FAA Forms ARC for Landing Distance, New RVR Tool

At press time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is forming an Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) to recommend requirements for a landing distance performance assessment prior to landing. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) pushed for the creation of the ARC since the agency first attempted to impose the new assessment last year. (See related story on Santa Monica, this issue)
“Last year, NATA led the charge to prevent the FAA from imposing new requirements without going through the rulemaking process. At that time, we not only prevented the unreasonable application of poor policy but voiced our support of a joint industry-government working group to help address the FAA’s concerns,” explained NATA President James K. Coyne.
The FAA’s actions are in response to a death that resulted from an Southwest Airlines’ overrun at Chicago’s Midway Airport in December 2005. Nearly a year later, the FAA attempted 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 opposed the FAA’s action on the grounds that it failed to accommodate the unique aspects of Part 135 and 91 Subpart K operations and that, as a mandatory new requirement, it constituted rulemaking and could not be implemented via a policy order.
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, according to the organization.
“I am pleased the FAA has agreed to work cooperatively with the industry to determine how to mitigate the risks associated with a landing on a contaminated runway,” Coyne said. “The ARC process is appropriate in this situation, but it is imperative that the solution proposed by the ARC reflects the widely varying equipment and staffing levels that exist at airports frequently used by our community. To ensure that successful outcome, NATA encourages operators to participate on the ARC and submit comments to the FAA on realistic solutions to the issue.”
The FAA will accept applications for participation through January 7, 2008. Comments on the subject are also requested and will be accepted through February 4, 2008.

New RVR Tool Issued by FAA
In separate news, FAA just made calculating runway visual range (RVR) easier with a new tool on its web site. With the “RVR Monitor” users are able to The FAA has released a new and enhanced runway visual range (RVR) tool on its web site, which makes obtaining airport RVR information much easier. The new tool, called the "RVR Monitor," allows users to view data at a glance for all 59 RVR-reporting airports. The monitor shows the lowest RVR value that has been observed at each airport during the previous 10 minutes and color-codes airports with degraded RVR values. Detailed current data for each airport also is available by clicking on the airport's identifier. The RVR monitor can be accessed here.