During a press conference today, the FAA announced that serious runway incursions for the 2010 fiscal year, ending September 2010, were down 50% over the 2009 fiscal year. In total, 2010 had 6 reported runway incursions versus 12 in 2009. These figures do not include minor incursions and 3 of the 6 did not include commercial aircraft. As a comparison, in 2000, there were 67 serious runway incursions.
The FAA has adopted the ICAO definition of a runway incursion. ICAO defines it as "Any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft."
FAA administrator Randy Babbitt stated during the FAA press conference "Today's announcement reflects a steady, significant improvement in runway safety over the last decade" The FAA has implemented an expedited process of installing improved runway markings and signage at airports, introduction of new technology such as Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) and a major push for pilot training on runway and taxi operations.
ASDE technology was installed at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International airport in 2003 as a test of the system and was approved for nationwide use in November of that year. As of the 2009 fiscal year, the ASDE equipment has been installed in 27 international airports across the US and an additional 8 are slated to have the equipment by 2011. The ASDE works by displaying the airplanes location on the airfield, effectively eliminating most blind spots from the tower as well as ensuring controllers know an airplanes location on the field at all times that the airplane's transponder is powered on.
In addition to ASDE, the FAA has recently begun testing of a runway status light system. Babbitt announced that the system installed as a test at Boston's Logan International Airport was a success. It functions by providing pilots the equivalent of a traffic light signal when approaching a runway. If the runway is in use, and the approaching airplane entering the runway would cause a runway incursion, the lights are illuminated red. The pilot would need to stop and hold short of the runway until receiving clearance from ATC to proceed. The system is currently installed at Logan along with airports in Dallas-Fort Worth, San Diego and Los Angeles. The FAA is planning to install the runway status lights at 23 airports nationwide beginning in 2011.
Another big push has been in pilot education. The FAA along with the AOPA's Air Safety Foundation, have presented training courses, free of charge. These are still available to be completed online, or in the cases of live webinars, the recordings can be viewed online. The AOPA ASF Air Safety Institute offers an online runway incursion course. You do not have to be an AOPA member to access ASF online courses, however, free registration is required. AOPA members only need to log in with their AOPA username and password.
The FAA also held a webinar online that can be viewed at AOPA Live for free titled 'Conflict in the Crossroads.' You also do not have to be a member of AOPA to view the video's at AOPA Live.
The most recent steps that the FAA has undergone to help eliminate runway incursions is the changing of ATC terminology as well as runway crossing clearance instructions. The switch from 'Position and hold' to 'Line up and wait' was implemented to match ICAO terminology and avoid confusion with international pilots. Also, pilot's will no longer get 'taxi to runway' clearances as ATC will now have to issue specific runway crossing instructions for each runway a plane has to cross during it's taxi to the active runway.
With the continued emphasis on runway safety, runway incursions should continue to decline and the number of serious incursions will hopefully get to zero.
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