Formal study of runway incursions began in the 1980s, following several high-profile
near misses and fatal collisions of
airliners operating on airport surfaces. One of the earliest reports on the topic was published in 1986 by the American
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), titled
Runway Incursions at Controlled Airports in the United States. After detailed examination of 26 incursion incidents occurring
in 1985, investigators compiled a list of conclusions and safety recommendations. Among their findings were a need for clearer
airport signage, improved
controller supervision, and revised training procedures for
aircrews and controllers. Despite the valuable data generated by the investigation, the NTSB conceded that, at the time, "the magnitude of the runway incursion problem could not be measured because of both incomplete reporting and follow-up investigations by the FAA." • Establish a steering committee on runway incursion reduction • Accelerate development and field deployment of
Airport Movement Area Safety System technology • Emphasize the analysis of pilot-related causal factors In January 1991, the FAA published the first edition of its biennial
Runway Incursion Plan (now known as the
National Runway Safety Plan). The document introduced organizational and legislative reforms alongside new initiatives to leverage research on
human factors, design, technological innovation, and
professional development. Despite newfound emphasis on runway incursion prevention, another fatal accident occurred on 3 December 1990, when eight people were killed after two
Northwest Airlines flights
collided in fog at
Detroit Metropolitan Airport. In 2005, the FAA assisted ICAO in its creation of a formal, internationally-accepted definition of a runway incursion. The new verbiage was first added to the fourteenth edition of
PANS-OPS Doc 4444, but it was not until 1 October 2007, that the FAA finally adopted the ICAO definition. Previously, the FAA had maintained that an incursion only included incidents in which a potential traffic conflict existed. An event without a potential conflict– such as an unauthorized aircraft crossing an
empty runway– had been defined as a 'surface incident'. As of 2017, the last fatal runway incursion accident involving a U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations Part 121 air carrier was in 2006. Between 2011 and 2017, 12,857 runway incursions were reported in the United States. Between October 2016 and September 2017, 1,341 were reported. Of these, six were placed in the most serious categories A and B. Four of these were considered ATC incidents, and two were "pilot deviations". Of the 1,341 incidents, 66 percent were caused by pilot deviation, 17 percent were vehicle/pedestrian incidents, 16 percent were air traffic control (ATC) incidents, and 1 percent were "other". An FAA study of the year ending September 2016, found that of 361 runway incursions attributed to pilot deviation, 27 percent resulted from "pilot failed to hold short of runway as instructed", and 14.7 percent from "pilot failed to hold short of runway". 5 percent of pilot deviations were classified as the pilot failing to comply with an ATC clearance. In 3.4 percent of deviations, the pilot departed without a departure clearance. The NASA Aviation Safety Reporting Service (ASRS) received 11,168 reports of runway incursions between January 2012 and August 2017, at a rate of approximately 2000 per year. More than 40 percent of reports were filed by general aviation pilots, and 36 percent by air carrier pilots. Factors included situational awareness, communication breakdown, confusion, and distraction. == Technology ==