FAA gives pilots online view of runway info

The Federal Aviation Administration has begun providing pilots with runway information over the Internet to improve access to landing data.At , general and business aviation pilots and commercial airline dispatchers can view information about runway distances.Pilots and flight operations centers use the information, known as runway visual range, to decide whether to land at an airport when visibility is poor, FAA officials said.Previously, this information was available only to selected air carriers as part of FAA’s Collaborative Decision-Making initiative.Users will be able to view current and historical data from 48 airports via the new site. The agency’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Herndon, Va., and the Transportation Department’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass., created the Web site.