Conn. airport used for advanced flight system

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn.

Connecticut's Bradley International Airport is the staging ground for a next-generation flight system.

An American Airlines flight using required navigation performance, an advanced system allowing planes to navigate on their own, is due in at Bradley from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday.

Naverus Inc. co-founder Steve Fulton says the new navigation system is the first to be commercially developed. Naverus is a part of GE Aviation, a unit of Fairfield-based General Electric Co.

The landing procedure allows pilots to use onboard technology to follow a precise track independent of aging ground-based navigation beacons.

The procedure will enable airliners to land at Bradley during periods of low clouds and visibility that previously barred landings.