Thank you for the opportunity to testify on FAA's Runway Incursion Program. Incursions are incidents on the runway that create a collision hazard or result in aircraft being closer than allowed by air traffic control requirements.
Runway incursions can have serious consequences.
Eleven runway accidents dating back to 1972 have claimed a total of 719 lives and destroyed 20 aircraft. Since 1990, four major runway accidents claimed 45 lives. We have completed a review of FAA's Runway Incursion Program, which evaluated the adequacy of FAA's efforts to meet its goal of reducing runway incursions. FAA's current goal is to reduce the 204 occurrences in 1994 to 41 by the year 2001, an 80 percent reduction. However, without improvements in FAA's Runway Incursion Program, it is unlikely that FAA will achieve its goal.