Incursions Up 12 Percent In FY2007

We knew it was bad... but thanks to a study conducted by the Government Accountability Office, we now know just how bad the ongoing runway incursion problem is.

A GAO review of FAA data on such incursions found that for the fiscal year that ended September 30, the number of runway incursions rose 12 percent over previous years... a sign efforts by the FAA to improve runway safety aren't keeping pace.

The GAO report also determined roughly 1/3 of all incursions between FY2002 and FY2007 involved at least on commercial airliner, according to Reuters, with the balance involving private aircraft.

The number of all incursions peaked at over 400 reported incidents in FY2001, according to the GAO, then declined and leveled off... before climbing sharply to this year's total of 370.

If there's any good news to be taken from the report, it's that the number of the most serious incursions have fallen by half since 2001... and dropped further in fiscal 2007 to 24. Eight of those cases involved commercial aircraft.

"The GAO findings are distressing," said Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar, chairman of the Transportation Committee in the House of Representatives.

The FAA has made efforts to fix the problem, said the GAO, with the most effective solutions also being the least expensive ones... including updated airport signage and lighting. But increasing congestion and shortcomings within the agency have stymied those efforts.

Among the criticisms levied at the FAA include gaps in leadership, poor coordination on a number of safety goals and cost overruns on new technologies aimed at alerting controllers to possible conflicts, reports Reuters.

The GAO also cited air traffic controller fatigue as a factor.

“Air traffic controller fatigue continues to be a human factors issue affecting runway safety,” the report states, adding fatigue “may result from regularly working overtime” and that, “We found that as of May 2007, at least 20 percent of the controllers at 25 air traffic control facilities, including towers at several of the country’s busiest airports, were regularly working six-day weeks.”

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association -- locked in a bitter fight with FAA management over a new contract -- applauded the GAO's recognition of fatigue as a problem.

“This report provides yet another credible, compelling and clear link between safety and controller fatigue, which is caused by staffing shortages and longer hours on the job," said NATCA president Patrick Forrey.

FMI: www.gao.gov, www.faa.gov, www.natca.org