New signs the Federal Aviation Administration is requiring to be installed in the runway areas of all airports with commercial air service will cost more than $376,000 at Little Rock National Airport, Adams Field, and represent the latest effort to promote safer runways.
Federal officials want to reduce the likelihood of incidents such as what happened on Nov. 28 at the airport. A small, single-engine aircraft entered one of the airport’s commercial-service runwayswhile another airplane, about a half-mile away, was on final approach to the same runway. An air traffic controller instructed the landing airplane to conduct a “go-around” maneuver and approach again when the runway was clear.
The incident was one of 13 runway “incursions” that have occurred at the airport since 2000. All were classified in the least-dangerous categories of runway incursions.
Nationally, the nation’s aviation system saw more than 1,000 runway incursions of all types in 2008, accordingto the latest annual runway safety report from the FAA. Of those, 25 were classified as serious, and nine involved commercial aircraft, the report said.
The same year saw 58 million aircraft operations in the United States. But reducing runway incursions has been on the National Transportation Safety Board’s “most wanted” list of safety improvements since the list’s inception in 1990 for a reason.
The world’s deadliest aviation accident occurred as a result of a runway incursion. Two passenger jets collidedin March 1977 on a runway at Tenerife, Canary Islands, killing 583 passengers and crew. The deadliest U.S. runway incursion happened in August 2006 when Comair Flight 5191 crashed after taking off from the wrong runway in Lexington, Ky. Forty-nine of the 50 people aboard died.
The FAA also has a classification of what are called “surface incidents” in which an aircraft enters a runwaysafety area without clearance but ground vehicles or other aircraft aren’t present. They are not as dangerous as runway incursions but occur more frequently and can surprise.
Take the RV9 experimental airplane that landed on Runway 36 at the Little Rock airport without authorization from air traffic controllers, or even any communication with them. It turned out the pilot thought he was landing at North Little Rock Municipal Airport, which is 7 miles northwest of Adams Field and lacks a control tower.
“Things like this are going to happen,” said Dick Holbert, president of Central Flying Service, which services general-aviation aircraft of all types. “It’s about the law of averages. Out of the many, many thousands of flights every day that turns in millions and millions of flights a year, there’s a chance of something silly happening.
“There have been some terrible accidents due to incursions. It just takes one.”
Three years ago, the FAA mandated Little Rock National Airport and others to upgrade taxiway and runway markings. That cost the Little Rock airport $60,000.The latest initiative will add large white numbers denoting the runway with a red background to be placed on the taxiways at their intersections with the airport’s three runways - 30 locations in all.
“The FAA has been taking a serious look at runway incursions for a while now,” said Lynn Lunsford, an agency spokesman in Fort Worth. “As we find things that work elsewhere, we apply them toother places where we think they might help.”
The uniform markings, installed at all commercialservice airports in the United States, are designed to standardize what is called the “hold short” position and thus reduce the confusion among pilots and drivers of ground vehicles that contributes to runway incursions.
And trying to figure out which way is what can be confusing at busy commercial-service airports. Typical is the Beechcraft 1900 that was instructed to “hold short” of Taxiway A and remain on the ramp, according to an FAA account of anotherincident at the Little Rock airport. The pilot read back the instructions correctly, but wound up crossing Runway 18 at Taxiway A with a Cessna on a short final approach for landing on Runway 18. The Cessna landed safely.
Holbert is skeptical about the effectiveness of the new signs in light of their cost. The FAA will cover most of the cost with the remainder covered by a state grant, according to airport officials.
“You can get a little bit confused about where you are,” Holbert said. “But if you’re a seasoned pilot, it’s not going to be a problem.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 17 on 10/24/2010