 I'm Harrison Ford, and on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration's Runway Safety Office, I encourage you to put safety first. As a licensed pilot, I have a healthy respect for the rules and regulations set forth in the aviation community. Take the time to become familiar with your airport and constantly stay alert to your surroundings. Whether you're piloting an aircraft or a person granted with driving privileges on the airport grounds, play it safe. Think before you act. Help put the brakes on runway incursions. Archer 611, cold position, motorcycle on the taxiway. Wings Tug expedite, there's an aircraft landing on runway 28. Wings Tug, you are told to hold short a 28. Hello fellow pilots, I'm John King. And I'm Martha King. Now what we have just seen are examples of runway incursions. A runway incursion is the loss of separation or the creation of a collision hazard with an aircraft that's taking off or landing. And I can assure you this, they are a bad thing. In fact, they can run your whole dog on day. Well, nobody wants to be involved in a runway incursion. So why do they happen? Well, as with any other type of aviation incident, there can be a lot of causes and contributing factors. Some runway incursions are caused by vehicles, some by pedestrians, and some are caused by controller errors. But by far the majority are caused by pilots. Pilots can be fatigued, pressured by schedules, distracted and confused. The net result is a temporary loss of situational awareness. But the good news is you can do something about it because the pilot always has a last chance to prevent a runway incursion incident from happening. So let's review airport signs and markings and talk about some habits and procedures you can use to manage the risk of a runway incursion. You can greatly reduce your odds of being where you're not supposed to be by studying the airport sketch in your IFR approach charts and briefing or self-briefing your taxi route before you start your taxi. It really helps to use the airport sketch to figure out in advance the headings you'll use for taxi and when you line up on the runway. That way you can use your heading indicator as one more confirmation that you are indeed doing the right thing. If you do not have an approach chart for the airport, you can find sketches for some airports in the airport facility directory or you can get an airport sketch from a commercial flight guide or on the web at aopa.org. But you really load the odds in your favor if you actually remember what the markings and signs that you see around airports mean. Pavement that cannot be used by an aircraft is shown by double lines separating it from a taxi way or by yellow chevrons you find those adjacent to the end of a runway or yellow transfer stripes. You find those on the shoulders of taxiways. Hazardous areas such as construction areas are shown by barricades with alternate orange and white markings. Another place you're not supposed to be is on vehicle roadways. Vehicle roadway markings are shown by white lines dashed lines separate the lanes and solid lines show the edge of the roadway. Sometimes instead you'll see zippered lines like these to show the roadway edges. When a roadway might be confused with a taxi way it will often be marked with a no entry sign. No entry signs are red with a white circle with a white horizontal bar inside the circle. Yet another area you're not supposed to be on is a closed runway or taxiway. These are marked with a large yellow X on each end of the pavement. At night closed runways are sometimes marked with a lighted X sign. You cannot use an X off runway or taxiway for any purpose including taxing. If you never want to go on an aircraft let's talk about places you can go. And we all start off in a ramp area or an apron so let's talk about those areas first. Now these areas are generally not controlled by ATC. They may be controlled by another entity such as the airport management and when you call those folks you call them ramp control. And ramp control is who you would call for a pushback clearance around the terminal. Now areas that are controlled by ATC are called movement areas. Now when you think of that term movement area from ATC's perspective it kind of makes sense because controllers like to think of themselves as moving aeroplanes so movement areas where ATC moves aeroplanes. Now movement areas include runways, most taxiways and some ramp areas. The designation of movement areas is determined by an agreement between the airport operator and air traffic control. It makes sense that areas in which controllers don't control aeroplanes are called. Are you ready for this? Non-movement areas. The important thing to remember about non-movement areas is you need to look out for other aeroplanes and vehicles that can be moving all over the place on their own without ATC supervision. Now to taxi from a non-movement area to a movement area you need approval from a controller. Now the problem is at most airports there is no line separating movement areas from non-movement areas. So in that case it just takes local knowledge to know when you're taxing from a non-movement area into a movement area. Now it makes sense to hedge your bets particularly if you're not positive that you are in a non-movement area so talk to ATC anytime that you move an aircraft in that case. Now at some airports the boundary between movement and non-movement areas is shown and it's shown by two parallel lines they're yellow and one is continuous or solid and the other line has dashes. Now the continuous or solid line is on the non-movement side and you can think of that continuous or solid line as a solid barrier that you cannot cross without ATC approval. On the other hand if you're in a movement area you will see a dash line on your side and you can think of that dash line as having openings for you because you can taxi from a movement area to a non-movement area without ATC approval. Greenfield Ground, Learjet 226 Charlie Romeo Transi Aram taxi for takeoff with India. I just six Charlie Romeo runway 16 taxi via Foxtrot whole charter runway 11 on Foxtrot. Six Charlie Romeo taxi to runway 160 of Foxtrot whole charter runway 11. Now when you get your instructions to taxi the controller will normally direct you all the way to your departure runway as she did here and as you know when you get your taxi instructions you're required to read back the runway assignment and any whole short instructions including the runway number of any runways you're