Incorporating controller intent into a runway incursion prevention system

Abstract

This work presents a solution to prevent and reduce the severity of runway incursions. This solution, called the Controller Clearance Broadcast System (CCBS), addresses the root causes of many runway incursions as well as mitigating the impact of those that do occur. Specifically, the CCBS design incorporates controller intent, by serving as an intermediary system to capture controller clearances, vet them for appropriateness, and then broadcast them via both analog radio channels and digitally via ADS-B. CCBS is anticipated to benefit the air transportation system by: 1) increasing operational efficiency; 2) decreasing the numbers of pilot deviation and operational errors; 3) decreasing radio channel congestion; and 4) increasing the ability to ‘remote tower’ smaller airports. The CCBS includes visual displays for tower controllers and pilots, an expert system to improve operational efficiency, a critiquing system to prevent erroneous clearances, and an alerting system to provide warnings to both pilots and controllers about clearance deviations. The system is highly flexible, and accommodates various levels of aircraft and airport equipage, to allow a gradual transition from analog to digital based clearances. A software prototype of the CCBS has been created and shown the feasibility of the basic clearance capture functionality. Further research into the creation of a fully functional CCBS prototype is warranted as it will address a number of areas of research important for use in NextGen.