FAA rolling out new technology to reduce risk of runway accidents

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is rolling out new airfield surveillance systems to minimize the risk of close calls between aircraft on the runway.

Austin-Bergstrom, Indianapolis, Nashville and Dallas Love will be the first airports to receive the surface awareness initiative (SAI) system, which "will reduce the risk of runway incursions by improving air traffic controllers’ situational awareness," the FAA said on Monday.

The system will be implemented at the four airports by July and will be added to "scores of other airports" by the end of 2025. 

The technology is both cost-effective and "provides controllers with timely and accurate depictions of aircraft and vehicles on the entire airfield in all weather conditions," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said. 

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The agency said that quickly developing and deploying such technology is part of its effort to make runways safer after a string of close calls that occurred in early 2023, including incidents involving aircraft at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, in Austin, Texas, and off the coast of Hawaii. 

In February 2023, then acting Administrator Billy Nolen created a safety review team to examine the reliability of the nation’s air traffic system.

Shortly after the close calls, Nolen said that while air travel is coming back, the "long layoff, coupled with the increased technical nature of our systems, might have caused some professionals to lose some of that muscle memory."

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Additionally, he said the system is contending with the loss of experience given that the pandemic forced many seasoned professionals into retirement early.

The agency also said it has been increasing air traffic controller hiring and surpassed its goal of hiring 1,500 new controllers in 2023 and hiring 1,800 so far in 2024. 

It also enhanced the air traffic college training program so that more candidates can begin facility training immediately upon graduation.

The FAA is still holding regular runway safety action team meetings at airports across the country and investing millions in runway lighting and surface improvements at airports of all sizes. 

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In March, it launched a new surface safety tool called Approach Runway Verification at several airports nationwide, which provides controllers with visual and audible alerts if an approaching aircraft is lined up to land on the wrong airport surface, or even the wrong airport, the FAA said. It will be deployed at hundreds more over the next two years, the agency said.

The FAA told FOX Business earlier this month that the agency has "seen a recent drop in the rate of serious runway incidents."