Safety First

Safety Analysis Underscores Need for Improved Runway Condition Reports

The number of accidents involving U.S.-registered business jets declined slightly in 2008, but U.S. business turboprop accidents showed a significant increase last year, according to data compiled by Robert E. Breiling Associates of Boca Raton, FL.

Breiling, who has been tracking business aviation safety statistics for decades, says the overall business aviation safety record has continued to improve in recent years, benefiting from improved technology and better training. There were 23 accidents involving U.S. business jets in 2008, down slightly from 25 in 2007, and lower than the average of 24.4 accidents annually over the past five years.

U.S. business turboprops were involved in 86 accidents and major incidents in 2008, a jump of 21 percent from the 71 accidents/major incidents reported in 2007. In addition, the number of fatal turboprop accidents jumped from 13 in 2007 to 18 last year.

In business jet operations, Breiling says that the landing phase of flight "continues to be a problem," accounting for nearly 50 percent of all accidents. While such a high proportion of landing-phase accidents might suggest pilots are attempting to land on runways that are too short to safely accommodate their aircraft, Breiling said that is not necessarily the case. A few years ago, he made a study of more than 600 business jet accidents and found that 78 percent of those were at airports with runways measuring 5,000 feet or longer.

"I attribute [those accidents] not to going into short runways…but to many pilots making high and fast non-stabilized approaches," Breiling says. In addition to unstabilized approaches and lack of speed control, Breiling cited runway conditions as a significant factor in many business jet accidents.

Runway Condition Reporting Is Key

Noting that both the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are pushing regulations to require pilots to adopt a 15 percent safety margin in their runway distance calculations, Breiling says, "We've got plenty of runways [of sufficient length]. I think the big need is more current runway-condition information, particularly on smaller airports. Pilots are going in on eight-hour-old runway condition reports, or runway condition reports that are based on smaller aircraft."

NBAA's Vice President of Safety, Security & Regulation Doug Carr, who chairs an FAA Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) on landing distance calculation, agrees that runway condition reporting, "is a key element" in improving the business aviation safety record. Carr says the ARC submitted its recommendations to the FAA in July.

The committee is advocating the use of a runway-reporting matrix tool that would provide better standardization of reporting on runway contaminants "so that pilots know what to expect when those wheels touch down." The aim is to provide information on the specific type of contamination, along with depth/coverage metrics, and do a better job of aligning those reports with International Civil Aviation Organization standards "with the hope that the pilots will get better information and make better decisions," Carr says.

Trial use of the runway-reporting matrix began last winter. Carr says it is encouraging that additional airports have volunteered to use the system during the upcoming winter to "see how it works and to try and improve the system before it goes nationwide."

Plans call for developing a digital product containing runway condition information that pilots can access easily. "The NOTAM system is critical because that is where the information will end up going so that people will have the updated information when they need it," Carr says.

Other Notable Trends

Breiling publishes an annual Business Turbine Aircraft Accident Review that details the circumstances of each accident during the preceding year, along with analysis and probable cause information from the NTSB. "This past year there appeared to be more accidents involving pilot/crew disregard for long-known and acknowledged safe operating procures," Breiling notes in the 2008 edition.

These include:

• The failure to conduct "airframe inspection for ice or contamination prior to departure, even when snow or moisture is present;
• The lack of respect for adding safety factors for landing or departing from contaminated runways; and,
• Speed control on final approach."

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The NTSB's annual accident data can be found on NBAA's web site at www.nbaa.org/ops/safety/stats. NBAA Members are eligible for a $50 discount on the 2008 Annual Business Turbine Aircraft Accident Review, at www.breilinginc.com.