Introduction

Stop bar lights, at taxiways and runways, provide ATC with the means to manage ground traffic, at Singapore Changi Airport, safely and efficiently. More importantly, the stop-bar lights serve as a safety net in the ATC process in mitigating any incursions onto taxiways and runways. Hence, for safety reasons, it is mandatory for aircraft to hold behind an illuminated red stop-bar.

2. Aircraft shall enter / cross the runway or taxiway only when both the following conditions are met:

The crew have

1. received positive ATC clearance to enter / cross the runway or taxiway, and
2. observed that the red stop-bar lights are turned off.

  Advice to pilots

3. The demanding environment associated with runway operations requires that pilots receive, understand and correctly read back all clearances and instructions issued by ATC. There may be situations where instructions may be misunderstood, or mistakenly taken by another pilot who is not the intended recipient. ATC may not be aware of this, especially if there was a crossed radio transmission. As an example, if a pilot was to receive an instruction that authorized him to enter the runway, but noticed that the red stop-bar is illuminated, the pilot shall seek confirmation from ATC. The instruction could very well have been meant for another pilot. On no account shall a pilot cross a red stop-bar.

4. Pay close attention to situations where aircraft with similar sounding callsigns operate simultaneously on the same radio frequency. Callsign confusion can give rise to pilots mistaking and executing ATC instruction(s) intended for another aircraft.