Hello, I'm Michael Meyers, program manager for the federal aviation administrations runway safety area improvement program.

And I'm Steve Debban, program manager for the FAA's recently created runway incursion mitigation program. And we'd like to update you on the FAA's efforts to ensure the continued safety of air transportation and the airport environment.

By the end of 2015, the FAA wrapped up an ambitious program we started in 2000, known as the runaway safety area, or RSA improvement program.We created this program to accelerate improvements to the safety areas of commercial service runways.The program has been a great success thanks to our partnerships with industry stakeholders, including airport sponsors, local and state government agencies, and airlines.The RSA refers to the area surrounding a runway that provides safety margins if an aircraft undershoots, overshoots or veers off either side of the runway, known as runaway excursions. Rsas are important because they help prevent passenger and air crew injuries and aircraft property damage or damage to any surrounding structures.

Since 2000, the FAA has evaluated more than 1000 runways at over 500 airports certified to provide commercial service. From this, we use that inventory to assess the following 3 areas which RSAs met the FAA geometric design standards, which RSAs can meet the standards with safety enhancements, and which RSAs cannot be improved due to geographical constraints such as bodies of water, roads, buildings protected under preservation laws, mountains and hills and protected natural resources or wildlife habitats in cases where obstacles present challenges.Other methods to improve and RSA may include altering air traffic procedures, acquiring additional land, relocating or shifting the runway, or reducing the length of a runway considered to be usable by aircraft.An alternative for RSA improvements called engineered materials arresting systems or EMAS, can be used when airports can't acquire needed land for a standard RSA, or if they aren't able to shorten their usable runway without adversely affecting airport operations.EMAS is a bed of soft, crushable material that is placed at the end of a runway, designed to safely decelerate planes if they overrun the runway.To date, EMAS has safely stopped 9 overrunning aircraft, saving a total of 243 crew and passengers aboard those flights.Using our inventory of runaway data and improvement options, the office of airports developed a schedule for RSA improvements on an annual basis.Then in 2006, congress mandated that all RSA improvements be completed by December 31st,2015.We've invested approximately 3 billion dollars of airport improvement funding into the RSA improvement program and nearly 350 million dollars in passenger facility Charge funding, has been contributed to this effort.The FAA has contributed to the RSA improvement program by investing about 200 million dollars in air traffic facilities and equipment.Most of that money was spent on relocating FAA owned facilities to move them outside the new RSAs at specific airports.

By December 31st,2015, airports across the country successfully completed runway safety area improvements.These include 1012 runways at 537 airports, where we have greatly increased safety margin.So as the RSA improvement program comes to a close, the FAA remains committed to making our nation's airports even safer. To this end, our next generation of safety efforts include the runaway incursion mitigation program.

The newest initiative on the horizon for the office of airports is a voluntary safety program to reduce runway incursions at airports, called the runway incursion mitigation program, or RIM. So what is a runway incursion?The international civil aviation organization defines a runway incursion as any occurrence at an airport involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of aircraft.

In June 2015, the FAA started the RIM program at 516 airports with air traffic control towers. We are not implying that any particular airport has immediate safety risks, but we're using this opportunity to be proactive with our industry partners to further enhance safety at airports.

The FAA's goal over the next 10 to 15 years is to work with airport sponsors to eliminate runway incursions and help protect the traveling public.Using data from 2007 through 2013, we've developed an inventory of airport RIM locations where 3 or more runway incursions occurred in a single year.More than 6 runway incursions occurred during the 6 year period.We will use a 3 step process to reduce runway incursions identify, prioritize, and mitigate.1St, we reviewed airport layouts and geometry compared to current FAA design standards.Then we worked with airport sponsors to develop ways to mitigate runway incursions at the identified locations, including taxiway reconfiguration, airfield signage, lighting or pavement marking changes, altering the types of aircraft that may use the location, changes in air traffic procedures, and continued outreach to enhance situational awareness. Currently, we've identified more than 75 airports of all sizes across the nation for the initial phase of this program.With RIM locations that need to be transformed, we will work with airport sponsors to evaluate alternatives and minimize impacts to operations in cases where construction projects are needed to eliminate incursion situations.Not all mitigation efforts will require capital improvements.Solutions could include changes to tower procedures, lighting, markings, signage, and other technology based fixes.

The FAA has made significant progress improving runway safety at U.S. Airports over the past 15 years.We've worked with the aviation community on education, training, marking and lighting, new technology, and other airfield improvements.We've effectively addressed runway incursion risks through runway safety action teams at the local and regional level, but the RIM program will be addressing potential risks from a national perspective.

In August 2015, the runway incursion mitigation program reached a major milestone. The FAA awarded 11 million dollars in airport improvement program funds to 8 airports to address planning, design, and construction of mitigations at key locations. The program will take 10 to 15 years to implement because of the long lead times needed for the planning, environmental, and funding options of such capital improvements. The FAA will continue to monitor runway incursions across the country and will track the effectiveness of mitigation strategies being implemented. The FAA appreciates how airport sponsors have embraced this new safety initiative, and we look forward to decreasing the number of runway incursions at airports throughout the United States.