In the US, airplanes can be cleared for landing while the runway is occupied (you can be number two, three, etc. for landing and still be cleared). It's different in other countries, where you can only be issued a landing clearance if the runway is clear or anticipated to be clear before you land (e.g. the plane before you is already exiting the runway).
replyStill, the runway could be reserved for landing aircrafts only, still preventing access to all other types of vehicles.
replyHow are fire trucks supposed to respond to incidents involving airplanes, as it appears this case involves, if the runway is off limits to them?
replyThe way it's supposed to work, the ground controller first verifies that there are no traffic conflicts before clearing vehicles to cross an active runway.
replyWhich is exactly what failed here, so saying "it shouldn't fail by not failing" doesn't help terribly much.
replyHaving grade-separate crossings for vehicles might, but that introduces new issues (plane skidding off runway could hit the incline and break up).
O’Hare has those but it’s not helpful for emergencies that happen on the runway itself.
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