The MD-82 that was Flight 1420 is certified to withstand crosswinds up to 34.5 mph on a dry landing. But 1420, landing on a wet runway, faced gusts of 66 mph or more. Boeing's certification process, which American includes in its flight manuals, tells pilots not to make a wet landing in crosswinds of more than 15 mph, though no one really knows what the upper limit is. Tom Melody, said. It's not economically feasible and not worth the risk to the pilots.
Pilots know the planes they fly.
They don't know as much about the airports they fly into. For example, braking at one airport in the rain could be more difficult than at another, and there is no widely used standard to measure the differences. Little Rock airport manager Deborah Ledwell told the safety board panel that sensors track what's going on with her runways' surfaces, but that the data were not immediately available, and she didn't know whether the tower had access to it. If the sensors are supposed to provide data to the pilot about what kind of touchdown he can expect, they're not. But the FAA said the system is the best thing available.