"Enhancing Pilots' Airport Awareness, Another Adjunct"

Wednesday, June 18, 2003

Enhancing Pilots' Airport Awareness, Another Adjunct
Air Safety Week


Simplified signage would relieve much confusion and potential for airport
incursions, claims another source who has thought long and hard about the
problem. He outlines the conundrum and suggests a modest experiment: 

"The problem with runway incursions are the confusing and difficult-to- see
runway markings. [They are] in fact, absurd and counter to human factors. 

"Taxiways are outlined in blue, the in-ground lights are green and the lines
are yellow. Consistency is the best possible safeguard and they should all
be in one color. 

"Conduct an experiment at the safety center in Pomona (Calif.), where the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration lends one of its highway sign
engineers who designed signage for the interstates to come up with a
familiarized signage program for airport runways that are consistent with
what the pilot sees as he drives to the airport. 

"That way pilots don't have to learn confusing, bizarre and ever-changing
signage in order to guide their aircraft safely to the runway or to the
gate. Anyone who knows anything about human factors knows that consistency
and familiarity prevent mistakes. The band of obfuscation artists in the
Federal Aviation Administration have added a whole series of new signage
that is even more confusing than the signage it replaced."


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