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According to ICAO standards, the runway friction rate of the airports must be 0,
7 on new runways. This rate is the friction coefficient of the runway. Statistics
from 1995 up to today, suggest that over 40 planes per year have been victims of
accidents caused by runways with sub standards friction level.
(Source: The Flight Safety Foundation Approach-and-Landing
Accident Reduction (ALA) Task Force)
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Fatalities by type of runway accident from 1995 to 2007 (E.F. Weemer 2007).
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Landing Excursions for commercial Turbojet and Turboprop Aircrafts (
(Runway Safety Initiative - Flight Safety Foundation, May 2009).
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What you have to know
“Air safety statistics during the last 30 years show an average of four to six runways
overruns, or excursions, every year in India. However, since 2004 there has been
a dramatic increase in the number of wet runways/excursions. The average during
the last 2 years is more than 10 per year. And out of 66 aircraft overruns in 2005,
more than two-thirds were as a result of wet runways”
(Capt. A Ranganathan, ISASI Forum India, January-March
2006 and Online edition of India's National Newspaper, Nov 29, 200)
“The risk of a jet aircraft overrunning the end of a slippery runway on landing
is approximately 13 greater than for a dry runway. The risks of overruns on landing
for aircraft without reverse thrust are approximately 4 to 7 times greater than
for aircraft with reverse thrust.”
(Transport Canada, www.tc.gc.ca, 01/05/2009)
“One death and seven injured persons. It is the last assessment of a plane crash
of the Bangkok Airways company at the airport of Koh Samui in the afternoon. The
plane would have slid on the runway because of the bad weather and collided an old
control tower.” (Crash of a plane to Koh Samui, Infos-Thailande.com,
04/08/2009)
Action to be taken as a Result of a Runway Friction Assessment:
If the friction is below the MFL (Minimum Friction Level) maintenance should be arranged
urgently in order to restore the friction readings to an acceptable level. In accordance with
ICAO Annex 14 Volume 1, if the lowest 100m rolling average by portion is below MFL, a
NOTAM shall be issued advising that the runway “may be slippery when wet”. (ICAO Annex 14
Volume 1)
Rugoway Truck’s shost-blasting head doing a regeneration/rubber cleansing on a runway
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