Rules and Regulations: Those slippery FICONs
What’s new in field condition notices
By Rose Marie Kern
How do you describe to a pilot how far down a runway he could slide when the surface is covered in snow or ice? Until now that observation has been highly subjective, but a 10-year analysis by a team of aircraft manufacturers, airport managers, and the FAA has come up with a consistent way of communicating slipperiness through new field conditions (FICON) notices to airmen (notam) rules.
Where before you might see separate notams for braking action, Mu readings, and runway surface contamination descriptions, the new system enters those elements into a computer program based on a runway condition assessment matrix (RCAM). The RCAM generates a runway condition code (RCC) related to the slipperiness of the surface. Airport managers are only supposed to issue these FICONs for the active runways, and only for one direction. The RCC code will consist of three numbers separated by slashes (example: 3/4/5). Each number relates to the slipperiness level of the touchdown, midpoint, and rollout thirds of that runway. The RCC code levels are zero (absolutely no traction) through six (bone dry). At least 25 percent of the surface must be affected for the computer to generate an RCC code. If there are only a few spots of snow, water, ice, or whatever along the surface, the contaminants will be reported, but a code will not be generated.
All FICONs will contain percentages within the notam for each third of the runway, along with the contaminants on that runway. In the text of the FICON, the thirds are separated by commas. For example: RWY 26 FICON 4/3/3 50 PRCT COMPACTED SN, 75 PRCT 1IN WET SN OVER COMPACTED SN, 90 PRCT 2IN WET SN OVER COMPACTED SN. The RCC code is 4/3/3. The 4 is for the touchdown third, which is described as having a 50-percent coverage of compacted snow. The second number is a 3. That is the slipperiness factor connected with the middle third or midpoint of the runway, described here as 75-percent one inch of wet snow over compacted snow. The final number 3 means the same slipperiness value is assigned to the rollout portion of the runway, which has 90 percent coverage of two inches of wet snow over compacted snow. Notice that the descriptions of each third are separated by commas. In every case, if any of the thirds is different from the rest, there will be a comma separating the description of each third. If the surface of the runway is consistent in all thirds, the notam may look like this: RWY 30 FICON 5/5/5 100 PRCT WET DEICED LIQUID.
FICONs also can contain information concerning plowed widths, deicing, and snowbanks. Some of them may be appended with “Conditions Not Monitored” with the time periods attached in which no one will be updating the FICON data for that surface. One thing you will not see in this new system is an RCC code of zero. If the computer determines the conditions warrant a zero, it refuses to issue the notam. Part 139 airports are required to close any runway that has an RCC code of zero.
RCC codes are only used on paved surfaces. If a runway is less than 25 percent contaminated, the notam will show up without the RCC code. For instance, the first third has 50 percent coverage of slush, but the other two thirds are dry; so the total percentage for the whole runway comes to less than 25 percent. The notam would look like this: RWY 17 FICON 50 PRCT 1IN SLUSH, DRY, DRY. The APRON and TWY FICONs will look the same as in the past. Airport managers can still put out separate braking action (BA) reports for them, though the terminology has changed. Instead of poor, fair, and nil, the terms to be used are good, good to medium, medium, medium to poor, poor, nil.
Rose Marie Kern is an aviation writer from New Mexico.
