Extending the frontiers of aviation

SafeLand™ is the world’s leading real-time braking action and surface condition reporting system for aviation, working with all aircraft types and airport surfaces.

SafeLand for airlines and airports

Insight into 14+ million landings

AST is currently reporting on thousands of landings a day by more than 2,000 jet aircraft. Our Aircraft Braking Action Reports offer insight into landing and braking trends that were previously incalculable.

Predicting the future

AST SafeLand Friction Forecaster™ keeps airports and airlines ahead of changing conditions so they can know what surface conditions will be – and what to do about it.

Fast and easy integration

The SafeLand™ Surface Management System easily integrates with your existing systems, so there is no need for a separate user interface.

Unparalleled insight into runway conditions for higher aviation safety and efficiency

AST’s SafeLand™ Surface Management System provides aircraft operators, airports, and regulatory bodies with live information about runway conditions and available braking friction based on real-time data from previously-landed aircraft. Our Braking Action Reports deliver real-time insight into runway conditions based on data collected from aircraft-based sensors. The sensors allow measurement of the precise braking action of landing aircraft based on surface conditions and the impact of contaminants such as water, ice, or snow. These real-time reports can be made instantly available to incoming aircraft, ground personnel, airport operations, and authorities. Using this information, pilots can improve their landing decisions while airports can improve their surface management strategies. The bottom line is enhanced safety, more efficient operations, higher runway uptime, and more reliable flight schedules for passengers.

SafeLand™ complies with ASTM International Standard E3266 for aircraft braking measurement and reporting. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently contracted with AST to receive our SafeLand™ Aircraft Braking Action Reports.

Complies with ASTM International’s new standard for runway braking measurement and reporting

ASTM logo AST is pleased to announce that the SafeLand™ system,, today’s leading runway friction measuring and reporting platform, complies with the aircraft braking measurement standard recently released by ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials.

The new ASTM International Standard E3266 for Friction-Limited Aircraft Braking Measurements and Reporting, published in November 2020, applies to systems that measure and report on braking forces and runway friction. This standard applies to any automated system that uses data from an aircraft to create what ASTM International calls an Aircraft Braking Action Report.

“With ASTM International Standard E3266, the aviation world now has a definitive international standard that provides objective measuring and quantifying of the actual landing risk on wet or contaminated runway surfaces experienced by commercial aircraft,” said Joe Vickers, CEO of AST. “This important advance brings significant safety benefits, improved operational efficiency, and better runway maintenance. It embodies the march of progress as we evolve from subjective assessments of runway conditions to objective, science-based measurements.”

New runway friction standard

We give pilots visibility into actual runway conditions

Ask pilots about the challenges they face when landing, and they'll mention the lack of hard data in the cockpit about the runway surfaces they approach every day. Sure, a runway may be wet – but exactly how wet? And how does that contamination affect braking? AST provides today's pilots with objective information about exact surface conditions and the braking action they should expect to see based on empirical data from the planes that just landed. This insight has enormous implications in how pilots land their planes, and how airlines manage safety risk in changing conditions.

Airline benefits

Airport operations love us too

Ask airport personnel about managing runway availability, and they'll tell you about the challenges of scheduling plows, brooms, blowers, and chemicals at the exact right times. When are they best scheduled? If crews are visually assessing surfaces for contaminant type, depth and coverage, inefficiencies will abound. AST provides airports with accurate contamination measurements and automatically calculates the RwyCC for each runway third. So runways can be managed with precision.

Airport benefits

How we do it

AST’s SafeLand™ leverages two types of sensors to objectively measure, report, and manage braking action and surface conditions:

Aircraft-based sensors are used to measure braking action (deceleration) on landings, augmenting subjective pilot assessments (PIREPS) with hard scientific data.

Vehicle-based sensors are used to measure surface contamination like water, snow, or ice, replacing manual (visual) assessments with precise, objective measurements of contaminant depth and coverage.

Our methodology

Instant reports

We instantly package the data in reports, and share them with airport and airline operators as well as other interested parties such as ATOs, FAA, and CAAs.

Approaching pilots have reliable reports about runway conditions measured in a superior, objective manner.
Airline AOC and Airport Snow and Ice crews experience fewer random (subjective) fluctuations in condition reporting.
Airport operations can more effectively utilize their resources to optimize the availability of all surfaces in and around the airport, including the use of our new AST Friction Forecaster™ Model.

It all adds up to better aviation, with safer landings, maximum runway usability, more reliable flight schedules, and a better customer experience for the millions who are counting on safe, reliable transportation.

Discover the solution

Amelia would have loved our runways

Aviation pioneers like Amelia Earhart faced daunting challenges. One was being able to understand, in advance, the condition of their landing surfaces – an impossible task back then. Thanks to AST, today's pilots have a whole new level of insight into surface contaminants and how they impact friction and braking.

8 pivot points in aviation history

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