Common Grounds

Comm. ground 1
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Introduction
In any civil aviation department, safety is one of the primary goals. Among the primary goals, runway safety component is even much more critical among all the other components. Nowhere should aircraft be in close proximity to another aircraft as well as other obstacles like, pedestrians, vehicles airport equipment and structures. The objective here is to minimize wrong runway departure and the risk associated with the runway incursions. It is also aimed at addressing possible errors committed by air traffic controllers, pedestrians, vehicle operators and most importantly those errors committed by pilots. The objectives can only be achieved through improved technology and infrastructure as well as focusing more on awareness and outreaches. This paper squarely addresses the latent errors, hazards and risks that are associated with taxing as well as the mitigation and the best possible practices to prevent runway accidents or incidents. To help us address this, we shall analyze the safety report in the C-182 scenario and other similar incidents.
According to a report from NTSB, most of the aircraft accidents and incidents especially along the runway could be blamed on pilots through errors committed by them. However, I think the aircraft safety cannot be left to pilots only. The responsibility for safety along the runway and aviation safety at large begins right at the top of the airline company and its management. History has repeatedly shown that without the topmost management level in a company being completely committed, the margins of operational safety tend to be seriously eroded. Although this does not mean that aircraft of such a company is going to have an accident, the fact is that there is a high chance or risk of getting involved in accidents- laws of probability always prevail. The management of any airline company has significant leverage in influencing the operational safety and efficiency within that particular company. This is so as the actions and attitudes of the management will always affect the actions and the attitudes of all the other people working within the company (Cardosi, 2002).
Human error is normal and sometimes inevitable. In the C-182 scenario, several things happen. An aircraft is being accelerated during takeoff due to the fact it has a relatively light load. Immediately, a C-182 passes across the runway downfield as in a Taxiway Romeo situation at a relatively high rate. On noticing that, the pilot makes a cautious decision where he rotates and gets off the ground even before reaching at the Runway 5/23. Although no major incident or accident was reported after the happenings, the pilot continues with the journey and decides to report the matter to the tower on reaching his destination. After reporting the matter, the pilot was informed that the pilot with C-182 had received clear instructions twice saying that he was supposed to "taxi and hold sh...