Understanding and Reducing Runway Incursions - Research Paper Example

 Understanding and Reducing Runway Incursions Abstract The paper discusses in depth about runway incursions, the basis of runway incursions, the types of runway incursions and how the runway incursions can be reduced. Pilots and aviation associations all have given their views and suggestions on reducing the runway incursions. Runway incursions rates increase if the air traffic volume increases and decreases if the air traffic volume decreases. The paper sheds light about the incidents that have occurred due to severe runway incursions. The severity of runway incursion takes place due to any obstacle present on the runway and while two aircraft are taking off, landing at the same time and at the same runway. The paper discusses in detail the above mentioned aspects. Understanding and Reducing Runway Incursions Introduction Runway incursions can be serious to such an extent that hundreds of lives may be lost due to this incursion. Just one incident may cause a lot of equipment loss as well as human loss. Runway incursions have been observed to be increasing at a steady pace and experts have studied the aspect of runway incursions in detail (Runway Incursion Analysis, 2012). Possible solutions have been recommended by experts and associations that are related to aviation industry. This paper discusses upon the aspect of runway incursion in detail. Runway Incursion Runway incursion are the occurrences that takes place on the protected surface area on the runways of the airport involving collisions or incorrect presence of individuals or aircraft during the time of take off and the time of landing of the aircraft (Dillingham, 2008). Runway incursions that take place on the runway are one of the most severe damages as it involves the loss of precious human lives. Basis of Runway Incursions The basis of runway incursions is determined by finding out the fault of the concerned people. Pilot deviation is defined as the pilot violating the rules of Federal Aviation Regulation. The operational error is defined as an error that takes place due to a minimum distance present between two aircrafts or any other obstacle present on the runway (Runway Incursions: A Call for Action, 2007). The obstacles on the runway are the personnel present on the runway, the various equipments and other vehicles present on the runway. The other operational error that occurs is due to an aircraft landing or taking off from a runway that is not allowed or unauthorized for aircrafts according to the instructions of the air traffic control (ATO-S, Office of Safety, Runway Safety Program Field Operations, 2012). The vehicle of pedestrian deviation takes place due to a non pilot operator, mostly the vehicle operator which moves the vehicle on the aircraft runway area without the authorization of air traffic control. This type of obstacle can cause very serious runway incursions between the aircraft and the obstacle present on the runway (Reducing Runway Incursions, 2012). Reduce Runway Incursions Runway incursions can be reduced by ensuring that the captains of the airlines concentrate on the outside of the cockpit when the aircraft is under movement. This means that captains should not be focused on reading charts inside the cockpit rather keep their concentration on the outside of the cockpit. Another option can be to go through the charts and checklist before taxiing the aircraft (Commercial Pilot Checklist – Reducing Runway Incursions – Aviator Flight Training College, 2012). The issue of concern that remains debatable is that the aircraft pilots have to look at the airport diagram while taxiing the plane. The option is to minimize the time that takes in deciphering the airport diagram chart. Taxiing instructions should be understood before the movement of the aircraft (Call to Action for Runway Safety – Reducing Runway Incursions: Guidance for Airports, 2012). Steps to Avoid Runway Incursions The following are some of the steps to avoid runway incursion (Commercial Pilot Checklist – Reducing Runway Incursions – Aviator Flight Training College, 2012). Proper coordination should be maintained with the airport management authorities and also the activities for repair should be conducted according to the policies that have been established for aircraft maintenance. It is very important to have familiarity with the layout of the airport. The current diagram and layout of the airport should be available with the pilot. If incase the diagram is not the latest one, the airport management authorities should be contacted for latest airport layout diagram (Dillingham, 2008). The roads that have perimeters marked should be used mostly by the airline pilots. It is important to ensure that NOTAMs/ATIS are always checked (ATO-S, Office of Safety, Runway Safety Program Field Operations, 2012). Whenever the airfield is accessed by the pilot it is important to maintain communications via radio with the ATCT (Runway Incursion Analysis, 2012). All instructions should be followed