Private Satellite Firm Aids Boeing 737 Investigation

Canada privatized its air traffic control (ATC) system in 1996. Today, Nav Canada is on the leading edge of ATC innovation worldwide. With Iridium, Nav Canada co-foundedAerion in 2012, which produces satellite-based tracking of global airliner movements. This is the future of air traffic control as it promises greater safety, fewer delays, savings of fuel, and more efficient use of airspace. The U.S. ATC system is not an investor in this revolutionary project.Our government-run ATC is falling behind the privatized systems in Canada and the United Kingdom. ATC is a high-tech business, yet we run our system as anold-fashioned and mismanaged bureaucracy within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).Aerion made the news last week when it provided crucial data on the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash, which killed 157 people.CNBC reported, “Even after dozens of countries grounded Boeing’s 737 Max, the FAA did not. It was only until ‘actionable data’ arrived from Aireon that the FAA made the decision, acting Administrator Daniel Elwell told CNBC.”And here is what theWall Street Journal reported:When the Federal Aviation Administration reversed course and grounded  Boeing Co.’s 737 MAX jetliner, it moved partly after seeing data from a little-known aerospace newcomer that is changing the way the aviation industry tracks planes.Aireon LLC, based in McLean, Va., was founded less than a decade ago —the brainchild of satellite maker Iridium Communications Inc....
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs