News from EUROCONTROL’S aviation safety knowledge base SKYbrary
It is well known to pilots and air traffic controllers alike that some parts of the runway/taxiway complex at aerodromes seem to attract incidents. As if they were jinxed in some way, mistakes are made regularly at these singularities of the airport universe.
On roads internationally standardized traffic signs are used to warn us of falling rocks, of stray cattle or deer chasing their mates. How can we warn of the dangerous spots at airports?
It is now increasingly the practice all over the world to identify and mark those dangerous locations, called hot spots, and publish them on, well you guessed it, Hot Spot Maps.
Hot spots are usually the result of poor design or runway/taxiway geometry forced by terrain or other factors. Usually it is not feasible to change the circumstances leading to a hot spot and hence the best mitigation is making them known to pilots, vehicle drivers and controllers who will then exercise extra caution when operating on or in the vicinity of a hot spot.
You can find more information on hot spots in the SKYbrary here.
You can find comprehensive runway incursion prevention information at the EUROCONTROL interactive runway safety portal (a product of BluSky Services) here.
