Air Traffic Control

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO evaluated the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) computer systems capability to minimize the possibility of near mid-air collisions, focusing on: (1) how FAA managed computer capacity in existing terminal systems; and (2) whether FAA assessed capacity limitation in terminal systems that could preclude effective implementation of planned safety enhancements intended to reduce near mid-air collisions.

GAO found that: (1) there were widespread computer shortfalls at terminal area facilities that FAA did not recognize until controllers began experiencing lost, flickering, or delayed data on their displays; (2) the shortfalls occurred because FAA lacked a computer capacity and performance management program to monitor Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) system performance and to determine future requirements; (3) FAA concluded that it did not need the program because it believed that the existing systems would meet requirements until an advanced system would replace it in the next decade; (4) FAA could not predict computer shortfalls, since it did not measure computer utilization or test software enhancements under the heaviest work loads; (5) FAA improved software and postponed some less critical functions in an attempt to alleviate capacity shortfalls at some terminals; (6) FAA did not adequately assess the resources necessary to accommodate future traffic growth, the Mode C Intruder function, and additional Mode C-equipped aircraft; and (7) the current sole-source contract to increase computer capacity was not an ideal solution, since it included purchasing equipment that was no longer manufactured and might not meet FAA needs.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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