Starting October 1, the FAA will be using new takeoff and landing performance assessment (TALPA) standards to reduce the risk of runway overrun accidents and incidents due to runway contamination. The FAA developed the standards based on the work of the TALPA Aviation Rulemaking Committee, which was formed after a December 2005 accident in which a Southwest Airlines 737 ran off the end of the runway at Chicago Midway Airport and into a city street after landing during a snowstorm.
As a result of the committee’s work, airports and air traffic controllers will communicate actual runway conditions to pilots in terms that directly relate to the way a particular aircraft is expected to perform. Runway conditions will be based on contaminant type and depth, which provide pilots and dispatchers with the effective information to anticipate airplane braking performance, the FAA said.
The new runway condition assessment matrix (RCAM) thus replaces subjective judgments of runway conditions with objective assessments. The airport operator will assess surfaces, report contaminants present, and determine the numerical runway condition codes (RwyCC) based on the RCAM. According to the FAA, RwyCCs will replace Mu numbers and could vary for each third of the runway if different contaminants are present.
The pilot or dispatcher would then consult aircraft manufacturer data to determine what kind of stopping performance to expect from a specific airplane.
However, pilot braking action reports will continue to be used to assess braking performance. But, beginning October 1, the terminology “fair” will be replaced by “medium” and it will no longer be acceptable for an airport to report a NIL braking action condition. “NIL conditions on any surface require the closure of that surface,” the FAA said. “These surfaces will not be opened until the airport operator is satisfied that the NIL braking condition no longer exists.”