to hold short of when you acknowledge them. Unless the controller says otherwise you are authorized to cross any runways that intersect your route as you taxi to your assigned runway. Even though you are expected to cross any intersecting runways in route to your assigned runways you are not allowed to taxi onto or cross any part of your assigned runway. After all that's most likely a runway that is being used for takeoffs and landings. So if the direct route to the approach end of your assigned runway would have you cross your assigned runway as it does here you cannot cross it without a specific instruction to do so. Now if you're taxiing from a ramp area to a taxiway you should see a dashed double yellow line separating the ramp area from that taxiway. When you're established on a taxiway if the pavement is wider than the taxiway itself you'll see a solid double yellow line separating the taxiway from pavement you are not supposed to taxi on. Of course taxiway edge lights are blue but sometimes you'll see blue reflectors or blue and yellow striped reflectors instead. We all know that taxiway center lines are marked with a single yellow stripe. This stripe continues across intersections with other taxiways and sometimes across runways but taxiway stripes are interrupted by runway markings. If you have a habit of keeping the main wheels straddling the taxiway centerline you'll have maximum clearance on each side of the taxiway plus in low visibility you'll be less likely to lose track of your position. Now at some airports they light the taxiway centerline with green lights or sometimes green reflectors. These lights are flush mounted in the pavement and you can taxi on them. If you can think of green as go meaning go ahead and taxi on the lights. You wouldn't want to try that with blue lights though since they light the edges of taxiways. You'll also sometimes see green taxiway centerline lights or reflectors in ramp areas. Now taxing around an airport can be confusing. In fact some of us think that taxing in after landing at a strange airport can be the hardest part of the trip but say it's dark and the visibility is poor. Then things can be really confusing and confusion is not good. So the FAA has mandated the use of standardized signs around an airport but all the signs and markings in the world won't do you any good if you can't remember what they mean. So let's review what they all mean. First of all all the signs we talk about can also be painted right on the pavement but in either case they mean exactly the same thing. Now there is one saying that helps me sort out the meaning of airport signs more than anything else and that saying is black square you're there. What that means is if you see a sign with a black square with yellow letters and borders it tells you what taxiway you are on. So in this case black square you're there means you are on taxiway Bravo. By the way the convention is that taxiways are labeled with one or more letters and when it's a stub taxiway it also can have a number such as in this case alpha one and alpha two. So black square you're there signs are called location signs. Now here is something else I use to help me keep the sign straight and that is all direction signs have an arrow to point you to something. I know that sounds simple but it actually helps me because if there's any question in my mind as whether the sign is a location sign or a direction sign it helps me to remember that all direction signs have an arrow and direction signs by the way are yellow like this with black lettering and you'll see them just before taxiway intersections. In this case we're on taxiway Charlie we're coming up to Juliet and the arrows point the direction for a turn to another taxiway. Here I turn right to get on Juliet or I could turn left to get on Juliet. Now direction signs are often used in combination with location signs like this to give you a visual picture of what that intersection is going to look like and so they're grouped so that they read from left to the right showing the direction of the taxiways by the angle of the arrows and so signs indicating a turn to the left will be are you ready for this on the left of the group the location sign or black square you're there sign is in the middle of the group and so here you can see that you're on taxiway Bravo and of course the signs indicating a turn to the right will be on the right side of the group I think you have this thing figured out. Now the whole sign group is usually on the left side of the taxiway and that cleverly enough is so that the pilot in the left seat can see that group of signs very easily. Now each direction sign is separated from the others by a black vertical bar so you know which arrow belongs to which letter so that'll help make it clear for instance whether the sign is referring to two different taxiways or one taxiway that's labeled with a two letter combination like alpha alpha here so in this case you'd have a tight turn or 90 degree turn to the left to get on taxiway foxtrot and about a 45 degree turn to the left to get on golf as you can see and you'd turn about a 45 degree turn to the right to get on alpha alpha and you'd have a 90 degree turn to the right to get on alpha Bravo and you can see that you're actually on at this time taxiway Bravo. Now sometimes when you get on the other side of the intersection you'll see a location sign there just to let you know that you turned in the proper direction and you're on the taxiway you wanted in this case you are indeed on taxiway golf. Now when a sign points the way to a destination such as well a military facility or a passenger terminal or a ramp then it's called and are you ready for this? A destination sign these are destination signs now destination signs can use abbreviations as you can see or whole words whatever is necessary to get the message across now like direction signs destination signs are yellow with black letters and they always have an arrow now destination signs can also be used to point the way to runways and you'll see these signs very often at the entrance to a taxiway from an apron area they show the runway number and an arrow points the direction you take to get to that runway now if the same route happens to lead to two runways then the destination sign will show both runway numbers separated by a dot and the dot should be read as and so this route right here will take you to runway 1028 and runway 523 and then there's holding on your way out to the runway you will at busy airport