AUSTIN, Texas — New runway safety technology is coming to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS).
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Monday that AUS, Indianapolis International, Nashville International and Dallas Love Field will be the first airports in the U.S. to receive new airfield surveillance systems aimed at reducing the risk of runway accidents.
The FAA plans to implement its Safety Awareness Initiative (SAI) at those airports by July. More airports will receive it by the end of next year.
The SAI uses Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) data to display surface traffic to controllers at airports that don't have a surface surveillance tool. Aircraft and other ADS-B-equipped vehicles appear as icons on an airport map that shows runways, taxiways, hold ramps and other areas.
Late last year, the Austin airport also announced a new Ramp Control Program aimed at increasing safety and reducing runway congestion. That program will use different technology, cameras and human oversight to monitor activity in that area, which has not been managed since the airport's creation in 1999.
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Recent runway incidents at AUS
The FAA's announcement comes in the wake of a number of runway incidents at Austin's airport in recent years.
The first was an incident in November 2022 between Southwest and American Airlines planes. The second was in February 2023 between a Southwest plane and a FedEx cargo jet. Two months later, there was another incident involving a Southwest plane and a Skywest plane. A June 2023 close call between Allegiant Air and a small private aircraft. And the most recent incident was in September, between a military jet and a private plane.
Additionally, two people died at the Austin airport in 2023. In April, an American Airlines employee died when a ground service vehicle hit a jet bridge. Then on Halloween, an airport employee was killed after they were struck by an aircraft fueling truck.
However, according to a statement to KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, these incidents aren't the reason AUS was chosen for the new SAI system. Spokesperson Chris Mullooly said AUS was chosen to be one of the first airports to receive the improvements because of the post-pandemic surge of flights it has seen.
More than 22 million passengers flew in and out of the Austin airport in 2023 – more than 1 million more than the previous record of just over 21 million in 2022.