Taxiing Toward Tomorrow: Runway Safety Summit Highlights Need for Collaboration
From NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman’s opening remarks, to FAA Director of Runway Safety Wes Timmons’ closing statement and recap of accomplishments, the consensus was clear at last week’s first FAA International Runway Safety Summit: Focus, cooperation, and teamwork are the key components to improving airport surface operations worldwide. To see evidence of this need for global collaboration one only had to look as far as the roster, which included nearly 500 attendees from 17 different nations.
 
Many of the topics presented and discussed by safety experts and key industry stakeholders directly involved general aviation, including airport layouts, cockpit and ATC procedures, human factors, and technology. Also discussed were ongoing initiatives, as well as plans for future runway safety improvements in the U.S. and around the world. Presentations from many of the event’s speakers and panelists will be available in two weeks at http://events.aaae.org/sites/091107/.