Schumer: Runway Lighting Technology At Area Airports Stalled Before Takeoff
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on the Federal Aviation Administration to install a new runway lighting system at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports that he says will help prevent plane collisions.
The New York Democrat said Sunday $36 million for the automatic lighting systems was allocated seven years ago. He said he's written to the FAA to ask that the equipment be installed as soon as possible.
The system uses red lights embedded in the runway to warn pilots of another plane. The lights have already been installed at nine airports around the nation out of 17 that are eligible, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported.
Schumer: Launch Of Runway Lighting Technology At Area Airports Stalled
"At our busiest intersections, we wouldn't do without traffic lights," Schumer said. "Why, at our busiest airports, are doing without this system?"
Schumer said the technology is making a difference in airports where it has been installed. In Dallas, for example, runway incidents dropped 70 percent, the senator said.
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