NASA Talk Covers Recent Wake Vortex Research at Langley

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Oct 03, 2014, 04:09 ET

HAMPTON, Va., Oct. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, Oct. 7 at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, Fred Proctor will present "Recent Wake Vortex Research at NASA Langley" at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center.

Created by the movement of an aircraft in flight, wake vortex air turbulence behind an aircraft may pose hazards to other aircraft such as turbulence, engine flameouts and loss of control.

An internationally known expert in aircraft wake vortices, Proctor will describe how they form, and how they are affected by weather conditions and ground interactions.

Proctor will be available to answer questions from the media during a news briefing at 1:15 p.m. that day. Media who wish to do so should contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786, or by e-mail at [email protected], by noon on the day of the talk for credentials and entry to the center.

That same evening at 7:30, Proctor will present a similar program for the general public at the Virginia Air & Space Center in downtown Hampton. This Sigma Series event is free and no reservations are required.

The current standards for separation between aircraft on approach are based on the type of aircraft to reduce risks from unacceptable wake encounters. The growth and demand for air traffic services has led to a desire to increase the volume of aircraft that land and takeoff from airports while maintaining current levels of safety.

Proctor provided expert testimony at two National Transportation Safety Board public hearings: the 1994 crash of a US Air DC-9 at Charlotte, North Carolina, and the 2001 crash of an American Airlines Airbus 300 at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He holds a doctorate in meteorology from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Science in meteorology from Florida State University.

For more information about NASA Langley's Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit:

http://colloqsigma.larc.nasa.gov

NASA Langley press releases are available automatically by sending an e-mail message to [email protected] with the word Subscribe in the subject line. You will receive an e-mail asking you to visit a link to confirm the action. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to [email protected] with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.

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SOURCE NASA