New takeoff and landing performance assessment (TALPA) methods have been put in place at U.S. airports to help reduce risks of runway overruns caused by standing water, snow, ice or other contaminants on the runway.
Implementation of the new methods on Oct. 1 nearly coincided with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB’s) issuance of related recommendations to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The recommendations were included in the NTSB’s final report on a March 5, 2015, runway excursion accident involving a Boeing MD-88 at LaGuardia Airport in New York (see “Lost in Reverse“).
Twenty-nine passengers received minor injuries in the accident, and the airplane was substantially damaged; five crewmembers and 98 passengers were uninjured.1
In the report, issued in September, the NTSB said that the accident “demonstrates the continuing need for objective, rea…
