"San Jose airport making moves to fix runway safety issues"

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

San Jose airport making moves to fix runway safety issues
By Mark Gomez and Deborah Lohse
The San Jose (CA) Mercury News


San Jose and San Francisco's airports both had a troubling uptick in the
number of obstructed-runway incidents in the past 12 months, the Federal
Aviation Administration reported Monday, although all but one of the
incidents was classified as minor.

Even more serious at San Jose, the FAA reported, was that there were several
instances of small-aircraft pilots being confused about which of the
airport's three parallel runways to use for landing. Monday, the FAA
announced some remedies it had suggested to 20 airports nationwide that had
runway-safety problems.

San Jose officials said they already are planning to install additional
lighting on the smallest runway. San Francisco airport officials said they
have trained more drivers, improved signs for pilots and re-routed a taxiway
to avoid crossing runways. 

In August, the FAA launched a two-month nationwide study of 20 airports -
including San Jose and San Francisco - that had a high number of "runway
incursions" as well as a high number of incidents in which pilots were
confused while taxiing around the airfield.

The main issue at Mineta San Jose International Airport was an increase "in
the number of instances of pilots trying to land on the wrong runway," FAA
spokesman Ian Gregor said. "And we wanted to address that issue now, before
it becomes more of a problem."

San Jose has three parallel runways - two 11,000-foot runways for commercial
aircraft and a 4,000-foot runway for smaller aircraft - and on "several
occasions" pilots who were instructed to land on the commercial runway tried
to land on the smaller one, according to Gregor. 

To fix the problem, the FAA recommended that San Jose airport install lights
at the end of one of the runways to reduce the chance pilots confuse the
shorter runway for the longer one, Gregor said.

"It seems to us the solutions are rather simple," Gregor said.

Some local pilots said they suspected that the pilot-confusion issues
probably come up most with pilots who don't fly into San Jose often.

Confusing instructions

Jacob Savage, a 17-year-old pilot who occasionally flies into San Jose, said
he had an episode that was slightly confusing last year. He said as he
approached San Jose's airport, he was initially given clearance to land on
the shorter runway, but shortly after was given the go-ahead to land on one
of the larger runways. "It's quite a thrill because it's such a huge
runway," Savage said. However, it was a bit of a scramble for him. 

"I had to re-do my pattern," he said. 

For experienced pilots or pilots of larger aircraft, landing in San Jose
usually is simpler than navigating the crisscrossing runways of places such
as San Francisco, some said. 

"You can land here easier than you can drive here," said Donald Simpson, a
former American Airlines pilot who now sits on San Jose's airport
commission. 

The FAA study focused primarily on runway incursions, which it defines as an
incident where a plane, vehicle or pedestrian on the ground is too close to,
or in the way of, a plane that is landing or taking off, Gregor said. San
Jose and San Francisco each reported four incursions in the fiscal year that
ended Sept. 30. 

In San Jose, the four runway incursions were given a D grade, the least
serious rating from the FAA. From 2003 to 2006, San Jose had five
incursions.

Mark DePlasco, air traffic manager for San Jose, said the uptick in San Jose
incursions was caused by construction-related changes at the airport, and
they haven't had any since February.

"The fact they are minor, as the FAA defines them, is welcome news," airport
spokesman David Vossbrink said. "We want to make sure we can work with the
FAA to reduce that number."

San Francisco had one of only four incursions nationwide that were rated the
most serious. That incident occurred in May, when a mistake by an air
traffic controller led to a near-collision of two passenger planes, said
spokesman Mike McCarron. 

The other San Francisco incidents were rated as not serious, Gregor said.

Better markings

As part of its findings, the FAA has requested airports with more than 1.5
million departures more quickly enhance some runway markings that were
originally required by June 30, 2008.

That process has been completed in San Jose, said Vossbrink, who added that
the airport is seeking funding from the FAA to add runway lighting.

As part of its study, the FAA spent about two months talking with airlines,
airports, air traffic control and pilot unions, and aerospace manufacturers.

The FAA released its findings late Monday, after the Associated Press
reported that a separate government agency, the National Aeronautics and
Space Agency, was withholding its own findings about runway safety to avoid
upsetting travelers or affecting airline profits.

NASA gathered the information through an $8.5 million federal safety project
in phone interviews with about 24,000 commercial and general aviation pilots
over a four-year period, the Associated Press reported. Since shutting down
the project more than a year ago, NASA has refused to release its findings,
according to the Associated Press.

In a statement, NASA administrator Mike Griffin said he was just made aware
of the issues and is reviewing the Freedom of Information Act to determine
what information can be made available.

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