Awareness System Alerts Pilots To Improper Runway Lineup 

We've already heard a lot of speculation and "what-if's" regarding last month's crash of Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, KY. And we'll likely hear a lot more in the months to come.

But perhaps the most ironic "what if" has to do with a device made by Honeywell... one that critics say might have kept 5191 from rolling down Runway 26 instead of Runway 22 at Blue Grass Airport.

It's called the Runway Awareness & Advisory System (RAAS). In a clear voice, it tells flight crews where they are on the airport -- reducing the chance of a runway incursion, or a trip down the wrong path.

The advisories are "like having a helper in the cockpit to tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Does this make sense to you?' " said Markus Johnson, director of aerospace flight operations at Honeywell, to the Chicago Tribune. "If everything doesn't add up in your head, you then stop the plane and review your flight plan and checklist."

Based on GPS technology, the system runs about $18,000 a copy. That's not cheap... but it is on the low end of the price spectrum for avionics enhancements to business and commercial aircraft.

In the three years the Honeywell system has been on the market, only five airlines have installed the runway awareness system on their aircraft -- Alaska Airlines, FedEx, Air France, Lufthansa and Malaysia Airlines. United Airlines is studying whether to become the sixth carrier to join that list.

"We are pleased by what we have seen so far," said United spokesman Brandon Borrman.

As with all speculation, it's tough to say whether such a 'tap on the shoulder' would have ultimately made a difference in the outcome of Comair Flight 5191... but maybe, it would have been just enough to break the chain of circumstances that led to the loss of 49 out of 50 people onboard the CRJ-100.

FMI: www.honeywell.com