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US Safety Board: More Tech Investment Needed to Prevent Aviation Accidents

The US National Transportation Safety Board logo
The US National Transportation Safety Board logo
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US Safety Board: More Tech Investment Needed to Prevent Aviation Accidents

The US National Transportation Safety Board logo
The US National Transportation Safety Board logo

The US needs to invest more in aviation safety technology solutions after a series of close-call runway incidents this year, the head of the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday.

The NTSB is investigating six runway incursion events since January including some that could have been catastrophic.

Technology systems that help detect aircraft and ground vehicles at airports to prevent runway incursion are currently used at 43 US airports. That technology needs to be upgraded and all other commercial airports also need additional technology, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the NTSB, told reporters.

She was speaking after a five-hour meeting with industry, union, government and academic representatives on ways to address runway incursions.

"We have to make sure all these upgrades to safety can be funded," Homendy said, adding that proper pilot and air traffic control staffing was also important.

The US has about 500 commercial airports.

The US runway incursion rate steadily increased from late 2022 and into 2023, peaking in March at 33 per 1 million takeoffs and landings. That rate fell to 19 in April.

According to Reuters, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the rate was coming closer to normal levels and vowed continued vigilance.

The US has not had a major fatal US passenger airline crash since February 2009.

In March, the FAA said it was taking steps to improve air traffic control, convening a safety summit and issuing a safety alert. In April, it named an independent safety review team and on Monday, it announced an investment of $100 million in 12 airports for improvements to taxiways and lighting to reduce runway incursions.

Homendy said a FedEx cargo plane and a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 that came within about 115 feet (35 meters) of each other in Austin on Feb. 4 in poor visibility conditions could have been a "terrible tragedy."

She disclosed Tuesday that the FedEx plane's first officer saw a single light from the Southwest 737 and then a silhouette of the plane before they aborted their planned landing.

"The first officer said, 'Hey this is what I see' and then says 'I think we should perform a go around,'" Homendy told reporters. "This crew did a great job."

Near-miss incidents have also occurred in Boston, Florida and include a near collision at New York's JFK airport between a Delta Air Lines plane and an American Airlines Boeing 777.

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Technology

Google Pushes Global Agenda to Educate Workers, Lawmakers on AI

This photograph taken on January 19, 2025, shows a sign of US technology company Google displayed during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. (AFP)
This photograph taken on January 19, 2025, shows a sign of US technology company Google displayed during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. (AFP)
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Google Pushes Global Agenda to Educate Workers, Lawmakers on AI

This photograph taken on January 19, 2025, shows a sign of US technology company Google displayed during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. (AFP)
This photograph taken on January 19, 2025, shows a sign of US technology company Google displayed during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. (AFP)

Alphabet’s Google, already facing an unprecedented regulatory onslaught, is looking to shape public perception and policies on artificial intelligence ahead of a global wave of AI regulation.

A key priority, one executive told Reuters, comes in building out educational programs to train the workforce on AI.

“Getting more people and organizations, including governments, familiar with AI and using AI tools, makes for better AI policy and opens up new opportunities – it's a virtuous cycle,” said Kent Walker, Alphabet's president of global affairs.

As Google races to best Big Tech rivals including Microsoft-backed OpenAI and Meta in the AI arena, it is mindful of the heavy regulatory scrutiny it faces in its existing businesses in advertising and search.

In the European Union, Google has offered to sell a part of its ad tech business to appease regulators, Reuters reported.

In the US, the Justice Department is attempting to force a breakup of its Chrome Web browser — though it may shift course under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, governments globally are drafting new regulations on issues that could be exacerbated by AI, such as copyright and privacy.

The EU AI Act, which seeks to assess risk and require disclosures from general-purpose AI systems, has received pushback from tech giants that could find themselves in the crosshairs of multibillion-dollar fines. The DOJ has also sought to curtail Google’s advances in AI as a remedy in a federal case that found its search business to be an illegal monopoly.

Google executives see an opportunity to shape the narrative around a technology that has stoked emerging fears of mass job loss.

CEO Sundar Pichai announced in September a $120 million investment fund to build AI education programs. Deputies including Walker and Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer, are increasingly traveling globally to discuss policy recommendations with governments.

“There’s a lot of upside in terms of helping people who may be displaced by this. We do want to focus on that,” Walker said.

Efforts include expanding Grow with Google, a website that teaches workers skills like data analysis or IT support that are meant to expand their career prospects in technical fields. In December, the company said 1 million people had obtained a certificate for the program. It is adding specialized courses related to AI, such as one geared toward teachers, said program head Lisa Gevelber.

Courses alone are not enough to prepare workers, Walker said. “What really matters is if you have some sort of objective that people are working towards, like a credential that people can use to apply for a job.”

Google wants to increase experimentation on public-private partnerships, he said. The leading example so far, he said, is the “Skilled Trades and Readiness” program, in which the company has partnered with community colleges to train workers for potential jobs constructing data centers. Google is incorporating AI education into the program, he said.

“Ultimately, the federal government will look and see which proofs of concept are playing out – which of the green shoots are taking root,” Walker said. “If we can help fertilize that effort, that’s our role.”

In the long term, Walker said he expects a small fraction of existing jobs to be entirely displaced by AI, citing several studies commissioned by Google, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey. Those studies suggest AI will be incorporated into most jobs in some capacity.

As part of Google's efforts to prepare for this shift, it hired economist David Autor as a visiting fellow to study the impacts of AI on the workforce. Autor said in an interview that AI could be used to create more immersive training programs, akin to flight simulators.

“The history of adult retraining is not particularly glorious,” he said. “Adults don’t want to go back to class. Classroom training is not going to be the solution to a lot of retraining.”