Honeywell test pilots Joe Duval, left, and Clint Coatney fly a Boeing 757 test aircraft demonstrating runway hazard warning systems over the airport in Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, June 4, 2024. Honeywell test pilots Joe Duval, left, and Clint Coatney fly a Boeing 757 test aircraft demonstrating runway hazard warning systems over the airport in Tyler, Texas, Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Honeywell plans to layer the cockpit-alert system on top of technology that is already in wide use and warns pilots if they fly too low.— a plane or ground vehicle is on a runway when it shouldn’t be. Some incursions are caused by pilots entering a runway without clearance from air traffic controllers. In other cases, there isn’t enough spacing between planes that are landing or taking off, which can be the fault of pilots or controllers.
The worst accident in aviation history occurred in 1977 on the Spanish island of Tenerife, when a KLM 747 began its takeoff roll while a Pan Am 747 was still on the runway; 583 people died when the planes collided in thick fog.that was preparing to take off. Five crew members on the coast guard plane died, but all 379 people on board the airliner escaped before it wasdesigned to reduce incursions, such as reconfiguring confusing taxiways.