[HN Gopher] What We Know Now About Friday Night's Near-Disaster ...
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       What We Know Now About Friday Night's Near-Disaster at JFK Airport
        
       Author : bgc
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2023-01-15 20:37 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (viewfromthewing.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (viewfromthewing.com)
        
       | amelius wrote:
       | So we don't have computers anticipating the movements of
       | airplanes, and giving warning signals if necessary?
        
         | sklargh wrote:
         | We do but not to the extent that laypeople would think
         | rational. Taxi instructions are verbal affairs. Hugely
         | problematic in very busy airports. I will say that I am not
         | sure how much automation would have helped. It does appear that
         | this pilot had really lost situational awareness.
        
         | asciimike wrote:
         | Ish. See ADS-B
         | (https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/adsb) and TCAS (htt
         | ps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_collision_avoidance_sy...).
         | It's mostly helpful in the air, not on the ground.
        
         | cm2187 wrote:
         | Stupid question but can't they use a system of traffic lights
         | before crossing a runway?
        
       | pedalpete wrote:
       | Are we're relying on pilots who are holding many many things in
       | their heads to follow only the verbal directions of air traffic
       | control?
       | 
       | Two alternatives that I would think would be fairly easy to
       | implement.
       | 
       | 1) Google maps style directions input by air traffic control
       | showing as well as telling the pilot what runway/path to runway
       | to take.
       | 
       | 2) Coloured lighting directing the pilot to the right runway via
       | the correct path. Then the pilot only needs to know that they are
       | following blue, and when it's time for them to move, blue comes
       | up.
       | 
       | I understand this would be more work on the part of ATC, where
       | right now they can verbally communicate, but a system such as
       | this may also help ATC relieve some of the mental load.
       | 
       | Is this already happening? I can't find any links to suggest it
       | is.
        
         | bgc wrote:
         | Related to (2) is an RWSL[0] system, which was supposedly in
         | use at the time of this event and is designed to stop exactly
         | this sort of thing... whether it was functioning, the pilots
         | didn't see it, etc, will surely come out in the ensuing
         | investigations.
         | 
         | [0] https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/rwsl/
        
         | tobinfricke wrote:
         | Re #2: We already have something like this at some airports. I
         | wonder whether it was available on the runway/taxiway in
         | question?
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runway_status_lights
        
           | tobinfricke wrote:
           | Seems like the particular intersection where this incident
           | occured is supposed to be protected by RSL:
           | 
           | https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/rwsl/media/JFK.pd.
           | ..
        
         | scyzoryk_xyz wrote:
         | My understanding is that there is a shit ton that is and always
         | has been happening in this area. Air safety is the leading
         | sector in standards for safety training.
         | 
         | We are relying on checklists, procedures, surveillance tech,
         | simulation training, certification, re-certification etc. etc.
         | No other industry has put in as much thought into these
         | problems. Except for maybe the military.
         | 
         | Source: I had the opportunity to meet and participate in crisis
         | resource management training for surgeons held by a trainer
         | from pilot training industry. Everyone's mind was blown because
         | surgery is comparatively in the Middle Ages.
         | 
         | Based on seeing and hearing about it I believe that more ideas
         | have been studied and tested than you'd expect. Cognitive
         | overload in crisis situations is a well researched problem.
         | Probably hard finding links on the subject though.
        
           | edgyquant wrote:
           | Space flight is the one industry with a better track record
           | I'd say.
        
           | KineticLensman wrote:
           | Take a look at:
           | 
           | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management
        
         | crooked-v wrote:
         | > 1) Google maps style directions input by air traffic control
         | showing as well as telling the pilot what runway/path to runway
         | to take.
         | 
         | Now you've added one more thing for the pilot to look at
         | instead of actually looking out the windows.
        
       | moloch-hai wrote:
       | I hate that they call this having a "near-collision". They came
       | close to having a collision, and might have had one without
       | emergency action, but there was nothing like any sort of
       | collision.
        
         | Nicksil wrote:
         | >I hate that they call this having a "near-collision"
         | 
         | >They came close to having a collision
         | 
         | What?
         | 
         | >but there was nothing like any sort of collision
         | 
         | Because "near"
        
           | moloch-hai wrote:
           | No bad thing happened, except Delta cancelling its flight.
           | The bad thing was prevented by quick action.
        
             | Nicksil wrote:
             | >No bad thing happened
             | 
             | Right, because "near." It's in the title.
        
             | jasonwatkinspdx wrote:
             | "Near collision" in this case is perfectly ordinary english
             | phrasing. It does not assert a collision happened.
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | sklargh wrote:
       | I am curious if the "hurry-up" ATC atmosphere at KJFK will be
       | flagged as a contributing factor to this incident.
        
       | m_a_g wrote:
       | > strong kudos are due both to the air traffic controller who
       | called off the Delta 737 and to the pilots of that plane who
       | managed to abort their takeoff and stop the aircraft before it
       | crossed runway 31L where the Boeing widebody passed in front of
       | it
       | 
       | Can't agree more
        
       | dado3212 wrote:
       | Is there any aggregation of near misses? How often do things like
       | this happen?
        
         | bgc wrote:
         | Sibling has the links to the authoritative data from the FAA, a
         | search for "runway incursion" at AvHerald[0] will also yield
         | some relevant info.
         | 
         | [0] https://avherald.com/ (may be hugged to death right now
         | between this event and the turboprop crash in Nepal)
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | asciimike wrote:
         | Not quite an answer to the exact question, but the FAA does
         | publish hot spots (overview:
         | https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/hotspots, full list:
         | https://aeronav.faa.gov/afd/29Dec2022/All_Hotspot.PDF).
        
         | toomuchtodo wrote:
         | https://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident
         | 
         | https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/statistics/
         | 
         | https://www.asias.faa.gov/apex/f?p=100:93:::NO:::
        
       | vcanhoto wrote:
       | I'll be eagerly waiting for the Mentour Pilot[0] incident
       | analysis.
       | 
       | [0] https://youtube.com/@MentourPilot
        
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       (page generated 2023-01-15 23:00 UTC)