"New names no game for O'Hare runways"

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

O'Hare runway names no game
New designations made for safety
By Jon Hilkevitch
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


A final departure call will be made late Wednesday evening for one of O'Hare
International Airport's workhorse runways.

The runway, known as 9 Right/27 Left, isn't going away. But it will have a
new name-runway 10/28-by the first flight on Thursday morning, according to
the Chicago Department of Aviation.

The change might not seem like a big deal to passengers, but it's aimed at
avoiding pilot confusion and keeping planes from landing on the wrong
runway. Approach charts and other pilot aids have been updated and the city
has distributed brochures, fliers, posters and stickers to spread the word
about O'Hare's runway re-designations, officials said. 

It's a part of the $15 billion O'Hare expansion project, with construction
under way on the first new runway in more than 30 years. 

The future runway, near O'Hare's northern boundary, will become the third
east-west airstrip at the busy airport, with three more east-west runways to
come. Federal officials asked Chicago to introduce the runway renumbering
now rather than wait until the new runway opens in late 2008.

Changing runway numbers helps ensure that pilots are navigating on the
proper compass heading to the assigned runway, and that vehicles on the
tarmac don't stray.

"It was a matter of picking the right time to do it in the interests of
safety. Our concern was what you have going on here is starting to look like
a runway from the air," said Barry Cooper, the Federal Aviation
Administration manager overseeing Chicago's O'Hare expansion project. He was
referring to the future far-north runway, to be called 9 Left/27 Right.

Another runway will change names in late August. 

Confusing? Not to air-traffic controllers, who are more worried about how
pilots will adapt.

"We will use the new runway names 500 times a day on the radio. But the
learning curve for pilots will be tremendous-the runways all look alike-and
we're concerned about it," said Joseph Bellino, president of the controllers
union at O'Hare tower.

Veteran United Airlines Capt. Herb Hunter said he doubts problems will
arise.

"You will open up your pilot manual, make sure the proper approach course is
dialed in the [navigational aid] box and land the airplane," said Hunter, a
Boeing 747 pilot.

Airport crews on Wednesday will replace the white "9R" on the leading edge
of the western portion of the runway with a "10," and substitute "27L" on
the eastern runway apron with a "28."

More than 100 other signs along the runway and nearby taxiways will be
swapped out, said Al Perez, chief operations officer in the city aviation
department.

Serious runway incidents creating the potential for collisions have occurred
at O'Hare in recent years and the FAA is hoping to minimize any additional
risk posed by unfamiliarity with the new airfield layout.

It's rare for a pilot to take off or land on the wrong runway. A National
Transportation Safety Board database turned up about 10 such incidents since
1983. But such mistakes can be deadly. Last August, 49 people on board a
Comair regional jet were killed when the pilots tried to take off from the
wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky.

Three months later a Continental Airlines plane landed on a taxiway instead
of a runway at Newark Liberty International Airport. 

None of the incidents involved runways that were recently renumbered,
officials said.

Pilots landing at O'Hare are already being required to adjust to the visual
changes associated with the future far north runway. It is set to open on
Nov. 20, 2008, along with the debut of a 3,000-foot extension of runway
10/28. 

Directional measurement in aviation uses compass numbers. Zero degrees is
North, 90 degrees is East, 180 degrees is South and 270 degrees is West.
Instead of expressing a runway's number in degrees, the shorthand format
drops the zero at the end of the number.

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