FAA completes rollout of ASDE-X to 35 airports

The FAA successfully completed its roll-out of the Airport Surface Detection Equipment – Model X (ASDE-X), a system that has dramatically improved runway safety at the top 35 airports.

Memphis is the 35th airport to commission ASDE-X, which greatly reduces the potential for collisions on airport runways and taxiways by allowing air traffic controllers to detect potential conflicts and take appropriate action.

ASDE-X works by monitoring real-time surface activity taken from a variety of sources, including radar, sensors from the satellite-based surveillance system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast, multilateration sensors and aircraft transponders. ASDE-X fuses this data and projects them on color displays that allow controllers to see the precise location of aircraft and transponder-equipped vehicles on runways, taxiways and approach corridors, as well as aircraft flying within five miles of the airport. The transponders provide the identity of each aircraft and vehicle.

ASDE-X is especially helpful to controllers at night or in bad weather when visibility is poor. An enhanced safety logic spots potential collisions and provides visual and audible alerts to controllers.

The first ASDE-X became operational at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee in June 2003. Below is a list of the 35 airports with the system.

• Baltimore – Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
• Boston Logan International Airport
• Bradley International Airport
• Chicago Midway Airport
• Chicago O’Hare International Airport
• Charlotte Douglas International Airport
• Dallas – Ft. Worth International Airport
• Denver International Airport
• Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport
• Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport
• General Mitchell International Airport
• George Bush Intercontinental Airport
• Hartsfield – Jackson Atlanta International Airport
• Honolulu International – Hickam Air Force Base Airport
• John F. Kennedy International Airport
• John Wayne – Orange County Airport
• LaGuardia Airport
• Lambert – St. Louis International Airport
• Las Vegas McCarran International Airport
• Los Angeles International Airport
• Louisville International Airport-Standiford Field
• Memphis International Airport
• Miami International Airport
• Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport
• Newark International Airport
• Orlando International Airport
• Philadelphia International Airport
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
• San Diego International Airport
• Salt Lake City International Airport
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
• Theodore Francis Green State Airport
• Washington Dulles International Airport
• William P. Hobby Airport