Aircraft Arrival Technology Will Reduce Flight Delays

Retired airline pilots test procedures that will be used during upcoming flight tests of FIM. The simulator is set up like a Boeing 757 jet. (NASA Langley/David C. Bowman)

Flight Deck Interval Management (FIM) promises to safely increase the number of airplanes that can land on the same runway at busy airports by more precisely managing the time, or interval, between each aircraft arrival.

The cockpit-based prototype FIM system combines NASA-developed software with commercially available off-the-shelf hardware, and connects the system to the aircraft’s onboard information and navigation systems. The FIM system was designed to work in today's modern commercial aircraft with minimal changes to the aircraft and flight crew procedures.

Source