Discussion Forum 5

Instructions:

For this activity you are to function as the Assistant Airport Operations Manager. The air traffic control tower chief has requested a meeting with you to discuss airport vehicle incursions onto active taxiways as well as potential airspace impacts caused by the proposed construction of a high-rise office building near the airport. You also have agenda items for the meeting, including ramp- and gate-area congestion caused by air traffic control (ATC) ground holds and the need for better coordination when initiating a runway change (such a change requires an airport operations runway inspection). Prepare and briefly discuss at least four bullet points about each of the agenda items

Discussion Forum 5

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Discussion Forum 5

Agenda Items

1. Airport vehicle incursions onto active taxiways 

1. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Runway Safety Group reports that there has been a growing rise in the accidences and incidences of runway incursion in the US since 2011 (Werfelman, 2017).
2. We have to tighten our safety measures against airport vehicle incursions onto active taxiways to prevent such occurrences in our air.
3. One way of doing this is by developing and improving our alerting system to provide reliable warnings directly to pilots rather than alert controllers to prevent possible incursion (SKYbary, 2021a).
4. Most incursions are caused by errors associated with aircraft failure to acknowledged taxi-in clearance, misunderstandings in transmission or interpretation of a taxi-in clearance, and ATC failure to communicate a correct or timely taxi-in clearance (SKYbary, 2021a).
5. Our airport should conduct an internal assessment to identify such loopholes and address them promptly.

1. Potential airspace impacts caused by the proposed construction of a high-rise office building near the airport

1. The ongoing construction of a high-rise office near the airport is a matter of great concern because of the safety risks it poses to us, our customers, as well as civilians.
2. Objects that do not adhere to height requirements can accidentally be hit by a plane and cause fatal accidents.
3. FAA has set a height limit of 250 feet (76 m) for buildings within 10,000 feet (3,000 m) of an airport runway and is still pushing for it to be lower (ACRP, 2010).
4. This gives us a window to do an assessment of the situation and file an injunction if necessary to avoid further progress of the construction.
5. The first step would be to check the information contained in our radar that monitors traffic over large distances (ACRP, 2010).

1. Ramp- and gate-area congestion caused by air traffic control (ATC) ground holds 

1. The ongoing congestion at the ramp and gate area has to be addressed promptly because its ramifications are grave.
2. According to the Flight Safety Foundation, ramp safety incursions cost about $5 billion every year, which is a direct cost because it is not covered by insurance (Mototok, 2017)
3. It’s either the ATC is not working efficiently, or aircraft operators are not taking heed of the command given by ATC (Mototok, 2017).
4. We have to move with speed to assess the situation, understand the root cause of the problem, and address it adequately.
5. Some of the moves that have been proposed are training of the ATC personnel on how to execute ATC responsibilities and also the aircraft operators to understand and heed ATC commands (Mototok, 2017).

1. The need for better coordination when initiating a runway change (such a change requires an airport operations runway inspection)

1. Runways changes are impromptu and challenge both ATC personnel and aircraft operators hence the need to be extra careful and thorough to implement one
2. ATC has to carefully monitor the flight path of the aircraft to which a late change has been recommended for prompt detection of direct or indirect consequences of the additional crew workload (SKYbary, 2022b).
3. Many other cautions are involved while implementing a runway change to ensure a safe and adequate remedy to the situation.
4. For instance, a change of landing or approach should be offered just to reduce ground delay reduction to aircraft below FL100 (SKYbary, 2022b).
5. I have noticed that our employees are not conversant with and well prepared for a runway change, hence the need to implement a comprehensive review.

 

 

References

ACRP. (2010). ACRP REPORT 38: Understanding Airspace, Objects, and Their Effects on Airports. LEIGHFISHER Burlingame, CA and LANDRUM & BROWN. https://crp.trb.org/acrpwebresource2/wp-content/themes/acrp-child/documents/037/original/ACRP_38_Understanding_Airspace__Objects__and_Their_Effects_on_Airports.pdf

Mototok. (2017). Ramp Safety: Mitigating Hazards on the ramp. mototok easy moving. https://www.mototok.com/blog/ramp-safety-mitigating-hazards-on-the-ramp

SKYbary. (2021a). Taxi-in Runway Incursions. https://skybrary.aero/articles/taxi-runway-incursions

SKYbary (2022b). Unstabilised Approach: Late Runway or Approach Type Change. https://skybrary.aero/tutorials/unstabilised-approach-late-runway-or-approach-type-change

Werfelman, Linda. (2017). Tracking Runway Incursions. FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION. https://flightsafety.org/asw-article/tracking-runway-incursions/