Security
Simple solution might curb ‘landovers’
The FAA is investigating having VASI and PAPI lights begin flashing when the landing runway is occupied.

The FAA is investigating having VASI and PAPI lights begin flashing when the landing runway is occupied. Doing so could prevent “landovers,” where an aircraft continues its approach and touches down while another aircraft or vehicle is still on the runway.

The worst U.S. accident of this type was probably the night collision at Los Angeles in 1991, when a landing USAir Boeing 737 struck an AirWest Swearingen Metro holding on the runway awaiting takeoff clearance. Effectively hidden in the glare of the runway lights, the Metro was invisible to the 737’s crew. Since then, there have been a number of close calls under similar circumstances.