AIS, Radar, and GPS have blind spots

A LaGuardia runway collision and tug captains asking why sailboats hide their AIS: why no single electronic system sees everything. Story by Teresa Carey for Cruising World:

In March, an Air Canada flight collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia airport. The reports first said the fire truck had checked in with the control tower, but then later said there was no confirmation. Recordings revealed a radio call intended for the fire truck that was “stepped on” by another transmission, and therefore not audible.

The flight’s radar screen showed two blobs ahead, but neither moved into the plane’s path. And the fire truck didn’t have a transponder, so it didn’t show up on the airport’s surface detection tools.

Lessons from aviation news often translate straight to maritime operations. Look at a plane passing overhead at night, and you’ll see the same visual clues we see on the water: red lights on the left side of the plane, green on the right. In aviation and maritime worlds, we call busy areas “ports,” and we have funny names for the bathrooms and kitchens. – Full report