Review of the FAA's Final Monitor Aid Tool at Denver's Terminal Radar Approach Control Center

摘要

This report presents the results of our review of the safety and suitability of the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) Final Monitor Aid (FMA) tool deployed at Denvers Terminal Radar Approach Control Center (TRACON). We initiated our review in response to a hotline complaint. Our objective was to determine if the FMA at the Denver TRACON is safe, effective, and suitable for managing air traffic. The exhibit to this report details our review scope and methodology. FMA allows Denvers air traffic controllers to visualize and precisely manage aircraft on triple, simultaneous, final approaches to the airports parallel runways during low-visibility conditions. Without FMA, triple, parallel approaches at Denver are prohibited when visibility is limited, and the maximum aircraft acceptance rate into the airport is reduced by 33 percentfrom 96 aircraft landings per hour to just 64 per hour. The FMA tool at the Denver TRACON runs on a Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) computer and display. To receive flight and radar data, the STARS FMA system requires STARS hardware to be connected in a hybrid configuration to Denvers existing terminal automation system, the Common Automated Radar Terminal System (CARTS).