Originally Posted by
Pilot DAR
For those times I have been flying TCAS equipped airplanes (uncommon for me) I've always been a little surprised and amused at proximity warnings about airplanes taxiing on a parallel taxiway when I was on the runway. I now see value for TCAS in all airport vehicles which could plausibly access a runway - the driver would at least get a warningj!
There are already systems in use to prevent runway incursions. One type has a sensor based on the runway strip/holding points which gives an intrusive and clear audio warning to the driver approaching the runway, regardless if it’s active or not. Unfortunately it would likely have been of little use here due to the speed and momentum of the vehicle.
It’ll be interesting to see:
If aircraft cleared for take off.
If the fire crews monitor the runway frequency and ground simultaneously, especially if they are not bandboxed.
If the ground/runway frequencies aren’t combined what co-ordination occurred/didn’t occur in ATC to allow the runway entry by the fire crews. Were stopbars extant, activated, deactivated, or unserviceable?
Fire cab ergonomics, once rolling fast, are the comms able to be heard?
Fire crew training, current/adequate/familiarity? a whole Swiss cheese of options raising their head here.