HondaJet owners seek to stem runway excursions with training

The April 7 HondaJet runway excursion briefly closed Southwest Oregon Regional Airport. Five people aboard were rescued after the aircraft came to rest in the water near the shoreline. The airport announced two days later that the pilot and passengers had all been released from the hospital after one person was kept overnight for observation.

ADS-B and weather data indicate the jet in the Oregon accident may have touched down on Runway 5 with a quartering tailwind: A METAR recorded 10 minutes before the accident reported wind from 190 degrees at 8 knots across a runway that was visibly damp with recent rain in photos released by the airport and local firefighters. The next METAR, recorded 50 minutes after the accident, reported wind from 160 degrees at 5 knots.

On April 9, another HondaJet veered off of a runway at Naples Municipal Airport in Florida. The airport noted in a social media post that the pilot, who was the only occupant, was unhurt after the aircraft rolled into the grass.

The Aviation Safety Network has recorded 35 incidents and accidents involving HA–420s since the groundbreaking aircraft was certified in December 2015, of which 29 involved runway excursions during landing or takeoff.

The most recent mishaps followed a detailed look at the HondaJet's history of runway excursions and other pilot-reported control problems by Aviation Week in February, which noted design characteristics including absence of thrust reversers and relatively small wheels that may, combined in some cases with high landing speeds, have contributed to controllability issues on the ground.

“The recurring pattern certainly begs the question if fundamental design and/or training deficiencies need to be corrected,” wrote Patrick Veillette. “Are the expectations and control techniques common in other business jets not necessarily transferable to flying the HondaJet?”

The answer to that question, according to David DeCurtis, safety chair of the HondaJet Owners and Pilots Association, is an emphatic affirmative. (Honda Aircraft Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

The owners group analyzed HA–420 runway excursions in 2023, and concluded that some can be traced to techniques that pilots learned while training for their private pilot certificates in light piston trainers: Many pilots are taught to increase approach speed during gusty conditions. In many aircraft, a sideslip may safely be used to maintain runway alignment in a crosswind. Pilots generally seek to extend the flare for a soft touchdown and hold the nosewheel off the ground after the main wheels touch to maximize aerodynamic braking.

In a HondaJet, however, those are all techniques to avoid, DeCurtis said.

“Adding half the gust to V_REF is absolutely the wrong thing to do in a HondaJet,” DeCurtis said, adding that the aircraft was designed to handle adverse wind and weather conditions—short of wind shear— at its prescribed landing speed, so pilots must trust the techniques taught during type training and forget about trying to “grease” the landing.

“Your target is V_REF, period, end of story.” Rather than adding a margin of safety with extra speed during gusty landings, “You are adding a margin of risk,” DeCurtis said.

To help other pilots get it right, the owners group developed the HJOPA Proficient Pilot Program, which it plans to launch in May. The program emphasizes training and highlights the differences pilots can expect in flying the HondaJet. The program’s launch will include its first instructional video focused on details of HondaJet’s landing procedure, which DeCurtis previewed ahead of its official release.

Procedures that pilots might consider departures from the norm include minimizing the flare and seeking to plant the wheels firmly on the runway, generating up to 1.5 Gs on touchdown. This creates the prescribed “full landing gear compression” that DeCurtis said is desirable because it maximizes friction between the tires and the pavement, thus maximizing directional control. “Friction is dramatically more efficient in directional control than your rudder,” he said.

The forthcoming video also advises against using a sideslip on approach in crosswind conditions, recommending instead a crab-and-kick technique to compensate for crosswind. DeCurtis suggests maintaining the crab all the way to touchdown, timing the rudder input to align the nose with the centerline to the last possible instant. A sideslip (banking into the wind with ailerons while countering the turn with opposite rudder) risks wingtip contact with the runway.

The prompt lowering of the nosewheel to the runway at touchdown, which Honda calls “prompt de-rotation” in its flight manual, is another departure from the way many pilots are accustomed to landing. Getting the nosewheel down quickly, though, increases the pilot’s control on the ground. The goal when landing the HondaJet is a rapid and firm transition from flying to taxiing. It might help to think of an F/A–18 landing on an aircraft carrier, with its gear struts absorbing the impact.

DeCurtis acknowledges the parallels between Honda’s landing techniques and the U.S. Navy’s, but said the HondaJet version is comfortable for passengers. He said the aircraft “lands beautifully when you use the technique,” which pilots may find to be easier than other typical landing practices. DeCurtis refers to landing the HondaJet as “the art of doing nothing.”