Safety
FAA Introduces More Airport Arrival Alert Notices
Arrival Alerts Notices are designed to help avoid pilots from landing on the wrong runway.
Van Nuys
Van Nuys Airport is among those with an Arrival Alert Notice. (Photo: Van Nuys Airport)

The FAA has updated and increased the availability of Arrival Alert Notices (AAN) at specific U.S. airports as a preflight tool to help pilots avoid lining up to land on the wrong runway, taxiway, or incorrect airport. According to the agency, general aviation pilots (including those crewing business aircraft) account for 83 percent of wrong-surface landings.

In testing, the agency said AANs have been “found to be effective in mitigating risks associated with wrong-surface landings.” Data shows that certain airports—especially those with close offset parallel runways and close proximity of thresholds of intersecting runways—have experienced an increase in the number of alignment issues resulting in a potential or actual landing on an incorrect surface. The data also shows that these errors typically occur during daytime VMC.

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