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Future Flight A Review of the Small Aircraft Transportation System Concept -- Special Report 263 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Pages 1-4

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From page 1...
... . In the initial 5-year phase of the program, NASA is working with the private sector and university researchers, as well as other federal and state gov ernmental agencies, to further various aircraft-based technologies that will • Increase the safety and utility of operations at small airports lacking traffic control towers, radar surveillance, or other conventional ground-based means of mon itoring and safely separating aircraft traffic in the terminal airspace and on runways and taxiways; • Allow more dependable use of small airports lacking instrument landing sys tems or other ground-based navigation systems that are now required for many night time and low-visibility landings; and • Improve the ability of single-piloted aircraft to operate safely in complex airspace (that is, at airports and in airways with many and diverse operators)
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From page 2...
... To help achieve these outcomes, the committee urges NASA to prioritize, without regard to the SATS concept, the capabilities and tech nologies now being pursued in the 5-year program according to a clearly delineated set of civil aviation needs (such as improved GA safety) that these new capabilities and technologies can help meet.
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From page 3...
... Moreover, a well-used SATS could have negative net effects on aviation's environmental compatibility by shifting travelers from larger aircraft, each carrying dozens of travelers, to smaller aircraft, each carrying a handful of travelers. More generally, the committee believes that positing any such preconceived sys tem, in which a single and definitive vehicle concept is used to guide research and development, could inhibit the evolution of alternative outcomes that may result from technological opportunities and economic and social needs.
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From page 4...
... To ensure the continuation of forward-looking aeronautics R&D, the commit tee urges NASA to join with other relevant government agencies, led by the Depart ment of Transportation, in undertaking studies of future civil aviation needs and the opportunity for technology advancements to meet them and potentially stim ulate new uses for civil aviation. Working with FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board, and other governmental agencies with operational and technological expertise should give NASA a better understanding of such needs and opportunities.
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