Testing under way of new O'Hare runway

There's a lot of aircraft action over O'Hare International Airport's new runway despite the fact no planes are touching down yet.

Federal Aviation Administration pilots on Monday started flight checks of the 7,500-foot stretch to calibrate how its navigation systems are working.

The tests will continue between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. for two weeks on both ends of the runway, which is expected to be ready Nov. 20.

Two pilots and a pilot technician in a plane loaded with computers and radar will double-check landing systems, glide slopes and equipment to guide planes in bad weather.

"This tells us if the equipment is telling us the truth," FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro said.

The pilots will make a variety of passes at the runway, located at the north end of O'Hare, at high and low altitudes.

The runway is expected to be used heavily for landings from the east heading west, Molinaro said.

Additional construction to extend a runway on the airport's south side, is set for completion Sept. 25. Both projects are part of the airport's controversial $8 billion O'Hare Modernization Plan to create parallel runways.

About 600 properties in the northeast section of Bensenville would be torn down and absorbed into the airport as part of the improvements, however, the village is fighting that in court.

Although a DuPage judge last week ruled demolitions could go forward, expansion opponents are appealing that decision. OMP officials have said they will press the appellate court to expedite the judicial denouement.