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Meeting	ACGS Committee Meeting 101 - Salt Lake City - March 2008
Agenda Location	5 SUBCOMMITTEE C - AVIONICS AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION 5.2 Runway Status Lights
Title	Runway Status Lights
Presenter	Jeff Livings
Affiliation	FAA
Available Downloads*	presentation
	Downloads are available to members who are logged in and either Active* or attended this meeting.
Abstract	The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is dedicated to the goal of enhancing runway safety while maximizing operational efficiency and ensuring airport capacity. The reduction of runway incursions has been identified as one of the most important aviation safety initiatives and is crucial for the improvement of runway safety. The FAA defines a runway incursion as, “any unauthorized intrusion onto a runway, regardless of whether or not an aircraft presents a potential conflict”. The FAA responded to the problem of runway incursions by deploying the Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) and the Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X (ASDE-X) at major airports. The single shortcoming of both systems is that they do not provide a direct warning to pilots and airfield vehicle operators, only air traffic controllers. The Runway Status Lights (RWSL) system solves this problem. The RWSL system is designed to be an all-weather automatic system that enhances safety for pilots and airfield vehicle operators by increasing situational awareness. RWSL are driven automatically using computer processing of integrated surface and terminal surveillance information. The RWSL software detects the presence and motion of aircraft and surface vehicles on or near the runways, illuminates red in-pavement runway entrance lights (RELs) if the runway is unsafe for entry or crossing, and illuminates red in-pavement takeoff hold lights (THLs) if the runway is unsafe for departure. The system extinguishes the lights automatically as appropriate when the runway becomes safe. The FAA has prototype RWSL systems installed at both San Diego International Airport (SAN) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Currently, the FAA is working on deploying RWSL nationally to 21 major airports.