ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Runway incursion

Okay kiddo, imagine that you and your friends are playing on the street in your neighborhood. You are riding your bike, and your friends are playing tag. Suddenly, a car comes driving down the street, and you don't see it because you are focused on your game. This can be dangerous because the car might hit you, your bike, or your friends. This is called an accident.

Now, let's imagine that instead of playing on the street, you and your friends are playing at an airport. The airport is like a big playground for airplanes. The airplanes have a path called a runway that they use to take off and land. Sometimes, the planes need to move around the airport to go to different places, and they can use the taxiways to do this.

However, just like on the street, accidents can happen when planes and vehicles cross paths. If a plane is trying to take off or land on the runway and a vehicle (such as a truck or another plane) gets in the way, this is called a runway incursion. This is dangerous because it can cause the planes to crash or have a near-miss, which is when they get too close to each other.

To make sure that everyone stays safe, airports have strict rules and procedures that everyone needs to follow. This includes pilots, air traffic controllers, and ground crews. Everyone needs to work together to make sure that planes and vehicles don't cross paths when they're not supposed to.

So to sum it up, a runway incursion is when a plane or vehicle accidentally gets in the way of another plane that is trying to take off or land on the runway. This is dangerous, but can be prevented if everyone follows the rules and pays attention to what's going on around them.