To bring the U.S. in line with the international definitions of runway incursions, the FAA has adopted the ICAO standards, effective immediately. The biggest difference between the two definitions is that ICAO defines a runway incursion as any unauthorized intrusion onto a runway, regardless of whether an aircraft presents a potential conflict.
In the FAA’s terminology, an incident without an aircraft in potential conflict–such as an unauthorized aircraft crossing an empty runway–was defined as a “surface incident” rather than a runway incursion. The new definition means that some incidents formerly classified as surface incidents will now be classified as C or D category runway incursions, low-risk incidents with ample time and/or distance to avoid a collision. The classification of the most serious kinds of runway incursions–A and B–remains unchanged.
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