While primary contributors to runway overrun – such as unstable approach, long touchdown, or poor weather – are well-documented, US safety regulators recently issued an operator bulletin highlighting a hazard which is perhaps less obvious.

The US FAA states in the bulletin, distributed in late January, that pilots risk the possibility of overrun by using incorrect runway data in take-off and landing calculations.

Discussions with flight-training instructors, it says, reveal “many” operators or pilots are referencing the wrong runway-length source data. This misapplication of data could lead to “inaccurate” aircraft performance calculations.

Published runway data regarding physical length, operational lengths, or declared distances varies among providers, says the FAA. Pilots using commercially-produced publications to obtain runway information should “know the limitations” of the products, it says, including runway-length terminology, and understand that they might not immediately be notified of any changes.

“Pilots should also use caution when obtaining runway length information from the on-board airport database or performance computation functions within the flight management system or area navigation system,” it adds. “The airport and navigation databases for these systems often do not include the runway’s declared distances.”

The FAA is urging pilots not to attempt independent calculation of declared distances, but rather use the regulator’s authoritative data.

Overruns and excursions have long proven a safety challenge. The air transport safety record for 2026 was blemished after barely 24h when a Buddha Air ATR 72 overran while landing at Bhadrapur – a mishap that, while fortunately leaving no-one seriously injured, badly damaged the aircraft.

This year a European mandate to fit protective avionics equipment to new-build aircraft takes effect. The mandate, which comes into force on 1 July, has been delayed by persistent supply-chain problems and certification challenges, as well as considerations for types nearing the end of production runs – and some aircraft will still need more time.

Advanced avionics – such as the Runway Awareness and Advisory System for Boeing aircraft, and Airbus’s Runway Overrun Prevention System – undoubtedly have a valuable role, providing a line of technological defence in a similar fashion to the traffic collision-avoidance system.

But the FAA bulletin also illustrates that addressing human factors – including pilot awareness, judgement and discipline – remains crucial to eliminating this persistent, and preventable, scourge.