The skies above America’s airports have been plagued by pilots mistakenly landing on taxiways instead of runways.
Accidental taxiway landings have resulted in near-misses between planes, putting countless lives in danger.
ATAP uses advanced radar and sensor technology to automatically detect when a plane is lining up to land on a taxiway instead of a runway. The software sends an alert to air traffic controllers, who can quickly relay the information to pilots both in the air and on the ground.
Some extraordinary close calls have occurred at some of the nation’s busiest airports including a Boeing 757 landing at Newark Liberty International Airport, a Delta 767 landing in 2009 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and in 2015 an Alaska Airlines 737 landed on a taxiway at Seattle-Tacoma.
The most disturbing close call came in 2017 when an Air Canada Airbus 320 almost touched down off course on the taxiway at San Francisco International Airport where four aircraft were lined up for takeoff.
Once ATAP alert goes off in the air traffic control tower, it’s up to the controller to leap into action telling the approaching aircraft to abort their dangerous landing.
In a world where even the likes of Harrison Ford have narrowly avoided tragedy due to accidental taxiway landings, the implementation of ATAP is a vital step towards ensuring the safety of all those who take to the skies.
