Several terms fall under the flight safety topic of runway safety, including incursion, excursion, and confusion.
Runway excursion is an incident involving only a single aircraft, where it makes an inappropriate exit from the runway. This can happen because of pilot error, poor weather, or a fault with the aircraft. Overrun is a type of excursion where the aircraft is unable to stop before the end of the runway. A recent example of such an event is Air France Flight 358 in 2005. Further examples can be found in the overruns category.
Runway event is another term for a runway accident.
Runway incursion involves a first aircraft, as well as a second aircraft, vehicle, or person. It is defined by both the U.S. FAA and ICAO as "Any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take off of aircraft."[1][2]
Runway confusion involves a single aircraft, and is used to describe the error when the aircraft makes "the unintentional use of the wrong runway, or a taxiway, for landing or take-off".[3] An example of a runway confusion incident is Comair Flight 191.
Runway excursion is the most frequent type of landing accident, slightly ahead of runway incursion.[4] For runway accidents recorded between 1995 and 2007, 96% were of the 'excursion' type.[4]
The U.S. FAA publishes an annual report on runway safety issues, available from the FAA website.[2][5][6] New systems designed to improve runway safety, such as Airport Movement Area Safety System (AMASS) and Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS), are discussed in the report. AMASS prevented the serious near-collision in the 2007 San Francisco International Airport runway incursion.
The U.S. FAA has also conducted a study about civilizing 3D military thrust vectoring to recover jet liners from catastrophes [7]
Runway condition describes a runway's current status in relation to current meteorological conditions and air safety.
According to the JAR definition, a runway with water patches or that is flooded is considered to be contaminated.