What sign should be placed at the beginning of short runways warning jet pilots they are on the wrong runway?

Question

In light of the Comair tragedy would it hurt to have one more sign?

Answer 1

First off, any warning signs shouldn't be placed at the beginning of a runway - they should be placed on the taxiways. If the sign is on the runway, chances are it'll be overlooked during engine run-up and pre-takeoff checks. Then history repeats itself and you have another terrible accident like the one at KLEX.

Second, the only sign that you need is runway length. My opinion is, if a commercial airport has two or more runways (not international) that commercial jets fly out of (such as CRJ's and Gulfstreams), that differ greatly in length, one for such operations and one for general aviation, taxiway and runway signs should include runway length when directing the aircraft to the preferred runway. After all, it isn't a problem when a Cherokee takes off from a 7,000 ft runway, but it might just be a bit of an upset if a G5 shoots for the much shorter 2,000 ft runway.

As for the tower's involvement and partial blame for the accident, I personally believe that it really wasn't their fault. I fly out of non-towered airports, and I've seen a lot of stupid things happen that not even a tower could help. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have airport diagrams that show proper taxiways, runway lengths, frequencies, and the rest. Its the pilot's job to nose their way around the airport, and if the tower spots the problem beforehand, then great for them. I've heard from a lot of ATC fellows who constantly state that it isn't their job to babysit every aircraft.

Anyway, to answer your question properly, I do believe that a runway length sign would possibly help, as long as there are multiple runways that differ greatly in length. My airport has a 5,300 ft runway and we have everything from Cubs to Gulfstreams flying in and out with no problem.

I guess its just another thing for the NTSB and FAA to wave their fingers and close the case with the red stamp, "PILOT ERROR".

Answer 2

There are numerous signs and markings. Adding a runway length would not help as there are procedures the pilots must do, such as refer to the airport minima procedures that are published and updated always.
The pilot checklist should have them stating which runway they are on and confirming direction with the compass and heading indicator. Also if there was construction that may have been misleading the pilot's would have known this by checking the NOTAM's or Notice To Airmen that would tell them of any anomalies during their flights.
It is going to be interesting to see the evaluation as it seems the pilots made a huge error in judgement.
The ATC assumes absolutely no responsibility for the occurrence.
However at major hubs all aircraft are checked to each point and verbal read back is mandatory.
The airport may have been lacking in strict procedures. Possibly I say.
Even where I land at smaller airports they are making sure I am going down the right taxiway or runway and once I tried to turn early on an exit, I was chastised for not following their instruction , although I could see no traffic that would have been a problem since I was the only aircraft on the field.

Answer 3

part of being a highly trained pilot in charge of souls aboard an aircraft includes another highly trained pilot sitting right next to you. this should be the 'sign' and the reason there are 2 guy's required to be on the flight deck. the ground controlers give you very precise directions to get to the runway, something like 'type+tail number [or callsign+flight number] proceed to runway 19 Right via Charlie, Kilo, switch to tower on 119.9'. then before you even can get on the runway you have to get permission from the tower. there are lighted signs with runway designations and taxiway designations and a very difinitive row of lights indicating the runway. it is a tragedy but sometimes humans screw up. and sometimes this leads to death. amazingly the pilot made it out so i'm sure there will be an explaination...

Answer 4

No sign is necessary. The runway itself is marked with its number, as well as signs with the runway number at the intersecting taxiways. Full runway information is available to the pilots in the various pubs they carry with them. Furthermore, IFR runways have distance remaining markers every 1,000 feet that clearly tell the pilots how much runway remains. Many non-IFR runways have them as well.

You can't mark a runway indicating that it is not for "jet" usage. There are jet aircraft that could safely take off on a 3,500 foot runway, just not a CRJ!

Proper check and cross-check procedures between the pilot and co-pilot SHOULD have avoided this tragedy. We'll have to wait for the NTSB and FAA to complete their investigations before we know the root cause.

Answer 5

The signs are there, they are all ICAO approved, stating runway category and runway number; in addition the runway is painted with its number just after the piano keys.
A simple cross check in the cockpit is enough to verify that you are on the correct runway. Runway 28 for instance can be checked by referencing the Direction indicator in the cockpit and double checking the mag compass, both which should read about 280 degrees in this case.

Answer 6

This is the pilots fault all he had to do was look at his compass and he would have known he was on the wrong runway. The runways are numbered by there compass heading , Ex. runway 22 would be heading 220 which is the runway in question.

Answer 7

There are already numbers painted on the runway and signs at the approach end.

This is not the first time a plane has taken off on the wrong runway and it won't be the last. Like the saying goes, make something idiot proof and someone will buid a bigger idiot. Not saying that the pilots were idiots, but you can't 100% error proof something.

Answer 8

Every runway is marked by it's number designator (rwy 23). Every airport in the world is listed in charts carried by the pilots. These charts contain maps of the airport, runway lengths, hazzards etc. This is an accident that did not have to happen. The controller wasn't paying much attention and the pilots must not have been paying attention to detail either.

Answer 9

There ARE signage. While on the taxiway there will be a red sign with the number of the runway oriented the Way the run way is pointed (referenced to magnetic North )
I cannot post pictures here if you want to see what it looks like go to
http://www.pdkairport.org/images/Incursion/Sign__lights.jpg
this one tells you what taxiway you are on and what runway is to the left and witch one is to the right.

Answer 10

The runways and taxiways are already well marked with not only many signs, but different colored lights (white for runways and blue for taxiways) and different colored stripes (white striped for runways and solid yellow for taxiways). It appears the flight crew made a terrible mistake and the ground controller did not catch them in time. No system can completely compensate for human error.