GAO Says Incursions Pose Higher Risks

While runway safety remains at the top of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Most Wanted List, recent incidents have heightened concerns about safety on airport runways and ramps, and pose a "a high risk of a catastrophic runway collisions,” according to the General Accountability Office report issued last week. It cited the fact that FAA had taken its eyes off the runway safety ball after making improvements after such incidents reached a high of 407 in 2001. It also said the technology deployed to address runway safety malfunctioned and the FAA had a real problem with controller fatigue. GAO did credit the agency with making progress. However, it said the biggest thing the agency could do was to provide more leadership in addressing runway and ramp safety. The FAA took exception to the report, reissuing its runway safety fact sheets first issued in October. Related Story  However, it did not include the analysis it did on issuing multiple clearances the week of November 5. NTSB wants individual clearances for all aircraft movements, saying multiple clearances cause confusion and potential for serious accidents.
GAO cited a jump in incidents during Fiscal Year 2007 when there were 370 incidents or 6.05 incursions per one million operations and said the rate of runway incursions has not decreased over the last five years. For its part, FAA said it exceeded its goal for reducing the most serious runway incursions by 25 percent in fiscal year 2007 but reported an increase in the least serious incursions. There were 24 serious runway incursions this past year, down from 31 last year, out of more than 61 million operations, or one incursion for every 2.545 million operations, improving on the agency’s goal of no more than one incursion for every two million surface movements.
GAO reported that, despite the formation of the FAA’s Office of Runway Safety, there is no single office analyzing the causes of safety problems or in taking steps to solve them, prompting DOT Secretary Mary Peters to call an industry-wide conference to develop quick solutions last summer. Related Story  Many solutions were low-tech, including improved runway markets and pilot trainings, adopted by the FAA in October. Despite this, GAO said the Office of Runway Safety has not produced a runway safety improvement program since 2002. It also cited the fact that FAA failed to appoint a director for the office for two years and, worse, cut staff 45 percent staff cut since 2003. In its defense, the FAA said it established regional runway safety program manager positions for each region. Additionally, Runway Incursion Action Teams were established for specific airports. To date, more than 700 action team meetings have been held at approximately 430 airports with countless follow-up meetings at every airport.
The Office noted the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation to reduce controller overtime, supporting the Board, adding that controllers are retiring at a high rate and hiring has not kept pace. Exacerbating this is the fact FAA cut staffing after 9/11. Between one fifth and over one half of controllers are putting in six-day weeks, said the report, which also found the technology (AMASS) installed at 34 airports to track aircraft while they are in the ground does not work, especially in heavy weather and a more advanced system (ASD-X) issues so many false alerts as to make its usefulness questionable.
Asked by Representative Jerry F. Costello, D-IL., and Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-NJ, to evaluate the progress being made in addressing runway/ramp safety, GAO recommended FAA take more of a lead over airlines and airports in improving ramp safety since there have been 29 fatal ramp accidents since 2001. It criticized FAA’s lack of data on several runway/ramp safety fronts. FAA lacks data on runway overruns that could be used to analyze the causes and circumstances of such incidents and efforts to improve safety in airport ramp areas are hindered by a lack of complete accident data and standards for ground handling, However, it noted the industry was taking steps to reduce ramp accidents and aviation organizations have begun collecting ramp accident data. Last Spring the Flight Safety Foundation reported that runway excursions were more of a problem than incursions. Related Story
“Data from 2001 through 2006 from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which investigates occupational accidents, NTSB, and FAA indicated that these agencies had investigated 29 fatal ramp accidents during that time,” said GAO. “The majority of the fatalities in these accidents were ramp workers. GAO found no comprehensive nonfatal injury data on ramp accidents and neither federal nor industry-wide standards for ramp operations.”
The FAA has established a new voluntary program that gathers runway safety data on surface incidents and runway incursions based on in-depth interviews of pilots and maintenance technicians involved in these incidents. Analysis of the data is used to implement risk-reduction mitigation programs, produce guidance and augment technologies. Called the Runway Incursion Information and Evaluation Program (RIIEP), it provides safety information that identifies the root causes of pilot deviations that result in runway incursions.

FAA Reaction
“The agency has aggressively addressed the issue and has made significant progress reducing the most serious incidents (categorized as As and Bs), particularly those involving commercial aircraft,” said the agency. “The number of serious runway incursions has dropped by about 55 percent since fiscal year 2001. Only eight of the 24 A&B incursions last year involved commercial aircraft.”
The initiatives developed by last summer’s Call to Action center on improved procedures, increased training for airport and airline personnel, and enhanced airports signs and markings. The FAA just completed a runway safety review of 20 airports — a list based on runway incursion data and wrong-runway issues. Based on the findings, airports have taken action to improve signage and paint markings, as well as put training programs in place for airport personnel. Another short-term initiative is an agreement with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) to put in place a voluntary reporting system. The agency also developed and initiated controller training to enhance their skills in teamwork, communication, problem solving, situational awareness, and managing workloads.