Westjet Braking Action Report

[Rockie]

You also have to factor in how long the "aaaahhhhhh" was before saying "fair". If it's "braking action was, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, well, faaaiiiir" that means it's not really that good but you don't want to screw over everyone else on approach who can't hear the words "poor" and continue.

If it's poor then people should say so. It's essential information that will be repeated to every airplane and might even prompt the airport authority to go out with their cool machines and do something about it.

[schnitzel2k3]

I remember going into an airport that had some weather move through recently with a flash freeze. A couple Navajo's went in and reported the braking as fair with poor sections (likely to cover their butts). We were on the approach and decided to get the guy out to check the runway (this was a scheduled service).

The guy came out (we were holding outside on one of the approach fixes - it was pretty quiet), ran the runway for what felt like forever and said the best he got was a .05 (not .5) and in some cases no proper result. He said it was about as slick as a skating rink. With that we moved on. For what it's worth, one guys braking report is pretty useless for the next guy.

[complexintentions]

Also FWIW, the whole pedantry about terminology is moot for some operators like ourselves who do not consider pilot reports of braking action, nor JBI values, whatsoever in calculating landing distance. A PIREP is not "essential information" and we disregard it completely, in fact our ops spec forbid us from considering it. The only thing we're interested in is the actual measure and type of contaminant. This is plugged into the OPT and the landing distance gets spit out. If it exceeds the available runway, see ya. Simple.

So say whatever you want, we don't care!

[Rockie]

Also FWIW, the whole pedantry about terminology is moot for some operators like ourselves who do not consider pilot reports of braking action, nor JBI values, whatsoever in calculating landing distance. A PIREP is not "essential information" and we disregard it completely, in fact our ops spec forbid us from considering it. The only thing we're interested in is the actual measure and type of contaminant. This is plugged into the OPT and the landing distance gets spit out. If it exceeds the available runway, see ya. Simple.

So say whatever you want, we don't care!

What if just prior to you a pilot reports much worse braking than the latest CRFI indicates? Do you still press on confident that your OPT numbers are accurate?