Statistical analysis of lateral deviation of aircraft landing on a non-instrumental runway

Although air accidents have decreased significantly, the aircraft landing phase remains the most hazardous. Since 36% is due to the lateral deviation of the aircraft from the runway centerline, this study analyzes 1,854 frames depicting aircraft landings on a non-instrumental runway. The image processing with ImageJ software allowed the identification of the lateral and angle deviation of the aircraft from the centerline when the infrared frames were shot. Thus, a database with the date and time of landing, wind intensity and direction, lateral deviation, and the aircraft weight during landing was created to investigate which variables can contribute to veer-off accidents. A statistical analysis of the collected data showed that the offset values are dispersed, but a correlation was found between the wind direction and the lateral deviation. However, the lateral displacement does not depend on the wind intensity, and the aircraft weight does not affect the offset. Therefore, a pivotal role falls to the pilots during the landing phase, and the human factor may be a critical issue.