There have been numerous instances of aircraft going off the ends of runways in recent years and many of these were caused by the aircraft being a little fast in the flare, perhaps with a tailwind and then floating down the runway, which got me thinking......
FBW technology is now over 25 years old and in that time the sophistication of the system must surely have improved way beyond what was possible in the early days. I also noted with interest the way FBW manages the spoilers and alters the flight dynamics of the E-Jet on a recent flight I made into London City - making operation of that type possible there.
Surely by now the technology is there to use FBW to manage the spoliers and effect a miniscule deployment when the aircraft is in the flare and a float is detected, in essence to help the wheels onto the ground. If the system detects that this cannot be completed safely within a set distance it could bark "go-around", or be cancelled if TOGA application is detected.
The precise parameters would obviously have to be determined by experts but I am thinking in general terms and with reference to situations such as this one:
Here a go-around was initiated when the aircraft was inches above the ground and presumably caught in a tailwind and could have perhaps been avoided with a tiny deployment of the spoliers.
If this could be achieved surely there would be cost benefits (avoided GAs) as well as (hopefully) a reduction of the number of runway excursions?
Any views on whether or not this would be possible would be interesting!