A revolutionary new system has been deployed at London Heathrow Airport to bolster the safety of aircraft taking off and landing.
The airport’s south runway has now been fitted with a dual radar utility, Tarsier, which scans the 3,658-metre track for foreign objects and debris (FOD) 24 hours a day.
As part of the agreement with developer QinetiQ, the new system also incorporates an advanced closed-circuit television facility which allows remote visual confirmation of potential hazards.
Airside operations director Colin Wood insisted that safety at Heathrow Airport is the gateway’s “top priority” and said Tarsier would also have congestion-related benefits.
“Tarsier is a proven technological solution to the problem of FOD and will assist our operations team in carrying out regular visual runway inspections by acting as an additional pair of eyes,” he asserted.
Wood added: “Tarsier also has the additional benefit of enabling Heathrow to deliver an improved service to the 68 million passengers who use the airport each year, by minimising delays caused by FOD.”
