FAA Deploys New Surface Safety Tool and Updates National Plan

Last week the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it is launching a new surface safety tool—Approach Runway Verification (ARV)—at air traffic control towers throughout the national airspace system (NAS) as part of its initiative to mitigate surface incidents. Relatedly, the FAA also recently released the updated National Runway Safety Plan (NRSP) for 2024–2026.

The ARV tool has been deployed at more than a dozen airports across the United States, and installations will continue at other airport facilities through 2025. ARV capability provides controllers with visual and audible alerts if an approaching aircraft is lined up to land on the wrong airport surface or even the wrong airport. Watch a video from the FAA.

 

ARV is currently in use at the following airports: Austin (AUS), Lincoln (LNK), Elton Hensley (FTT), Lansing (LAN), DuPage (DPA), Chicago Executive (PWK), Tallahassee (TLH), Cedar Rapids (CID), Branson West Municipal (FWB), Gerald Ford International (GRR), Elkhart Municipal (EKM), South Bend (SBN), and M. Graham Clark Downtown Airport (PLK). 

Meanwhile, the updated NRSP highlights the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) mission to implement data-informed safety analysis to reduce risk in the airspace and the airport surface environment. The plan discusses ATO Safety Management System (SMS) processes and how data obtained from the Aviation Risk Identification and Assessment (ARIA) automated system, voluntary safety reporting programs, stakeholder input, and other databases will be used to log and report unsafe occurrences.

The plan also discusses current systems available at major (core 30) airports, as well as future technologies that are in development to improve controller situational awareness and reduce terminal airspace operational risks, runway incursions, and collisions. To assess the effectiveness of the NRSP and future runway safety capabilities to mitigate surface incidents, the FAA is collaborating with the aviation industry to collectively implement mitigations and improvements that provide a robust framework for maintaining and enhancing runway safety. These efforts include:

• Runway safety initiatives that leverage technology.
• Collaboration with various offices of the FAA and industry stakeholders to identify and assess surface safety risks in the NAS.
• Quantitative analysis of data to reduce risk in the NAS.

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