General Aviation Airport Runway Incursions: A Qualitative Approach to Examining Reasons for, Barriers to Addressing, and Lessons Learned from Airport Managers' First-Hand Experiences
Abstract
The purpose of the study was manifold: (a) to understand the reasons for
runway incursions (RIs) at general aviation (GA) airports, (b) to describe the
barriers to addressing runway incursions at GA airports, and (c) to describe the
lessons learned from addressing runway incursions at GA airports. This study was
based primarily on a phenomenological research design, which led to a set of
inductively derived conjectures.
The study’s sample consisted of 10 GA airports that had at least 10 times
the number of GA operations than the number of air carrier (commercial)
operations as reported in the Air Traffic Activity Data System (ATADS) across
five Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regions (Alaskan, Southwest,
Northwest Mountain, Southern, and Western Pacific). Using the FAA’s Aviation
Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) database, it was reported that
these 10 GA airports experienced the highest frequency of pilot deviations (PDs),
and vehicle/pedestrian deviations (V/PDs) runway incursions events that had
occurred over the last 7.5 years (January 1, 2010 through June 30, 2017). Using the qualitative data analysis software tool, Nvivo©, and
Spradley’s (1979) approach, the data were organized into three domains, which
corresponded to the three research questions (RQs). The results of data analysis led
to the development of common themes and patterns (the phenomenological design
component), and these common themes and patterns then served as the basis for
formulating corresponding conjectures (the first stage of grounded theory design).
The findings suggest that there are numerous reasons that contribute to RIs
at GA airports such as compromised situation awareness (SA) and communication,
airfield access, resource related issues, and attention to reporting RIs. The barriers
faced included airfield infrastructure, and pilot related issues; and the lessons
learned were that collaborative communication, and modified physical
environments can mitigate the occurrences of RIs. The findings are beneficial to
airport managers in that it provided a succinct synthesis of RI mitigation
information, for some of which can be implemented in the interim, while providing
recommendations for what can be done long term to improve aviation safety.