Airport safety researchers at the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC) near Atlantic City, N.J., have created a prototype taxiway screen that can help prevent runway incursions at airports with taxiways that go well beyond the ends of runways. These screens can be placed at the end of a runway to block the view between that runway and an end-around taxiway. End-around taxiways are built beyond the 1,000-foot runway safety area.

Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson and Detroit’s Metro airports have such taxiways, and one will be installed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to facilitate aircraft movement between the runways and terminal gates without having to cross active runways. In addition to safer operations, the taxiways have the potential to increase capacity.

The screens “hide” aircraft on end-around taxiways from the view of pilots preparing to take off on active runways. The screens give the pilots a point of reference, enabling them to focus on aircraft that are taxiing on the runways (in front of the screens) and to distinguish them from those moving on the taxiways behind the screens.

The prototype system, built and tested by FAA researchers, is a 112-foot long, 13-foot high plastic cardboard screen set up on two mobile trailers, allowing for easy movement on and off the runway. The screens were tested at Atlantic City International Airport, and researchers used an airport vehicle to simulate an airplane taking off. Its movement along the runway was videotaped to see how well the screen blocked a pilot’s view of the taxiway areas beyond the end of the runway. In addition, testing was conducted to study the effectiveness of reflective screening materials and the best lighting configuration to make the screens most visible at night.

The research and testing will ultimately support a national agency standard for end-around taxiway screens, with the first FAA-approved screens to be installed at Dallas-Fort Worth later this year.

For more information, contact Holly Baker at (609) 485-6253.