Senate Aviation: Too Many Near Misses, Not Reported - A Remedy

WASHINGTON - June 23, 2026 - PRLog -- A Senate committee heard today about the rising number of passenger aviation near misses, but virtually nothing about why a powerful remedy is not seriously being considered, warns professor John Banzhaf. . . .

The professor, an MIT-educated engineer with two U.S. patents and experience with computers and vehicle safety, notes that computers running existing AI programs can help air traffic controllers do what they can't possibly be expected to do, including:
■ monitoring the dozens of different relevant aviation radio frequencies, including commercial, military, government, helicopter, small craft civilian, Homeland Security, and radios from any nearby airports, etc.
■ inputting and including in its analysis the inputs from both ground and air radar, and video cameras at the airport and on any nearby buildings
■ incorporating precise maps of the airport including all runways, taxiways, service roads, etc.
■ using all of the above information to determine, in real time instantaneously, the present position, velocity and trajectory of all vehicles in the air and on the ground
■ and then calculating various flight paths, trajectories of planes taking off or taxiing, movements of all ground vehicles, etc.
■ so that it can utilize simple predictive programming to foresee all close calls (near misses) and possible crashes in fractions of a second . . .

Moreover, other solutions to this escalating near-miss threat would require huge expenditures of taxpayer dollars, and take many years to implement. . . .

Fortunately there is something which can be up and running - and be operational at all major airports - much sooner, and at a much lower cost - argues Professor Banzhaf. . .

His detailed analysis of how such a supplemental warning system could work, and how it can be tested quickly and safely, has been featured in many reports on the Internet, including, for example:

Let's Try Using New AI to Reduce Airport Runway Incursions (https://www.valuewalk.com/lets-try-using-new-ai-to-reduce...) AND
AI Programs Can Easily Monitor Radio Traffic, Detect Objects, and Analyze (https://www.valuewalk.com/lets-try-using-new-ai-to-reduce-airport-runway-incursions/)

Now that at least one major airport (Newark) has degenerated into chaos, very recent mid-air collisions occurred at different major airports (with many more narrowly averted), and there was one recent fatal (and at least one potentially fatal) collision between an airplane and a ground vehicle, this novel idea should at least be considered and evaluated by other experts before even more lives are needlessly lost, argues Banzhaf.

Fortunately, the professor is no longer alone in calling for testing and using AI to making flying safer.  As just a few examples, consider: . . .

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf