Leadership Still Lacking at FAA on Runway Safety

After a rise in runway incursions in Fiscal 2007 owing to poor FAA leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked controllers, the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee called hearings last week into progress being made to improve runway...

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After a rise in runway incursions in Fiscal 2007 owing to poor FAA leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked controllers, the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Aviation Subcommittee called hearings last week into progress being made to improve runway safety, allowing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to once again recount its runway safety programs. Related Story
There were 10 near-misses on airport runways between October and December 2007 — a fivefold increase from the same period last year, when there were only two. Related Story
Still, the agency received sharp criticism from aviation groups for lack of leadership on the issue. The groups added that the most critical issue for improving runway safety remains with reauthorization and increased funding on critical technologies promised in NextGen. The General Accountability Office report cited a reduction in serious incursions but said risk is high for a catastrophic event. GAO Inspector General Gerald Dillingham told legislators that, despite a flurry of press releases, a call to action and other high-profile events, FAA’s runway safety programs continue to suffer from a lack of leadership compounded by technological challenges.
Dillingham also said the National Runway Safety plan dates to 2002, despite promises to update biannually. NTSB Vice Chairman Robert Sumwalt, in his testimony, also criticized the agency. Having recommended that controllers issue individual clearances for each runway/taxiway crossing in 2000, FAA has yet to act on the recommendation. The NTSB also recommended that FAA require cockpit devices that automatically warn pilots of potential collisions, rather than relying on controller warnings which often come too late or after the pilot has already acted to avoid the hazard.
Echoing Dillingham, he noted that the FAA runway safety office was without a chief for nearly three years before the position was filled in August, just as the FAA launched its industry call to action on runway safety issues.
The three also questioned FAA’s schedule for implementing the technology needed to increase runway safety. Department of Transportation Inspector General Scoville said addressing controller training, scheduling and fatigue is a critical element in preventing runway incidents. Aviation Subcommittee Chair Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) would like quarterly progress reports on FAA’s efforts.
The GAO also raised concerns about controller fatigue – pointing out that at least 20 percent of controllers at 25 air traffic control facilities are working six days a week.
Chief Operating Officer of FAA’s Air Traffic Organization Hank Krakowski said FAA was creating a new Runway Council Working Group to identify and address the issues and noted the recent adoption of the ICAO definition for runway incursions was, perhaps, the reason for the spike in numbers. Related Story
The agency reported that the GPS Jeppeson moving map system is nearing certification and a second system is expected to apply for its new accelerated certification program, announced last March just before the NTSB’s runway safety summit, shortly. The technology provides a check on the conventional eyeball method of runway identification.
Despite the increasing use of Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs), which offer an electronic display system that gives pilots information about a variety of aviation data including airport moving map displays, the FAA is focusing this effort on a third type of device, referred to as a “Class 2 system” that is still portable but takes its power and data directly from aircraft systems. Using GPS technology, it is possible for the moving map to show pilots their actual position (“own ship”) on the airport surface.
FAA certification standards for EFBs remain the same but focusing on the Own-Ship Position function and finding innovative ways to simplify certification, the FAA believes the cost of certification for surface operations could drop to as little as $20,000 per unit — about one-tenth the original anticipated cost of EFB certification for ground and air operations. Based on feedback, the FAA believes the aviation industry will have the financial incentive to produce these devices in mass quantities.
Research has shown that pilots had far better awareness of their position on the airport’s surface using an own-ship position display. Tests also demonstrated that pilots typically glanced at the own-ship display, then quickly looked out their windows to verify that information visually, eliminating one of the FAA’s major concerns that pilots would be “heads down” too long for safe operations.
