A recent cluster of runway incursions and wrong-surface landings are signs of stress in the U.S. aviation system that must be addressed to maintain the system’s strong safety record, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy told a Senate aviation subcommittee hearing Thursday.
Testifying before the aviation subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee, Homendy said the NTSB is investigating the collision of two airplanes on a Texas runway in October, as well as six runway incursion events that occurred between January and August of this year — events that, in each case, involved two airplanes coming dangerously close to each other. The NTSB recently published a final report on its investigation of a seventh event. There were no injuries in any of the events.
Overall, she said, 23 serious runway incursions occurred in fiscal year 2023, which ended Sept. 30, compared with 16 incursions the previous fiscal year…
