Air Traffic Control Tower

On their WEB SITE the FAA Western-Pacific Region (of which Concord is part) describes the importance of Runway Safety:

"The FAA has identified Runway Incursions as a serious aviation safety issue. The decreasing of runway incursions and improving of airport surface operations is a “Top Five” agency safety initiative. Nationwide, there are more than 65 million aircraft operations (takeoffs and landings) performed annually by 650,000 certified pilots at over 460 towered airports. A large percentage of those operations and a correspondingly high number of incursions take place within the FAA’s Western-Pacific Region. "While there may be broad causal factors at the root of runway incursions, most incidents result from characteristics unique to each airport, which may include layout, local procedures, traffic mix, and airport location. Identifying specific causes at each airport becomes crucial to improving its level of runway safety. "Awareness, education and training are essential tools for the reduction of runway incursions. The key to all such activities is communication. Communicating clear, concise information to the aviation community promotes a broad awareness of the issues and initiates the process of decreasing incursions."

A RUNWAY INCURSION is "any occurrence at an airport involving an aircraft, vehicle, person or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard or results in a loss of separation with an aircraft taking off, intending to take off, landing, or intending to land." A SURFACE INCIDENT is a broader term encompassing all movement areas (including runways and taxiways) and is any "unauthorized movement which affects or could affect the safety of flight." Surface incidents can be caused by pilot deviations (PD), vehicle/pedestrian deviations (V/PD) or operational errors/deviations (OE/OD). The first two are obvious; the last, OE's and OD's, are errors made by air traffic control.

The layout of Concord Buchanan Field is complex - at times confusing - and has led to numerous runway incursions due to pilot deviations. We are seeking to make pilots aware of the problem and to offer information on how to avoid runway incursions. Understanding airport signage and surface markings is crucial to avoiding surface incidents. The Aeronautical Information Manual describes the markings you can expect to find at airports. Our GLOSSARY OF AIRPORT SURFACE MARKINGS on these pages also shows you what the different markings mean. Further information may be found at the FAA Western-Pacific Region's Surface Safety WEB SITE.

Knowing where mistakes are likely to happen can be helpful. Hot Spots are those areas which are historically problematic. Here at Concord we have several. We have created AN INTERACTIVE MAP OF HOT SPOTS to help describe these problem areas from the pilot's perspective. The hot spots are indicated by red-tinted circles. Each of those is a link to another page which will show you photographs of what that area looks like from ground level. Each hot spot is accompanied by a description of why it is a problem area and what you can do to avoid getting into trouble.

A few basic guidelines to remember when operating at tower controlled airports:

   Taxiways have yellow painted markings; runways have white painted markings.

   Taxiways have blue lights; runways have white lights.

   If in doubt, ask! That's what ground control is there for!

   Use an airport diagram. Airport diagrams may be downloaded and printed from FAA Runway Safety or AOPA.

   Be informed and know your notams by getting a pre-flight briefing! They're easy and, best of all, they're
   free! Call 1-800-WX-BRIEF