Runway Incursion essays

Runway Incursion essays A runway incursion is any occurrence at an airport involving an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard or results in a loss of separation, as defined by air traffic requirements. This separation loss can happen to a departing aircraft, or one preparing for a takeoff. Planes that are landing or intending to land can become subject to a loss of separation or incursion. In other words, ground operations are fertile ground for incursions. Although general aviation accidents have been decreasing over the past few years, incursions with all dangers attached to them have been increasing at an alarming rate. It is merely a matter of time for these incursions become tragic accidents. On 431 occasions in 2002, two aircraft or an aircraft and a vehicle mistakenly got too close together on an airport runway. Another mounting problem at U.S. Airports is delays. Currently the average airport delay per flight is eighteen minutes and by the year 2010 experts expect this number will climb to 44 minutes if no new technology is implemented at airports. The costs of these delays cost airlines over 254 million dollars per year which will lead to an increase in fares for passengers. The most logical way to reduce delays is to build more runways at the major airports but this will not solve the problem of runway incursions. The next step that many airports and the FAA have been researching, is installing new surface and navigation systems at airports. Two of the newest systems that have been researched are Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) and Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS). This paper will focus on the technology behind ASDE-X and AMASS, benefits of these technologies, issues with these systems, cost/benefit analysis, strategies behind the use of these systems and finally how these technologies will change in the future. Continuous growth in US aviation is resulti...