Definition
An unauthorized entry by an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object onto a protected area of an airport, most commonly a runway. A runway incursion specifically refers to any occurrence at an airport involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and takeoff of aircraft.
Plain English
Someone or something is on a runway or other protected area when they shouldn't be. It creates a collision risk and is treated as a serious safety event.
Context Anchor
Seen in runway safety training, airport surface operations, tower communications, and reports about close calls on runways or taxiways.
Derivation
From the Latin incursio, meaning 'a running into' or 'an attack.' The aviation use keeps the sense of something entering a space where it doesn't belong.
Why Pilots Care
Runway incursions are a leading cause of ground accidents and require immediate prevention, reporting, and corrective procedures.
Intuition Check
In everyday speech, an incursion can sound like a deliberate invasion. In aviation, it can be accidental and still serious: the key point is that something is in a protected aircraft area when it should not be there.
Example Sentence 1
The tower issued a go-around to the landing aircraft after a vehicle caused a runway incursion near the threshold.
Example Sentence 2
Training focuses on procedures to prevent runway incursions at busy airports.