What this profile covers
Rapid change in wind speed or direction, including microburst outflow, that can sharply alter airspeed, path, energy, and control close to terrain.
Why it matters
Weather changes aircraft performance and sensor cues while also increasing uncertainty, workload, route constraints, and exposure to secondary hazards. For windshear and microburst, useful analysis connects the immediate event with exposure, defenses, recurrence, and the wider operating system rather than treating one observation as a final conclusion.
Atmospheric, visibility, contamination, environmental, and natural-hazard effects on flight operations.
Understand the subject before interpreting a signal.
In plain language, this profile examines rapid change in wind speed or direction, including microburst outflow, that can sharply alter airspeed, path, energy, and control close to terrain.
Build a multi-source picture
- Official observations, forecasts, radar, and warnings
- Airport, runway, and terrain information
- Aircraft response and warning data
- Crew, ATC, and other operational reports
Timing, relationships, and recurrence
Relevant recorded context may include normal acceleration, vertical speed, calibrated airspeed, engine thrust. Use validated mappings and examine signal relationships over the applicable flight phase.
Do not turn an observation into a conclusion
Aircraft response can indicate exposure but may not locate or characterize the atmospheric phenomenon without time-aligned meteorological evidence.
Keep controlling material visible
Apply the current approved manuals, procedures, authority requirements, investigation evidence, and validated organizational definitions for any operational decision.
Normal acceleration
Acceleration measured broadly along the aircraft's vertical body axis; its touchdown peak can help characterize a landing load when interpreted with other signals.
Open parameter guide ↗ft/min or m/sVertical speed
The aircraft's vertical rate. Different recorded sources and smoothing can produce materially different values, especially during flare and touchdown.
Open parameter guide ↗ktCalibrated airspeed
Indicated airspeed corrected for instrument and position error, as provided by the aircraft data system.
Open parameter guide ↗% / ratio / aircraft-specificEngine thrust
One or more recorded measures of commanded or produced propulsion; the correct signal depends on engine and aircraft type.
Open parameter guide ↗From a broad topic to a defensible safety review.
Define
State what windshear and microburst means for the aircraft, operation, authority, and organization in scope.
Verify
Confirm the provenance, quality, timing, units, completeness, and limitations of every data source used.
Describe
Reconstruct what happened and quantify relevant exposure before discussing causes or corrective action.
Corroborate
Compare flight data with reports, operational context, technical evidence, and authoritative source material.
Test barriers
Identify which preventive, recovery, and consequence-mitigation controls should have worked and how their performance can be measured.
Assure
Assign proportionate action and verify whether the control and safety performance improve without harmful unintended effects.
Questions before conclusions
- Q1
How is windshear and microburst defined for the aircraft, operation, authority, and organization being reviewed?
- Q2
Which precursors, recorded signals, reports, and external data would confirm the event and describe its context?
- Q3
Which preventive, recovery, and consequence-reduction barriers should work, and where could they weaken?
- Q4
What does recurrence, exposure, severity potential, or change over time show before choosing a safety action?
2 connected event profiles
These are terminology and family connections for exploration—not claims that FDM alone can determine the topic.
Windshear warning on approach
A predictive or reactive windshear alert is recorded during approach or the resulting escape manoeuvre.
Open FDM profile ↗FDM-101 · Weather & environmentWindshear warning during takeoff
A predictive or reactive windshear alert is recorded during the takeoff roll or initial climb.
Open FDM profile ↗Go deeper into the closest ASIP research guides.
Landing Performance
Connect approved landing-distance data with current wind, runway condition, aircraft state, touchdown point, and deceleration technique.
Open intelligence brief ↗WeatherCrosswind Operations
Manage alignment, drift, bank, gust response, touchdown sequence, and directional control using aircraft- and operator-specific techniques.
Open intelligence brief ↗WeatherWindshear and Microburst
Recognize rapid changes in wind vector and the resulting airspeed, path, thrust, and vertical-energy effects close to the ground.
Open intelligence brief ↗Flight OperationsControlled Flight Into Terrain
Understand how a controllable aircraft can be flown into terrain or an obstacle through path, altitude, navigation, monitoring, or situational-awareness breakdowns.
Open intelligence brief ↗12 useful starting points
Original ASIP summaries lead to publisher pages. ASIP does not copy or host the reports.
Annex 19 — Safety Management, Third Edition
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Open official sourceStatistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents, 1959–2024
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Open official sourceIATA Annual Safety Report — 2024
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Open official sourceAC 120-92D — Safety Management Systems for Aviation Service Providers
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Open official sourceAC 91-79B — Aircraft Landing Performance and Runway Excursion Mitigation
This FAA circular brings together landing-performance planning, time-of-arrival assessment, RCAM information, and operational practices for reducing runway-excursion risk.
Open official sourceSafety Alert SA-077 — Stabilized Approaches Lead to Safe Landings
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Open official sourceHigh Load Event Reporting
The Airbus Safety First article explains why a pilot report remains central after a suspected high-load event and how recorded reports and analysis tools can support the applicable maintenance process.
Open official sourceSafety Management Manual (Doc 9859), Fourth Edition
ICAO's fourth-edition manual explains how safety data, risk management, assurance, culture, and governance work together in State and service-provider safety management.
Open official sourceGo-Around Decision-Making and Execution Project — Final Report
The Flight Safety Foundation project examines go-around policy compliance, decision biases, operational pressures, and the risks that also need to be managed during go-around execution.
Open official sourceCAP 739 — Flight Data Monitoring, Second Edition
CAP 739 presents FDM as the systematic, proactive use of routine digital flight data within a non-punitive, just safety culture.
Open official sourceAC 120-82 — Flight Operational Quality Assurance
Active FAA guidance describes one acceptable way to establish a voluntary FOQA programme using de-identified aggregate flight data to identify and reduce operational risk.
Open official sourceCommon Taxonomy Team
International work on common aviation occurrence categories and definitions for consistent reporting and analysis.
Open referenceSafety Risk Management
European safety-risk process connecting data, safety issues, risk portfolios, priorities, and safety action.
Open referenceAnnual programmes and reports
Annual safety reviews and risk portfolios used to identify key risk areas, safety issues, and emerging issues.
Open referenceEuropean Plan for Aviation Safety 2025
A broad evidence-based portfolio showing the scale and connected nature of current aviation safety issues.
Open referenceOperational issues index
A practical discovery index for operational safety subjects; official authority and manufacturer sources remain controlling where applicable.
Open reference