IATA and European aviation partners launch plan to avoid runway excursions

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has collaborated with 16 other European aviation stakeholder organisations to develop a European action plan aimed at avoiding runway excursions.

As part of the plan, the aviation partners will offer operational and system recommendations to aircraft operators, air navigation service providers, airports and regulatory authorities in a bid to cut down occurrence of runway excursions, one of the most common types of air accidents.

IATA Safety, Operations and Infrastructure senior vice president Guenther Matschnigg said that 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," Matschnigg said.

"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."

According to IATA, 13% of all air accidents, which occurred during 2011 in European airspace, were runway excursions, while 19% of accidents globally are due to runway excursions.

IATA revealed that the plan has also been aimed at preventing runway excursions globally and the content of the plan strengthens the requirement to comply with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) provisions for the safety of global aviation.

"The action plan ensures that all the players in Europe are aligned and focused on a common set of tools to improve runway safety," Matschnigg said.

"Along with making European aviation even safer, it sets a good example of cooperation that could be taken-up in other regions."