each airport in the national airspace system has unique and distinct characteristics this can
sometimes lead pilots to use the wrong surface in taxi takeoff or landing operations wrong surface
operations continue to be a serious issue at airports throughout the national airspace system
the majority of these incidents involve general aviation aircraft and pilots they typically
occur at smaller less congested airports during the day and in visual meteorological conditions
the federal aviation administration has undertaken an aggressive series of studies and programs
to look into the causes and possible mitigation of these serious and sometimes near-catastrophic
incidents as data regarding wrong surface events also known as runway confusion events
has been collected and analyzed over the years hot spots have been identified to help communicate
where these types of incidents are occurring most often pilots should be familiar with the
airport diagrams and the descriptions of hot spots found in the chart supplement for each area of the
country an area or surface obtains the designation hotspot through analysis of data collected over
the years by airports and the faa it should also be noted that if an airport or other entity
successfully mitigates the causal factors then the hotspot designation is removed hot spots encompass
all types of hazards including confusing taxiways and intersections in addition to areas where wrong
surface landings and departures have occurred numerous shapes have been used to depict these
hazards on airport diagrams including circles squares polygons and others however the symbology
used did not offer an intuitive way to describe the particular risk identified to help pilots
easily identify the meaning of the symbology for hot spots on an airport diagram the faa
has initiated a change to standardize and limit the symbology used to three shapes and has given
them a defined meaning a ground movement hotspot identified by a circle or ellipse is placed at
the location on an airport movement area with a history of or a potential risk for collision or
runway incursion and where heightened attention by pilots drivers and controllers is necessary
wrong surface hot spots identified by a cylinder depict an area where aircraft
have attempted to depart or land on the wrong surface these can be runways or
taxiways with the taxiways involved usually being parallel to and full length of a nearby runway
the symbol for the ground movement hot spot which is either a circle or ellipse includes such issues
as hold short line in fractions approach hold in fractions complex taxiway configuration movement
non-movement area boundary issues tower line of sight problems and marking and signage issues
the wrong surface hotspot is shown as a cylinder and usually found overlying a runway end there may
be examples where two or more runways will have this sort of symbol and they will be connected
with lines that indicate the hotspot number this means that those indicated surfaces have
been confused with one another and extra caution is advised when operating on them wrong surface
incidents and risk factors include aircraft attempting to land on a runway other than the one
for which they were cleared this usually occurs on parallel runways with staggered thresholds
aircraft attempting to depart a runway other than the one in which they were cleared
this occurs most often where non-parallel runway ends are close together
or where airport geometry is complex
attempted landings or departures on a
parallel full-length taxiway when confused with the adjacent runway
local geography or obstructions that may inhibit the pilot's ability to see the correct runway
while an incorrect runway is easily visible
and visual differences in runway material such as asphalt or concrete
leading to the potential for misidentification
now that you know the standardized chart symbology additional clarifying information
can be found in the text description of each hotspot located in the faa chart supplement
we hope these small yet significant changes will help you make better decisions have a more clear
understanding of your environment and along with the air traffic control system make flying safer
and more efficient for more information on these changes and runway safety in general
please visit any of the following websites don't forget it's always better to know before you go
you