Development of Airport Active Runway Vehicle Lighting

Details

• Creators:
  Patterson, James W.
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center. Airport and Aircraft Safety Research and Development Division.
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. Office of Aviation Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Aviation Safety Ground Vehicles Runway Incursions Vehicle Lighting
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FAA/AR-TN04/9
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Technical Note
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration. William J. Hughes Technical Center
• Abstract:
  Runway incursions are a leading cause of airport ground accidents and usually result from the presence of unauthorized ground vehicles within the active runway area. In many cases, air traffic control personnel can become confused by the numerous flashing lights and various colors of lights on vehicles operating on the airport and because of this, are unable to distinguish which vehicles are on the runway and which are on a parallel taxiway or holding short of the runway. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the feasibility of equipping airport ground vehicles with supplemental warning beacons that would be illuminated only when the vehicle was on an active runway, thus providing a visual cue to eliminate any confusion in regard to the location of the vehicle. The objective of the research was to evaluate the various beacon features available, such as beacon colors, flash patterns, flash speeds, or beacon separation distances, to determine if there was a particular combination that would make the beacon unique enough to be used for this purpose. To investigate these features, an evaluation was conducted in which numerous vehicles were fitted with modified light beacons that enabled the project participants to observe the supplemental warning beacons in operation. The participants evaluated various beacon colors, flash patterns, flash speeds, and light bar arrays at various separations during the course of the evaluation. In addition, surveys were taken at various airports to determine which type of vehicle lighting was currently being used. The supplemental warning beacon concept was not feasible for various reasons. It was determined that the available colors were not unique enough to identify the vehicles on the runway, because these colors are already being used for other functions in the airport environment. In addition, it was determined that adding another beacon of a different color to the standard amber beacon would require them to be spaced approximately 2 feet apart to ensure that the beacons did not blend when they flashed in unison. The beacons would also have to be mounted vertically, one above another, to make both of them visible from a 360-degree radius. For most vehicle applications, however, mounting beacons vertically or horizontally apart from each other is not acceptable.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:121b662077736eafe34e1808248150c8e42ba8a1d535d3b4d50ecd3b6d39f8fac2d9580a1e86193b78a7378664282b8ec7c8bac752713f985295491544886584
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/89863/dot_89863_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 498.75 KB ]