The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week issued a report to Congress regarding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) efforts to combat issues relating to runway incursions and other runway safety incidents.
The GAO’s findings included an increase of runway incidents of over 12 percent in fiscal year 2007, compared with the previous fiscal year, but a decline in the most serious type of incursions. Most incursions involved at least one general aviation aircraft. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) recorded the most incursions at commercial airports from FY01 through FY06.
The GAO made a series of recommendations to the FAA and the Department of Transportation to improve runway safety, including the development of a national runway safety plan, featuring voluntary, non-punitive reporting systems for air traffic controllers and more advanced data collection of runway incidents.
