Which danger exists after a heavy rain shower for a landing aircraft?
During take-off and landing operations from contaminated runways (3 mm or more water), aquaplaning (hydroplaning) is a hazard that must be considered.
After a heavy rain shower, the runway surface can become saturated with water. This creates a risk of aquaplaning (or hydroplaning), where a layer of water builds up between the aircraft's tires and the runway.
During take-off runs, as water (or any other liquid contaminant) is displaced by the tyres, a "bow wave" effect is created in front of the tyre. Similarly, during landing runs, where touch-down speed is above the speed at which aquaplaning is likely, any application of the brakes may result in severe loss of friction between the tyre and the runway surface.
As a result, the tyres lose contact with the ground, thus, drastically reducing braking and longer braking distance is required.
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