Runway incursion

A runway incursion, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on April 27, 2006, is:

"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."

In October 2007, the FAA dropped its own definition of "runway incursion" and adopted the above. The difference between the two was "that ICAO defines a runway incursion as any unauthorized intrusion onto a runway, regardless of whether or not an aircraft presents a potential conflict. For the FAA, an incident without an aircraft in potential conflictndash such as an unauthorized aircraft crossing an empty runwayndash was defined as a 'surface incident' and not a runway incursion." [ [http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=9612 "FAA Adopts ICAO Definition for Runway Incursions", FAA news release, October 1, 2007] ]

The Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) is a computerized system that is intended to alert air traffic controllers to the potential for a runway incursion.

Notable examples of runway incursion

*1977 Tenerife disaster: confused response when quickly rearranging flights after bomb scare, 583 fatalities
*1991 USAir Flight 1493: ATC separation error at Los Angeles International Airport, 34 fatalities
*1994 TWA Flight 427/Superior Aviation Cessna 441: Cessna pilot error at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Pilot taxied to incorrect runway and was struck by departing TWA MD-80, 2 fatalities on the Cessna.
*1999 T. F. Green Airport runway incursion: low visibility and night, the plane went down the wrong taxiway and ended on the runway just as another plane took off. No collision.
*2001 Linate Airport disaster: airliner taking off hit business jet which landed on wrong runway.
*2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: Banda Aceh 4 Jan 2005 : water buffalo on runway causes ground collision which seriously delayed relief flights.
*2005 Logan Airport runway incursion: controller error caused near miss between two airliners taking off.
*2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion: controller error: airliner landing nearly hit airliner taxiing to take off.
*2007 Baltimore/Washington International Airport runway incursion: Two planes came within 300 feet of each other while one was taking off and the other was landing.
*2008 George Bush Intercontinental Airport runway incursion: Two planes nearly collide during a Seattle Bound takeoff. Inbound Vail flight ascends quickly to avoid collision.

References