Runway Incursions

The FAA has put very strong emphasis on training and (hopefully) preventing runway incursions in these last few years. In fact, I would wager an unscientific guess that this is one of the preeminent concerns the FAA has with day t0 day airport operations. About two weeks ago, CA Jack and I got a front row look at why.

Here's the airport diagram. If you can find it on LiveATC, we first started to take note around 2157 local (East Coast) on 21 Jan, which is 0257Z on the 22nd.

It was our fourth and last leg of the day. The weather in Newark was decent, so of course we were delayed (Newark is delayed on crap weather days because of the increased separation minimums; Newark is delayed on good weather days because no once cancels flights and they simply can't handle to volume of traffic that gets sent their way). It was a little windy at the surface, so they were departing 22R at Whiskey intersection and landing 22L and 11. We were in line for 22R/W, sitting about 5th for the runway on Romeo, just off of Kilo. It had taken us the better part of a half hour to get here. A turbo-prop led the pack at Romeo and Whiskey, with a 737 behind him, followed by a heavy 757, another heavy 757, and us. An ERJ checked in with the tower controller on the visual to 11.

"Jetlink XXXX, winds 1-9-0 at 2-6 gusts 3-2, runway 1-1, clear to land. Plan to exit Papa southbound; break, Colgan XXXX, runway 2-2 right at Whiskey - position and hold. Hold at idle power, only."

Both planes read back their instructions. The RJ landed and rolled through the 22R intersection, and as soon as he was clear, the Colgan plane was cleared for takeoff. As they started their roll a Wiggins Airways (FedEx freight feeder) Cessna Caravan checked in on the visual 11. Again the tower controller instructed the Continental 737 to position and hold on 22R at W, idle power only, then cleared the Caravan to land on 11 and to expect taxiway Papa.

The 737 pulled onto the runway, and I looked back over the Captain's shoulder to see Wiggins roll out on final. He landed early on 11, and got to taxi speed around Sierra, but the Tower told him to continue through 22R and make a right on Papa. Instead, the pilot made the right onto Romeo, putting him head to head with a heavy 757. The Tower controller was busy crossing 22L arrivals across 22R to the ramp (when planes land on 22L they have to hold short of 22R until the tower controller has a gap in departures and can let 4 or 5 planes cross the runway at the same time) and didn't see this happen, until the 757 pilot broke onto the radio and said "he turned onto Romeo."

It took a few seconds for the tower controller to realized what had happened, and he wasn't pleased. He now a 757 that couldn't move, and a Caravan blocking the entrance to his departure runway. The 737 was cleared for takeoff, then the tower controller asked the Van if he could make a 180 where he was. The pilot said yes, and the controller instructed him to "make a 180, turn right on runway 11, then hold short of runway 22R." It took three tries for the pilot to make the read back correctly. As the Caravan pulled onto 11, the 757 he had been nose to nose with was cleared for immediate takeoff.

The 757 rounded the corner on Whiskey and pulled onto 22R. All of his exterior lights flipped on as the engines spooled up. Just then, we heard the first plane in the lineup say "he's on the runway now." As the 757, under full power, moved quickly out of the way we could see the beacon and Nav lights of the Caravan rolling slowly across the approach end of 22R - directly behind the blast of the Heavy jet. I can't imagine what kind of ride this unwitting Van pilot was having, but I'm sure it was as bad as any Nor'easter these freight dawgs face many nights they work.

The 75- went flying uneventfully, but the Caravan pilot's night was just beginning. The tower was not happy. Everyone was told to stop while they figured out what was going on.

They finally got the Van onto Papa and had him hold short of Yankee. Operations continued as normal until about ten minutes later when, during a lull in the arrivals, the Van driver got back on the radio and said "Newark Ground [he was still on tower freq], Wiggins XXXX."

"Continue holding short of Yankee, Wiggins, I'll get to you in a minute." Ouch.

Three heavies were launched in row from 22R full length, leaving us number two behind another heavy 757, waiting for a wake turbulence delay. About five minutes after his last run in with the tower, the Wiggins pilot got brave again.

"Wiggins XXXX, is still on Papa, holding short of Yankee."

Mistake. If the tower is already mad at you, they're not going to forget you're there...just be quiet.

"Ya Wiggins, I know, hold short of Yankee."

"Holding short."

"Any port authority vehicles on my frequency?" the Tower demands.

As Scooby would say...Ruht roh.

"Port Nine is up."

"Port Nine, Newark Tower, where are you?

"Port Nine is on the access road off Whiskey, on the approach end of 11."

"Port Nine, I need on Papa at Yankee for an aircraft escort. How soon can you be there?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Any other Port Authority vehicles on my frequency?" The Tower has obviously had enough.

"Port Seven."

"Port Seven, Newark, where are you?"

"Access road off Papa-Delta," the very south side of the airport.

"Are you free to escort an aircraft from Yankee at Papa to the FedEx ramp?"

"Affirmative."

"Port Seven, cleared across runway 22R at PD, proceed northbound on Papa, the plane is a Cessna Caravan holding short of Yankee. Bring him down to Victor, then hold short of 22R on Victor."

The Port Authority driver read back his instructions. About 30 seconds later we see flashing red lights speeding northbound on Papa toward the Nav lights of the Caravan. As the vehicle approached the plane, a new voice, with a thick New Jersey accent came on the radio.

"Wiggins XXXX, Newark Tower." It's the tower supervisor.

"Wiggins XXXX, go ahead" the pilot replied.

"Wiggins XXXX, advise when ready to copy a phone number." The words no pilot wants to hear.

"Ready to copy."

"Wiggins XXXX, after shut down call ###-###-####, reference a possible pilot deviation; how copy?"

The pilot read back the number.

"Wiggins XXXX, read back correct. There's a port authority vehicle at your twelve o'clock on taxiway Papa. Follow him to parking. Wiggins XXXX and Port Seven, taxi southbound on Papa, right on Victor; you're cleared across 22R on Victor, contact ground 121.9 on the other side."

They both read it back, then we heard our callsign followed by "Runway 2-2 right at intersection Whiskey, position and hold. Hold at idle power only."


So, lessons learned here.
1. If they tell you to expect a taxiway while you're on the approach, look it up on the taxiway diagram before you land.
2. Have the taxiway diagram out! That's a big one. Even if you're familiar with an airport, you never know when you might get a strange instruction or simply get turned around.
3. Your approach brief shouldn't just be the localizer freq and final approach course, it should also include runway information and, at a minimum, expected exit.
4. When in doubt, ASK FOR CLARIFICATION. I've been told this every time I visit an ATC facility or talk to a controller. They may get a little snippy, but they'd much rather repeat instructions than have you head to head with a Heavy. Or worse.
5. When you mess up, admit it! Twice in this instance another pilot had to tell the tower about a deviation that should have been readily apparent to the offending pilot (757s are hard to miss). Controllers are a lot more willing to work with you if you just fess up to your mistake and ask what they need you to do.
6. If you're unfamiliar, ask for better instructions. Airports like Newark are daunting, and even the best taxi diagram may not be enough to make sense of the miles and miles of poorly lit concrete at places like this. If you have even the slightest doubt about where you're going, ask for better directions - ask for progressive taxi if you must!
7. By all means, be certain you know where you're going and that you're supposed to be there before crossing a hold line or runway guard lights.


I know we're all susceptible to incidents like this, and by all rights it could have just as easily been me following those flashing yellow lights. This was an excellent example that even high time commercial pilots are subject to mistakes and we all must take good care to protect ourselves from these sort of easily avoidable errors.