Several months prior to the incident, Virgin Australia Airlines/Virgin Australia International changed their policy on calculating landing performance for damp runways from referencing a wet runway to a dry runway.
The ATSB is satisfied that the amendment to the Virgin Australia Airlines/Virgin Australia International Volume A1: Operating Policies and Procedures - General will provide increased safety margins when landing on damp runways. In particular, this will reduce the potential for underestimating aircraft landing performance derived from a subjective assessment of damp runway surface conditions.
In response to a preliminary analysis of this incident, Virgin Australia/Virgin Australia International conducted an initial post-implementation review of the change to their policy that permitted a damp runway to be considered dry for performance purposes. A further review of this change is currently underway in response to the ATSB’s investigation report. This review is examining change objectives, proposed and realised risk profile, current regulatory direction and industry guidance, and operational outcomes from the policy change. Findings from this review will be used by Virgin Australia/Virgin Australia International to determine whether further changes to the aircraft performance policy are required. Any policy changes will be incorporated into the aircraft performance training course.
The ATSB notes that Virgin Australia/Virgin Australia International is currently reviewing their internal policy on the classification of damp runways for performance purposes. The ATSB will monitor the operator’s progress and assess the safety issue on completion of that review.
Update 24 June 2021
In July 2018, Virgin Australia Airlines/Virgin Australia International issued an operations information circular to flight crew detailing a change to the damp runway policy. The circular stated that, for landing, flight crew generally have limited opportunities to assess whether a runway is damp or wet. It was further noted that a damp runway assessment provided by air traffic control was based on a subjective and non-technical evaluation of the runway surface conditions. As a result, and effective immediately, ‘a runway reported as DAMP or with any moisture shall be considered WET for the purposes of pre-dispatch and inflight landing limitations’. This change was intended to provide an additional level of risk mitigation in the event a flight crew received inaccurate advice regarding the runway surface conditions that could adversely affect aircraft performance and controllability during landing. Virgin Australia/Virgin Australia International's Volume A1: Operating Policies and Procedures – General was amended in late 2018 to reflect this change in policy.
