New ARC on TO & L Performance

In response to National Transportation Safety Board recommendations stemming from the Southwest Airlines accident at Chicago Midway Airport in 2005, FAA recently formed a Takeoff/Landing Performance Assessment Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). After the accident, the FAA found that aircraft operators...

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In response to National Transportation Safety Board recommendations stemming from the Southwest Airlines accident at Chicago Midway Airport in 2005, FAA recently formed a Takeoff/Landing Performance Assessment Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC). After the accident, the FAA found that aircraft operators often calculate their own landing distances for both dry and contaminated fields which have little to do with those established under aircraft certification because they do not reflect actual operating conditions.
The new ARC committee will conduct a review and provide recommendations to:
• Establish airplane certification and operational requirements, (including training), for takeoff and landing operations on contaminated runways;
• Establish landing distance assessment requirements, including minimum landing distance safety margins, to be performed at the time of arrival; and,
• Establish standards for runway surface condition reporting and minimum surface conditions for continued operations.
The agency is seeking membership in the new task force and applications should be submitted by January 7 on the FAA’s web site by searching on Takeoff/Landing Performance Assessment Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC).
The National Air Transportation Association said the new committee was formed as a direct result of opposition to a 2006 effort by the FAA to impose a new mandatory assessment just prior to landing. FAA issued a Policy Statement Notice to impose a mandatory landing assessment to include a 15 percent margin for all turbine aircraft used by Part 121, 125, 135 and 91 Subpart K operators.
NATA and others objected on the grounds it constituted a rulemaking and because it also failed to provide on-demand and fractional ownership programs with adequate guidance and accommodation for their unique operations. The FAA ultimately agreed with NATA’s position and issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) that asked operators to implement the new procedure voluntarily, and the agency has now followed NATA’s suggestion to create an ARC to propose solutions within the formal rulemaking process.