Two planes
missed colliding on the runway
at New York’s JFK Airport by about 1,000 feet last week. With hundreds of
flights arriving and departing the airport each day, even the smallest
miscommunication or misunderstanding could be catastrophic. The systems
that keep plane traffic in order in the air have been in place for decades
and are relatively well known. But when dozens of airplanes converge on the
ground at airports, there is a much higher risk of something going wrong.
Divya Bhargava, PhD
Transportation agencies are aware of the situation and have been working
for years to improve communications and safety protocols, while learning
from incidents on the runway, or incursions, which can range from stray
animals on the runway to near-misses like the one at JFK.
Drexel University College of Engineering’s
Divya Bhargava, PhD
, assistant teaching professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics,
studies how these incidents are investigated and reported, and how this
information can be used to improve runway safety. Bhargava’s background is
in aeronautical and astronautical and systems engineering, and
user-interface design. Through her research, and experience as a licensed
pilot, Bhargava has become an expert in accident modeling and analysis of
the contributing factors that converge when these unfortunate situations
occur.
Bhargava recently shared some insight with the Drexel News Blog on the
near-miss at JFK and how better understanding how it happened could help
reduce the chances of something similar happening in the future.
Read the full story