The extreme irony is that little has changed since then….the most dangerous place to be in a transport aircraft is on the ground.
Ground based radar/multilat/software is woefully inadequate for the task. Among other limitations, any warning is issued to the controller only…..he/she must react and transmit the alert to appropriate aircraft on appropriate frequency. This in an environment where seconds, even fractions of seconds, count.
As for the aircraft itself, we are flying in aircraft that are capable of worldwide lateral navigation measured in meters, autoland capability in near zero visibility, but once the aircraft is on the ground, it is a piece of paper
(10-9 chart) and a compass to navigate the increasingly hazardous taxiway mazes at international airports.
Unfortunately, I think it will take another severe accident to mandate an appropriate technical response and mandate (yes, in this day and age, few airlines will voluntarily buy non mandated equipment).
The NTSB will, this week, hold a one day meeting on this issue. Let’s all hope there is much more light than heat generated from this get together.
http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2007/070322.htm