Volpe Center: Volpe Center Highlights

Information Resources

Volpe Center Highlights - September 1999

Safety

Promote public health and safety by working toward the elimination of transportation-related deaths, injuries, and property damage.

Volpe Develops Training Materials for the USPS Hazmat Mail Security Program (USPS)

Mr. Glenn Goulet of the Environmental Engineering Division attended a meeting with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) headquarters, in Washington, D.C., to outline the progress of the USPS Hazmat Program. Although hazardous materials in the mail has never been the cause or a contributing factor of an air disaster, the NTSB ValuJet report identified undeclared hazardous materials in the mail as a serious potential danger for aviation. This program is the response of USPS to the ValuJet report recommending adequate training for safe handling of hazardous materials. The Volpe Center conducted a needs assessment with USPS Aviation Mail Centers/Facilities (AMC/F) and also developed training materials to educate employees about hazardous materials. Training materials consisted of an overview of hazmat awareness and four modules covering AMC/F awareness, dock/platform and transfer activities, processing and distribution activities, and flight assignment, tendering, and hand-off to airlines. The USPS has over 900,000 employees, transports 41 percent of the world's mail, handles 631 million pieces of mail per day, and accepts mail at over 38,000 post offices. In addition, the USPS has access to 56,000 commercial air flights per day to transport mail. The ultimate goal of the USPS is to ensure that all employees handling hazmat, from acceptance to delivery, have adequate training for safe handling of these materials. To accomplish this, the USPS has committed to training over 350,000 employees over the next 3 years.

Aircraft Wake Vortex Bibliography Updated (FAA)

Dr. James Hallock of the Aviation Safety Division has updated the Wake Vortex Bibliography to include abstracts of publications from January to August 1999, in addition to archived entries from international publications. The updated bibliography, accessible via the Volpe Web site (http://www.volpe.dot.gov/wv/index.html), includes experimental and theoretical articles relating to the formation, structure, motion, and decay of vortices and their effect on penetrating aircraft. Wake vortices are counter-rotating cylindrical air masses generated when aircraft lift off, and are a potential hazard to parallel runway operations. The primary objective of the Volpe Center's Wake Vortex Program is to assist the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in developing systems and procedures to provide the air traffic control system with the information required to maximize traffic flow for existing vortex conditions. This will result in more efficient air traffic management in the terminal airspace.

Volpe Center Staff Member Chairing APTA/PRESS Subcommittee (FRA)

Mr. Jeffrey Gordon of the Structures and Dynamics Division attended the July meeting of the American Public Transit Association Passenger Rail Equipment Safety Standards (APTA/PRESS) Wheel Design Task Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Task Group discussed the techniques developed by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the Volpe Center for estimating residual stresses in commuter car wheels due to service loading. The group is considering replacing the Association of American Railroads' 1983 S-660 Standard, Procedure for the Analytic Evaluation of Locomotive and Freight Car Wheel Designs, with a new standard based on the FRA/Volpe estimating techniques. Mr. Dan Stone, chairman of the Task Group and Chief Metallurgist at the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado, asked Mr. Gordon to chair a new Wheel Design subcommittee formed to develop a draft for the proposed replacement standard. The purpose of the standard will be to assess various wheel designs to determine whether or not they will perform satisfactorily under expected service conditions. The surface cracking, depicted in the figures shown, is an example of what can happen to wheels when performance demands exceed design criteria. As failed wheels pose a threat to passenger safety, the potential for such damage must be avoided.

Thermal Cracks on Commuter Wheel Tread

Fatigue Crack Profile

Volpe Staff Member Receives SNAME Award (USCG)

On September 30, in Baltimore, Maryland, the Council of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) awarded Mr. Michael Dyer of the Environmental Engineering Division the 1999 Vice Admiral E.L. Cochrane Award for the best paper presented to a Section of the Society. Mr. Dyer presented the paper "Hazard and Risk in the New England Fishing Fleet" at the October 1998 meeting of the New England Section. The paper summarized work performed for the Coast Guard Marine Safety and Environmental Protection Group's (G-M) Prevention Through People program. Fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States, and the reduction of serious fishing vessel accidents and crew fatalities at sea is one of G-M's top priorities. Mr. Dyer's detailed risk assessment of accidents in the New England fleet over a 5-year period characterizes hazards, accident types, and outcomes (deaths, injuries, and vessel losses). To develop future safety program strategies, Coast Guard decision-makers will use this report and Mr. Dyer's corollary report on risk management initiatives.

