Runway Incursions -- new aid to pilots

[Captain Hutch]

As an aid to alert pilots that they are approaching a runway during taxi, dashed lines are being painted on either side of the yellow taxi line when within about 75 feet of the hold line for that runway. It is definitely a help for daytime taxiing since it catches your attention from the plain standard yellow taxi line; at night though it doesn't seem to be very visible. Some extra lighting or reflectors might help. Certainly not a catch-all but a wheel turned in the right direction.

Hutch :hyped:

[Passenger Mark]

Improvement on an already good system. Compared to the freeways, taxiways and runways are well marked!

[Barb-SAN]

A Google image search turns up this, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060118runway.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060119taxiway.html&h=184&w=475&sz=36&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=eA9O2QiQ4GjfLM:&tbnh=50&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnew%2Btaxiway%2Bmarkings%26gbv%3D2%26 svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den
Enhanced taxiway markings pop up at busiest U.S. airports

http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060118runway-sm.jpg (http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060118runway.jpg)
"If you fly at one of the 72 busiest airports (http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060118airports.pdf) in the United States, you'll notice something different as you taxi to the runway hold-short line. Yellow dashes will soon be placed on both sides of the taxiway centerline within 150 feet of the runway hold-short line (see image (http://www.aopa.org/images/whatsnew/newsitems/2006/060118runway.jpg)). This is intended to alert pilots that they are approaching a runway holding position and should cross-check their taxiing instructions to determine if they are cleared to cross the hold-short line. They will be installed at all major air carrier airports by June 30, 2008."
January 19, 2006

It's reassuring to hear that they are continually fine-tuning the system.

Capt.Hutch...do you pilots have some way to help evaluate the new system, and provide feedback to whoever decides to change the markings (or improve them with reflectors)?

[Captain Hutch]

Barb-SAN,

Thanks for those pictures--I knew they would be somewhere but I hadn't taken the time to find out! :)
I was guessing at the distance--thanks, although I'm almost sure that some are less than 100 feet.

As to a reporting system, there is the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System to usually report when something might cause a problem, but I don't believe there is any sort of survey, yet anyway, to get the pilots' opinion one way or the other.

Hutch

[Barb-SAN]

From today's AVWebFlash:
Close Calls At Newark, BWI

http://www.avweb.com/newspics/runway-incursion.jpg Within days of the FAA declaring (http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=10052) that serious runway incursions were on the decline and the Government Accountability Office warning (http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-08-29) of the danger of a "catastrophic runway collision", a couple of pretty close ones occurred at two of the U.S.’s busiest airports. Late Thursday, a Continental Express pilot taxied onto a runway at Newark Liberty Airport after being told to hold short. The inbound Continental flight on short final had to land long to avoid the other aircraft. The previous Sunday, a Comair flight took off over a US Airways flight that had just landed on an intersecting runway at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. In both cases, the FAA says the aircraft came within 300 feet of each other. The GAO report released on Wednesday said the overall number of incursions is on the way up, with 370 recorded last year. But the FAA countered that the number of "serious" incursions (generally where evasive action is required or the aircraft pass close to one another) dropped from 31 in 2006 to 24 in 2007. The FAA says it’s working on the issue by upgrading signage and deploying ground movement warning systems. It’s also testing a simple flashing light aimed at aircraft on final to warn them if the runway is unsafe or occupied.

Flashing light...hmm...could imagine that would/could be a good idea. I assume it would supplement a warning over the radio from the controller as well.

What's your opinion, Capt. Hutch? Do you think a visual or auditory warning would be most likely to get your attention?