A critical aspect of aviation safety, the term ‘braking action’ refers to how easily an aircraft can come to a stop after landing on a runway. In the past 20 years, there have been numerous incidents where poor braking action was the leading cause of runway-related accidents. Some notable examples include Southwest 1248 at Chicago Midway, and Miami Air International at Jacksonville Naval Station.
These incidents highlight the importance to flight crews of reliable braking action reporting, whether by pilots or airport management, to ensure safe landings - especially in wintery conditions or on precipitation-covered runways.
The Challenge
While most airports are equipped with braking action measurement tools, the most reliable and current reports often come from pilots who have just landed on the runway in question. This creates a challenge in obtaining reliable, up-to-date braking action reports.
The SkyPath Solution
To help mitigate this issue, SkyPath - a crowd-sourcing network for sharing aviation weather data - leverages its network to share brake action insights in real time. The SkyPath braking action reporting tool enables pilots to share their experiences of runway conditions in a user-friendly and anonymous way. Once a pilot vacates the runway and has time to get their bearings, SkyPath will prompt them to share their experience with other system users. This data is then made available to other pilots approaching the same runway, providing them with valuable information for making safe landing decisions.
This is just one of the ways in which SkyPath enhances flight safety, for the benefit of passengers and crew.
