Status: COMPLETED

Background

This safety enhancement substantially reduces runway incursions and improves aviation safety through the use of nationally standardized procedures that focus on situational awareness in the control tower.

Related Implementation Plan

Detailed Implementation Plan

Related Outputs

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Runway Safety incorporated this Safety Enhancement into its 2002 – 2003 Runway Safety Blueprint (Objective 3.2). The national situational awareness requirements are outlined in FAA Order 7210.3Y (Facility Operation and Administration).

7210.3, paragraph 10-1-7 (b): Facility AT managers shall include local procedures in the facility directive to assist the local and ground controllers in maintaining awareness of aircraft positions on the airport.

Synopsis of 7210.3, Paragraph 2-6-1 (a): Terminal/En Route watch supervision requires maintaining situational awareness of traffic activity and operational conditions in order to provide timely assistance to specialists. The objectives and tasks of watch supervision shall be specified in a facility directive, which is focused on operational requirements. The directive shall specify, as a minimum, the required tasks for maintaining a safe and efficient operation. These tasks shall include, but are not limited to:

• The requirement to provide guidance and goals for the shift,
• Monitoring/managing traffic volume/flow,
• Situational awareness is defined as a continuous extraction of environmental information, integration of this information with previous knowledge to form a coherent mental picture, and the use of that picture in directing further perception and anticipating future events. Simply put, situational awareness means knowing what is going on around you,
• Management of the operational environment with a goal toward eliminating distractions.

(Note: There are eleven items identified in this paragraph. These are the ones that are pertinent to the SE55.)

Related SKYbrary Articles

• Runway Incursion
• Runway Incursion (OGHFA SE)
• Preventing Runway Incursions
• ICAO Manual on the Prevention of Runway Incursions