DENVER (AP) – The Federal Aviation Administration is deploying dish-less plane tracking technology on the Western Slope to help pilots navigate through bad weather.

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta announced the activation Monday of Wide Area Multilateration technology around Montrose Regional Airport. WAM acts like radar but instead of using a spinning dish to find planes, the technology uses filing cabinet-size sensors to pick up the signal from plane transponders.

The sensors are located in remote areas near the airport and fix radar blind spots caused by the mountains.

Similar technology was deployed around Craig, Hayden, Steamboat Springs and Rifle in 2009 and additional sensors will be installed by next year around Durango, Gunnison and Telluride.

The Colorado Department of Transportation paid to install the sensors and the FAA maintains and operates the system.

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