Improving runway condition awareness together

Braking Action Computation Function (BACF) has been developed by AIRBUS to use the deceleration phase of an aircraft on the runway to accurately calculate its condition. 

With the recent deployment of BACF v5, the software is compatible with the vast majority of A320 & A330 fleets, including now A321XLR.

Output of BACF shows the runway condition in Global Reporting Format (GRF) from 1 (POOR) to 6 (DRY), providing objective feedback to pilot for reporting back to ATS. BACF reports are also sent via ACARS message to our ground-based solution, RunwaySense.

RunwaySense collates the generated BACF reports in real-time and represents visually through a user-friendly interface. With this information, ATC has a clear view of changing runway conditions, even down to certain sections which are showing reduced friction. 

Runway excursions are a major cause of accidents at airports, with 25% occurring on contaminated runways. Increasing numbers of airlines committing to BACF installation allows more airports to benefit from RunwaySense, anticipating and mitigating slippery conditions.

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Airbus Family Aircraft

Join the growing list of aircraft equipped with BACF

  • 80 airlines committed to contribute
  • 55,000 runway condition messages produced per month from a total of 300,000 BACF equipped landings

 

How does it work?

The implementation of BACF responded to recommendations issued by several safety bodies such as the NTSB, for “an operationally feasible airplane-based braking ability / runway surface condition measurement and communication system”.

Post landing, data measured by the aircraft during its landing roll is able to identify the braking action level. Comparison of the actual wheel braking performance, to standardised “reference” runway conditions, the software can identify the braking action(s) the aircraft experienced. Each braking action zone is GPS tagged to identify exactly where on the runway they occurred.

ACARS data is sent to the ground systems with the results, giving digital data about the braking actions experienced:

  1. Airline: Across the fleet of aircraft, throughout their route network.
  2. Airport: All BACF-equipped aircraft landing at the individual airport when subscribed to RunwaySense.

The BACF software consists of an ATSU AOC application and is available as an AIRBUS Standard Service Bulletin – and due to reports generated back to RunwaySense platform, is free of charge.

RunwaySense is available to airports & third-parties through a web-based solution or can be integrated into existing airport and flight following tools.

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