other aircraft when they encounter a vortex capable of
rolling the aircraft over. This situation can be particularly
dangerous during the approach or departure phase of flight when the
pilot has insufficient altitude to recover. Air traffic controllers
maintain safety in current flight operations by putting more space
between landings or takeoffs when a smaller aircraft follows a
larger one. This extra space provides time for the wake vortex
hazard to dissipate before the next airplane arrives, but it also
deprives airports of precious runway capacity. This loss of
capacity translates into delays at the busiest airports and
airports that have a mix of various sized airplanes. The airline
industry knows that most of the time the wake vortices are not
present in the path of the trailing airplane because they either
drift to the side with a cross wind, or sink below the path of the
next aircraft. Until now there has been no way to ensure that the
wake vortices have moved out of the flight corridor. Various
government agencies and organizations have studied this problem for
decades in order to develop a way to close the spacing behind heavy
aircraft to the normal radar standard. The objective of this
research would demonstrate that normal radar separation standards
would be adequate when it can be confirmed that the wake vortices
are not in the flight path of the trailing airplane. In the 1990's,
NASA developed predictive techniques to describe the expected
behavior of an airplane's wake based upon measured wind
information. Airline pilot associations have insisted on actual
measurements of the vortices to validate these predictions in
critical flight areas near the ground. Funded by NASA through the
DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center),
Flight Safety Technologies was selected as the prime contractor and
the Syracuse division of Lockheed Martin was selected as a
principal sub-contractor to develop the SOCRATES(R) wake vortex
sensor. This mutual cooperation has resulted in successful
development and testing of several increasingly effective versions
of the SOCRATES(R) wake vortex sensor. This sensor is a candidate
for inclusion in a Wake Vortex Advisory System (WVAS) which would
be used by air traffic controllers. A WVAS would provide
controllers with the runway-specific information about whether wake
vortex spacing or radar spacing should be used. Additionally, the
wake measurements might provide a "safety net," alerting
controllers in the rare event that the predicted wake vortex
behavior failed to agree with measurements, with enough lead time
to direct the trailing aircraft onto a safe course. According to
NASA estimates, the benefit of an operational WVAS is estimated to
be between 6% and 25% depending on traffic density and the mix of
aircraft types. The testing in Denver, originally scheduled to end
October 14th, 2005, will be extended for approximately six months.
This extension will allow SOCRATES(R) wake vortex sensor
improvements to be incorporated and evaluated in a rapid fashion.
It will evaluate the performance of SOCRATES(R) wake vortex sensor
in two configurations, first looking straight up into the arrival
path, and secondly surveying a broader area of airspace along the
flight path. The Volpe Center has deployed wind measurement sensors
and alternate vortex tracking instrumentation for comparison. If
these tests provide positive results, the full scale emulation of a
WVAS, integrating the predictive elements with the weather and
vortex sensors is planned to take place next year. This combination
could provide a valuable product for an air traffic control system
that could dramatically improve airport runway capacity and flight
safety. "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward
looking statements identified by the use of words such as should,
believes, plans, goals, expects, may, will, objectives, missions,
or the negative thereof, other variations thereon or comparable
terminology. Such statements are based on currently available
information which management has assessed but which is dynamic and
subject to rapid change due to risks and uncertainties that affect
our business, including, but not limited to, the outcome of an
informal inquiry by the SEC that appears to be in connection with
certain analysts reports about us and our press releases, the
outcome of pending class action litigation alleging violations of
federal securities laws, whether the government will implement WVAS
at all or with the inclusion of a SOCRATES(R) wake vortex sensor,
the impact of competitive products and pricing, limited visibility
into future product demand, slower economic growth generally,
difficulties inherent in the development of complex technology, new
products sufficiency, availability of capital to fund operations,
research and development, fluctuations in operating results, and
other risks detailed from time to time in Flight Safety
Technologies, Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Any statements that express or involve discussions with
respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections,
objectives, goals, assumptions or future events or performance are
not statements of historical fact and may be forward looking
statements. Forward looking statements involve a number of risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from those presently anticipated.
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