The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday issued
a Safety Alert to warn pilots using in-cockpit FIS-B and
Satellite Weather display systems that the NEXRAD "age
indicator" can be misleading. The actual NEXRAD data can be as
much as 20 minutes older than the age indication on the display
in the cockpit. If misinterpreted, this difference in time can
present potentially serious safety hazards to aircraft operating
in the vicinity of fast-moving and quickly developing weather
systems. NEXRAD mosaic imagery depicts weather conditions from
multiple ground radar sites. The NEXRAD "age-indicator" on the
cockpit display indicates the time that the mosaic image was
created, not the time of the actual weather conditions. The
NEXRAD image is always older than the actual weather conditions.
The NTSB has cited two fatal weather-related aircraft accidents
in which NEXRAD images were displayed to the pilot that were
presented as one-minute old on the age-indicator, but contained
information that was up to fi