FAA Issues Safety Alert After Runway Close Calls: See Incidents Reported In NJ

NEW JERSEY — The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday called on the nation’s airport operators, pilots and safety personnel, including those at New Jersey airports, to do a better job of keeping passengers safe from near-misses on runways.

The FAA safety alert comes in response to a string of high-profile near misses on runways. The agency said that while its data does “not reflect an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential severity of these events is concerning.”

Incidents this year at a half dozen airports brought attention to the problem, but what the FAA calls “runway incursions” have become a more common problem, according to the agency. That’s when aircraft, vehicles, people are in takeoff and landing areas, but shouldn’t be.

There were about 1,732 such incidents in 2022, and 699 so far this year, according to the FAA.

“The vast majority of runway incursions are not serious occurrences,” the FAA said in the alert, but reducing them is one of its highest safety priorities that is a “shared responsibility that encompasses pilots, air traffic controllers and airport vehicle drivers.”

One of these close calls was between one plane crossing the runway and another preparing for takeoff at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport in January.

The FAA lists 21 runway incursions at New Jersey airports from Jan 1, 2022 through March 23, 2023.

The only one this year was at the Teterboro airport on Jan 27, when an aircraft entered the runway without air traffic control’s approval — the plane scheduled to land on that runway had to go around, and passed over the other aircraft at 400 feet, per the FAA investigation.

Other incidents around the country are:

• A minor collision on a runway that followed a close call at Boston Logan in the same week in early March
• A near crash between Air Canada and American Airline flights at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport in March
• A near collision between a helicopter and Southwest Airlines plane at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California just days after the FAA safety summit
• A near collision between American Eagle and United Airlines flights at Reagan National Airport in mid-March
• A United Airlines plane that plunged into the Pacific after taking off in Maui in mid-February
• A close call in Austin between FedEx cargo and Southwest Airlines passenger planes in Austin in February

Conveying urgency, the FAA called on airline operators and others to immediately assess their safety protocols and make changes.

“Safety management systems, policies and procedures must be able to account for a high rate of change,” according to the alert, which includes a checklist of actions that should be taken to improve airline safety.

Among those the FAA called to action are directors of operations, chief pilots, directors of training, check airmen, directors of safety, program managers, pilots and operators to implement changes.

Patch has reached out to several regional NJ airports for a response. The only one which replied as of Thursday at 4:15 p.m. was the Atlantic City International Airport, which said it had no comment on the FAA's call to action.

In Pennsylvania, the city of Philadelphia Department of Aviation told Patch in a statement that safety and security are its "top priority."

"We maintain strict compliance with all FAA safety regulations and industry best management practices and work with the FAA, our airline partners and airside service providers to achieve the highest level of safety at Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport," said public affairs manager Heather Redfern.

Last week, the FAA held a safety summit with airlines, airport operators and workers to discuss the tumultuous state of the industry. There are about 45,000 planes in U.S. airspace on any given day.

“I think I speak for all of us, and certainly the traveling public, when I say these events are concerning,” FAA acting administrator Billy Nolen said in opening remarks. “They are not what we have come to expect during a time of unprecedented safety in the U.S. air transportation system."

Patch's national desk contributed to this report.