September 1, 2016
Aviation Safety Technologies, LLC is proud to announce completion of a FAA Grant Project, DTFACT-14-C-00004 entitled “Determining Runway Friction Conditions in Real Time Using Data Obtained from Airplanes during Landing Rollout.”
The project was performed by Aviation Safety Technologies, LLC (AST) personnel with tremendous support and guidance from FAA personnel, carrier and airport partners, and other industry experts. AST executed this project through the use of its commercial prototype system, SafeLand™, utilizing software scripts installed on carrier partner aircraft to collect data during landings. AST processes this data with its proprietary methodologies to generate friction information about the runway on which the landing occurred. The friction information is immediately distributed via multiple paths to provide the National Airspace System with a step-increase in safety awareness and operational efficiency.
AST now has the 6 of the largest US carriers as partners and over 1,000 aircraft, including common Boeing and Airbus models, reporting multiple landings on a daily basis. The SafeLand™ database currently holds over 2.3 million landings and is projected to generate over 1 million landings in the next 12 months.
The study validated AST’s methodology and the feasibility of obtaining useful runway friction information in real-time from landing aircraft during normal operations and how this information might be distributed to and used by airports and carriers.
