By Capt. Alain Vanalderweireldt, BeCA President

Why do our politicians keep changing the Brussels Airport tailwind (TW) limitations in the AIP? Just to shift the noise created by airport operations from one area to another? During this sunny summer with prevailing Easterly winds, the most used runway configuration was runway 01 for landing and runway 07R for take off, concentrating noise produced at low altitude over the areas South and Southeast of the airport.

Since September 20, a maximum TW component of 12 knots for Runways 25 is published in the AIP. With this recent change, the State Secretary Wathelet’s cabinet expects to please people living South of the airport (Kraainem, Woluwe, Tervueren, etc.), increasing the overflying of the “Noordrand” (e.g. Grimbergen) and Brussels city. And we can expect the “rules of the game” to change again when a new State Secretary for Transport will be nominated after next year’s elections!

BeCA’s policy is not to get involved into the political fights over noise spreading plans. Unless these changes can compromise safety…

Not only does this 12-knot figure exceed many Airplane Flight Manuals limitations, but it also leaves a limited margin for planes with higher TW limits.Safety margins are essential in aviation and in this case are justified because wind throughout an approach is not always linear and can shift and/or increase in altitude. High tailwinds aloft can create unstabilised approaches and reported winds on the ground are average values. Note that the wind reported by EBBR Tower Controllers when issuing a “wind check” are instant wind reading. The often heard excuse of “pilots can always request a runway more into the wind” is quite hypocritical, since Belgocontrol admits that a runway change in EBBR can take up to 30 minutes, which often exceeds the extra fuel upon arrival.

This is one more example of how politicians and bureaucrats can adopt measures that can are outside of the reality of air operations. And this is where we, as BeCA members and pilots, come into play.

We need to show to the people comfortably seated in their office that this change is potentially dangerous. Belgocontrol policy is now to start the runway change procedure as soon as they receive 2 complaints about excessive tailwind aloft. We therefore encourage every pilot to report excessive tailwind during approach via ASRs and directly on ATC frequency.

Together, we can have the pilots’ voice heard!