Oil Executive's Death In Plane Crash Highlights Safety Risk Of Airports Operations

The confirmation by French oil giant Total that it’s CEO, Cristophe de Margerie, had died in a plane crash late Monday night at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, after the Dassault Falcon jet he was flying in collided with a snow plow on take off, highlights a continuing global safety risk from runway incursions on airports.  A runway incursion is defined by ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, “as any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take off of aircraft.”  According to ICAO, runway incursions and the potential for collisions are considered the greatest safety risk at airports by pilots, controllers and ground equipment drivers.

The safety risk of runway incursions came to the fore in the horrific 1977 crash of two Boeing -747 jetliners on the runway in Tenerife in which 583 people were killed.  While runway incursions were a concern before then, the huge loss of life put the issue squarely before the aviation industry and its regulators.  The cause of the accident included a combination of factors including bad weather, communication problems caused by language differences, and the pilots’ lack of familiarity with the airport.

Over the years, the number of runway collisions and near-collisions has remained a persistent safety problem around the world, whether the risk included aircraft colliding with other aircraft or aircraft colliding with ground vehicles.  FAA reports indicate that “approximately three runway incursions occur each day at towered airports within the United States.”  Data for Russian airports were not readily available.

Both ICAO and the FAA have treated runway safety as a significant challenge and preventing runway incursions as a top priority. That’s why many in the aviation industry are concerned by even seemingly minor scrapes as occurred recently at JFK when a Delta regional jet hit a Royal Jordanian Airbus with 159 passengers.  While no one was injured, the incident could have been much worse; the collision of an aircraft with any other object has the potential for severe consequences.

Adding to the concern of the fatal crash in Moscow are media reports that Russian investigators stated that the snow plow driver was drunk, spotlighting another reported safety risk in Russia – operations under the influence of alcohol.