Definition
The set of pilot practices used to prevent any unauthorized aircraft, vehicle, or person from entering a runway or its protected area while taxiing, taking off, or landing. It includes thorough preflight planning of taxi routes, careful study of airport diagrams, clear radio communication with ground and tower controllers, strict compliance with hold-short instructions and runway markings, and continuous visual scanning of the airport surface.
Plain English
Doing what you need to do on the ground so you never end up on a runway you shouldn't be on, and so nothing else ends up on the runway with you when you're using it.
Context Anchor
Pilots use runway incursion avoidance during taxi, before takeoff, after landing, and any time they approach or cross a runway on the ground.
Derivation
Incursion comes from the Latin incursio, meaning a running into or sudden entry. So a runway incursion is something running onto the runway when it shouldn't, and avoidance is the work of preventing that.
Why Pilots Care
Runway incursions remain a leading cause of ground collisions and serious incidents; consistent avoidance directly protects lives and prevents runway accidents.
Grounding Statement
On the ground, collision avoidance includes not entering or crossing a runway unless you are sure you are allowed and it is safe.
Intuition Check
Do not read “incursion” as meaning only an actual collision. In FAA use, a runway incursion can be any incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle, or person on a runway or in the protected runway area.
Example Sentence 1
Before taxiing, the pilot reviewed the airport diagram and highlighted each hold-short line as part of her runway incursion avoidance routine.
Example Sentence 2
At a busy airport the pilot used the airport diagram and progressive taxi instructions to maintain runway incursion avoidance during a complex nighttime routing.