Says FAA Is Taking Too Long To Implement Basic Safety
Rules
NTSB Chair Deborah Hersman opened
the FAA International Runway Summit Tuesday by chiding the agency
for leaving six runway safety recommendations open since 2000, the
year they were presented by the NTSB.
"In July 2000 the NTSB issued six recommendations to the FAA to
amend various United States ATC procedures that, in the NTSB's
judgment, unnecessarily added to the risks associated with airport
surface operations," Hersman said. "All but one of those six
recommendations are still open with FAA responses in varying states
of completion, and the remaining recommendation, regarding
limitations on the use of position-and-hold procedures, has been
closed – unacceptable action after the FAA declined to make
the recommended changes."
"One of the recommendations asked the FAA to require the use of
standard ICAO phraseology (excluding conditional clearances) for
airport surface operations," she continued. "In response, we
were recently advised that the FAA soon plans to adopt a single
change: the use of “line up and wait” instead of
“position and hold” to instruct pilots to enter a
runway and wait for takeoff clearance.
We needed to wait nine years for that?"
Hersman (pictured) did say
that runway incursions are rare, and praised ATC personnel and
flight crews for their diligence on the ground. "If we look at the
numbers, the runway incursion rate in the United States over the
past 4 years stands at about 6 runway incursions per 100,000 tower
operations and this year, the numbers are looking even better," she
said. "While these incursions represent close calls and are
measured in feet rather than miles, it is not due to luck that we
avert disaster on a daily basis, it is because of robust
procedures, safe designs, and well-trained and alert controllers
and pilots that these accidents are prevented. Many of the
people in this room can take credit for this safety record, my hat
is off to you for what you’ve accomplished to date, but the
next question we have to ask is how can we get from 6 per 100,000
to zero?"
Hersman said that runway safety has been one of the NTSB's
top priorities for many years, and four specific issues currently
occupy prominent places on the Board's list of "Most Wanted" safety
improvements. She said the NTSB has asked the FAA and the
industry to:
- Give immediate warnings of probable collisions/incursions
directly to cockpit flight crews.
- Require specific air traffic control clearance for each runway
crossing.
- Install cockpit moving map displays or automatic systems to
alert pilots of attempted takeoffs from taxiways or wrong
runways.
- Require landing distance assessment with an adequate safety
margin.
Hersman said FAA should move more quickly in their evaluation
and implementation of runway safety technology. "For several years
the FAA has been evaluating various technologies that can provide a
direct warning to pilots of a runway incursion risk," she
said. "Whether it is Runway Status Lights (RWSLs), Final
Approach Runway Occupancy Signal (FAROS), or efforts to develop a
minimum operational performance specification for an ADS-B based
surface alerting application that would provide a direct cockpit
warning of a runway incursion risk, the FAA is taking commendable
actions, but they are just too slow. In 2011, 11 years after the
issuance of the recommendation for a direct warning to the cockpit,
only 22 airports will have RWSLs installed. The FAA’s
testing of and plans to develop standards for a system based on
ADS-B to provide a direct cockpit warning are also commendable,
although the FAA’s proposed requirements for ADS-B do not
include a requirement for ADS-B In, which will be necessary for
such a system."
"The FAA announced that it will
provide funding for users who agree to equip their aircraft with an
Electronic Flight Bag, which includes Moving Map Displays, or an
aural runway alerting system. Again, The FAA’s program
to encourage users to equip their aircraft with moving map displays
is commendable, but it is not a requirement, and the program is
limited to no more than $5 million. As a result, the program is not
likely to result in widespread adoption of moving map
technology."
Hersman said the Runway Safety Summit is a positive step in
resolving these issue. "Gatherings such as this one, which bring
together professionals from many disciplines and many countries to
discuss common problems, can help all of us to succeed in
delivering real safety results," she said. "Runway safety is not
the sole responsibility of the Administrator or even a tower
manager or a particular controller; runway safety begins when an
airport is designed, standard phraseology is used, and well before
pilots brief an approach. Safety is accomplished through
cooperation, collaboration and commitment."