Special Teams Deployed To Over 20 Airports With Runway Problems

Following such tragedies as Comair Flight 5191 in Lexington, KY -- and the more recent TAM accident in Brazil -- where runway problems seem to have played a part, the Federal Aviation Administration is gearing up to take a cold, hard look at some of the more problematic runways at some US airports.

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey assembled a closed-door conference with 40 airline representatives, aircraft manufacturers, air traffic controllers, avionics executives, and FAA inspectors Wednesday to tackle what deputy administrator Bobby Sturgell called "some incidents of late that concern us," according to the Associated Press.

One of the plans is to form special teams consisting of airline and airport personnel as well as federal regulators over the next couple of months that will descend upon more than 20 airports with the most troubling runway problems and study safety their issues.

The list of those 20 are still being assembled, but Sturgell said Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, site of last year's Comair accident where Flight 5191 took off from the wrong runway and crashed, killing all but one on board, would not be on the list... as the airport has already voluntarily upgraded its runway markings.

FAA associate safety administrator Nick Sabatini (right) wouldn't say if there had been any other takeoffs from the wrong runway recently, nor would Sturgell. But, Sabatini did tell the AP the FAA had been studying 117 reports of such activity received over the last 10 years submitted by flight crews that experienced some confusion during taxiing.

The special teams will "evaluate all aspects of the runway and surface environment, standard operating procedures, markings and signage," Sturgell said. "We've seen through analysis of the data there are issues around the geometry of airports that cause confusion."

The group in the closed-door meeting agreed to implement some voluntary changes now such as work to improve painted runway markings at 73 airports be completed within the next two months instead of the original September 2008 deadline; adding taxiway scenarios to flight simulators; allowing controllers and safety workers to use a voluntary system to report safety concerns without having to worry about possible retaliation; a review of current cockpit taxi and clearance procedures to reduce the tasks required of pilots while taxiing and a review of what changes can be made in instructions controllers are giving to pilots.

Sturgell also said the FAA has made progress in implementing the National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation that no clearance for takeoff be given until aircraft finish crossing other runways. The FAA issued an order in July that all takeoff clearances will list all runways left to cross.

Whether or not all the NTSB's recommendations will be adopted is still under study, Sturgell said.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov