Flight Training - October 2013 - 39

stopped on the runway. The CFI at the
hold-short line finds a solution—she
radios the FBO to ask for assistance. A
short time later the operator arrives in
a service vehicle, raps on the Toyota’s
window, and asks the driver if she
would follow him to a safe area.
Apparently, the driver had become
disoriented and was under the impression she was in a park, but had gotten
lost and couldn’t understand why the
road had come to an end.
Jamie Beckett is a writer and flight instructor living
in Winter Haven, Florida.

NE-2, 27 JUN 2013 to 25 JUL 2013

IS THAT A CAR? A CFI in Washington
state recalls being at the hold-short line
waiting to take off with a presolo student,
when she observed something very odd.
A Toyota was motoring down the runway
toward her. The car was driven by a
woman who stopped it on the runway.
Because the CFI is with a presolo student, she cannot get out of the airplane to
offer assistance to the driver.
The driver is oblivious to the airplane and is apparently unaware that it
is waiting for her to clear the runway.
An airplane in the pattern is forced to
do a go-around because there is a car

NE-2, 27 JUN 2013 to 25 JUL 2013

taxi to the active runway, remember this
does not give you the authority to cross
intersecting runways to get there. Be sure
to stop at the hold-short line, before you
reach the runway, and call ground control
to obtain further clearance. When you’re
at a nontowered airport, use caution. Stop
and verify that the area is clear before
crossing taxiways or runways. And make
sure there is nobody on final, or still rolling
out on the runway, before you taxi out to
commence your own takeoff.
Situational awareness is critical to safe
aircraft operations. Whether you are in
the air or on the ground, you need to know
where you are, where any other aircraft
might be, and how to get from where you
are to where you’re going. Any pilot who
puts situational awareness high up on his
or her priority list will automatically be a
safer and more aware pilot.
Situational awareness is an especially
important skill to develop, as evidenced
by the November 2012 collision between
an SUV and a Cessna 172 operated by a
student pilot.
Neither of the vehicle operators was
doing anything wrong. The Cessna was
on final approach to a nontowered airport
in a rural area northwest of Dallas, Texas.
The SUV was operated by a couple who
were driving to the airport restaurant,
which is located on the east side of the
field. The perimeter road that leads to the
restaurant also passes very close to the
approach end of Runway 17. The airplane
was low on approach, and did not initiate
a go-around. The driver of the SUV rolled
across a stop strip painted on the road,
and apparently did not notice the airplane
just to the left on a flight path that would
intersect the vehicle's intended route.
Fortunately, there were no serious
injuries in this incursion that quickly
escalated into an accident. The video of
the crash, which was widely distributed
on the Internet, is an excellent example of
how an otherwise benign series of events
can conspire to become a serious accident
if situational awareness is lost, standard
operating procedures are ignored, and lack
of familiarity with the airport environment
come together into one unhappy moment
at the approach end of the runway.

HOT SPOTS, marked on airport diagrams, are areas of increased risk that have a history
of—or potential for—runway incursions. An airport can have one or more hot spots, or
areas where there exists a higher potential risk of collision.

OCTOBER 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING

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Flight Training - October 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - October 2013
