An analysis of the causes of airfield incursions attributed to ground vehicles

In an effort to contribute to the identification and mitigation of safety risks on civil use airfields, this paper investigates the occurrence and probable causes of airfield incursions caused specifically by ground vehicle operations. Such operations were found to be responsible for nearly 20 per cent of all reported airfield incursions at airports within the USA. The research described in this paper investigated more than 2,000 individual airfield ‘vehicle’ incursions, as reported to the US Federal Aviation Administration, in an effort to identify their probable causes. Analysis of the data revealed that such incursions may be the result of four primary root causes: driver distraction, inadequate training, lack of situational awareness, or lack of proper communication. As a result of these findings, the authors suggest the targeted implementation of both improved training programmes and enhanced technologies to improve overall situational awareness while operating ground vehicles on an airfield. Proper implementation of technology and enhanced training programmes may be found to reduce these vehicle incursions and thus lead to improved airfield operational safety.