What the profile screens for
Aircraft track and final approach geometry align with a runway or surface different from the validated flight-plan context.
Why it matters
Geospatial analysis can flag wrong-surface exposure, but clearance, runway changes, visual manoeuvring, and intent need corroboration.
Build the event around relationships—not one number.
Define the operating context
Identify the approach state, aircraft configuration, location, and any required external data before applying logic.
Screen the signal relationship
Use validated combinations of latitude, longitude, track; avoid treating one isolated value as the whole event.
Confirm it is a genuine event
Check polarity, units, source, recording rate, dropouts, air/ground logic, persistence, and false-positive mechanisms.
Connect data to the safety question
Review procedures, reports, weather, airport and traffic context, exposure, recurrence, and the strength of the related barriers.
Recorded signals that may help explain the event.
These signals are not yet represented by a separate ASIP parameter guide.
Questions before conclusions
- Q1
Are latitude, longitude, track valid, correctly decoded, time-aligned, and sampled well enough for this event?
- Q2
What changed immediately before, during, and after the approach to an unexpected runway or surface indication?
- Q3
How do aircraft configuration, weather, airport geometry, automation state, and crew reports change the interpretation?
- Q4
Which current flight manual, SOP, maintenance, or operator event definition controls the final conclusion?
Safety topics that broaden the event review.
Wrong runway or surface
Takeoff, landing, or alignment involving a runway, taxiway, or surface different from the intended and validated operating surface.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-015 · Approach & landingNon-precision approach
Approach risk where continuous vertical guidance is unavailable or not used, emphasizing descent planning, step-down constraints, minima, and path monitoring.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-065 · Weather & environmentCrosswind operations
Takeoff and landing in crosswind or gust conditions, including control technique, limits, runway state, alignment, touchdown, and directional control.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-069 · Weather & environmentSand and dust operations
Operational effects of suspended sand, dust storms, brownout, contamination, erosion, low visibility, and engine or sensor exposure.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-070 · Weather & environmentLightning strike
Aircraft exposure to lightning and the resulting inspection, system, structure, communication, sensor, and dispatch considerations.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-071 · Human performance & CRMFatigue risk
Sleep loss, circadian disruption, workload, duty timing, recovery, commuting, and health factors that can reduce alertness and performance.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-073 · Human performance & CRMAeronautical decision-making
Framing choices, evaluating risk, managing uncertainty and bias, selecting action, and revising a plan when evidence changes.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-075 · Human performance & CRMStartle and surprise
Immediate physiological and cognitive response to an unexpected event, and the processes that support stabilization, diagnosis, and recovery.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-076 · Human performance & CRMOperational communication
Clear, timely, understood exchange of clearances, intentions, threats, decisions, status, and handovers across aviation teams.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-078 · Human performance & CRMAuthority gradient
How rank, culture, expertise, confidence, and team climate affect challenge, speaking up, listening, and shared decisions.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-079 · Human performance & CRMDistraction and interruption
Loss or redirection of attention during a task, including interruption management, task resumption, sterile-flight-deck discipline, and error traps.
Open topic profile ↗SAT-080 · Human performance & CRMFitness for duty
Physical and psychological readiness for safety-critical work, including illness, medication, stress, impairment, fatigue, and self-reporting.
Open topic profile ↗Windshear and Microburst
Recognize rapid changes in wind vector and the resulting airspeed, path, thrust, and vertical-energy effects close to the ground.
Open topic brief ↗Aircraft SystemsFlight-Deck Automation
Use mode awareness, active monitoring, and aircraft-response verification to keep automation aligned with crew intent.
Open topic brief ↗Flight OperationsControlled Flight Into Terrain
Understand how a controllable aircraft can be flown into terrain or an obstacle through path, altitude, navigation, monitoring, or situational-awareness breakdowns.
Open topic brief ↗12 useful starting points
Terminology and topic relationships select these links; the publisher source remains authoritative.
NTSB Safety Alert SA-033 — Landing at the Wrong Airport
Official U.S. National Transportation Safety Board material indexed for approach and landing. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
Boeing's 56th annual statistical summary organizes commercial-jet accident data using stated definitions and the CAST/ICAO occurrence taxonomy.
Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
IATA's 61st annual report provides an interactive, method-defined view of commercial aviation accident performance and contributing-factor classifications.
Open official sourceSAFO 14002 — SAFO 14002, Global Positioning System ( GPS )/Global Navigation Satellite System ( GNSS ) Navigator/Autopilot Compatibility
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and navigation and surveillance. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 08005 — Preflight of helicopter hydraulic systems to include validation of control movement smoothness and identification of adverse flight control “stick-jump.”
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and airworthiness and systems. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 08015 — Preflight check of helicopter hydraulic systems to include validation of control movement smoothness and identification of adverse flight control “stick-jump”
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and airworthiness and systems. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 06017 — Equipment Training and Checking for Helicopter Operators on the SPZ-7000 or SPZ-7600 Dual Digital Automatic Flight Control Systems
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation and human factors. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceSAFO 05002 — Multiple full deflection, alternating flight control inputs
Official U.S. Federal Aviation Administration material indexed for flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceA380 Development of the Flight Controls
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for aviation safety. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceDual Side Stick Inputs
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceInadvertent Autopilot Engagement during Takeoff on A220 Aircraft
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for takeoff and flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official sourceInappropriate V/S Target during Autoflight Mode Reversion
Official Airbus Safety First material indexed for flight controls and automation. Open the publisher source for the complete document, scope, and current status.
Open official source