Meanwhile, airports, airlines and aircraft operators are relying on lower tech solutions to improving runway safety. For instance, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, which launched a massive education campaign early last year that reached more than 100,000 pilots, also criticized FAA’s leadership on runway safety with President Phil Boyer the agency needs to make runway safety “a national priority.”
The American Association of Airport Executives said the keys to enhancing runway safety are investment in new technology, enhanced training and improved surface markings, along with adequate funding from FAA so programs can keep on track. “There is no easy fix and no magic bullet to improving runway safety and reducing runway incursions,” said John Duval, A.A.E., airport safety and security coordinator, Beverly (Mass.) Municipal Airport, and AAAE's second vice chair. “As in security, runway safety must be a multi-layered approach with numerous checks and balances. Although we don’t have all the answers yet, we are making progress on improving runway safety through a variety of means, including the use of new technology, enhanced taxiway markings, airfield changes and improved training.”
Duval cited new and redesigned taxiways at Atlanta, Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego designed for safer and more efficient airfields. Atlanta has built an end-around taxiway that eliminates hundreds of runway crossings per day, reduces delays and boosts departure capacity. Related Story  Dallas/Fort Worth, which reports having about 1,700 runway crossings per day, is nearing completion on a perimeter taxiway project in its airfield’s southeast quadrant and has plans to install similar taxiways in the other three quadrants over the next decade.
Airports are also implementing Engineered Materials Arresting System, runway status lights, low-cost ground surveillance systems, and a radar-based foreign object debris detection system.
As with AOPA, Duval cited training as critical and cited the organization’s success with a set of tools and educational opportunities designed to help airports meet their safety goals. For instance, AAAE’s computer-based Interactive Employee Training (IET) system, which offers customized courses that include airfield driver training, has recorded some one million training sessions at 55 airports, including 25 large and medium hubs. AAAE’s Web-based ANTN Digicast service offers more than 680 training and other videos to more than 180 subscribing airports. Duval also noted that airports quickly embraced new enhanced centerline and holding-position marking standards established by FAA in 2005. According to FAA figures, 71 of 75 airports have put the new markings in place, and the other four will have done so well in advance of the agency’s June 30, 2008, deadline. Despite a cost of $500,000 for large airports and the fact FAA’s proposed advisory circular to improve runway markings as yet to be completed, about 180 airports expect to have adopted the new markings by the end of the year.
Duval also criticized the Bush Administration for short-changing airport funding in the recently submitted budget saying despite increasing demand, rapidly rising construction costs and the need to fund safety projects at airports around the country, “airport executives are dismayed that the administration is only requesting $2.75 billion for AIP in fiscal year 2009,” Duval said. “That is more than $1.1 billion less than the amount included in H.R. 2881 and in the FAA reauthorization bill passed by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. It is also $765 million less than the amount Congress appropriated for the current fiscal year.”

SAFO for 135 Operators
Meanwhile, FAA just published a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) for Part 135 flight crews covering techniques and procedures to enhance taxi, pre-takeoff, and after-landing safety to reduce the risk of runway incursions.
Citing the increasing number of airport construction programs which constantly change airport environments, the FAA issued the SAFO in an effort to reduce the number of runway incursions occurring with Part 135 operations, the FAA has developed several documents outlining procedures highlighting the importance of maintaining situational awareness and adherence to crew and flight deck resource management to assist pilots in mitigating outside influences that could lead to a runway incursion. The agency also cited factors such as dealing with company procedures, revised air traffic control (ATC) instructions, late passengers, and even personal issues for the loss of situational awareness.
Surface incursions, including those that lead to wrong runway takeoff or landing events, can be mitigated in several ways, said the agency, adding that such efforts include improved flight deck procedures, implementation of flight deck moving map displays, or cockpit runway alerting systems. These mitigations can provide the necessary redundancy to reduce the opportunity for human error during surface operations and, if an error were to occur, potentially stop it before it becomes catastrophic, said the FAA in the SAFO. It also recommended that part 135 certificate holders consider implementing training that includes radio monitoring skills to allow the pilots an opportunity to practice and demonstrate runway incursion mitigation skills.