The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it has begun providing airport air traffic control towers with a new tool designed to prevent wrong-surface landings.
The Approach Runway Verification (ARV) tool provides visual and audible alerts to controllers if an aircraft is lined up for landing on the wrong runway or taxiway, or at the wrong airport.
“A safe National Airspace System begins and ends on the airport surface,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in announcing implementation of the ARV tool on March 14. “Providing controllers with tools such as Approach Runway Verification will improve their situational awareness of the airport surface, which is paramount to improving safety.”
ARV was initially installed in towers at 13 airports, and additional installations are planned this year and in 2025.
The FAA said that, after a controller issues a landing clearance, ARV alerts the controller if the flight crew does not align their a…
