To address and prevent the increasing number of runway near-collisions in 2023, the United States should invest in having more aviation safety technology across the airports, Jennifer Homendy, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said on Tuesday.
More investment is necessary
This year, at least eight close calls have been reported in the United States, including some nerve-wracking incidents such as the FedEx-Southwest Airlines encounter in February, in which two aircraft came within 115 feet (about 35 meters) of one another in Austin. That number was about twice the average annual in the five previous years.
To address this worrying trend, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the NTSB have set in motion plans. Earlier today, the FAA announced it will pay out more than $100 million to airports to prevent runway incursions. Some airports that will receive funding include Miami International (MIA), Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS), San Diego (SAN), and Tucson International (TUS). The agency also announced last month the establishment of a new independent aviation safety review team, which will present concrete recommendations on how to advance air traffic in the United States. In March, the FAA convened a safety summit and issued a safety alert which served as a wake-up call nationwide.
Today, the NTSB head, Jennifer Homendy, said technology needs to be upgraded to improve safety. Currently, only 43 US airports have systems that warn air traffic controllers when planes or vehicles get too close to each other on runways. “That’s not enough,” she added.
As reported by Bloomberg, Michael McCormick, a professor at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, and former employee at the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, said that years of inadequate funding for aviation safety has undercut the government’s ability to field the technology. “Yes, funding is an issue,” he pointed out.
Keeping passenger airline crashes away from the United States
The United States has not had a major fatal passenger airline crash since 2013 when Asiana Airlines flight 214 stalled and crashed on final approach into San Francisco International Airport. This accident led to the death of three people onboard, and 187 were injured. US passenger airlines have not had a major crash since 2009, although some deadly accidents have taken place, such as Southwest Airlines flight 1380 in 2018. In this accident, a contained engine failure caused explosive depressurization on the aircraft, which partially ejected one passenger off the plane, sustaining fatal injuries.
The worrying trend of close-call incidents in 2023 forced US authorities to address the subject. According to Reuters, the US runway incursion rate increased in 2023, peaking in March at 33 per one million takeoffs and landings. Since then, the rate has decreased, falling to 19 in April. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg vowed continued vigilance across the country as the rate was coming closer to normal levels.
Meanwhile, FAA’s Administrator Billy Nolen said there were signs incidents had declined. “Our efforts are working, but we must remain vigilant and continue to find ways to prevent close calls from happening at all.”
What do you think about what the chair of the NTSB said? Let us know in the comments below.
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