On August 15, 2007, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and more than 40 aviation leaders from airlines, airports, air traffic control and pilot unions, and aerospace manufacturers, agreed to quickly implement a five-point short-term plan to improve runway safety at U.S. airports.
Recent close calls at some of our nation’s busiest airports show that action needs to be taken to reduce the risk of runway incursions and wrong runway departures.
A runway incursion is an incident on a runway involving an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object that creates a collision hazard or results in loss of required separation with an aircraft preparing to take off or land. So far in 2007, there have been 21 serious runway incursions (A&B events), eight of which involved commercial air carriers.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey asked the meeting participants to consider solutions in four areas: cockpit procedures, airport signage and markings, air traffic procedures, and technology.
Led by FAA Deputy Administrator Bobby Sturgell, the aviation community agreed to a five point short-term plan:
- Within 60 days, teams of FAA, airport operators, and airlines will begin safety reviews at the airports where wrong runway departures and runway incursions are the greatest concern. The FAA is compiling the list of 20 to 30 airports based on a variety of safety risk factors, including the record of past incursions.
- Within 60 days, disseminate information and training across the entire aviation industry.
- Within 60 days, accelerate the deployment of improved airport signage and markings at the top 75 airports, well ahead of a June 2008 mandated deadline.
- Within 60 days, review cockpit procedures and air traffic control (ATC) clearance procedures. This may include changing cockpit procedures to minimize pilot activities and distractions while an aircraft is moving on the ground and to make ATC instructions more precise.
- Implement a voluntary self-reporting system for all air traffic organization safety personnel, such as air traffic controllers and technicians.
Sturgell said mid- to long-term goal areas are also being pursued to maximize situational awareness, minimize pilot distractions, and eliminate runway incursions, using procedures and technology.
Sturgell was asked by reporters whether accelerated and/or additional deployment of the Sensis-made Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) was being considered. In noting that the ASDE-X installation at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was being move up by two years, the senior FAA official said: “We will look at the current schedule and whether we can accelerate our efforts at other airports as well.”
ASDE-X, a new runway safety tool, enables air traffic controllers to detect potential runway conflicts by providing detailed coverage of movement on runways and taxiways. By collecting data from a variety of sources, ASDE-X is able to track vehicles and aircraft on the airport movement area and obtain identification information from aircraft transponders.
The data that ASDE-X uses come from surface movement radar located on the air traffic control tower or remote tower, multilateration sensors, ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) sensors, the terminal automation system, and aircraft transponders. By fusing the data from these sources, ASDE-X is able to determine the position and identification of aircraft and transponder-equipped vehicles on the airport movement area, as well as of aircraft flying within five miles of the airport.
Controllers in the tower see this information presented as a color display of aircraft and vehicle positions overlaid on a map of the airport’s runways/taxiways and approach corridors. The system essentially creates a continuously updated map of the airport movement area that controllers can use to spot potential collisions. It will be especially helpful to controllers at night or in bad weather when visibility is poor.
ASDE-X Safety Logic (AXSL) is an enhancement to the situational awareness provided by the ASDE-X system to air traffic controllers. AXSL uses surveillance information from ASDE-X to determine if the current and/or projected positions and movement characteristics of tracked aircraft/vehicles present a potential collision situation. Visual and audible alerts are provided to the controllers, which include critical information about the targets involved, such as identification and surface occupied.
The first ASDE-X was activated for operational use and testing at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI, in June 2003, and declared ready for national deployment in October of that year. In addition to Milwaukee, ASDE-X is also operational at the Theodore Francis Green State Airport Providence, RI; Orlando International Airport, Orlando, FL; William P. Hobby Airport, Houston, TX; Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, St. Louis, MO; Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA; Bradley International Airport, Hartford, CT; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA; and Louisville International Airport – Standiford Field, Louisville, KY. A total of 35 major airports will receive ASDE-X.
Sturgell is impressed with the runway status lights being tested at Dallas/Fort Worth International and San Diego’s Lindbergh Field, which he said might work in combination with the ASDE-X. “There may be an opportunity as we move forward to combine runway status lights with ASDE-X implementation. It has done well in Dallas and San Diego. The program has been received positively. I am a very big fan of the program, as is the administrator. We will look at where it is appropriate to bring it into the system,” he stated.
Sturgell offered rave reviews for two low-cost airfield surveillance systems under evaluation at Spokane International with FAA sponsorship. With a price tag of less than $1 million each, Sturgell said “they don’t have all the bells and whistles of ASDE-X, but can provide incremental situational awareness for controllers that are beneficial.” He noted that they can be installed at an airport “in a matter of days” and go operational “in less than week.” He said airport managers and controllers like the low-cost surveillance systems that remain under test at Spokane International but could be installed at second-tier U.S. airports not on the list for ASDE-X.
Under test at Spokane International are the Transtech Airport Solutions Critical Area Management System (CAMS) and the Parks Air Systems NOVA 9000 Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS).
The CAMS is a mini-Intelligent Airport system, providing a point-solution at critical intersections and “hot spots” on the airport. The CAMS is typically implemented when full airfield coverage is not required. It is ideal for airports in which a comprehensive A-SMGCS investment cannot be justified. The CAMS can also serve as a complementary enhancement to existing surveillance systems.
The CAMS utilizes various advanced technologies, including Millimeter Wave Sensors (MWS), non-cooperative Optical Identification Sensors (OIS) and advanced data fusion and processing.
The NOVA 9000 Controller Working Position offers reliable identification and location of aircraft and vehicles on the ground. It provides surveillance, control, guidance and routing of movements, on and around the airport.
David Crowner, operations manager for Spokane International, is “quite impressed” with the capabilities and reliability of both systems, which are running off-line in the controller’s break room. FAA officials in Washington, DC, monitor the data remotely via an Internet link.
The CAMS has been under evaluation at Spokane International the past two years; the NOVA 9000 was installed a year ago The FAA chose Spokane International for the test because it is a busy medium-sized airport with fog issues much of the year. The airport was more than willing to test the airfield surveillance systems. “This concept is critical to safety at airports,” said Crowner.
The CAMS setup at Spokane International utilizes six-millimeter wave sensors positioned along the main runway. The system is sensitive enough to spot coyotes and tumbleweeds, said Crowner. The Parks Air Systems test article includes only one sensor, which resembles a marine radar. It is mounted on a 30-foot tower adjacent to the airport’s firehouse. It is able to cover the entire airport from that location.
Spokane International is not currently on the list to receive ASDE-X, despite suffering from heavy fog on a regular basis. Crowner hopes to keep one or both of the low-cost ground surveillance systems after the FAA-sponsored evaluation is concluded. Based on performance to date, he believes they should go operational. “We very much want to deploy it here. This is something we want,” he added.
Sturgell is “considering all angles” in implementing technological solutions to the runway incursion problem. “We will do a business case analysis over whether to accelerate ASDE-X deployments, implement runway status lights and deploy low cost ground radars systems. We need to make sure we get all the safety benefits out of these systems.”