accurately; all details and instructions should be heard and confirmed back in a clear and audible manner. The pilot need to be in communication with full concentration and presence of mind because if any critical instruction or information is neglected there may be strong chances of runway incursions occurrence. All clearances received should be written down whenever it is possible by the pilot. The lost of situational awareness should be realized and accepted as early as possible and immediate contacts should be made with ATCT. The air traffic controller should be prompt in advising further instructions to pilots in case of any emergency situation experienced during takeoff, taxiing, or landing. The pilot should ensure that he has looked both ways before crossing (Dillingham, 2008). It is very important to pay attention sign and markings that are present on the runway while taking off and landing. Lightings should also be focused on completely as they are a guide for the pilot towards the right direction. Ground Vehicle guide must be used to understand the signs of airport. The pilot should be well aware of the meanings of the various signs, markings and lightings on the runaway (Commercial Pilot Checklist – Reducing Runway Incursions – Aviator Flight Training College, 2012). The safety area is defined as the area which is restricted to the runway on the airport or on the taxiway. The area is designed and surrounded in such a way that it causes minimum damage to the aircraft in event of emergency circumstances such as undershoot on the runway, overshoot or any other excursion. This also includes any aircraft departure from the runway that is unintentional (Reducing Runway Incursions, 2012). In other terms, when aircraft enters the active runway area without getting the clearance signal and meddle with another aircraft that is planning to take off or land on the same runway, then this situation is characterized as runway incursion. Types of Runway Incursions Runway incursions are of four types. They are as follows (Commercial Pilot Checklist – Reducing Runway Incursions – Aviator Flight Training College, 2012): Category A: In this type of runway incursion a serious collision incident is prevented by a very narrow gap. Category B: In this type of runway incursion the gap of separation decreases highly and the chances of collision increases. This type of incursion may result in a time critical response for avoiding the collision. Category C: In this type of runway incursion the collision is avoided by a larger margin of time and distance. Category D: The category D consists of the runway incursion such that it explains the definition of runway incursion in the perspective of any vehicle or obstacle being present on the runway area where the aircraft has to take off or land on the runway. This runway incursion occurs with no safety consequence (Dillingham, 2008). The Effect of Increased Traffic on the Potential for an Incursion Evidences have reflected upon the fact that the slightest increase in the congestion of the air traffic will cause an exponential increase in the potentiality level of the runway incursions (Baron, 2011). Lincoln Lounsbury, air traffic controller states that even if the pilots, operator of vehicles and the controllers give in their maximum work performance, the runway incursion can still be expected just because of the increase in the volume of air traffic. On the contrary, even if there is a slight reduction in the volume of air traffic, the rate of runway incursions can be expected to reduce immensely (Runway Incursions: A Call for Action, 2007). Runway Incursion Severity The severity level of the runway incursions can be quite immense. Some of the severe runway incursions situations are as stated below. One of the worst runway incursions that have occurred took place in the year 1997 in the region of Canary Islands in Spain. In this severe runway incursion incident, there was a strong collision observed between two aircrafts B-747 and is has caused the loss of five hundred and eighty three human lives (Runway Incursions: A Call for Action, 2007). In the United States, since 1990, there have been five to six severe runway incursion incidents observed. All the incidents had gained high level of coverage on the media and raised issues regarding the safety aspects of the United States Aviation. In February 1991, a major runway incursion incident occurred at the airport of Los Angeles in which there was a collision between aircraft B-737 and a turboprop that was idle on the runway. In this incident around 34 people were killed due to one of the most severe runway incursions (Airline Pilots Association International Runway Incursions: A Call for Action, 2007). It can be denoted that the runway incursion is an accident that is usually waiting for itself to occur due to any mishap or any obstacle present on the runway. In July 2006, the aircraft B-747 had rolled over to the intersection where an aircraft B-737 that consisted of 120 passengers were preparing to take off on the runway (Runway