Vanquishing the V/PD

4th Quarter 2018 

A quarterly publication from the

Safety Section

Federal Aviation Administration Airports Division

Western-Pacific Region

This publication is directed primarily towards airport management to be disseminated to 

all levels of personnel working at your airfield. Vanquishing the Vehicle/Pedestrian 

Deviation (V/PD) can be accomplished through a solid partnership between the FAA and 

airport management. The responsibility of making sure that the proper safeguards are in 

place, however, lies squarely on the shoulders of airport management. Please use this 

information and all that follows as a guide by which to provide a safer environment at 

your airfield.

Several times each year our office investigates V/PDs, at both general aviation and 

certificated airports, where concerned tenants, pilots or mechanics walk or drive their

vehicles into the movement area to “render assistance” to disabled aircraft without first 

contacting the air traffic control tower (ATCT) for a clearance. In their attempts to 

“render assistance”, they forget that their actions negatively affect airport operations and 

airport safety. Consider the following: 

• The pilot may not want assistance.

• Airfield Operations or the Airport Manager will solve the issue far more quickly, 

safely and effectively than individuals taking matters into their own hands. 

• Chances are Airfield Operations and the ATCT have contacted professional 

organizations who are already responding. 

• Unwanted participants are creating a hazard to themselves and other aircraft 

operating on the airfield. 

• Unwanted participants are only getting in the way of professional responders. 

• Unwanted participants are only causing confusion. 
• Unwanted participants have little or no understanding of the nature of the 

emergency and may aggravate the situation. 

• Unwanted participants have little or no understanding of the nature of the 

emergency and may be involving themselves in a situation that is rapidly 

becoming more dangerous. 

• A pedestrian or a private vehicle has no markings, has no lights, has no radio and 

the tower has no idea what to expect from your actions. 

Each airport has an obligation to educate tenants regarding the proper and safe response 

to accidents and incidents on the airfield. This education can be presented during initial 

movement area training provided by the airport as well as the recurrent movement area

training provided every 12 consecutive calendar months thereafter. This education can 

also be disseminated to tenants via newsletters, bulletins or website entries.

If you witness an accident or incident in the movement area and you have a legitimate 

reason to be involved, call airfield operations first. They will most likely allow you to 

ride in their vehicle as they respond or escort your vehicle into the movement area. 

If airfield operations is too busy to assist you, notify the ATCT via cell phone or VHF 

communications radio of your desire to respond. The ATCT should issue a clearance for 

you to respond. Above all, resist the temptation to break all of the rules because you are 

convinced that the situation demands your immediate assistance. Remember that the 

road to hell is paved with good intentions. Do not think that breaking all of the rules is 

necessary to accomplish a greater goal. Call the professionals first. 

Column written by:

Steven Oetzell

Lead Airport Certification Safety Inspector, AWP-620.6 

Reproductions of this, past and subsequent issues of Vanquishing the VPD are available 

on FAAWebsite: 

http://www.faa.gov/airports/western_pacific/airports_news_events/vanquishing_vpd_new

sletters/