In an ongoing effort to reduce what are commonly known as “close calls” at the nation’s airports, the Federal Aviation Administration has just announced up to $121 million in funding for a variety of projects across the country.
Such close calls are defined as moments when planes come within several miles of each other or 1,000 feet, possibly increasing the likelihood of a collision.
According to the Arizona Republic, one such close call occurred earlier last month at the Phoenix International Sky Harbor Airport when an American Airlines plane and a Southwest Airlines plane came within a few hundred feet of each other when both were departing.
While FAA investigators have pointed to a national lack of air traffic controllers needed to safely manage takeoffs and landings as one of the reasons for the advent of close calls, the agency has also set out to alter the configurations of some airfields in order to prevent such incidents.
To that end, just under $45 million in funding has been awarded to the Boston Logan International Airport to simplify its airfield layout by removing a part of one taxiway and rehabilitating another.
Nearly $40 million has been awarded to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to remove a section of one taxiway, while installing an entirely new taxiway, and extending yet a third taxiway.
The Jackson Hole Airport is receiving $2.6 million in funding for the construction of 1,500 feet of one taxiway and the rehabilitation of some 2,400 square feet of another taxiway.
In a statement, Shannetta Griffin, associate administrator for airports with the FAA, remarked that the agency is “serious about ending runway incursions,” and to that end is “putting substantial resources behind our efforts.”
By Garry Boulard
