First Major Revision Of The Document In More Than 20 Years

The FAA’s Office of Airports recently updated the Airport Design Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5300-13A, the first major rewrite of the AC in more than 20 years.  This AC is critical to the aviation industry because it outlines the standards and recommendations used for the development of airport layout plans and airport construction projects.  The AC, used by airport operators, airport planners and engineers, gives the geometric layout and engineering design requirements for runways, taxiways, aprons, and other airport facilities.

The AC is the result of collaboration between the FAA and the aviation industry. The FAA held webinars, workshops, and spoke at conferences to make sure airport consultants, airport sponsors, aviation associations, and aircraft manufacturers had input into the revised AC.

According to the FAA, the AC was substantially revised to fully incorporate all previous Changes to AC 150/5300-13, as well as new standards and technical requirements. This document was reformatted to simplify and clarify the FAA’s airport design standards and improve readability. Users should review the entire document to familiarize themselves with the new format.

Additional principal changes include:

• A new Runway Design Code (RDC) designation
• An expanded discussion on Declared Distances
• A new Runway Reference Code (RRC) designation
• An update to the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ) standards
• New Taxiway Design Group (TDG) categories for fillet design
• Guidance for intersecting and non-intersecting runway geometry
• Expanded discussion on Runway Incursion Prevention geometry for new construction
• Consolidation of numerous design tables into one interactive Runway Design Requirements Matrix
• Consolidation of several Appendices in to the runway and taxiway design chapters
• A new Aircraft Characteristics Database and a refresh to all listed Appendices

FMI: Full Document