“Hold Short for Runway Safety” Launches

February 12, 2008 - Five hundred eighty-three people were killed in March 1977 during a tragic runway incursion accident. Thirty one years later that accident at Tenerife, Canary Islands, still holds the un-coveted title of the world’s deadliest aviation accident.

In February 1991, 34 people were killed in what is called the deadliest U.S. runway incursion accident at Los Angeles International airport after a disastrous collision between a Boeing 737 and a Metroliner commuter airplane.

Runway incursions occur more often than you think. Some accidents are avoided by a mere 35 feet. Unfortunately, they only make headlines when tragedy strikes. But, ALPA dutifully continues its quest to educate all airline pilots about the safety hazards they face on a daily basis.

ALPA has made it its mission to bolster runway safety, and save lives. Today, ALPA launches its “Hold Short for Runway Safety” Campaign designed to raise the awareness of the measures that can prevent runway hazards through an interactive web site and a series of informative newsletters. The webpage will highlight where runway incursions occur most often and suggested ways that pilots can avoid this ever-increasing safety risk. In the U.S. alone, approximately 2.5 runway incursions happen every day.

The aviation industry—including the FAA, the airlines, and other airline trade associations—banded together to address this concern and voiced its commitment to making our runways a safer place to operate by providing access to these educational resources. Check out the website and look in the mail for the first “Hold Short” newsletter, coming soon. Share this information with your fellow pilots and take the online training course. Together, we can raise our situational awareness—in the air and on the ground.

Through our professionalism and skills, ALPA pilots complete thousands of flights each and every day without incident. While we are accomplishing all that we do in the cockpit, we have to keep our awareness high, so we can continue to make aviation the safest form of transportation possible for our passengers and cargo.