{"id":211,"date":"2014-08-28T17:12:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-28T17:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/28\/part-3-the-ntsb-missed-a-critical-safety-recommendation-in-a-runway-excursion-accident-report-landing-performance-data\/"},"modified":"2019-01-03T17:10:31","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T17:10:31","slug":"part-3-the-ntsb-missed-a-critical-safety-recommendation-in-a-runway-excursion-accident-report-landing-performance-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/part-3-the-ntsb-missed-a-critical-safety-recommendation-in-a-runway-excursion-accident-report-landing-performance-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 3 \u2013 The NTSB Missed a Critical Safety Recommendation in a Runway Excursion Accident Report: Landing Performance Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Raytheon first published wet and contaminated runway performance data for the Beechjet, it was included in an AFM supplement with the subtitle \u201cnon-FAA approved.\u201d The data was added to the AFM for operators in other countries that required wet and contaminated to be published for the equivalent of a Part 25 aircraft. There was much debate if this \u201cnon-FAA approved\u201d data should be considered during your performance planning or should restrict operations.<\/p>\n

The data has since been renamed \u201cmanufacturer approved\u201d performance data. A representative of N428JD told the NTSB they considered the data to be not FAA approved and data that you cannot legally use. The NTSB noted that a review of the federal regulations revealed that the \u201cFAA does not require nor restrict the use of wet and contaminated runway data.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wet or contaminated snow performance data showed the landing distance at an approach speed of Vref would have been approximately 4,800 feet, and if flown at ref +10 a landing distance of about 6,100 feet. I did not consider this the smoking gun from the NTSB report because, although I was in a habit of referencing the wet or contaminated runway data, I would not have applied it based on how I think I would have assessed the runway condition that day.<\/p>\n

The lessons I take away from reviewing the NTSB report is to (1) fly a stabilized approach closely replicating the test pilot parameters from which the performance data was derived (2) go around if outside your stabilized approach criteria or if your runway assessment changes on short final and (3) be conservative operating to runways that are potentially contaminated; actual conditions may vary even when using the best data available.<\/p>\n

Unlike topics (Dangerous Goods, Minimum Equipment List Use, or Surface Contamination) that pose a much lower risk to business aviation, the International Standard for Business Aviation Operations (IS-BAO) does not include any recommendation or requirement for specific training on the hazard of runway excursions. Just because IS-BAO does not include it as a recommendation does not mean your Safety Management System should not identify this as a significant risk with controls and mitigation in training and operations manual guidance.<\/p>\n

The FAA did make a change to the Airline Transport Pilot Practical Test Standards in 2012\u00a0to address the hazard of runway excursions requiring a specific touchdown point on landing with the centerline between the main landing gear. \u201cFor all landings, touch down at the aiming point markings \u2013 250\u2019 to +500\u2019 or where there are no runway aiming point markings, 750\u2019 to 1,500\u2019 from the approach threshold of the runway. Deceleration to taxi speed should be demonstrated on at least one landing to within the calculated landing distance plus 25% for the actual conditions with the runway centerline between the main landing gear.\u201d<\/p>\n

For additional lessons learned from runway excursion accidents, there are two free seminars coming up at the Bombardier Safety Standdown in Wichita, KS October 6-9th<\/sup> addressing the hazard of runway excursions. The FAA Air Traffic Organization Runway Safety Group is facilitating the workshop \u201cIt\u2019s Just a Matter of Seconds<\/a>”\u00a0and I will be facilitating the workshop \u201cAircraft Performance: Is It Legal, Is It Safe, Is It Smart.<\/a>”<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it to the Safety Standdown Advanced Aircrew Academy has an eLearning module for Runway Excursions<\/a>.\u00a0For additional information on the topic Runway Excursions view the NBAA webinar on: The Business Aviation Perspective<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"cockpitThis is the third in a series of blog articles exploring lessons we can learn from the runway excursion accident of N428JD. You can find the first article in the series here<\/a> or second article here<\/a> if you missed it.<\/p>\n

From a training and standards perspective and hindsight from reading a detailed investigation from the NTSB, there are some lessons to be learned from this accident. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Runway Excursion Risk Reduction Toolkit<\/a> identified the top three landing risk factors as (1) go around not conducted, (2) long touchdown, and (3) ineffective braking on a contaminated runway. This accident falls into that third category and we can also look at some factors from this accident report.<\/p>\n

The NTSB used radar data to estimate the speed of the aircraft on final, which was reported to be 15 to 19 knots above Vref. It was very typical for me to fly an approach in the Beechjet at ref +10. When I was trained, I was told to always come in at ref +10 which would allow you to make a smoother landing. It did not take me long to learn if you get conditioned to always fly at ref +10, then try to alter your technique and fly at Vref to a short or contaminated runway you will always make a hard landing. Using that logic, it made sense that you needed to fly ref +10 to make a smooth landing.<\/p>\n

There is nothing magical about flying ref +10. In non-gusty conditions, the aircraft flies just as well at Vref as it does +10. The benefit of getting accustomed to flying over the fence at Vref is that you don\u2019t have to change your technique when flying into a short or contaminated runway.<\/p>\n

Landing weight of the accident aircraft was reported to be 13,683 pounds. Using a typical Beechjet basic operating weight, one passenger, and IFR fuel reserves with an alternate, a landing weight could be a couple thousand pounds less, which would reduce the landing distance by about 600 feet. It is a delicate balance between carrying enough fuel for weather contingencies and minimizing weight for landing performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":663,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions\/663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircrewacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}