Evaluation of the impact of runway characteristics on veer-off risk at rapid exit taxiways

Abstract

Runway rapid exits are used as a method of reducing runway occupancy times of landing aircraft and thereby increasing its operational capacity. This is an important design improvement in the runway system of an airport that requires capacity improvement to meet the increasing demand. Due to the increased utilization of rapid exit taxiways, the number of accidents that could take place at rapid exits in the future could increase. The paper proposes a methodology to evaluate veer-off risks under different operational and design conditions at runway rapid exits. The method of analysis includes estimating veer-off probability along with the associated consequence. One of the key findings of this study is that a 30% increase in taxiway width and taxiway design radius result in 32% and 69 % reductions in veer-off risk respectively. The study provides a useful framework to incorporate veer-off risk when planning and design of rapid exit taxiways.