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United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Runway Safety

Runway Safety Goal

To improve Runway Safety in the United States by decreasing the number and severity of Surface Incidents and Runway Incursions.

  • Reducing the risk of runway incursions is one of FAA's top priorities. The number of serious runway incursions — called Category A and B — dropped by more than 63 percent from fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2008. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, there were no serious runway incursions. That is an all-time low for a three month period.
  • Given that there were nearly 30 million flights in the U.S. last year, a passenger would have to board more than three million flights before having the probability of being involved in a serious runway incursion. Put another way, a passenger would have to board a flight every day in the U.S. for more than nine thousand years before having the same probability.
Incursions by fiscal year
Total A and B Incursions ## Involving Commercial Aircraft Fiscal Year
31 10 2006
24 8 2007
25 9 2008
0 0 1st Quarter 2009

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Search Events

  • Find Surface Safety events in your area, like RSAT, Pilot Controller Forum, and other activities, through the FAAST Events search.

Incident Reports

Last updated: Tuesday, April 21, 2015