"The tower cleared JetBlue 1554 to depart on Runway 04, but simultaneously a ground controller on a different frequency cleared a Southwest jet to cross that same runway, putting them on a collision course. Controllers noticed the conflict unfolding and jumped in to yell at both aircraft to stop, avoiding a collision with about 8 seconds to spare "
As a regular passenger and for someone with a little bit of drone autonomy experience, the fact that this is possible sounds insane to me. I just assumed there was something blocking the controllers from putting two flights on the same pathway (like little planes on a board?).
My main question is, how does the "noticing" work now? What did the Controllers see that alerted them to what was unfolding?
At an ASDE-X equipped airport like DCA, there is surface radar that the tower manager, for example, might be keeping an eye on. This is just some screen with a high-res view of everything on the ground. Then you "notice" the mistake, jump out of your seat, run over to the radio, and yell at both of them to stop in place. That's basically how it works today.
On a clear day though, it's probably just people looking out the window of the tower (maybe with binoculars) and realizing in horror that there's been a mistake. The "noticing" is just intuiting the trajectory of the two moving objects...
On top of your analysis of commands that might flag conflicting commands, shouldn't we also be analyzing the radar to make sure there aren't any obviously conflicting paths?
I saw your comment about pilot intentionality being the major time-saver but in a situation like the Potomac River crash, the intentionality and knowledge may have been a unintentional headfake for a system like yours i.e "Yes I see the CRJ".
Maybe it's 80-20 for you, with the Potomac situation being especially rare.
There's lots to discuss about the most recent Potomac River crash, but I'll let that rest for now.
Your general point is 100% correct. It's not enough to only do the command parsing; you have to also compare that to radar + trajectory planning to get the full picture. That's exactly what we're working on now. Fortunately, the radar piece is much more deterministic.
As a regular passenger and for someone with a little bit of drone autonomy experience, the fact that this is possible sounds insane to me. I just assumed there was something blocking the controllers from putting two flights on the same pathway (like little planes on a board?).
My main question is, how does the "noticing" work now? What did the Controllers see that alerted them to what was unfolding?