The Nation - News from Aug. 14, 1988

Computerized radar similar to the type police use to snare speeders can be used to warn pilots of deadly wind shifts that can cause airplanes to crash, tests at Denver’s Stapleton International Airport have shown. Cleon Biter, the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s manager for the federally sponsored project, said the Terminal Doppler Weather Radar system has already enabled flight controllers to warn jet crews of dangerous conditions known as wind shear and microburst, which have killed hundreds of Americans in accidents over the last 23 years. Biter said that on July 11, for example, five jetliners were diverted from approaching the Denver airport after controllers were warned of dangerous conditions by the radar.