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Preventing Runway Incursions 3.0

The number of runway incursions affecting European and global airports remains a significant safety concern, and this despite several initiatives launched over the past 10 years. Version 3.0 of European Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Incursions (EAPPRI v3.0), unveiled in November, promotes a renewed strategy to re-focus and re-energise ongoing actions being taken across the aviation industry. ECA is one of the key stakeholders to have contributed to this action plan.

In particular, EAPPRI v3.0 calls upon the aviation industry to review the effectiveness of systemic runway incursion risk reduction activities as part of their Safety Management Systems (SMS) and aerodrome Local Runway Safety Teams. The value of pilots’ representation in those teams is again recognised in the new strategy. Pilots’ participation is the way to bring to the table the right operational experience and technical expertise for identifying local risks and proposing mitigation measures. Making sure this remains possible has been one of ECA’s top priorities during the revision process.

The number of runway incursions affecting European and global airports remains a significant safety concern

EAPPRI v.3 contains modifications to some existing and a number of new recommendations affecting all the stakeholders with a vested interest in runway safety. These range from new measures to enhance the safety of airside drivers who need to access runways to measures facilitating air traffic controllers’ ‘heads up’ scanning so that they can maintain a continuous watch of aerodrome operations.

State authorities are encouraged to establish national runway safety teams and recommendations for the industry to move towards the graphical display of safety critical aerodrome information to pilots to improve their situational awareness.

ECA and the entire pilot community remain committed to carry out the recommendations of this action plan. ECA also welcomes that runway incursions have been flagged by EASA as a key safety risk area which will be part of next SESAR deployment wave. It is only through joint stakeholder efforts – including pilots’ – that runway incursions will become a less critical safety concern.