Alaska Makes First GPS PAX Delivery | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.29.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.23.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.24.24 Airborne-FltTraining-04.25.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.26.24

Wed, Jan 29, 2003

Alaska Makes First GPS PAX Delivery

Passenger Flight to San Francisco Used RNP Satellite-Based Precision Approach

Alaska Airlines has operated the first passenger flight to make a precision approach at San Francisco International Airport using a Required Navigational Performance satellite-based navigation system.

The flight, Alaska Flight 592, departed Seattle on Thursday, January 23, at 5:55 p.m. and arrived on schedule in San Francisco at 8:04 p.m.

Unlike a regular approach using ground-based navigational aids, the flight relied on a precision guidance approach using RNP, which draws data from the network of satellites known as the Global Positioning System and an onboard navigation database to guide the aircraft along a precisely defined, computer-plotted flight path.

"This represents a significant step toward the use of an RNP guidance approach in San Francisco to help improve traffic flow when operations ordinarily would be restricted to just one runway," said Kevin Finan, Alaska's vice president of flight operations. "It also represents a truly cooperative effort between the FAA, the airport, the airlines, the Air Line Pilots Association, and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, all of whom have worked hard over many years to make this first step possible."

This marks a new milestone for enhanced use of RNP on commercial passenger flights in the Lower 48. Alaska pioneered the use of RNP in 1996 in Juneau, Alaska, where weather can limit access to the airport located at one end of a narrow mountain channel. Since then, the airline has expanded its use to six other airports in rural Alaska, where similar weather conditions and geography are present.

In San Francisco, the RNP approach is being developed to allow RNP-equipped aircraft to land on the airport's second runway under conditions that currently limit airport operations to just one runway. The airport is also introducing an enhanced radar system to provide a similar capability for simultaneous landings in certain conditions for non-RNP-equipped aircraft.

FMI: www.alaskaairlines.com

Advertisement

More News

Unfortunate... ANN/SportPlane Resource Guide Adds To Cautionary Advisories

The Industry Continues to be Rocked By Some Questionable Operations Recent investigations and a great deal of data has resulted in ANN’s SportPlane Resource Guide’s rep>[...]

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.29.24): Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI)

Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) An airport lighting facility providing vertical visual approach slope guidance to aircraft during approach to landing by radiating a directio>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.28.24): Airport Marking Aids

Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.28.24)

Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC