WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration will add a runway version of traffic signals at 20 busy airports in the next 3 1/2 years, the agency said Monday. The signals are part of a program to keep taxiing airplanes or vehicles from intruding on runways where other planes are taking off and landing.
Reducing runway incursions has been a difficult problem for the FAA as the tempo of airport operations has increased.
The system will use a computer to determine when a runway is in use and then turn on red lights embedded in the pavement at each intersection. Thus it would help to counter errors by pilots and controllers at the 20 airports, which include New York’s Kennedy International and Newark Liberty International. The New York Times
