Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked stakeholders to put a runway safety team in place at all airports and adopt technologies to improve situational awareness, among other measures, to prevent runway incursions at airports. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a circular regarding the collision of planes due to runway incursion at the Haneda airport in Japan last month.
Apart from establishing a runway safety team at all airports and ensuring their effective functioning, the regulator has emphasized comprehensive training for pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft maintenance engineers, and drivers operating inside an airport.
Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) should ensure that stop bars are switched on to signal a stop and switched off to indicate traffic may proceed. In no case should aircraft or vehicles be instructed to cross illuminated red stop bars, DGCA said in a release on Monday.
Further, the watchdog said that aerodromes, ATCs, and airlines should implement contingency measures to address unserviceable stop bars.
Another recommendation is the adoption of technological interventions to improve situational awareness, thereby assisting Air Traffic Control (ATC) and other stakeholders to identify the traffic within the manoeuvering area.
Other recommendations include ensuring adherence to standard procedures by all involved personnel/stakeholders and recognizing the influence of human factors on performance, which may contribute to runway incursions.
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