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IATA And European Aviation Partners Launch Plan For Preventing Runway Excursions
 
By Jim Douglas
 

January 24, 2013 - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) joined with 16 other aviation stakeholder organizations in developing a European Action Plan for the Prevention of Runway Excursions. 

Runway excursion is an incident involving only a single aircraft, where it makes an inappropriate exit from the runway. This can happen because of pilot error, poor weather, or a fault with the aircraft. Overrun is a type of excursion where the aircraft is unable to stop before the end of the runway. A recent example of such an event is Air France Flight 358 in 2005. 

Air France Flight 358, a flight from Paris, France, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, using an Airbus A340 airliner, departed Paris without incident at 11:53 UTC 2 August 2005, later touching down on runway 24L at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 20:01 UTC (16:01 EDT). 

 

The aircraft failed to stop on the runway, plunged into nearby Etobicoke Creek, and came to rest, bursting into flames, approximately 300 meters past the end of the runway. The Airbus A340-300 had 309 people aboard 297 passengers (two of them infants, without seats) and 12 crew all of whom survived, with only 12 sustaining serious injuries. The accident highlighted the role played by highly-trained flight attendants during an emergency situation. 

Due to poor weather, 540 flights departing and arriving at Pearson were cancelled. Many small and mid-size aircraft due to arrive were diverted to other Canadian airports in Ottawa, London, Hamilton, and Winnipeg. Most of the larger aircraft were diverted to Montreal, Syracuse, New York, and Buffalo, New York. Flights from Vancouver were turned back. The crash of Air France Flight 358 was the biggest crisis to hit Toronto Pearson since the airport's involvement in Operation Yellow Ribbon. 

The goal is to reduce the occurrence of one of the most common types of air accidents by providing operational and system recommendations to aircraft operators, air navigation service providers, airports, and regulatory authorities. In 2011, 13% of all accidents in European airspace were runway excursions. Globally, runway excursions are 19% of all accidents.

 

 

“Since 2008 IATA has made reducing runway excursions a priority. This Action Plan is the latest element in our global effort, complementing the Runway Excursion Risk Reduction (RERR) toolkit which was revised in 2011. Together they build a common awareness of the issue among the key players. And that will allow us to continue to reduce the risks and the occurrences,” said Guenther Matschnigg, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Safety, Operations and Infrastructure. IATA’s contributions to the Action Plan include best practices and recommendations identified in the preparation of the RERR toolkit and IATA member airline expertise in preventing runway excursions gathered through their Safety Management Systems (SMS). 

Although the focus of the Action Plan has been on preventing runway excursions in the European region, it is acknowledged that runway excursions are a global problem and therefore the content of the Action Plan reinforces the need to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) provisions for the safety of global aviation. “Teamwork is critical. The Action Plan ensures that all the players in Europe are aligned and focused on a common set of tools to improve runway safety. Along with making European aviation even safer, it sets a good example of cooperation that could be taken-up in other regions,” said Matschnigg.

 
 
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