Friday, Aug. 1, 2003 | 11:15 a.m.
Pilot education, technology and good sight lines from the tower at McCarran International Airport have helped drop the number of near-collisions between aircraft on the airport's runways.
McCarran, which had two near collisions in fiscal 2002, down from four in 2001, is an example of a national trend that saw 339 close calls last year, down from 407 in the previous year, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Donn Walker said.
"We found that nearly two-thirds of these near-collisions are caused by pilot error, or by the error of someone driving another vehicle on the runways," Walker said. "Over the last two years the FAA has worked really hard on an awareness campaign for pilots and controllers and that is helping."
North Las Vegas Airport showed a similar trend, but counted a much higher number of incidents. It had 34 near-collisions over the last four years, tying Los Angeles International Airport for the most in the country.
North Las Vegas has had no collisions, and the 34 incidents all involved the smaller tour and private aircraft that fly out of what is now the 54th busiest airport in North America, airport spokeswoman Debbie Millet said.
General aviation airports like North Las Vegas generally have more close calls than large commercial airports partially due to less experienced pilots at general aviation sites, Walker said.
"Obviously commercial airline pilots fly for a living, so they are going to have more expertise than those who fly part time or as a hobby," Walker said. "It's not surprising that North Las Vegas has more incursions than McCarran."
At McCarran none of the 13 close calls over the last four years has been serious, Millet said.
"There is a difference between a major accident and someone crossing over a line on the runway when they shouldn't," Millet said. "Of the 496,845 operations (takeoffs and landings) at McCarran last year we only had two near-collisions."
"Obviously we aim for zero, but two is a low number when you take our number of operations into account," she said.
The FAA considers a near-collision, or incursion, to be any incident in which an aircraft, vehicle or some other object enters a runway reserved for use by another aircraft. Something as simple as a plane's nose crossing over a marked runway line when another plane has called within range could qualify as a near miss.
The agency ranks the severity of these incidents based upon how close the objects came to colliding. The FAA rates near-collisions on a four-level scale ranging from a minor infraction with an extremely low chance of a collision being a D and an emergency situation in which a collision is narrowly averted being an A.
McCarran had one C and one D in 2002, with the airport recording its worst mark, a B, in 2001. North Las Vegas Airport had six D's and a C last year, and registered one A in 2001.
Since 1999 there have been four aircraft collisions in the United States, three of which involved general aviation aircraft colliding. The fourth was a jet making an emergency landing and hitting a closed runway sign. Only one of the accidents was fatal -- a 2000 collision between two general aviation planes in Florida that killed four.
North Las Vegas Airport reduced its number of near-collisions from 14 in 2000 to seven last year, partly because of a new tower in 2000 that allows for better views of the runways, Millet said.
"It's going in the right direction," Millet said. "We understand that the FAA monitors incursions to improve safety, but a propellor over a line on the runway doesn't mean we're having planes coming close to colliding."
Additional signage and markings were also added to the North Las Vegas runways about two years ago. Larger airports like McCarran use ground radar in addition to signs and markings to help keep track of the movements of plane's and vehicles on the runways.
Both airports also have strict standards for those allowed out on the runways, Millet said.
"In order to be able to drive on the airfield you have to pass a written exam and a driving exam," Millet said. "Any workers or anyone else that needs to go out on the airfield are always escorted by someone who has passed the tests."
Criss-crossing runways that force planes to cross over other active parts of the tarmac are another cause of near-collisions, Walker said.
The FAA has long considered collisions to be a top safety hazard.
In 1977 two 747s slammed into each other on a runway at Tenerife Airport on the Canary Islands, killing 583 people, the highest death toll of any aviation accident. A 1991 collision involving two planes on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport killed 34 people.
Retired airline pilot Mack Moore, who heads the Air Line Pilots Association's runway safety effort, said safety improvements, such as better markings and lighting, help explain the lower numbers.
USA Today
contributed to this story.
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