Incursions: A Call for Action, 2007). Runway Safety One of the main concerns of the Federal Aviation Administration is to reduce the number of runway incursions to a very large extent. The types of runway incursions that fall under the category A and category B have been observed to decrease by 63% since the fiscal year 2000 till 2008. In the year 2009, the number of runway incursions dropped down by 50% as compared to the previous year. Twelve runway incursions were experienced in the fiscal year of 2009. Serious runway incursions that took place amounted to two and the reasons were operational errors. These two serious incursions took place with commercial aircrafts. Basically, all the categories of runway incursions observed a reduction of 6% in the year 2009 as compared to the year 2008 (Fact Sheet – Runway Safety, 2012). Runway Incursion Prevention - Cockpit Displays The incidents of runway incursions and the accidents that are avoided due to runway incursions are taking place at a high rate (NASA – Runway Incursion Prevention, 2012). This issue is of an utmost concern to the safety officials of the national aviation. The minimal aircraft distances, number of on ground vehicles on the runway and other types of obstacles present on the runway have been found to be increasing at a steady rate. According to NASA, the percentage increase in runway incursions has been more than 50% (NASA – Runway Incursion Prevention, 2012). The Federal Aviation Administration has planned to work upon safety operations for the airport surfaces and NASA as NASA is working on the latest technology of the safety of operations. The Federal Aviation Administration has launched a special initiative to improve airport surface operations safety and NASA has planned to work on the technology (NASA – Runway Incursion Prevention, 2012). Conclusion Runway Incursions take place due to any other aircraft and obstacle present on the runway ground. Many pilots have shared their experiences and many associations have provided suggestions of how to reduce the runway incursions (ATO-S, Office of Safety, Runway Safety Program Field Operations, 2012). As stated by some experts, the primary reasons for the incursions that take place is due to the issues of human factors, important ones being the miscommunication that occurs between the pilots and controllers of air traffic (Runway Incursion Analysis, 2012). Human error is given a lot of weight and human errors at times become difficult to control and prevent. Other reasons are due to lack of situational awareness of the layout of the airport and the misjudgments made by air traffic controllers and the pilots while landing and takeoff. There are certain ways in which runway incursions can be reduced as discussed in the paper above. Airline pilots association has recommended the following specific actions to be adhered to strictly for reducing the runway incursions. First is to use display maps that move around along with own-ship position by the airlines. Second is the installing of status lights on the runway. Third is the installing of holding red lights that must be used during takeoff. And last is to focus on the use of markings on the airports (Runway Incursions: A Call for Action, 2007). References ATO-S, Office of Safety, Runway Safety Program Field Operations (2012). Available at: http://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/publications/media/Driving%20on%20the%20Airport%20Brochure.pdf. Accessed on 21st February 2012. Baron, Robert (2011). Runway Incursions: Where are We? Available at: http://airlinesafety.com/editorials/RunwayIncursions.htm. Accessed on 22nd February 2012. Call to Action for Runway Safety – Reducing Runway Incursions: Guidance for Airports (2012) [online] Available at: http://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/call_to_action/. Accessed on 21st February 2012. Commercial Pilot Checklist – Reducing Runway Incursions – Aviator Flight Training College (2012). Available at: http://www.aviator.edu/blog-129/post-80-commercial-pilot-checklist-reducing-runway-incursions.aspx. Accessed on 21st February 2012. Dillingham, Gerald L. (2008). RUNWAY SAFETY: Progress on Reducing Runway Incursions Impeded by Leadership, Technology, and Other Challenges. United States Government Accountability Office, pp. 2-13. Fact Sheet – Runway Safety (2012). Available at: http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=10166. Accessed on 22nd February 2012. Reducing Runway Incursions (2012). Available at: http://footflyer.com/Airline/reducing_runway_incursions.htm. Accessed on 21st February 2012. Runway Incursions: A Call for Action (2007). Available at: http://www.alpa.org/portals/alpa/runwaysafety/RunwayIncursionwhitepaper.pdf Accessed on 21st February 2012. Runway Incursion Analysis (2012).Available at: http://www.aopa.org/asf/accident_data/incursions.html. Accessed on 22nd February 2012. NASA – Runway Incursion Prevention (2012). Available at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/RIPS.html. Accessed on 22nd February 2012. Read More