Runway overruns. Pilot failure to deploy spoilers is one cause. Is there no failsafe system to prevent this?

Question

I am interested in pax jets.
I guess there is no substitute for a longer runway but many jets land at airports with shorter runways close to cities.
This is related to a stabilised approach.

Answer 1

I am amazed at some of these answers! It would be nice if there were actual pilots doing the responding on questions like this. AUTOGLIDER is the only one that comes close to being accurate.

A runway overrun is probably 95% pilot error. There are many factors involved, including the decision not to land at the airport in the first place (see Southwest and MDW overrun).

All of us know certain airports provide certain challenges, like at DCA, LGA, and MDW so we are especially vigilant in these places.

There is nothing mechanical that will ever prevent a runway overrun. I suspect the biggest cause for a overrun is where the wheels first touch the runway.

Many times pilots like to have the smoothest touchdown possible as it somehow boosts their ego. But it also eats up a lot of runway if your wheels didn't touch down in the landing zone, then you have to go to battle stations to get the airplane stopped. Landing long but smooth usually leads to an abrupt and bumpy application of the brakes which negates the smooth touchdown.

While waiting for takeoff, I have seen many smaller jets touch down in the second 3rd of the runway, and that's simply unprofessional.

And no, it is not forgetting to deploy the spoilers or thrust reversers after landing. For a real pilot, that would be as silly as forgetting to push in the clutch before shifting gears in your car.

Answer 2

It is the same as forgetting to put down the landing gear (but in that case you don't have to worry about an overrun...lol).

It all comes down to pilot procedures and checks. Usually these types of things are caused by distraction in the cockpit. Rigid adherence to checklists and procedures prevents this from happening most of the time.

I heard an idea posed by an airline captain saying that a voice warning should be installed when the plane is above a certain speed on the ground with the throttles in idle or reverse if the spoilers aren't armed or deployed (like SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS! or something like that).

Just so you know, you still have to ARM the autospoilers for them to work (not always done).

Answer 3

There was an aircraft fleet with a 3 position switch for the autospoilers. OFF, Deploy Now, and Deploy when undercarriage carrying weight. Unfortunately different aircraft had the switch positions reversed. The companies answer was to put up a warning label. Of course the deployed in flight incidents continued till someone saw sense.

Answer 4

First off...
If the pilot fails to deploy spoilers when touching down, then he/she did not follow the aircraft's checklist, but also most Airliners have autospoilers.
I say, Forgetting to set Autospoilers/Deploying spoilers when touching down is a pilots error.
-Dont forget, the Reverse Thrusters and Brakes. They Help ALOT.

Answer 5

Nah! Stop blaming it on the arrow, it is the indian!

Landing over runs is the consequence of poor landing configuration and approach technique. Don't blame it on the plane or runway.

If they know their weigh, they should be able to calculate touchdown speed and landing roll. Anything else are just excuses.

Answer 6

arrester hooks and barrier nets at the end of the runway. useful for the small planes only, though.

Answer 7

yes, they're called auto-spoilers and are standard equipment on 75% of transport category aircraft. They sense either weight on wheels or wheel speed with flaps and idle thrust.

Answer 8

They are supposed to deploy on their own, but sometimes we have to manually deploy them.