The number of serious runway incursions — those that fall into Categories A or B — reported to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in fiscal year 2017 declined to just eight, only three of which involved commercial aircraft, according to a recently updated FAA fact sheet on runway safety. In the previous fiscal year, FAA reported 19 serious incursions, 10 of which involved commercial aircraft. The U.S. government fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
A runway incursion is any occurrence at an airport involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. FAA defines a Category A incursion as a serious incident in which a collision was narrowly avoided. Category B incidents are those in which separation decreases and there is a significant potential for collision, which may result in a time-critical corrective/evasive response to avoid a collision.
The vast ma…
