Air Traffic Control: Good Progress on Interim Replacement for
Outage-Plagued System, but Risks can be Further Reduced (Letter Report,
10/17/96, GAO/AIMD-97-2).

	GAO reviewed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Display Channel
Complex Rehost (DCCR) project, focusing on: (1) recent outages caused by
the Display Channel Complex (DCC); (2) whether DCC was meeting its
system availability requirement; (3) FAA projections of future DCC
outages and availability; and (4) whether FAA will effectively manage
the DCCR acquisition and deliver specified capabilities on schedule and
within estimated cost.

GAO found that: (1) DCC was responsible for most of the major outages at
the five FAA air route traffic control centers that use DCC; (2) DCC was
able to meet its system availability requirement in fiscal years (FY)
1990 through 1993, but it fell short of the requirement in FY  1994 and
1995; (3) FAA projects increases in DCC outages and decreases in system
availability due to the system's aging and a lack of replacement parts
and repair technicians; and (4) FAA has an opportunity to deliver
promised DCCR capabilities on time and within budget if it can manage
the risks associated with concurrent testing.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  AIMD-97-2
     TITLE:  Air Traffic Control: Good Progress on Interim Replacement 
             for Outage-Plagued System, but Risks can be Further
             Reduced
      DATE:  10/17/96
   SUBJECT:  Air traffic control systems
             Transportation safety
             Air transportation operations
             Radar equipment
             Equipment maintenance
             Spare parts
             Concurrency
             Testing
IDENTIFIER:  FAA Display Channel Complex Rehost Project
             FAA Terminal Radar Approach Control System
             FAA Computer Display Channel System
             FAA Initial Sector Suite System
             FAA Display System Replacement
             Chicago (IL)
             Dallas (TX)
             New York (NY)
             Cleveland (OH)