LaGuardia Crash Bolsters Case for Using AI in Air Control Towers

New technologies are helping to sift airport traffic data and prevent accidents.

A mock control tower at Hong Kong International Airport.

Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg

Inside a mock control tower next to Hong Kong International Airport, a virtual near-miss plays out on multi-panel screens.

A passenger jet descends in the computer-generated sky, seconds away from landing when suddenly, a barely visible object trundles along the edge of the runway and onto the aircraft’s path.