Avoid the Overrun

Elaine Kauh

Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 12:21 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Pilot discretion in Part 91 IFR approaches and landings can lead to pushing safety limits, making pilots susceptible to mishaps if judgment is compromised under dynamic conditions.
Runway overruns are a common IFR accident type, often resulting from a pilot's misjudgment of landing distance combined with adverse factors like tailwind, wet surfaces, or low visibility.
A case study demonstrates how changing approach plans late, hesitating to go around, and misjudging landing distance in challenging weather can lead to a runway excursion.
The article emphasizes that thorough pre-flight planning, accounting for all variables and NOTAMs, and executing a timely go-around are critical for safety, as delayed decisions significantly increase risk.

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Part 91, gives us lots of discretion when it comes to choosing an approach, deciding if it’s legal (and safe) to continue, and then if it’s legal and safe to land. The caveat is that personal judgment, often in the heat of the moment, becomes the catchall for critical phases of flight. This makes us susceptible to pushing that discretion beyond what (in hindsight) we might consider legal and/or safe. Add a little bad luck and the likely outcome is a mishap—or worse.

Take the runway overrun, one of the most common causes of non-fatal IFR accidents. Pilot judgment is a constant throughout the approach and landing, and any variables popping up so close to the ground must be addressed instantly, making for higher risk. Still, hard numbers are constantly in play: Ceilings and visibility; runway length, approach minimums, and, to a certain extent as we’ll see, aircraft performance.