US EditionRunway safety incidents on the rise in Canada, but very close calls level off
The safety board says the rate of incursions has also climbed as air traffic grows and controller shortages persist.
- On Monday, the Transportation Safety Board reported a record 639 runway incursions in 2024, with the incident rate roughly doubling between 2010 and 2024. Chairman Yoan Marier warned the upward trend is worrying.
- Growing air traffic and complex ground operations at large airports are driving rising incursions, compounded by a Nav Canada staffing shortage of about 200 employees responsible for training specialized air traffic controllers.
- An Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport last month, killing both pilots and skidding more than 100 metres. In late February, a Cargojet pilot conducted a "high-speed rejected takeoff" in Hamilton, Ont., to avoid snowplows.
- Marier stressed that while flying remains among the safest modes of transportation, risk "remains elevated until stronger defences are in place." He called for better signage, lighting, and broader technology adoption to keep pilots and controllers attuned to tarmac movements.
- Despite rising overall incursions, high-risk incidents with "significant potential for collision" have averaged about one per year since 2018. The International Air Transport Association previously criticized North American air traffic control organizations, including Nav Canada, for staffing shortages causing delays.
37 Articles
37 Articles
Airport Runway Safety Incidents Up in Canada; Very Close Calls Unchanged
Safety incidents on Canadian runways have risen to unprecedented heights in recent years, even as the number of extremely close calls appears to be stabilizing, new government data shows. Canadian runway incursions—when an aircraft, vehicle, or person is on or near a runway and shouldn’t be—reached a 15-year high of 639 in 2024, according to a report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB). Numbers have yet to be compiled for 2025. Ea…
However, the number of incidents classified as high risk has stabilized in recent years.
The number of safety-related incidents on Canadian runways is on the rise, having reached new heights in recent years, although the number of narrowly avoided incidents appears to be stabilizing.
Runway safety incidents on the rise in Canada, but very close calls level off - OHS Canada Magazine
The number of safety incidents on Canadian runways is on the rise, reaching new highs in recent years even as the tally of extremely close calls seems to be levelling off. An Air Canada flight departing for Toronto, bottom, taxis to a runway as a WestJet flight bound for Palm Springs takes off at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Friday, March 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck By Christopher Reynolds The number of saf…
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