Boyer touts AOPA/ASF efforts to curb runway incursions to international safety forum

Phil Boyer, AOPA president and president of the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations (IAOPA) spoke today at the FAA-sponsored Amigos de la Aviacion International Safety Seminar in San Antonio, Texas. The "trans-border aviation safety seminar" attracted more than 150 pilots and aviation officials representing 17 aviation organizations in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Boyer discussed the recent increase in runway incursions and said that AOPA and the AOPA Air Safety Foundation are focusing on "low-tech" solutions that can be implemented immediately.

Boyer said that pilot education is the key to reducing the number of runway incursions. He noted that AOPA and ASF have taken the lead to educate U.S. pilots with such programs as ASF's innovative online training course, the ASF Runway Safety program, launched one week ago. Already, more than 8,000 pilots have taken the course. Boyer also noted that airport taxi diagrams are available free to all pilots on AOPA's Web site, as are ASF safety publications like Operations at Towered Airports and Collision Avoidance .

Boyer also advocated that pilots should treat red-and-white runway identifier signs like stop signs. Pilots should stop before crossing any runway and confirm with ground control that they are cleared to cross.

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