occasionally see a single dashed line across the taxiway this is a holding position for a crossing taxiway you want a whole short of that line when ATC has asked you to hold short of the taxiway this will help ensure clearance for aircraft passing on the crossing taxiway now one thing you'll see at every airport is signs and pavement markings when you're about to cross a runway obviously when it comes time to cross or taxi onto any runway it's time to pay special attention so let's review all the signs and markings that can alert you to the fact you are about to cross or taxi onto a runway when you get to a runway from a taxiway you'll see a group of four lines crossing the pavement two solid lines and two dashed lines the two solid lines will be facing you on the taxiway side of the group and the two dashed lines will be on the runway side of the group if you have not been instructed to cross or taxi onto the runway you should stop short of the solid lines so that no part of your aircraft extends beyond the markings you may actually want to stop a little short of that solid line so that the perception from either an aircraft on final approach or from the tower is that you are clearly behind the line even if you've been told taxi up close but hold short be ready for an immediate takeoff stopping a few feet behind the hold line will make sure there's no confusion on the part of other pilots or controllers think of the solid lines as a solid wall when you get to a solid line think have I been instructed to enter onto this runway and look this is your last chance to prevent an error if you have not been authorized to cross or taxi onto the runway the hold line indicates exactly where you should stop if you're approaching the hold lines from the runway the dashed lines will be facing towards you you can think of the dashed lines as having openings for you to cross through because if you're approaching from that side you can cross the hold lines without specific authorization when you do exit the runway you need to make sure your entire aircraft is clear of this line before you stop as you know you're not clear of the runway until your entire aircraft has crossed the hold line now another thing that can alert you that you're about to taxi onto a runway is a holding position sign in this case you're on taxiway delta that's this taxiway here and you are intersecting runway one left holding position signs are red signs with white letters by the way anytime you see a red sign at an airport you should do a double take and think stop red signs are reserved for situations that require special caution red holding position signs are placed at the side of the taxiway usually on the left before you get to a runway these signs alert you to the presence of the runway but you should use the hold line as your stopping point the sign will tell you what runway you're aimed at as we said in this case you're on taxiway delta and you're intersecting runway one left at the end now if you are not intersecting the runway at the end the sign will show the numbers for each direction of the runway on the proper side of the sign in this case you're intersecting runway one left and runway one nine right when you're intersecting more than one runway holding position signs can have arrows like these now sometimes at airports that have frequent low visibility operations they'll install two side by side yellow flashing lights on each side of the taxiway has yet another clue that you're coming up on a runway these are called wig wag lights or runway guard lights and they're designed to help highlight your holding position along with these wig wag lights you'll also sometimes see a row of flush mounted in pavement yellow lights now instead of yellow lights you'll sometimes find a row of red lights embedded in the pavement at the hold position spot this is called a stop bar never taxi across the stop bar when it's lighted along with the stop bar there are elevated red lights on each side of the taxiway the stop bar and the red lights are turned off when you can cross this helps confirm your clearance and sometimes when the stop bar lights are turned off green centerline lights are turned on to guide you to the runway now in addition to all the other precautions we've been talking about you should make it a habit to check the final approach for traffic before you taxi on to any runway even if you've been cleared for takeoff by the tower and one other last check is to make sure that the runway is clear ahead of you before you start your takeoff roll because after all it is just possible that the tower has made a mistake and you have the last chance to save the day by being alert now in spite of all the help the pilots get occasionally pilots do accidentally taxi on the runway now one clue that you have done this is the color of the pavement markings all taxi way markings are yellow and all runway markings are white now if you are seeing white markings that is a clue you are on a runway if you're not supposed to be there let atc know and taxi off the runway immediately some runways just the presence of an airplane near the approach into the runway can interfere with the localizer and glide slope signals or that airplane could intrude on the airspace for the approach so in those cases they have established what is called an is critical area now when the weather is less than 800 foot ceiling and or two miles visibility a taxiing aircraft is not allowed into the is critical area without atc authorization now the is critical area is shown on the pavement with markings right on the pavement that looked kind of like a ladder or maybe a railroad track with some of the rungs missing here so when you are told to hold short of the is critical area you should hold short of that line and to help you know where that line is you will see the letters is and those letters is are one more indication of just exactly where you're supposed to hold short of now sometimes your route of taxi to a runway will take you across the approach area for another runway in this case your route of taxi to runway three six takes you across the approach area for runway three two and it may be necessary for you to hold short of that runway's approach area when another aircraft is landing when that's the case you'll see the standard double solid and double dash hold lines in two places the hold position sign to keep the approach area for the runway clear will show the runway number three two in this case and the abbreviation apch for approach