Study after study has shown that runway excursions are the most numerous type of mishap for all types of airplanes. The majority of excursions are classed as incidents and result in minor to moderate damage and little or no injury, except possibly to the pilot’s ego. But some runway excursions do cause serious damage and fatalities.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, from Jan. 1, 2000 through Nov. 1, 2018, of the 143 runway overruns involving business jets, 16 (more than 11 percent) resulted in 46 fatalities. The record for that period also shows 28 excursions by business turboprops, in which two people were killed in a single accident. This compares to more than 600 deaths in 21 airline accidents worldwide in the same 17-year time frame.

Over the last few years, much excellent advice on operating procedures to help prevent excursions has been forthcoming from aviation associations and safety organizations. However, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) believes mandated technical measures are needed.  

To that end, EASA has issued a notice of proposed amendment (NPA) to require runway overrun awareness and alerting systems on Part 25 large airplanes operated in commercial air transportation (CAT). The agency said the proposed regulatory changes are “expected to increase safety by supporting the flight crew during the landing phase in identifying and managing the risk of a runway excursion.” Records show that about 80 percent of reported runway excursions occur during landings. Comments on the NPA are due by Jan. 25, 2019.

NTSB and FAA Actions                                                         

Meanwhile, in part as the result of a fatal aborted landing and attempted go-around of a Hawker Beechcraft HS 125-800A on July 31, 2008, the NTSB recommended that the FAA “actively pursue with aircraft and avionics manufacturers the development of technology to reduce or prevent runway excursions and require that the technology be installed.”

In its initial response in 2011, the FAA said it agreed with the intent of this recommendation. “We have been working with both avionics and transport airplane manufacturers who are conducting research and developing technology to reduce runway excursions and protection from runway overruns. We anticipate some of these early technologies will become available for incorporation and initial certification on transport aircraft flight decks within the next two years. Should these technologies prove to be practical and provide a measurable reduction in incidents resulting from runway excursions, we will pursue the best regulatory approach to implement these new capabilities on transport category aircraft in the future.”

However, in a 2016 update, the FAA told the Safety Board that a mandated requirement to install such systems was not warranted “because industry was sufficiently motivated to install the technology voluntarily.” The NTSB was not convinced and asked the FAA to describe systems available and the extent to which they were being installed.

In an Aug. 8, 2018 letter to the NTSB, the FAA provided details of the systems on the market and how well the industry has adopted the technology. The agency noted that Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, and Gulfstream have developed, certified, and are installing technology to reduce or prevent runway excursions in newly manufactured aircraft. “We further note that Honeywell has developed a system being used in a variety of in-service airplanes from a number of manufacturers.”

The FAA went on to say, “This information demonstrates that industry is voluntarily adopting the technology, which is an alternative that satisfies this recommendation and we consider our actions complete.” The Safety Board agreed, using virtually the same language in its statement.

The Systems

Basically, runway excursion abatement systems currently available provide callouts that guide the flight crew to either abort the landing if it determines the runway available is too short or, if the airplane is already on the runway, alerting the crew to ensure all deceleration devices have been deployed and are used to their maximum effectiveness.

At last count, Airbus had installed its Runway Overrun Preventions System (ROPS) on more than 781 of its aircraft used by some 60 operators. The latest version of ROPS provides landing distance calculation capability, which allows the crew to see the worst braking action that can be accepted for the landing and a notification if the braking action is worse than anticipated. Boeing has its ROPS certified on the 737NG and 737. Embraer is developing ROPS for entry into service next year on a variety of its models.

SmartRunway is an extension of Honeywell’s runway awareness and advisory system (RAAS) and uses data from the EGPWS database to provide both visual and aural alerts about the aircraft’s position on the runway. SmartLanding also provides aural and visual alerts to warn pilots if the airplane is not within specified safety criteria on approach. The technologies received their TSO approvals in late 2009 and installations began in 2010.

Though not specifically designed as runway excursion prevention systems, alternative products from Rockwell Collins and Garmin are available. Rockwell Collins believes its Airport Moving Map, surface management, and TAWS offerings could qualify for compliance with the EASA proposal. Additionally, the company said, “Our HGS and TAWS systems also have aspects that can supplement runway excursion mitigation through support of stabilized approaches, and then runway remaining and deceleration information in the case of HGS.”

Garmin said it “continues to make significant investments to increase awareness and safety of terminal area and surface operations. SafeTaxi is one of these building blocks, which are available on virtually all Garmin in-cockpit and portable moving map displays. TerminalTraffic and SurfaceWatch are additional applications which build upon the foundation of SafeTaxi, to provide additional layers of awareness to alert the crew of potential hazards and wrong surface events. Collectively, these technologies are “designed to enhance pilot situational awareness throughout taxi, takeoff and landing operations.”