Whats behind the recent rise in runway near misses?
By Patrick Smith May. 09, 2008 | Chances are you’ve come across one or more recent stories about the marked rise in so-called runway incursions at airports across America. That’s a euphemism for when a plane or other vehicle erroneously enters or crosses a runway without permission from air traffic control, setting up a potential collision hazard. In FAA-speak, it is “any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take off of aircraft.” Not every incursion is the proverbial “near miss.” The vast majority are in fact harmless. But the numbers are rising and a handful of incidents were indeed close calls. In some respects, the uptick is no real surprise. After all, there are twice as many airplanes flying today as there were 25 years ago. But the numbers don’t match — incursions have been rising well out of proportion with traffic growth. (In 2007, commercial air carrier
