New O'Hare radar system gets bad marks from union

A $12 million radar system at O'Hare International Airport hailed by air traffic controllers after its introduction last year is now the target of criticism by the union.

The new airport surface detection equipment is intended to give controllers a clearer picture of where planes are on the air field.

It combines ground radar with transponders on aircraft and a sophisticated software program than warns of runway conflicts.

But the head of the O'Hare National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Joseph Bellino, said Thursday that the equipment doesn't work when it snows and doesn't show all objects on the field.

For example, the radar failed to indicate snowplows on a runway during a storm in December and also failed to register a jetliner undergoing maintenance.

Bellino said he asked a coworker, "Am I hallucinating or is that a 747 out there?"

Federal Aviation Administration officials confirmed that during heavy snow in December the new system had problems detecting plows and some other movements.

Such omissions are being fine-tuned and solutions such as equipping airport vehicles that travel close to the runways with transponders are under consideration, FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said.

The radar system is a valuable backup to the controllers' primary mission of "keeping their eyes on the air field," the FAA noted.

The radar was developed with assistance of the controllers and garnered high praise from them initially.

That changed after watching the system in action, Bellino explained. "I want my old radar back," he said.

The controllers union and the FAA are in the midst of an ongoing contract dispute.