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RCED-95-106R 1 (1995-02-24)

handle is hein.gao/gaobackti0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAo United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division B-260452 February 24, 1995 The Honorable Slade Gorton The Honorable Patty Murray United States Senate In December 1990, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced its decision to remote' the signal from a planned state-of-the-art radar installation at Yakima, Washington, (Yakima Air Terminal) to a terminal radar control (TRACON) facility located approximately 80 miles east in Pasco, Washington. According to FAA officials, several analyses conducted by the agency showed that expanding the existing TRACON facility at Pasco and remoting the signal there was more cost-effective than constructing a new TRACON facility at Yakima. Construction began in 1994, and FAA anticipates that the radar will begin operations in May 1995. As a consequence of the decision to remote the radar signal from Yakima, FAA will propose that the tower at Yakima Air Terminal and its remaining air traffic control functions be contracted out to the private sector. In your letter dated November 17, 1994, you asked us to examine some concerns that representatives of the City of Yakima had raised about FAA's decision. This letter addresses the extent to which FAA's analyses of the two options' cost- effectiveness included the necessary and appropriate factors, and the safety impacts of remoting. RESULTS IN BRIEF FAA's cost analyses consistently demonstrated that remoting the radar signal to an expanded TRACON facility at Pasco was the most cost-effective of the two options considered. We found that FAA's cost analyses included factors that were necessary and appropriate but could have been more comprehensive. Including additional factors, however, even further supports the cost-effectiveness of consolidating the air traffic control functions at Pasco. Available data from FAA indicate that remoting does not increase safety risks. 'Remoting, part of consolidating the air traffic control functions for two or more airports, is routing each airport's radar signal to a single TRACON facility. Air traffic controllers stationed at the TRACON facility monitor and communicate with the aircraft that are using airspace in the geographic area associated with each radar. GAO/RCED-95-106R, Remote Radar for Yakima / 3 1

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