Definition
A pilot report describing the effectiveness of wheel braking experienced on a runway during landing rollout, given in qualitative terms — Good, Good to Medium, Medium, Medium to Poor, Poor, or Nil — and relayed to ATC so subsequent pilots and airport operators know what to expect.
Plain English
After landing on a wet, snowy, or icy runway, the pilot tells the tower how well the brakes actually worked. That report gets passed on to other pilots so they know how slippery the runway really is.
Context Anchor
Pilots encounter braking action reports before landing, after landing, and while taxiing when airport surfaces may be slippery.
Why Pilots Care
It directly affects landing distance calculations and the decision whether a runway is safe to use.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as a report about whether the airplane’s brakes are working. It is a report about how much stopping grip the airport surface is providing.
Example Sentence 1
After landing on the slush-covered runway, the captain radioed tower with a braking action report of Medium to Poor.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot checked the braking action report before accepting the landing clearance on the short runway.