Aviation

ASDE-X is a runway surveillance program designed to prevent collisions and the FAA spent $550 million to install it at 35 of the busiest airports in the U.S. But on March 22, 2026, ASDE-X partially failed to predict a collision that would have prevented a fire truck from crossing the path of an incoming Air Canada CRJ, killing both pilots. Why did ASDE-X fail? Or, did it fail at all?

Why in this modern world where we are the most “advanced” we’ve ever been, do we fail more than ever to trust that specialization and abstraction layer designed to make our lives easier? The answer can be found in so many tendrils of history, but I want to dissect it from an unexpected place: the vividly gruesome, unlikely, and confronting story of TWA Flight 800.