Cites Increase In Runway Incursions As The Reason For The Audit

The DOT Office of Inspector General is initiating an audit on the FAA's runway safety efforts. Runway incursions—incidents involving unauthorized aircraft, vehicles, or people on a runway—increased by nearly 53 percent between fiscal years 2011 and 2015.

In 2015, FAA initiated a Call to Action forum that focused on developing short-, medium-, and long-term initiatives for addressing the increase in runway incursions. The objective of this audit is to evaluate FAA’s progress in implementing initiatives to improve runway safety.

In a memo announcing the audit, the IG said that over the years, they have issued several reports detailing FAA’s efforts to address runway safety. For example, in 2014 the DOT IG reported that FAA had made progress implementing initiatives to reduce runway incursions. "However, some of the mid-term and long-term initiatives were delayed or cancelled altogether, particularly at large, congested airports. Due to the increase in the number of runway incursions, we are initiating a review of FAA’s runway safety efforts. The objective of our audit is to evaluate FAA’s progress in implementing initiatives to improve runway safety," the memo states.

The audit is scheduled to begin in January.

FMI: www.oig.dot.gov