http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1423967,00.html
Nation
Is the Runway Part of the Problem?
The crash of Comair flight 5191 at the airport in Lexington highlights both
the remarkable record of the FAA in keeping the skies safe and the long-running
concerns that the biggest threats may be on the ground
By SALLY B. DONNELLY
Posted Monday, Aug. 28, 2006
Airplane accidents are so infrequent today that travelers rarely even think
about them. That is the result of decades of aviation safety improvements and
an accident investigation culture that looks for problems then fixes them.
The recent record in the U.S. has been especially noteworthy. Airlines and the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight office, led by Associate
Administrator Nicholas Sabatini, have made history in the past three years:
the .017 accident rate per 100,000 takeoffs has made the U.S. the safest
system ever.
But there is one part of the air safety system that has proven stubbornly
resistant and where mistakes continue to occur: on the ground. The deadliest
crash in aviation history occurred in 1977 when two Boeing 747s collided in
the Canary Islands, killing 583 people. And even the best airlines in the
world have had problems on the ground — in 2000 a 747 flown by Singapore
Airlines on its way to Los Angeles crashed on takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan, when
a pilot headed down what was a closed runway and plowed into construction
equipment. Planes don't run into each other in the air anymore because the
jetways in the sky and the approach and landing patterns near airports are
very well defined, air traffic controllers can easily track planes on radar
(while on the ground at smaller airports sometimes controllers can actually
see the plane) and pilots know and understand the routes. They rarely, if ever,
change. And if routes are amended, the air safety system — coordinated by the
FAA — does an excellent job of informing pilots, airlines, private plane
operators, air traffic controllers and ground personnel that the change is
coming.
Yet the main problem on the ground — so-called runway incursions (where planes
come too close together) have remained troublesome. According to the FAA, in
2005, there were a total of 327 runway incursions. Twenty-nine of those were
very significant or serious, which is less than 10% of the total. In terms of
error types, there were 169 pilot deviations, 105 operational errors/deviations
by controllers, and 53 vehicle/pedestrian deviations. While pilot deviations
are the most common type of runway incursion, they accounted for only 31% of
serious incursions in the past fiscal year.
As the pilots prepared Comair Flight 5191 for takeoff in the predawn darkness
Sunday, they talked with air traffic controllers about Runway 22, Blue Grass
Airport's main strip for commercial flights, a federal official said on CNN
on Monday after listening to tapes recovered from the crashed plane's cockpit
and the control tower. Somehow, the commuter jet and its 50 occupants ended up
on Runway 26 instead, a cracked surface meant for small planes that was much too
short for the twin-engine jet. The pilots tried to lift off, but the plane
clipped trees, then quickly crashed in a field and burst into flames, killing
everyone aboard but a critically injured co-pilot who was pulled from the
cracked cockpit.
"There was planning discussion, both by the air traffic controllers and the
crew, conversations with each other about using Runway 22 for departure,
" National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member Deborah Hersman said
Monday on CNN. "We do know from the information that we have obtained on scene,
gathered evidence, documentation and from the flight data recorder, that the
runway that the crew used was Runway 26." The two runways at the Lexington
airport cross in an X pattern. To get from the terminal to the head of Runway
22, the airport's 7,000-ft.-long main strip, the plane would have had to pass
the entry point to the 3,500-ft.-long Runway 26.
Last fall, the NTSB said that runway incursions were among the NTSB's "most
wanted" improvements. It also said that existing runway safety procedures are
insufficient and criticized the FAA for being slow to make improvements.
Sometimes large safety issues can be solved with small changes like lighting
and paint. Although it has not been ruled that poor signage or lighting is
involved in the Comair crash, it has been an ongoing issue that safety experts
have been trying to fix. An FAA test project to make runway markings more
visible that was begun at T. F. Green Airport in Providence, R.I., last year
was so successful at reducing incursions that the agency is taking the program
nationwide. The project made a new brighter, bigger centerline and increased
the width of the yellow bars from 6 to 12 lines on a black background to
increase the contrast on the "hold short" markings (where planes stop before
entering the runway). The FAA has ordered that the same changes will be
required at the nation's biggest 72 airports by June 30, 2008. The new markings
will be optional at all other airports, but if they are used, they must be
installed at every holding position on the airfield.
—With additional reporting by the Associated Press
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