An Issue Revisited

The subsequent accident investigation report by National Safety Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to a Southwest Airlines flight that overran the runway upon landing at Midway International Airport, Chicago in December 2005 has served as a further catalyst into find new and  better ways to report Braking Action. 

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In the report NTSB states the following:

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“Demonstrate the technical and operational feasibility of

outfitting transport-category airplanes with equipment and

procedures required to routinely calculate, record and convey

the airplane braking ability required and/or available to slow

or stop the  airplane during the landing roll.”

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Enabled by the digitalization and ability to customize applications

in the aircraft ACMS, Kongsberg Aeronautical has collaborated

with a major US airline in developing and streamlining it's on board

function using the aircraft to assess braking ability during the landing roll.

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With a strong focus on runway excursions, still being a major aircraft accident category, US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) later formed an Advisory and Rulemaking Committee on Takeoff and Landing Performance Assessment  – TALPA-ARC.  The objective was establish better accuracy and consistency in determining runway conditions to reduce risk of overrun.

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The TALPA-ARC initiative has since then resulted in FAA SAFO 16009 , which is now being introduced as The New Global Reporting Format for Runway Surface Conditions (GRF) by ICAO.

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