RUNWAY INCURSION MITIGATION FISCAL YEAR 2020 ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORT

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines a runway incursion (RI) as “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 takeoff of aircraft.” These occurrences, including wrong runway landings and takeoffs, remain a top airport safety concern for the FAA. Research shows that airport geometry can contribute to RIs. The FAA provides airports with guidance on recommended taxiway layouts in both Advisory Circular 150/5300-13 and Engineering Brief Number 75. Airport layouts not conforming to these recommendations may lead to pilot confusion and ultimately, RIs. The FAA launched the Runway Incursion Mitigation (RIM) program in fiscal year (FY) 2015 in an effort to mitigate the nonstandard geometry factors present at airport locations that experienced a high number of RIs. The FAA maintains a RIM program database updated on an annual basis, including only towered airports. During each annual update, all RIs (pilot deviation (PD) and vehicle/pedestrian deviation (V/PD)) and surface incidents from the previous calendar year (CY), including wrong surface landings and takeoffs, are georeferenced in the geographic information system database. An annual review of the layout of each airport determines if locations with previously identified nonstandard geometry characteristics have changed and/or been mitigated. New locations with nonstandard geometry characteristics are also identified. If a location has three or more RIs that occur in a CY, or cumulative incursion counts that average one or more RIs per year of data analyzed, it is considered for inclusion in the RIM inventory. Since the 2019 database update, cumulative incursion analyses are limited to the previous 10 calendar years of available RI data (e.g., 2010-2019). This report captures the RIM program summary through FY2020, annual updates, and current inventory. Since initiation of the RIM program in FY2015, a total of 7,826 RIs (PD and V/PD) and 185 nonstandard geometry locations were added to the database, bringing the total to 12,925 RIs and 6,286 nonstandard geometry locations. At the end of FY2020, there were 134 locations in the RIM inventory at 79 airports and 63 locations mitigated since the program’s inception. Airports utilized a variety of mitigation strategies to eliminate the problematic geometry characteristics or reduce their effect at these locations. Mitigation strategies include modifications to airport geometry, changes to lighting, markings, or signage, or changes to procedures or operations.

DOT/FAA/TC-21/10 Authors: Vitagliano, Lauren ; Debban, Steven ; Bleach, Kevin ; Liu, Candace.