   
Flight Management System (FMS) departure tracks
and RNAV (Area Navigation) hold great promise for
noise reduction by enabling aircraft to better adhere to
preferential nighttime flight tracks designed to navigate aircraft
towards areas of more compatible land use, such as forest preserves,
highway corridors and industrial areas. The use of this technology
will automatically compensate for weather and air speed while
ensuring airspace safety, efficiency and, when possible, minimizing
the impact to surrounding residences. The ONCC continues to work
with the Chicago Department of Aviation and FAA to work through the
many technical issues to one day implement these innovations at
O'Hare.
The illustration below shows how
RNAV would
keep departing flights flying along a tight track. Red lines
indicate multiple flight paths away from the desired track. The dark
line indicates the result of implementing RNAV. Click on the photo
to enlarge.
ONCC Explores RNAV
At their December meeting, ONCC members continued exploring the details
of RNAV, a highly accurate navigational system for aircraft. RNAV
recently was launched at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
(DFW) after extensive testing by the FAA at several airports around the
country.
RNAV uses sophisticated onboard computers and other equipment to keep an
aircraft on a precise track relative to the ground. Ideally, RNAV could
be used to keep aircraft on tracks away from populated regions around an
airport.
Capt. Robert Jordan, Chief Pilot, United Airlines speaking to the ONCC
Technical Committee on November 22, 2005.
Commission members have listened to several presentations on RNAV in the
ONCC Technical Committee, where United Airlines Chief Pilot Captain
Robert Jordan spoke, and most recently at the full ONCC meeting. The
December presentation was delivered by Captain John Burton, Chief Pilot
for American Airlines, who called the implementation of RNAV at DFW a
complete success.
However, Burton acknowledged that implementing RNAV at present-day
O'Hare would be a much more complex undertaking than it was at DFW,
which has parallel runways.
Chicago Department of Aviation officials are looking at RNAV to possibly
play a role in the O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP). ONCC members pledge to continue exploring RNAV's potential for
aircraft noise mitigation as the OMP progresses.
The diagrams below show the differences in ground tracks for aircraft
during testing at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
the red diagram shows flight tracks without using RNAV, while the green
diagram shows how aircraft can maintain more precise and consistent
flight tracks using RNAV.
(Click on diagrams to enlarge.)
 
Diagrams courtesy United Airlines
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