Almost 25 years after the Tenerife Los Rodeos airport accident in March 1977, the air transport industry still blames misunderstandings as the prime cause of accidents in fog on the ground. The passivity of many airports, airlines, professional organisations and authorities remains hidden behind budget issues, development delays or commissions reviews.
It is amazing that there is still no standing international procedure requiring all aircraft to stop at hold points before crossing operating runways and to report to ground control. Maybe airports could find a few peanuts to paints stripes and to place signs at such crossings.
If a pilot is requested to go to hold point Bravo and he reports being at hold point Delta, communication break down should be kept to a minimum. Meanwhile the lost aircraft will be standing still.
Or do we prefer to wait until all airports are equipped with surface movement radars and everybody is fluent in at least 10 languages?
Bernard Gloux
Stavanger, Norway
Source: Flight International
