Airport Tests Potentially Safer Runway System

Nov. 13, 2006 — -- At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport last week, a United Airlines Boeing 737 plane just barely averted a potentially fatal collision with an Airbus 320. Both of the aircraft were taxiing toward takeoff when one of the planes clipped another one's tail.

Flight 672, a Boeing 737, was bound for New York's LaGuardia Airport, carrying 110 passengers and Flight 732 was headed for Dulles International Airport, just outside the nation's capital. It was an Airbus 320 and had 96 passengers on board.

Luckily, no injuries were reported and little damage was done. But runway incursions -- incidents that involve an aircraft's taking off, taxiing or landing -- do not always end happily, nor are they rare occurrences.

In the last three weeks alone, there have been four runway incidents reported at airports across the country -- the one at O'Hare, two at Newark's Liberty International Airport and one at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

On Oct. 28, Continental Airlines Flight 1883, a Boeing 757 arriving in Newark from Orlando, Fla., landed on a taxiway, mistaking it for the parallel runway. There was no damage because the taxiway was empty.

Another disturbing incident took place two days later at Sea-Tac. Alaska Airlines Flight 61, a Boeing 737, took off from the wrong runway but then continued to Juneau, Alaska, rather uneventfully.

Building a Safer Communications System

Not everyone has been so lucky however. On Aug. 29, 49 people were killed in a crash when Comair Flight 5191 took off from the wrong runway, a runway that wasn't long enough for the jet. The plane clipped trees and crashed into a field, bursting into flames. The co-pilot was the sole survivor.

According to Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, there have been more than 300 runway incursions so far this year, with 31 termed "serious" incursions.

The NTSB has long been working to improve runway safety and is set to release its Most Wanted List on Tuesday, noting the most critical transportation safety issues. Runway incursions will undoubtedly make the list once again.

Since the first list was released in 1990, runway incursions have been cited every year.

The NTSB can just make recommendations, however it is up to the Federal Aviation Administration to implement them.

The FAA agrees that runway safety is a critical issue.

"Really, what we're missing to date is what I call the missing link, which is direct information to the pilot in the cockpit," said Robert Sturgell, deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The goal is to send a signal directly to the pilot, providing an additional level of safety. Now, if controllers notice two planes on a collision course on the ground -- they have to communicate a warning to the pilot, wasting valuable time.

The FAA is now testing one simple technology at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport that could make an enormous difference. The technology is runway status lights. The lights -- located near the entrances to the runway -- turn red if there is a plane on the runway, signaling other pilots to stop.

"It's very difficult to taxi over those red lights when they're flashing right in your face. That warns you there's danger ahead," said Capt. Vance Page, an American Airlines pilot.

Once the runway is clear, the red lights disappear.

"It is all about making sure the pilot is aware of his surroundings and making sure that the air traffic controller is also aware of his surroundings," Rosenker said. This added safety feature does not eliminate the role of the air traffic controller. It merely provides a check on the current system.

This simple technology could have helped avert an incident in Miami last year, when a controller noticed a private pilot about to land on an occupied runway: The controller called to the pilot to go around, in the following conversation:

Controller: Charlie Victor Echo, Charlie Victor Echo … Go around sir. Charlie Victor Echo, go around.

Private Pilot: Go around, Charlie Victor Echo.

Controller: Yes sir, ah, you were lined up for the wrong runway.

Private Pilot: Ah, I'm sorry, sir. Thank you.

American Airlines Pilot: Holy ####.

Runway status lights have generated positive feedback from both pilots and air traffic controllers alike, but it is unlikely to reach a runway near you anytime soon. They are still in testing and would cost $1 million a runway.

But to some, the cost seems rather small compared to the lives that it could save.

"With 300 runway incursions occurring every year, we have been extremely fortunate that none of these have resulted in a catastrophic accident," Rosenker said. "But luck is no way to run an air system, and maybe luck and time are running out."