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September 6, 2008 2:40:04 AM CDT

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Air Safety Experts Most Worried About Runways

Posted Apr 25, 08 8:31 AM CDT in Business,  US 

(Newser) – FAA-mandated wiring fixes have grounded thousands of flights lately, but the runway is no safe place for planes, New York Times reports. Serious runway incidents nearly doubled to 15 over the past six months, compared with the same period a year ago. “Where we are most vulnerable at this moment is on the ground,” said the chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.  

Runway collisions are nearly always caused by human error, but they could be prevented with a variety of no-frills measures, including in-cockpit warning systems, something the FAA doesn’t yet require. “If you’ve got a GPS in your car, you have infinitely more detailed information about where you are than in the cockpit of an airplane on the ground at Kennedy,” said one pilot.

Source New York Times

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Airplanes line up for take-off on one of LaGuardia Airport's two runways in New York in this Nov. 24, 2004 file photo.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
A jet takes off down Runway 22, crossing the unlit Runway 26, at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. in this Aug. 29, 2006 file photo.   (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)
In this Tuesday, April 15, 2008 file photo, a Delta Airlines plane prepares to take off from a runway as a United Airlines plane, rear, lands at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, file)
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