"GAO Report Warns of 'High Risk of Catastrophic Runway Collision'"

Thursday, December 6, 2007
        
Report Finds a High Risk of Collisions on Runways 
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON, (AP) - Air travelers face a high risk of a catastrophic
collision on airport runways in the United States because of faltering
federal leadership, malfunctioning technology and overworked air traffic
controllers, Congressional investigators said Wednesday.

The investigators gave the Federal Aviation Administration credit for
reducing dangerous episodes on runways from a peak in 2001. But they said
the agency's efforts "subsequently waned" as the number settled at a lower
level.

Then, in the 2007 budget year that ended Sept. 30, the episodes spiked to
370, or 6.05 incursions per one million air traffic control operations. In
2001, there were 407 runway incursions and a 6.1 rate. An incursion is any
aircraft, vehicle or person that goes where it should not be in space
reserved for takeoff or landing.

Serious incursions, in which a collision was narrowly averted, declined to a
record low 24 in 2007, compared with 31 the year before. But the report said
they had stayed high enough to pose "a high risk of a catastrophic runway
collision." 

Airports with near misses involving large commercial airliners included La
Guardia in New York, Los Angeles International and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International.

Currently, "no single office is taking charge of assessing the causes of
runway safety problems and taking the steps needed to address those
problems," the Government Accountability Office said in a report requested
by Representative Jerry F. Costello, Democrat of Illinois, and Senator Frank
R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey.

The aviation agency's Office of Runway Safety has not produced a national
plan since 2002, went two years without a permanent director and had a 45
percent staff cut over the past four years, the accountability office found.

In August, Marion C. Blakey, who was then the federal aviation
administrator, called an industrywide conference to produce ideas for quick
action. In October, the aviation agency reported progress on recommendations
from the conference, including efforts to improve runway markings and add
pilot training. 

The G.A.O. report approved of those moves but also recommended more
leadership from the aviation agency, better data collection and a reduction
in required overtime for controllers.

"This report makes clear that the Bush administration is cutting corners and
failing to put passenger safety first," Mr. Lautenberg said. "The F.A.A. is
taking too many chances and ignoring too many red flags."

In response to the report, the aviation agency said it had reached its goal
of reducing the most serious incursions by almost 25 percent in 2007. The
agency said the overtime was a short-term issue that could be resolved
through increased hiring.

Hiring is focusing on two dozen facilities with high overtime or six-day
work weeks, according to the aviation agency, and a working group is
studying whether scheduling changes could minimize fatigue.

An agency spokeswoman, Laura Brown, said that runway safety was a priority
and that the agency "is safely staffing all of its air traffic facilities."

Mr. Costello, chairman of a House transportation subcommittee on aviation,
and Representative James L. Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota and chairman of
the full Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, urged quick
approval of a bill already passed by the House that would provide $42
million for incursion reduction and $72 million for runway lighting. 

The measure would also require the F.A.A. to reopen contract negotiations
with air traffic controllers, which the Bush administration opposes.


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