Drucella Andersen

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

September 29, 1993
(Phone: 202/358-4727)

H. Keith Henry
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
(Phone: 804/864-6120)

Hank Price
Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, D.C.
(Phone: 202/267-3447)

RELEASE: 93-171

NASA, FAA CONSIDER REVISED WINDSHEAR PILOTING PROCEDURES

NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are

considering whether pilots should have formal training to interact
with new aircraft instruments able to give advance warning of
windshear -- sudden changes in wind speed and direction that can
endanger aircraft during takeoff and landing.

Training consideration comes after 7 years of windshear

studies by NASA and the FAA. The joint effort included research
on windshear hazards, flight tests of three new advance-warning
sensors and studies of pilot response to displays generated by
data from the devices. The recommendations were reported at a
NASA/FAA windshear meeting in Hampton, Va.

"Forward-looking windshear sensors could be available to

airlines by the end of this year," said Rosa Oseguera of NASA's
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. "We believe the most
effective use of the sensors requires an industry standard on
displays, a consensus on proper crew procedures for reacting to
the information and training to put those procedures into effect."

Windshear was a factor in air accidents that caused at least

500 deaths from 1964 to 1985. In 1987, the FAA created training
aids to help pilots identify the phenomenon and escape if they
unexpectedly enter a windshear.

-more-

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 Oseguera and NASA engineer David Hinton outlined NASA's
suggested displays and pilot actions for use by the FAA, aircraft
manufacturers and air carriers. Because the new sensors can give
up to 40 seconds warning of a
windshear encounter, the procedures consider how far away the
windshear is and where it is in relation to the plane's flight
path.

If the displays show a windshear more than 3 miles away or to

the side of the flight path during the approach to the runway, for
example, pilots would normally fly around the threat. If a
windshear is on the flight path within 3 miles, pilots would
either execute "missed approach" procedures or fly around it after
clearance from air traffic controllers.

A warning of windshear less than 1.5 miles ahead would

dictate a straight-ahead escape, since there might not be enough
time to contact controllers, get clearance and turn away from the
hazard. The new sensors make this procedure possible because
transport aircraft normally have power to fly through windshear if
the pilots know about the hazard in advance and take appropriate
actions.

Similar rules would apply to windshear spotted during

takeoff, but the distance guidelines are somewhat different.

"Training based on use of the new sensors would let pilots

evade windshears when possible, but also would make sure they can
fly through them safely if contact can't be avoided," said Herbert
Schlickenmaier, Program Manager at NASA Headquarters, Washington,
D.C. "These procedures would expand on, not replace, current
FAA-mandated techniques for avoiding windshear."

NASA and the FAA began the joint windshear research program
in 1986 to reduce the hazard to transport-type aircraft during
takeoff and approach. A NASA Boeing 737 successfully
flight-tested three types of forward-looking sensors in 1991 and
1992: microwave radar, Doppler LIDAR (laser radar) and infrared.

"There are a number of tools available to reduce the hazard

from the windshear threat. The ability to detect, locate and
quantify this threat and relate it to aircraft performance
capability, which these latest devices provide, is a tribute to
all the participants in this program," said George C. "Cliff" Hay,
FAA airborne windshear program manager.

These instruments are "predictive" sensors, in contrast to

"reactive" sensors that alert pilots only after a plane enters a
windshear. FAA regulations say that reactive systems must be
installed by most U.S. airlines by the end of 1993. Continental,
Northwest and American Airlines asked for and got exemptions that
would let them put predictive sensors in their aircraft by 1995.

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