for the additional effectiveness of a ground proximity warning system during a landing approach, the waypoint signal of an Area Navigation System is used in combination with an altitude above-ground-signal to compute a minimum terrain altitude for each point along the aircraft's approach to the runway. The minimum altitude is compared with the aircraft's actual altitude and if it is below the minimum an alarm is activated.” This paragraph is the abstract of the invention from its patent. It describes using a radar altimeter system to keep track of the aircraft’s height above ground. The system will sound an alarm if aircraft’s altitude is unsafe. While this technology improved flight safety tremendously, it was still imperfect. It had two problems: No Warning: The primary cause of CFIT occurrences with no GPWS warning is landing short. When the landing gear is down and landing flaps are deployed, the GPWS expects the airplane to land and therefore, issues no warning. Late Warning or Improper Response: This was primarily caused by blind-spots within the terrain. A sudden change in altitude—a steep slope, for example—would receive a late warning and the pilot may be unable to avoid the obstacle. This problem was implicated in the Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 accident. Enhanced GPWS Bateman continued to head the development of the GPWS, developing it into the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS). This fixed the GPWS shortcomings by incorporating GPS into its analysis of the terrain. Now it is possible for EGPWS to predict the path of the aircraft and the terrain ahead of the aircraft for several miles. Digital terrain maps, featuring hazardous obstacles and features, warn the pilot when to pull up. Additionally, with EGPWS, landing does not inhibit the performance of the system. In fact, the main focus now is making landing and departure safer, as they are the most dangerous aspects of flying. Awards Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame (2005) Industrial Research Institute Achievement Award (2001) Awarded the Cumberbatch Trophy of GAPAN for a major personal contribution to the improvement of international air safety (1996) Awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2010) Awarded the Philip J. Klass Lifetime Achievement Award as part of its 56th Annual Honors, by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine (2013) Patents Bateman holds more than 40 U.S. and 80 foreign patents concerning aircraft terrain avoidance systems, HUDs, speed control/autothrottle systems, stall