Volpe Center Successfully Tests Aircraft Target Identification System at DFW (FAA)

Mr. Stephen Nuzzi of the Airport Surface Division scheduled and supported a prototype test installation of the Aircraft Target Identification System (ATIDS) at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) using the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center CONVAIR test aircraft. ATIDS is a sensor system that not only locates aircraft or ground vehicles on the runways and taxiways out of the line of sight of the primary sensors but also displays an aircraft's flight identification. The Volpe Center's Airport Surface Division provides technical and management support to the FAA's Airport Surface Integrated Products Team for surveillance and weather on its Runway Incursion Reduction Program (RIRP). The objective of this high-priority program is to prevent aircraft and surface vehicle incursions on airport runways and taxiways by tracking aircraft using multilateralization and aircraft interrogation; ATIDS is one of the program's major efforts. Aircraft testing using the ATIDS has occurred at DFW during periods of low airport activity to verify complete sensor coverage over the entire east side of the airport.

In addition to the FAA RIRP team evaluation, Mr. Steven Young and Ms. Denise Jones of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center are assessing the DFW test site's readiness for NASA's Technology Demonstration in August 2000.

Volpe Center Completes Implementation of Year 2000 Compliant Traffic Management System (FAA)

During the last week in July, the Volpe Center completed the replacement of existing Y2K non-compliant hardware and software with new Y2K compliant hardware and software at the Volpe Center Traffic Management System (TMS) hubsite and at over 80 operational field sites, including the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center, major Air Traffic field sites, several Department of Defense sites, and sites in Canada and London. The Center also played a key role in field site implementation and coordination, training over 1,100 FAA traffic management staff in transitioning to the new system. Benefits of the new system include improved reliability, processing speed, and the ability to use industry-standard technology. Ten years ago, the Volpe Center developed TMS for the FAA to improve how the limited capacity of the national airspace is used. TMS is a real-time operational computer system that predicts, detects, and handles air traffic congestion problems and continues to be one of the Volpe Center's most technologically innovative programs. Staff at the Center, where the hardware and software are maintained, continue to work closely with the FAA's Air Traffic organization to improve the system.

Draft Standard on Identifying Aircraft Published on FAA Web Site (FAA)

On August 12, the FAA published a draft standard identifying aircraft on the FAA's internal Web site for review and comment by participating international stakeholders. The draft standard was developed with support from Mr. Richard Jordan of the Automation Technology Division and Mr. Jan Popiel, CSC contractor, for the FAA Office of System Safety. This draft standard calls for identifying aircraft through a combination of make, model, and serial number, and it could support a variety of governmental and business functions including registration of aircraft and aviation safety analysis. Related data definitions and business rules were also published for comment. After the comment period, the standard will be reviewed and considered for finalization by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team/International Civil Aviation Organization Common Taxonomy Working Group.

Volpe Center Co-Sponsors Study of Human Factors in Air Traffic Control Systems in the FAA and Eurocontrol (FAA)

Three students from the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, under the direction of Professor Amar Choudry, Dean of the School of Avionics at the Hogeschool Van Amsterdam, and sponsored by the Volpe Center, MIT Lincoln Labs, and the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (UMASS-Lowell), recently completed a 12-week summer research study as part of the Industrial-Academic Collaborative Studies Project. The results of the study entitled, "A Comparative Study of Existing and Proposed FAA and Eurocontrol Computer-Human Interfaces for En Route Air Traffic Control" were presented at MIT Lincoln Labs and formed the basis for the students' bachelor theses. The research points out inconsistent human factors used by both Eurocontrol and the FAA within a variety of air traffic control systems and makes recommendations for resolution. Eurocontrol is responsible for aircraft above 30,000 feet in European airspace.

As part of their study, the students examined traffic management in the United States and how it can be mapped in European traffic management. Mr. Patrick Krolak of the Automation Applications Division arranged for the students to attend UMASS-Lowell and along with Mr. Richard Wright of the Office of Traffic and Operations Management, served as mentor and reviewed the students' theses. The paper was later presented to Eurocontrol. Professor Choudry, Mr. Krolak, and Ms. Maria Picardi of MIT Lincoln Labs are writing a paper based on the visit; this paper will be presented to the American Air Traffic Controllers Association on human factors research. Messrs. Wright and Krolak and Ms. Picardi received certificates of appreciation from the Hogeschool van Amsterdam for supervising the Industrial-Academic Collaborative Studies Project.

Volpe Appointed to SafeFlight 21 Steering Committee Cost/Benefit Subgroup (FAA)

The FAA has appointed Dr. James L. Poage of the Operations Assessment Division to membership in the SafeFlight 21 Cost/Benefit Subgroup of the SafeFlight 21 Steering Committee. SafeFlight 21 is a FAA effort to develop enhanced capabilities for Free Flight, based on evolving Communications, Navigation and Surveillance technologies. SafeFlight 21 will provide in-cockpit display of traffic, weather, and terrain information for pilots, and will provide improved flight data for controllers. The Steering Committee will make recommendations to the Free Flight Select Committee, a joint government/industry committee providing direction for Free Flight, including SafeFlight 21. The SafeFlight 21 Cost/Benefit Subgroup will analyze the trade-off between the differing levels of capability and the various architecture and technology options within SafeFlight 21. Dr. Poage will be the lead for the Performance Metric Subteam, one of four functional subteams.

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