RUNWAY TECHNOLOGY
30 airportbusiness February/March 2016
By Ken Wysocky
Radar for the Runway
RunWize technology, developed by Xsight Systems, has been
installed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to monitor
the airport's runway for foreign object debris
SEA is only the second airport in the United
States to install the RunWize technology, devel-
oped by Xsight Systems and installed and inte-
grated by Varec Inc., a wholly-owned subsidi-
ary of Leidos. The system utilizes proprietary
FODetect software to alert airport officials when
it detects debris. An adjunct to the system also
detects wildlife and provides bird-hazard man -
agement, says Mike Ehl, director of operations
and customer service at SEA.
"Foreign-object debris is an international
problem that costs airlines hundreds of millions
A
$4.6 million system recently installed
at Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport (SEA) uses radar-and-opti-
cal-sensing technology to continu-
ously monitor the airport's central
runway for foreign-object debris
(FOD) that threatens airline safety.