Influence of Aircraft Physical Characteristics on Landing Comfort on Runways

Abstract

The evaluation of the comfort of landing operations through pilot scores may be a viable quality indicator to be adopted in airport runway management. However, some factors, such as the aircraft model, can influence this perception. This paper aims to evaluate the physical characteristics of aircraft that affect the pilots’ assessment related to comfort during landing operations at runways. We analyzed 11 runways with different conditions of roughness and measured using the International Roughness Index (IRI), associated with the scores given by pilots in the same runways. In addition, we performed a statistical analysis of four physical characteristics of the aircraft: wingspan, length, base, and gauge. The results indicate a relationship between pilot scores and runway roughness, where the gauge is the physical characteristic with the greatest influence on pilot scores. More specifically, for IRI values between 2.0 and 2.5 m/km, these characteristics influenced the perception, with better comfort during landings attributed to smaller aircraft.