Runway collision risk still high in US

The number of close calls on airport runways in the U.S. has risen over the last year, meaning that the risk of collisions is higher than normal, said a government investigator on Thursday.

Gerald Dillingham, a top expert on aviation safety, who works with the government’s General Accountability Office, told a House of Representatives panel that despite the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) placing greater emphasis on the issue of runway safety, 24 serious types of runway incursions were reported during the 2008 fiscal year.

A runway incursion is defined as an incident during which any airplane or other vehicle or person intrudes on runway space that is designated for landings or take-offs.

The number of serious incidents is actually the same as last year, but traffic has declined this year, meaning that the rate of serious incidents has increased by approximately 10 percent. The serious incident rate is a measurement of the number of incidents per one million take-offs and landings.

Runway incursions are not only a major concern for officials responsible for air traffic safety in the U.S., but are a top concern internationally as well. The most deadly disaster in the history of commercial aviation occurred as the result of a runway incursion in 1977. In that incident, two Boeing 747s collided on the ground at the Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands, a popular resort off the north-west coast of Africa, killing 582.

www.gao.gov