I assume most pilots are aware of what yellow chevrons represent, but if you fly and do not then keep reading because you need to know. Chevrons are yellow and designate an area that cannot be used for taxiing, typically found prior to a runway threshold. Chevrons are used in areas that contain approach lighting systems and are not built or stressed to support large aircraft. I remember learning this during my private pilot training, but apparently there are enough rusty airline pilots out there that seem to have forgotten because the issue became large enough that our airport had to figure out a better way to deter pilots while adhering to a strict budget.

The north and south runway at my local airport is perpendicular to that of another which is separated only by yellow chevrons. Aircraft landing from the north on are tempted to turn right at the first available intersection, five thousand feet down the runway which happens to be east runway. The Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) has made the mistake of telling pilots to “turn right at the first intersection, contact ground…” Although the statement does not directly tell the pilot to taxi on the chevrons it does create confusion. Once the phrase was corrected the incidents dropped steadily, but not entirely.

The airport went to the drawing board and came up with a unique concept of painting the beginning segment of the chevron area green to resemble grass. A diagram of the airport can be found, here. Thankfully, no pilot has made the mistake since then and our problem was resolved. To my knowledge this is a unique modification, but I’d certainly want to know if anyone has ever noticed this and if so please advise me of where.