Aero-TV: Safety Tip of the Week - Randy Babbitt, Future of Runway Safety

Babbitt Details FAA's Continued Initiatives to Reduce Runway Incursions

On July 30th, 2009, Randy Babbitt took to the podium for the first time as the FAA Administrator, addressing EAA AirVenture attendees in the Honda Pavilion. With nearly 70,000 operations every day, and over 753 million people transported each year, Babbitt explained that the overall system is unquestionably the safest, most efficient system in the world.

In his first year, Babbitt placed substantial focus on addressing general aviation safety concerns; the reduction in the number and severity of runway incursions continues to be one of Babbitt's top priorities. Though serious runway incursions (those deemed to be in the "A" and "B" categories of severity) dropped 50 percent from fiscal year 2008 to fiscal year 2009, the FAA remains committed to improving runway safety.

Working in conjunction with the AOPA, for example, the agency created two online educational courses on runway safety, one for commercial aviation pilots and the other for general aviation pilots. In addition to the increase in training and awareness initiatives, the FAA continues to push technological advancements such as AMASS, a radar-based system that tracks ground movements and provides automatic alerts when it detects potential collisions, and LCGS Systems; developed for small to medium-sized airports, Low Cost Ground Surveillance (LCGS) systems would help reduce the risk of runway incursions by providing ASDE-X/AMASS-like capabilities. Testing of such systems continues today.

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