Dangerous runway incursions at US airports have continued despite a well-established campaign to reduce the risk, so the Federal Aviation Administration and the industry has agreed to implement five short-term strategies over the next 60 days to counter the problem.
"We have seen some incidents of late that have concerned us," said FAA deputy administrator Bobby Sturgell following a one-day workshop that included FAA, airline, airport and union representatives.
Initiatives to be completed in the next 60 days include:
Deploying safety action teams to the 20 airports that have seen the most wrong-runway departures. They will examine standard operating procedures, signage and surface markings.
Starting pilot simulator training sessions at the gate, with instructions to follow a particular taxi route to a runway, rather than from the take-off point or while airborne.
Accelerating the painting of enhanced runway markings at runway hold-short lines at the 73 US airports - those handling more than 1.5 million passengers more a year - from September 2008 to within the next 60 days. Sturgell said the FAA has had positive feedback from the community on the effectiveness of the new markings at test locations.
Airlines are to minimise checks accomplished during taxiing to avoid crew distractions and head-down tasks. The FAA will also analyse take-off clearances to determine whether individual clearances to cross all runways along a taxi route are required, an action urged by the National Transportation Safety Board.
In late July the FAA had compromised, requiring controllers to state all runways to be crossed as part of a taxi clearance to the takeoff point.
Creating a voluntary, no-fault reporting system for air traffic controllers similar to the Aviation Safety Action Program for pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and others.
Mid- and long-term projects, according to Sturgell, include technologies that will maximise pilot situational awareness and minimise distractions.
Included in those projects could be a broader or accelerated deployment for Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) system, now installed at nine airports but scheduled for 35.
The FAA is also experimenting with lower cost versions of the system, which alerts airport controllers to impending conflicts.
Source: Flight International
