Airway Pioneers Forum

Aspen vs. Honolulu

From: Marty Coddington #3602
Date: 11 Jun 2009
Time: 14:58:31 -0400
Remote Name: 24.145.223.11

Comments

Runway Cameras to Improve ATC Visibility at Aspen Airport 09-Jun-2009 The Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (KASE) could be the first in the nation to use closed-circuit television cameras as part of its air traffic-control operations, airport officials announced Wednesday. Hello Charter X, Your article, partially quoted above, appeared in the "Headline News of the Air Traffic Control Association" on Tuesday. Indeed ASE "COULD be the first in the nation to use closed circuit television cameras as part of it's air traffic control operations" but they would have had to do that back to the 70s to beat Honolulu Tower. Before the new tower was built in Honolulu, the old tower sat on top of the John Rogers Terminal Building. That old tower still exists but is now used by the state of Hawaii to control ramp operations. There was no "reef runway" in those days. All traffic landed on land-side runway 8 or the parallel runway 4s during normal trade wind operations. Since the controllers were in a tower that sat off to the side with a field of view perpendicular to the parallel runways, and was quite some distance, perhaps over a mile, it was impossible for the controllers to determine exactly which runway an arrival was lined up with. A number of unsatisfactory events occurred including a 737 landing on a closed runway and a number of near mid-air collisions. The controllers complained for a long time and requested a closed circuit TV camera be installed BETWEEN the parallel runways, aimed out at the approach courses so they could quickly determine which runway the arrivals were aligned with. That camera system was installed in approximately 1972. It is my understanding that it no longer exists.