Air Safety: Federal Aviation Administration's Role in Developing Mid-Air Collision Avoidance Back-Up Systems

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) actions in the development of mid-air collision avoidance back-up systems, specifically: (1) whether a commercial air-based collision avoidance system has been available since 1975; (2) the difference between the current avoidance system and its predecessor; (3) the projected date for commercial availability of the current FAA avoidance system; and (4) a comparison of the costs and effectiveness of a commercial system versus the FAA system.