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.