Airport Operations

Pilot Deviations: • Crossing a runway hold marking without clearance from ATC • Taking off without clearance • Landing without clearance Operational Incidents (OI): • Clearing an aircraft onto a runway while another aircraft is landing on the same runway • Issuing a takeoff clearance while the runway is occupied by another aircraft or vehicle Figure 14-48. Heads-up, eyes outside. Vehicle (Driver) Deviations: In August 2006, the flight crew of a commercial regional jet • Crossing a runway hold marking without ATC was cleared for takeoff on Runway 22 but mistakenly lined clearance up and departed on Runway 26, a much shorter runway. As a result, the aircraft crashed off the end of the runway. According to FAA data, approximately 65 percent of all runway incursions are caused by pilots. Of the pilot runway Causal Factors of Runway Confusion incursions, FAA data shows almost half of those incursions There are three major factors that increase the risk of runway are caused by GA pilots. confusion and can lead to a wrong runway departure: Causal Factors of Runway Incursions • Airport complexity Detailed investigations of runway incursions over the past • Close proximity of runway thresholds 10 years have identified three major areas contributing to • Joint use of a runway as a taxiway these events: • Failure to comply with ATC instructions Not only can airport complexity contribute to a runway • Lack of airport familiarity incursion; it can also play a significant role in runway confusion. If you are operating at an unfamiliar airport and • Nonconformance with standard operating procedures need assistance in executing the taxi clearance, do not hesitate to ask ATC for help. Always carry a current airport diagram Clear, concise, and effective pilot/controller communication is and trace or highlight your taxi route to the departure runway paramount to safe airport surface operations. You must fully prior to leaving the ramp. understand and comply with all ATC instructions. It is mandatory to read back all runway “hold short” instructions verbatim. If you are operating from an airport with runway thresholds in close proximity to one another, exercise extreme caution Taxiing on an unfamiliar airport can be very challenging, when taxiing onto the runway. Figure 14-49 shows a perfect especially during hours of darkness or low visibility. A example of a taxiway leading to multiple runways that may request may be made for progressive taxi instructions which cause confusion. If departing on Runway 36, ensure that you include step by step taxi routing instructions. Ensure you set your aircraft heading “bug” to 360°, and align your aircraft have a current airport diagram, remain “heads-up” with eyes to the runway heading to avoid departing from the wrong outside, and devote your entire attention to surface navigation runway. Before adding power, make one last instrument scan per ATC clearance. All checklists should be completed while to ensure the aircraft heading and runway heading are aligned. the aircraft is stopped. There is no place for non-essential Under certain circumstances, it may be necessary to chatter or other activities while maintaining vigilance during use a runway as a taxiway. For example, during airport taxi. [Figure 14-48] construction some taxiways may be closed requiring re- routing of traffic onto runways. In other cases, departing Runway Confusion traffic may be required to back taxi on the runway in order Runway confusion is a subset of runway incursions and to utilize the full runway length. often results in you unintentionally taking off or landing on a taxiway or wrong runway. Generally, you are unaware of the mistake until after it has occurred. 14-32