Aquaplaning

[AustCitizen]

What would you do if landing on a wet runway with a strong crosswind you started to drift downwind off the runway?

A) Cancel reverse, regain centreline using rudder control, and then apply max braking using anti-skid if necessary. The most likely reason the aircraft skidded was due to aquaplaning and drifting sideways due to the sideways component of thrust from reverse application. Another action may be to confirm spoiler extension after touch down.

B) "Once down, push the control column forward to get the incidence, and therefore the lift, off the wings and the weight on to the wheels. Pull full spoiler to achieve the same result. Now pull full reverse and hold it."
D.P. Davies

What does Boeing / Airbus recommend ?

[alexban]

Boeing FCTM recommands to:
reduce reverse thrust to reverse idle and release the brakes.This minimizes the reverse thrust side force component without the requirement to go through a full reverser actuation cycle,and improve tire cornering forces for realignment with the rwy cl.Use rudder pedal steering and differential braking as required , to prevent over correcting past the cl.When re-established near the rwy cl, apply max braking and symetrical reverse thrust.

[AustCitizen]

Thank you thats what I was looking for.

[alf5071h]

“What would you do if landing on a wet runway with a strong crosswind you started to drift downwind off the runway?”

Perhaps the best advice is not to be there in the first place. This is easier said than done given the many pitfalls of reporting wind (and runway condition) identified in the report on Safety aspects of aircraft operations in crosswind (www.nlr-atsi.com/downloads/NLR-TP-2001-217.pdf); it is an excellent reference for the problems arising from crosswinds. The report should be read in conjunction with Safety aspects of aircraft performance on wet and contaminated runways (www.nlr-atsi.com/publications.php) (2001) and Safety aspects of tailwind operations. (www.nlr-atsi.com/publications.php)

Airbus recommendations are given in their Briefing Notes. (www.airbus.com/en/corporate/ethics/safety_lib/index.html) See Flight Operations, Landing Techniques, Crosswind Landings.

A general overview of landing safety is in ALAR (www.flightsafety.org/alar_resources.html) and Approach and Landing (www.flightsafety.org/ppt/managing_threat.ppt).

The thread is titled Aquaplaning, but the question is not necessarily restricted to this condition. The link on Contaminated Runways has a good section on ‘Hydroplaning’ in section 2.3. followed by ‘Directional Control’ in section 2.4. Note that recovery actions such as those described by manufacturers will “greatly increase the stopping distance on a contaminated runway”, quote from the report.

Beware of large pitch control movements on the runway. There has been several threads discussing the pros and cons of forward control movement; as always follow the manufacturer’s advice.