Safety Innovation #5: Runway Overrun Prevention System (ROPS) and Runway Safety Suite

It is an undeniable fact that our industry has made huge progress in safety since the 1950s, and technology has contributed significantly to this evolution. Always keen to improve safety, Airbus continues to innovate, as demonstrated by the Runway Overrun Prevention System and other technological functions which assist the crew during approach and landing phases.

Runway excursions during the landing phase represent one of the largest categories of accidents in air transport, amounting to approximately 20 percent of all reported occurrences. To avoid such accidents caused by a variety of factors during the approach and landing phases, from unstable approach due to too high energy to slippery or contaminated runway, Airbus has created a Runway Safety Suite. This suite includes the ROPS, an Airbus invention which assists the flight crew during the approach and roll-out.

Its warning function, called Runway Overrun Warning (ROW), applies during flight. It warns the crew during approach that the runway might be too short to land safely considering the real time level of energy of the aircraft. It is therefore a means to warn the crew that a go-around should be envisaged.

Its protection function, referred to as Runway Overrun Protection (ROP), applies once the aircraft is on the ground and is oriented towards stopping the aircraft or minimising the speed at the end of the runway if the aircraft cannot stop before the end of the runway. It warns the crew that all decelerating devices to stop the aircraft should be used: maximum reverse (thrust) and maximum braking.

In the Runway Safety Suite, ROPS is complemented by a set of landing surveillance and monitoring functions. The altimeter setting monitor, the approach stabilisation monitor and the taxiway landing monitor are all designed to increase flight-crew situational awareness during approach and landing.

Discover more on ROPS and the other safety systems within the Runway Safety Suite in this video on our YouTube channel.