The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) and Airports Council International (ACI) have launched a joint initiative to reduce the risk of runway incursions.
What are runway incursions?
A runway incursion is an aviation incident involving improper positioning of an aircraft, vehicle or person on any airport runway or within its protected area.
Incursions are documented in IATA’s Annual Safety Reports, and several recent incursions have been fatal, such as the LaGuardia incident that happened in March of this year. Last year, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a total of 1636 runway incursions occurred nationally by operational incidents, pilot deviation, vehicle or pedestrian deviation combined.
Preventing incursions requires close coordination between airlines, airports, air navigation service providers, regulators and frontline personnel, which the Joint Runway Safety Initiative hopes to incorporate.
What are the key points to this initiative?
The Initiative focuses on three key areas:
- Improve safety reporting and data capture, which would include recording near misses, incidents, and observations from airline and airport personnel.
- Establish local runway safety teams as the main forum for airlines, airports, and navigation service providers to assess local risks and agree coordinated action.
- Share the progress and lessons learned from past mistakes so that effective practices can be improved upon and be adopted more widely by airports and organisations with similar operating environments.
Improving aviation safety
Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice president operations, safety, and security said:
“Flying is the safest form of long-distance travel. Maintaining that record requires a relentless focus on continuous improvement, supported by global standards, safety data and collaboration.
This initiative brings airlines, airports and air navigation service providers together to identify runway risks earlier and take coordinated action.”
The initiative is building on existing efforts in runway safety, such as the collaboration efforts between the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), EUROCONTROL and the Flight Safety Foundation who created the Global Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (GAPPRI). The GAPPRI is an important step for runway safety as the IATA places runway incursions among the five highest-risk categories for aviation fatalities.
Furthermore, the initiative will be using tools and programmes developed by the IATA, CANSO and ACI to further their global action plan, which include risk-assessment resources, runway safety checklists and support for local runway safety teams.
Andrea Sack, senior vice president of global operations, CANSO, has said about the joint initiative:
“Runway safety depends on clear communication and coordinated decisions across the airport environment. Strong Local Runway Safety Teams bring controllers, airports, airlines and other operational partners together to identify risks and agree on practical actions.”
Darryl Dowd, vice president of safety, security and operations, ACI World, also said:
“Airports sit at the centre of this challenge, where every part of the aviation system converges. Local knowledge and sustained collaboration are what turn safety guidance into real reductions in risk, and ACI is committed to supporting our members as they put these tools to work.”
The initiative provides airlines, airports and other aviation stakeholders with guidance and tools to help reduce runway incursions and improve runway safety.
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