Letter to Michael Huerta, Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration - unway Lighting Construction at NY's Airports

Letter

Dear Administrator Huerta

I write today in response to an incident over the weekend in which a Caribbean Airways plane (Flight 526) nearly collided with a JetBlue plane (Flight 1295) at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Luckily, the alert JetBlue pilots noticed the Caribbean Airways plane and were able to avoid what could have been a deadly collision. That said, this situation could have been prevented had the Runway Status Lights (RWSL) slated for construction at JFK been fully installed and operable. The FAA has a program focused on installing RWSL at a number of airports, and those airports included in Phase I of that program, like JFK, should already be operable. I urge you to expedite the construction of the remaining RWSL systems that are part of Phase I and quickly move forward with identifying additional airports where the installation of RWSL systems could help prevent runway incursions and incidents like this to be part of Phase II.

In 2005 the FAA began testing the effectiveness of RWSL at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and in 2008 began entering into agreements with airports to install these new systems more broadly. The FAA moved forward with this program because it correctly recognized the importance of RWSL in preventing runway incursions and accidents. The National Runway Safety Plan of 2009-2011 laid out a goal of beginning the installation of RWSL at 17 airports by FY2010. Yet, despite the fact that funding for the program has been in place for over 6 years, the FAA has only achieved full operability at 9 of the 17 planned airports -- this is simply unacceptable.

Furthermore, despite being included on the FAA's original list of 17 Airports, RWSL is not yet operable at any of New York's 3 major airports -- JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark. The necessary funding for these systems has already been provided by Congress including the $11M needed to install the system at LaGuardia, the $12M needed to install the system at Newark, and the $13.4M needed to install the system at JFK. With the funding in place it is of paramount importance that construction be completed as soon as possible and operability be achieved, so that dangerous incidents like the one this weekend can be avoided. Given the importance of these systems I urge you to expedite the remaining steps needed to achieve full operability at the 17 Phase I airports and quickly move forward with identifying airports and a plan for Phase II of this important project.

Thank you for your attention to this issue and for your continued efforts to help make our skies and our airports safe.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schume

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