Skip to main content

Airlines look for an edge in weather-radar systems

By WTOP Staff

DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

DALLAS (AP) — As their plane climbed away from Belize City, American Airlines pilot Brian Will and his co-pilot were ready to detour several hundred miles to avoid a wall of bad weather in front of them.

Then, looking at the display on a new weather-radar system, the pilots saw a way to navigate between the storms on the Dallas-bound flight this spring.

“We found the gap that the weather radar said was safe to go through,” Will, who is also American’s director of advanced technologies, recounted recently. “We didn’t have a single ripple, and we flew straight through to Dallas.”

Shooting the gap saved the airline a costly refueling stop in Houston or New Orleans. The makers of the advanced radar systems promise to do the same for other airlines — along with sparing passengers from gut-churning turbulence and reducing lengthy delays.

The system on Will’s plane was made by Rockwell Collins Inc. and just hit the market in February. Rival Honeywell International Inc. also has a new on-board radar system designed to give pilots a better idea of the weather ahead.

Rockwell Collins says its MultiScan ThreatTrack radar system is the first to detect not just severe turbulence but also more moderate bumpiness that is safe to fly through, although not comfortable for passengers. Other features warn pilots of storm cells that could rise from below and blow outward and make a flight choppy or dangerous.

American was the first customer for ThreatTrack. The system is now on about 40 planes at American and several foreign carriers.

Honeywell’s version is called IntuVue. A waffle-like receiver is in the plane’s nose cone. Pilots see a cockpit display that uses icons to warn of potential hail and lightning up to 370 miles away. They can call up panoramic 3-D images of storms between the ground and 60,000 feet, eliminating the need for pilots to manually aim the radar at smaller sections of the storm.

The system has been installed on 66 of Southwest’s newest Boeing 737 jets and will be on future deliveries. Southwest has no immediate plans to retrofit its roughly 600 older planes — it would cost upward of $200,000 per job.

Bill Lusk, a Boeing 737 captain and the manager of daily operations for Southwest Airlines, says the new system improves the safety margin, helps pilots provide a smoother ride for passengers, and saves on fuel. Flying into a hailstorm can leave a plane’s aluminum skin badly dimpled, so better radar could also reduce maintenance spending.

Older systems do a good job of capturing the basic characteristics of a storm — its height, shape and intensity — but the newer ones make it easier to pinpoint the location of the worst weather, says Erik Eliel, a pilot for a major airline who also trains other pilots on radar. But he worries that airlines might think all that technological muscle reduces the need for pilots to understand dangerous weather and the limits of radar.

“In terms of situational awareness, some of the stuff that the modern-day radars do is incredible,” Eliel says. “They are not a panacea. You still require training on some things.”

Rockwell and Honeywell are working on refinements that will better predict ice at high altitudes, which can damage engines and cause a loss in power. Radar can’t “see” so-called clear-air turbulence, so pilots rely on reports from other planes to avoid it, but the companies are working on algorithms to predict it.

Last year, 11 passengers and 13 crew members on U.S. airlines were injured during turbulence, according to government figures. This May, four passengers and two flight attendants were injured when an Orlando-bound US Airways jet hit severe turbulence for just a few seconds shortly after takeoff from Philadelphia.

The stakes are big for Honeywell and Rockwell. The world’s passenger and cargo airlines are expected to need about 65,000 new planes over the next two decades, according to Boeing and Airbus, and each will need some type of weather-radar system. The companies and airlines declined to disclose the cost of each system.

Honeywell took four years and hundreds of flights on a 1952-built Convair 580 to develop its system. Rockwell took about six years, and a team of six engineers and a meteorologist flew into storms all over the world on a plane leased from a real estate investor.

“The only way to find out what the weather is like over the Amazon,” said Roy Robertson, Rockwell’s resident radar expert, “is to go to the Amazon.”

___

Contact David Koenig at http://www.twitter.com/airlinewriter

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
Read Next Story

Related News

Where to take the family while they visit DC

Government shuts down after last-minute talks and Senate vote fail

How the Tax Cut Affects Investors