On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it will begin an audit to assess runway incursion risks at the 45 busiest airports in the U.S.
According to Reuters, the audit will evaluate each airport’s risks, identify potential issues with procedures and equipment and make recommendations to improve safety. FAA’s Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service is conducting the review and expects to complete it by early 2025.
The agency’s study is partly in response to recommendations made in November 2023 by an independent aviation review team, which called for urgent actions to enhance safety after several close calls involving passenger jets.
As recently as last month, a controller cleared a Southwest plane to cross a runway just seconds before another controller cleared an Alaska Airlines jet to take off. The Alaska aircraft was forced to abort its takeoff to prevent a collision from occurring, narrowly averting disaster.
These incidents have raised concerns among aviation stakeholders and agencies like the National Transportation Safety Board, which is currently investigating multiple close calls. Meanwhile the FAA says it is in the process of implementing new surface-awareness technologies at airports around the country to further enhance safety and mitigate incursion incidents.
