Rates of runway incursions double over the past decade in Canada | 24CA News

American aviation regulators are investigating after two planes practically collided on a runaway in New York final week, and Canadian security boards need extra measures put in place to stop shut calls from taking place right here.

A runway incursion is an aviation time period for the improper positioning of automobiles, planes or individuals on any airport runway or its protected space — being within the incorrect place on the incorrect time, primarily.

The fee of runway incursions is a priority for nationwide airline security boards, because the variety of incidents have doubled over the previous decade.

According to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the variety of incidents within the nation grew from 5.3 incursions per 100,000 arrivals and departures in 2010 to 10.7 in 2021.

“While none of them have resulted in a collision, the point is, is that’s suggests there’s an elevated level of risk and that needs to be addressed,” stated Kathy Fox, a former air site visitors controller and present chair of the TSB.

In 2021, Nav Canada recorded 471 runway incursions on Canadian runways.

During an interview with Global News, Fox recalled a lethal incursion that occurred on Feb. 11, 1978.

There was a snowblower on the touchdown strip in Cranbrook, B.C., that pressured Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314 to overshoot the runway — crashing and killing 42 individuals on board.

“Runway incursions can be catastrophic,” Fox stated.

“Fortunately, they don’t happen very often, but we believe that a lot more can be done to reduce the risk of a collision.”

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Amercian officers are investigating a detailed name at a New York airport final Friday evening between a aircraft that was crossing a runway and one other that was making ready for takeoff.

“(Expletive)! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance! Delta 1943, cancel takeoff clearance!” an air controller stated in an audio recording of Air Traffic Control communications when he seen the opposite aircraft, operated by American Airlines, crossing in entrance.

The recording was made by LiveATC, a web site that displays and posts flight communications.

Delta Air Lines’ departing Boeing 737 aircraft then got here to a protected cease on the John F. Kennedy International Airport runway as the opposite crossed in entrance.

The Delta aircraft stopped about 1,000 toes (about 0.3 kilometers) from the place the American Airlines aircraft had crossed from an adjoining taxiway, in response to a press release from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

The aircraft returned to the gate, the place the 145 passengers deplaned and had been supplied in a single day lodging. Both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are wanting into the incident at JFK.

On this facet of the border, Fox stated Transport Canada, Nav Canada, and airports have all taken steps to scale back the variety of incursions taking place throughout the nation — together with enhancing communication and figuring out high-risk areas at airports that might end in an incursion.

“What we would like to see is more emphasis on technology to provide a direct-to-pilot warning in the event that a vehicle or another aircraft strays on a runway that they are using,” she stated.

Chris Miles, vice-president of operations and infrastructure with the Calgary International Airport, believes YYC is already exceeding the protection pointers from Transport Canada with regards to runway security.

“We do recommend is that our operators, the airlines, keep their transponders on when they’re on the ground taxiing, and any vehicle that actually interacts with the runway or taxiway is mandated to have transponders,” Miles stated.

Along with using transponders, the airport says it has additionally constructed specified routes for plane to take to the runway, which they consider can reduce any runway crossing.

With these measures, the airport says it has diminished the variety of its runway incursions by half over the previous 5 years.

“Our goal obviously is zero incursions, and the only way to get to that zero incursions is to generate the awareness of how critical runway safety is,” Miles stated.

— With recordsdata from Maysoon Khan, The Associated Press

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