Runway Incursions
Issues of Runway Incursions
There is a common assumption that it is dangerous to drive to an airport than flying to a destination. In 1977, the worst ever witnessed civilian aviation occurring in Tenerife claiming the lives of almost all passengers. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, runway incursions occur when an aircraft, people, vehicles, and ground objects violate the FAA standards creating a collision hazard that leads to loss of aircraft separation (FAA,2008,p.37). The runway incursions are caused by errors in operation, pilot, operational and Pedestrian or Vehicle Deviations(VPD). To address the problems of runway incursions at the airport, the aviation agencies combine both human-centered and technological techniques to achieve this.
The Operational Error is the landing of an aircraft in a closed runway, especially when the interval separation distance of another object and the aircraft is lost. Moreover, the controller of air traffic can cause this deviation by directing an aircraft commuter into an active runway and consequently clearing another one to use the same runway.
Pilots are highly trained persons and should plan carefully when operating the aircraft; however, sometimes, they take actions that violate the FARs. For instance, failure to be adequately cleared by the ATC can take a taxi on a runway that is active. It is a fact that the potential precursors to accidents are runway incursions and troubles the aviation agencies, and should be made to reduce such cases.
Another scenario is the VPD caused by deviation of an authorized person such as pedestrians, vehicles non-pilot operators into the airport movement areas without being authorized by Airport Traffic Control (Van Eekeren et al., 2018). This is a result of overcrowded aircraft with travelers and vehicles which can barge into the runways risking a collision with the aircraft. Many lives have been lost as a result of runway incursions involving pedestrians and vehicles, which is a global aviation problem.
One of the significant objectives of aviation authorities is to improve the safety on runways. However, the development of aircraft with ultra-high capacity leads to more significant congestion in the airport, making it difficult for the planes to maneuver to avoid obstacles. More lives are at risk (Chen et al., 2016). Furthermore, the use of technology such as Airport Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) for radar provision can only be seen by controllers but not the pilots making it challenging to carry out an evasion action in case of a runway incursion.
In order to address runway incursions, a blend of training humans and the use of technology should be employed. To reduce human error, the controllers, pilots, vehicles, and pedestrians should be thoroughly trained and educated to improve their situation awareness (FAA, 2007; 2017). It can be achieved by availing training videos, books, and pamphlets outlining operational airport safety.
Some of the technology applied to reduce runway incursions include the use of ASDE-X designated for the detection of any vehicle and aircraft on the surface airport. It provides ATC with an updated airport map electronically. To directly warn the pilots around the airport environment, a Runway Incursion Prevention System (RIP) is used through a Head-Up Display to provide an electronic map. Last but not least, the Runway Incursion Monitoring, Detection and Alerting System(RIMDAS) which uses wireless networks for the detection, classification and tracking possible incidents of runway incursions((Mrazova, 2014). The disadvantage of using these is that it is quite expensive.
Generally, the issues of runway incursions will continue to rise due to the development of ultra-high capacity aircraft that promotes an increased number of travelers in the airport environment, however, the Operational Errors, Pilot and VPD can be minimized by training and educating human and use of technology such as ASDE-X, RIPS, and RIMDAS among others to facilitate control of air traffic.
REFERENCES
Chen, M., Zhang, Y., & Chen, Y. (2016). Review on civil aviation safety investment research. International Conference on Reliability, Maintainability, and Safety (ICRMS) pp. 1-5.
FAA. (2008). Runway safety report: June 2008. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/publications/media/pdf/RSRe port08.pdf
FAA. (2017). FAA performance and accountability report. Retrieved from https://www.faa.gov/about/plans_reports/media/2017_FAA_PAR.pdf
Hong-bing, D., & Qing-qing, Z. (2015). Simulation of the effect of safety investment on flight safety level in the airlines.International Conference on Transportation Information and Safety (ICTIS) pp. 780-786
Van Eekeren, R., Wright, S., & Čokorilo, O. (2018). Early cost safety analysis of runway events. International Journal for Traffic & Transport Engineering, 8(3), pp.261-270.