this hold position is also used to protect aircraft departing from the opposite end of that same runway so remember you could be holding here for either an aircraft on approach or an aircraft departing from the other end now in some cases such as at an intersection of runways there could be some uncertainty after you taxi onto a runway for takeoff as to just which runway you actually ended up on in that case you'll occasionally see what's known as a runway location sign it's just like the normal black square you're there location sign used for taxiways except it has a runway number in it instead of a taxiway letter by the way if you do not see a runway location sign once you're lined up remember to check your heading indicator against the runway direction to confirm you're on the correct runway when you're on a runway after landing and need to carry the runway soon to make room for another airplane you sometimes need all the help you can get to find the taxiway exit fortunately a lot of help is available you'll often see direction signs on the side of the runway before you get to a taxiway pointing out the taxiway exit the signs are located on the side towards which you would turn to get off the runway in this case you'd be exiting the runway to the right so the direction sign is on the right at many airports taxi stripes begin on the runway centerline to lead you off to the taxiway also along with a taxi stripe you'll sometimes see green lights or reflectors on the runway to help lead you to a taxiway at night by the way the standard is changing to have alternating green and yellow lights from the runway centerline to the whole line and then all green lights from there on this is designed to help you know for sure when you are clear of the runway another thing that will occasionally help tell you when you're clear of the runway is a boundary location sign these signs are usually on the back of the hold position signs facing the runway they're yellow with black pictures of either the runway hold line or as in this case the is critical area line you can use them to judge when you're clear then tell the tower what runway you just cleared and what taxiway you're holding on and again the taxiway should have a location sign to tell you where you are in this case you'd be clear of the runway on taxiway alpha one now let's talk a little bit about uncontrolled airports you know uncontrolled airports come in a tremendous variety from dirt strips like this to airports with airborne firefighters like this and although much of what we have been talking about has referred to controlled airports uncontrolled airports probably offer the greatest risk of a collision on a runway and it's because you have no help from atc and you are on your own for collision avoidance plus uncontrolled airports often don't have the same level of signage and markings as controlled airports for instance this guy is trying to tell us he's got a closed runway and he does it with a skull and a crossbones not what you would call conventional signage now your best defenses at uncontrolled airports are to follow proper communications procedures and always check both directions before you enter or cross any runway and when you're departing you should monitor and call on the common traffic advisory frequency before taxing and before taxing onto the runway for departure now this will give any landing aircraft a heads up that you're going to be taking the runway soon now when you're inbound you should monitor that common traffic advisory frequency and call 10 miles out also call entering downwind base and final and leaving the runway now at many busy vfr airports there is a lot of student training traffic so the common traffic advisory frequency can get very congested so make your radio calls both precise and concise you know if you have ever been to oshkosh or sun and fun during the convention you know how good they are about getting lots of airplanes on the ground well that's because everyone is concentrating on what they're doing and following directions and being precise and concise and not cluttering up the frequency with unnecessary information the key is being very efficient about giving other folks a heads up on your intentions and at the same time it's very important that you listen to other pilots on the frequency and develop a mental picture of the traffic around the airport you know as in the rest of life many times listening is more important than talking but you cannot rely on the radio alone because there's always the possibility that another aircraft may not be radio equipped or the pilot could be on the wrong frequency so there is just no replacement for carefully looking both directions for traffic before you taxi on any runway so check that runway before you taxi on it and finally at any airport if you notice that the signage and markings just aren't what they should be do yourself and other pilots a favor encourage the airport operator to provide clear runway hold position markings and signs on all taxiway and runway intersections and the incident you prevent just might be your own just had a good review of airport signs and markings but we all know that just understanding the signs and markings around airports is not in itself enough to prevent a runway incursion after all signs and markings may be obscured by snow or ice or damaged and not working during construction the key is to follow good procedures study the airport sketch before you taxi and if you have any confusion at all ask for help and remember to maintain cockpit discipline and a sterile cockpit when you're moving on the ground now if you're flying a general aviation aircraft brief your passengers about cockpit discipline in advance and then remind folks when they slip and always be especially careful when you cross runways of course before you taxi on to any runway it's always a good habit to check for traffic landing or taking off from either direction as well as for any ground vehicles or pedestrians that aren't where they should be plus it helps to vocalize the runway is clear and I am authorized to cross it or taxi on to it you know runway collisions will always be a risk as long as there's more than one aircraft and we're using runways but the key is we must all take care to recognize and manage that risk and making sure you're up to date on understanding airport signs and markings and following good procedures will go a long way towards ensuring that you won't meet new friends unexpectedly while you're on a runway