Crowley along…
By Philip Newman
U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and other noise-plagued Queens citizens may soon be able to use their home computers to track which airline has interrupted their sleep and even capture the plane’s altitude and flight number.
Crowley along with U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) came to LaGuardia Airport’s Marine Air Terminal Monday to introduce a high-tech way for citizens to identify planes by type, airline and altitude.
The lawmakers have asked the Congressional House Transportation Appropriations committee for $240,000 to provide the computerized system Crowley said would “help make LaGuardia a better neighbor.”
The flight monitoring system uses an independent radar network to provide information on aircraft. For security reasons, the system is delayed 10 minutes for a “near live” picture of aircraft traffic.
The system is already in use at Los Angeles and San Francisco International airports and Louisville Regional airport.
Under the system provided by Megadata of Greenwich, Conn., a computer screen displays a map of the airport. Computer users can click on icons of jetliners to determine all sorts of information. Arriving planes are blue and departing planes are green.
If the computer user determines that a plane has violated altitude limitations, it can be reported to the FAA. The plane’s airline, tail number and altitude can all be verified.,
“We can log onto the Internet and find out who it is that is making noise,” Maloney said.
Crowley had previously mentioned a flight from Houston that made its approach to LaGuardia airport at 2:10 a.m. awakening him and his family in Jackson Heights (The airline involved said it recently discontinued that flight.) Such a flight could, under the new system, be monitored by the householders it disturbed.
Crowley, whose home is “seven minutes from LaGuardia,” said the public, particularly the 150,000 Queens residents who live near enough to the airport to endure aircraft noise, could keep informed constantly and protest to airlines, the Port Authority or the Federal Aviation Administration. And they could back up their complaints with data.
The congressional money the lawmakers have requested would go to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to buy the tracking system for a two-year period.
Ron Dunsky of Megadata estimated the service would cost the Port Authority from $15,000 to $20,000 a month. It would be made available to the public on a web site.
William DeCota, Port Authority aviation director, said his agency supports the technology requested by the lawmakers.
“In fact, the Port Authority was the first airport operator to install an automated noise abatement monitoring system in 1989 and has been providing flight tracking data and maps to residents for many years,” he said.
“We are hopeful that the members of our congressional delegation can obtain the necessary funding for our airports to provide the next generation in flight tracking information that the public can access directly from their home computers,” DeCota said.
There are plans to introduce the system eventually at John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Airport.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
