The news
The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday it had awarded greater than $100 million to greater than a dozen airports to assist prevent accidents after a series of near misses this yr. The money is meant to scale back “incursions” where planes, vehicles and other people mistakenly occupy or block runways.
The money will fund the changes, which include the development of recent paths or taxiways for aircraft to navigate airports and the installation of lights to assist pilots steer higher. Tucson International Airport will receive the biggest prize, roughly $33 million, for the development of a taxiway and redevelopment of the runway. San Diego International Airport will receive $24 million to construct a recent taxiway.
“Sometimes the perfect technology is concrete and that is why a few of what you are seeing is the development of those final taxiways, which suggests one less potential point of conflict where the plane is positioned,” transport secretary Pete Buttigieg told a news conference on Tuesday.
Why is it essential: Raids have subsided but are still an issue.
The announcement comes because the variety of runway incursions has fallen after a pointy increase earlier within the yr. On Tuesday, the FAA said the variety of essentially the most worrying forms of incursions rose to 1 per million take-offs and landings in January, but has since been halved.
A series of harrowing raids earlier within the yr attracted widespread attention. In one incident on the international airport of Kennedy in New York, the plane needed to abort takeoff because one other flew dangerously near it. In one other episode at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, a pilot needed to abort a landing because one other aircraft was using the runway for take-off.
In March, the FAA held a security summit to handle intrusions and other security concerns. It also issued a bulletin to airlines, airport operators and employees urging carriers to exercise caution when carrying out operations. The National Transportation Safety Board is holding an event on Tuesday to debate the intrusions.
There have been around 550 runway incursions this yr through April, barely up from the 530 in the identical period last yr. in accordance with the FAA.
Background: The aviation system had many problems.
Runway incursions have change into an issue as people emerge from the pandemic and spend more cash on travel and other services they’ve avoided previously few years.
But as demand increases, airlines and government agencies are struggling to maintain up. Around Christmas last yr, Southwest Airlines canceled 1000’s of flights, leaving hundreds of thousands of travelers behind after failing to quickly recuperate from disruption attributable to freezing weather. Weeks later, the FAA briefly halted all departures nationwide in an try to resolve a technical issue.
Many experts have warned that airlines and the FAA, which controls the air traffic system, could possibly be in trouble this summer, when the number of individuals flying could exceed the pre-pandemic peak. Airline executives and FAA officials said that they had made changes that ought to minimize disruption in the approaching months.
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Zach Montage contributed to the report.
