Flight Safety Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1997 with a mission to improve the safety and efficiency of air travel in America and around the globe.  At its inception, the company's main focus was advancing technologies to detect and monitor wake turbulence created by aircraft as they take off and land.  More recently, Flight Safety's focus has expanded to include other technologies that aim to improve air travel.

New Technologies in the Making
During the year of its inception, FST solidified its association with Lockheed Martin Corporation under a 10-year Teaming Agreement. Pursuant to this agreement, Lockheed Martin assists Flight Safety Technologies in developing and testing its SOCRATES™ system. In June of 1997, Flight Safety Technologies received its first contract ($3.0 million) from the U.S. Department of Transportation to develop and test its SOCRATES™ technology.

In May of 1998, Flight Safety Technologies' wake turbulence monitoring sensor was put to a "proof-of-principle" test at JFK International Airport. The technology performed as expected and the FAA deemed the test a success. As a result of this test, a $4.9 million federal government follow-on contract was awarded in 1999 to continue development in order to demonstrate the technology's operational potential.

The JFK test results were reconfirmed in December, 2000 during a demonstration test performed at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia.  During that test, a larger, four-laser-beam array was deployed, which provided better localization of the vortices as well as detection at greater altitudes. For this test, one of NASA's large aircraft (a Boeing 757) was used in controlled flights over the SOCRATES™ sensor. The SOCRATES™ technology detected wake vortices behind the 757 in all 19 flyovers for which data were recorded.

During 2001 and 2002, Flight Safety Technologies engaged in technical dialogue with a number of airports across the United States including Dallas/Fort Worth, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago O'Hare and Anchorage International Airports.  Each airport subsequently expressed interest in becoming a test location for an operational prototype of a wake vortex advisory system that would include SOCRATES™ technology.

To better position the company for acceleration of the development of its products and to attract additional funding, Flight Safety Technologies became a publicly-listed company on September 3, 2002. Shares of Flight Safety Technologies are now traded on the AMEX under the symbol FLT.

In August and September of 2003 the company successfully completed a three-week data collection field experiment with an improved SOCRATES™ wake vortex sensor. This experiment was part of the NASA sponsored wake acoustics test at the Denver International Airport (DIA) and is a part of NASA's continuing efforts to improve aviation safety and capacity. The changes made to the SOCRATES™ wake vortex sensor significantly improved its performance to detect and track wake vortices, with reduced system noise and increased overall reliability.  To learn more about the 2003 DIA demonstration test, please visit our SOCRATES™ Technical Reports page.

In March 2004, Flight Safety began the development and proof-of-principle testing of the UNICORN™ collision alertment sensor.  A world-class team of experts was assembled, including Microwave Systems LTD and Georgia Tech Research Institute, to perform the challenging preliminary design and demonstration phase.  We expect this phase of the product development to culminate in a series of full-scale tests in the spring of 2005.

In May, 2004, Flight Safety entered into a teaming agreement with Sanders Design International (SDI) to develop countermeasures to protect civilian and military aircraft from man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), also known as shoulder-fired missiles.  The team is in the midst of performing concept-phase research and development for this technology, which it refers to as TIICM™ (Tactical Infrared Illumination Countermeasure).  The Air Force and the Department of Homeland Security have expressed interest in the technology, and the company is actively seeking further funds to accelerate its development and testing.

Also in May, 2004, Flight Safety Technologies hired additional engineering and management staff to oversee the development of the company’s core technologies, and to pursue new ideas for improving the safety of flight.  These individuals round out a highly experienced team of directors, managers and engineers running the business of Flight Safety.