Panama City company in forefront of bird radar technology that could have prevented the Jan. 15 crash of a US Airways flight out of LaGuardia Airport in New York caused by a flock of birds, company officials say.
Panama City company in forefront of bird radar technology
Tuesday, Feb 03, 2009
DeTect Inc. may be a little-known Panama City company, but it is in the forefront of a developing technology that could have prevented the Jan. 15 crash of a US Airways flight out of LaGuardia Airport in New York caused by a flock of birds, company officials say.
""Im convinced of it,"" said Gary W. Andrews, chairman and chief operating officer of DeTect. ""The technology is there.""DeTect already has deployed 45 radar systems throughout the world that warn airports of bird threats, which cause $2 billion in damages annually to military and commercial aircraft
The local high-tech company employs 40 people who last year shipped 20 units of its relatively inexpensive systems, and next year it plans to double that amount.
The company had its beginnings when company president and then-Air Force officer Ron Merritt went to work for the militarys Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program, or BASH.
The BASH team was eventually transferred to Tyndall Air Force Base, Merritt said, and the company, which still works closely with the Air Force, was formed when he retired.
DeTect develops radar systems at about $500,000 each for use by both military and commercial airports that provide close-in detections and warnings for possible bird strikes, Merritt said.
Andrews said the system combines radar antennas and sophisticated computer software to help air traffic controllers monitor possible bird-flight patterns that could pose a threat to aircraft.
Merritt said that just as a conventional weather radar system can issue foul-weather advisories, his system can warn aviators when circumstances exist for ""fowl"" weather conditions, when bird patterns might be present that pose dangers to aircraft.
The military already uses the system, and NASA will not allow the $2 billion space shuttle to land or take off without a green light from the DeTect System, called MERLIN, Andrews said.
The Federal Aviation Administration, however, says the technology is still in a testing phase, something that causes both Andrews and Merritt a great deal of frustration. |
