Mark Kirk: “In February 2000, our Chicago area lost one of our most beloved and charismatic personalities. For years, Bob Collins…”

“In February 2000, our Chicago area lost one of our most beloved and charismatic personalities. For years, Bob Collins delighted listeners on the most popular Chicago radio station, WGN. An avid pilot, an aircraft expert, a leading advocate of general aviation, Bob was lost in a tragic midair collision near Waukegan Airport in my district. Two others lost their lives in the accident that resulted from inaccurate and insufficient information available to controllers at the airport. Unfortunately, it took the death of a prominent and much admired figure in our community to wake up people to the woeful state of technology at the smaller general aviation airports. Waukegan quickly acted to upgrade its facility and installed the terminal radar display to dramatically reduce the risk of repeating the tragedy. This legislation is crucial to bringing our aviation infrastructure into the 21st century. At a time when homeland security is of paramount importance, we have an opportunity to enhance our ability to monitor our air traffic situations and to do so for airports that currently do not have this capability.”