NTSB Alert—In-Cockpit NEXRAD Weather Age Misleading and Killing Pilots

Today the NTSB issued an alert warning pilots using in-cockpit FIS-B and Satellite Weather display systems that the NEXRAD "age indicator" can be misleading. The actual NEXRAD data can be as much as 20 minutes older than the age indication on the display in the cockpit. If misinterpreted, this difference in time can present potentially serious safety hazards to aircraft operating in the vicinity of fast-moving and quickly developing weather systems. To put it more bluntly, pilots are dying because theyre unaware that NEXRAD data is much older than the 1 or 2 minute age they see on the screen.

This is old news, but somehow pilots seem to believe anything they read on a GPS or computer screen. I discussed the issue in detail in my Max Trescottass cockit displayass cockit displayass... [via Max Trescott]