The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines a runway incursion as “any occurrence at an airport involving an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard or results in loss of separation with an aircraft taking off, intending to takeoff, landing, or intending to land.” By this definition there were 186 runway incursions in 1993 and 321 in 1999, a rise of seventy one percent in five years. Of the 321 runway incursions in 1999, 57% (182) were cause by pilots.  In 2000, there were 429 runway incursions, 59% (256) were cause by pilots. Every year the FAA makes runway incursions a major safety priority and every year runway incursions increase. As a result, the FAA has spent a lot of time and money into developing new technology to reduce runway incursions. These include AMASS (a software program that tracks and correlates all vehicles and aircraft on the airport surface and provides ATC to possible conflicts), ASDE –3 ground radar, ADS-B (hardware that broadcasts the altitude, position, speed, heading, and other data to any other ADS-B equipped aircraft, vehicle, or ground station). While all these technologies will make the runway a safer environment, they will not solve the basic problem of runway incursions. The Cleveland FSDO studied the runway incursions caused by pilots in 1999, and revealed some startling statistics. First, in 89% of the pilot-caused runway incursions, weather was not a factor. Second, pilot distraction or disorientation accounted for only 17 and 12 percent of pilot-caused runway incursions, respectively. This means that 71% of pilots simply failed to hold short of the runway. As a result, we as pilots must take the initiative to prevent runway incursions. We can do this by doing the following:

1. WRITE down taxi instructions. The majority of us write down our clearances for our flight, but how many write down taxi instructions? This will become especially important when you go to large airports that have 26 taxiways and 4 or 5 runways.
2. Be absolutely familiar with runway signs, marking, and lightings.
3. Familiarize yourself with an airport’s taxiways before going there.  Most pilots have picture of the airport and familiarize themselves with the runways so as to avoid confusion in the air. This should be done to with taxiways as well. The more familiar you are with the airport, the less likely you are to turn onto the wrong taxiway or get lost and make a mistake.
4. LISTEN to radio traffic. This will give you an idea of where everyone is and will help you maintain situational awareness.
5. When in doubt, ASK. ATC will be more than happy to help if you’re unsure. Don’t assume.