FAA unveils runway safety initiative after House pressure

Four people died earlier this month in a collision between two small planes at the Sarasota/Bradenton airport

March 14, 2000
Web posted at: 11:27 p.m. EST (0427 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration unveiled a new initiative Tuesday aimed at reducing the number of airplane accidents on the ground. The move came just over a month after a powerful member of Congress told the FAA to "deal with the problem."

Called runway incursions, such events happened almost 650 times during the past two years. The annual figure has nearly doubled in recent years, from 186 in 1993 to 327 in 1999.

While most runway incursions do not result in injury, there have been tragedies, including:

	VIDEO
CNN's Carl Rochelle looks into 'runway incursion' and what the FAA is doing to address it. Windows Media 28K 80K

• Four people died on March 9 in a collision between two small planes at the Sarasota/Bradenton airport in Florida when one aircraft taxied into the path of another;

• An incident on November 22, 1999, at Los Angeles where a United Airlines jet overflew an AeriMexico jet on takeoff by only 100 feet;

• In November 1996, 14 people died when a United Express commuter plane collided with a small twin engine plane at Quincy, Illinois. There was no control tower, and the smaller aircraft had taxied onto the runway in front of the commuter plane.

Subcommittee chairman demanded action

With the initiative, the FAA says it is giving top priority to reducing or eliminating runway incursions.

That is exactly what U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has been demanding. On Feb. 1, Wolf, the chairman of the House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee -- the panel that oversees funding for the FAA -- ordered agency officials to appear before his subcommittee later this month with detailed plans to lower the runway incursion problems.

"Over the past few years, FAA has produced a lot of plans, but they have not carried out those plans" for runway incursions, Wolf said during a Capitol Hill press conference in February. Wolf suggested that the FAA used "press releases to spin failure into success" by claiming that 327 incursions in 1999 was an improvement, since it was "only slightly" more than the previous year.

"What they didn't say is that their goal was to reduce runway incursions to a level of 270 for the year," Wolf said. "They missed their goal by 21 percent."

Wolf ordered FAA officials to detail plans to lower the runway incursion problems

Under the FAA's new plan, it will continue developing surface radar, which it has installed at 34 airports, while testing computer enhancements. It also will:

• Hold seminars for both pilots and controllers to study ways to reduce or eliminate runway incursions.

• Launch a program to encourage pilot reporting of dangerous runway incidents without penalty.

• Hold a national summit in June to review the results of its efforts, and to see whether it has made progress in reducing the chances of runway incursion.

None of that appears to be too soon for Wolf. Though he could not be reached Tuesday night, his February statement explains his position:

"When the FAA attaches urgency to an issue, they have shown they can respond quickly and effectively. I intend for them to see the urgency in the runway incursion issue before another disaster occurs."

Correspondent Carl Rochelle contributed to this report, which was written by Jonathan D. Austin.

Delta 727 makes emergency landing in San Francisco
March 14, 2000
Jetliner skids off California runway into busy street
March 6, 2000
Small planes collide near Los Angeles, killing all four aboard
February 7, 2000
Congressman calls for summit on runway near-collisions
February 1, 2000
FAA's runway safety system off track
August 16, 1999

Federal Aviation Administration
Rep. Frank Wolf's statement

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