ATC Modernization Forum in Memphis

The Federal Aviation Administration,
FedEx Express, and the Cargo Airlines
Association are holding a one-day
modernization forum at the Peabody Hotel
and Memphis International Airport in
Memphis on June 13. The event will
showcase the continued progress of the
FAA Safe Flight 21 program, and the
development, installation and use of the
Global Positioning System Local Area
Augmentation System (LAAS) installed at
Memphis International Airport.

The technologies that will be
demonstrated at the forum are
important pieces of FAA's Operational
Evolution Plan, our
ongoing implementation blueprint for the
next 10 years. The day will begin
with a panel of speakers from the FAA
and FedEx at the hotel, and conclude
with demonstrations of the equipment at
the airport.

The Safe Flight 21 demonstrations will
include an operational demonstration of
cockpit surface moving map technology on
aircraft-installed avionics. The
demonstration will be conducted on
the FAA's Boeing 727 research aircraft
and will include a live taxiing scenario
intended to highlight the effectiveness
of this tool in improving runway safety
in the near future.

Participants will see a cockpit display
of traffic information depicting the
aircraft's own position and other
Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) aircraft
and vehicle targets on the display. The
targets will overlay the Memphis
Airport surface moving map, showing
traffic information that a pilot would
see in the cockpit.

The FAA's Boeing 727 has 16
airline-style seats in the passenger
compartment, and a large-screen,
formatted display for easy viewing by
the participants. Passengers
will be able to follow the progress of
the aircraft as it taxis on the airport
surface, relative to the display of
traffic information.

Four taxi demonstrations are
planned that will last approximately 30
minutes each. FAA technical experts
will provide explanations of the
equipment and displays during the taxi
operations and will be available to
answer questions.

-Continued-

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