US radar systems under scrutiny

WASHINGTON, Aug 16: A test of nearly 200 airport radars across the United States found two faulty ones, but federal officials declined to s...

WASHINGTON, Aug 16: A test of nearly 200 airport radars across the United States found two faulty ones, but federal officials declined to say if the flaws were the same as those that contributed to the deadly Korean airline crash in Guam.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said problems with radar warning systems in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Florence, South Carolina have been corrected.

The agency said it tested 193 radars and that the remaining 191 systems were working correctly, the FAA said. The radar in Guam, site of the August 6 Korean Air crash which claimed the lives of some 226 people, also has been fixed, the agency said.

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The FAA said the problems in the Florence and Fayetteville radars were in computer programs, but declined to say whether they were the same as the trouble encountered in Guam.

The warning system is a computer function of airport radars and is individually tailored to the landscape around each airport. It provides the air traffic controller with a warning if it detects an airplane below the safe altitude for the area or on a path that will bring the plane below a safe altitude. The controller then can warn the pilot to pull up.

The national transportation safety board said an error apparently was inserted into the Guam system’s computer software during an overhaul and it was not working when Korean Air flight 801 crashed. The plane struck the side of a hill while approaching Guam international airport.

Investigators say the faulty system did not cause the crash, but they believe a properly working radar warning system might have allowed controllers to direct the pilot of the Boeing 747 to pull the jumbo jet to a higher altitude as it approached the airport.