RUNWAY INCURSION

A runway incursion is an incident where an unauthorized aircraft, vehicle or person is on a runway. This adversely affects runway safety, as it creates the risk that an airplane taking off or landing will collide with the object.  It is defined by ICAO as Any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take-off of aircraft.

A major disaster was averted at the CSI Airport , Mumbai last year after an aircraft, which was supposed to be on the taxiway, entered the runway area, while another had been cleared to land.

These close calls between aircraft and other planes, ground vehicles and hazards have grown steadily over the years and are now a grave concern for safety officials across the world.

An effective Runway incursion prevention program should be capable of

·         Alerting the pilots to conflicting traffic in the air and on the runways, taxiways and ramps;

·         Allowing more aircraft to land safely on time in bad weather

·         Improving communication between pilots and air traffic controllers ; and

·         Virtually eliminating the world’s greatest cause of aviation fatalities – controlled flight into terrain or CFIT.

Please offer your comments experiences and suggestions.