Incident Details
The DC-9 was positioned as number two for an ILS approach behind a commuter airplane. The airplane was placed in holding while chemicals were applied to the runway due to snow and slush. The DC-9 captain requested a braking action report, which the tower controller relayed to the commuter airplane that had not yet landed. A braking action report was not received prior to the DC-9 landing. The captain elected to continue the approach with full auto-land selected to a contaminated runway, without a braking action report, and with a crosswind component of 13 knots.
On the runway, the autopilot responded and attempted to return the airplane to the centerline of the runway. After 18 seconds, with the airplane's nose drifting left, the captain disengaged the autopilot and applied full right rudder and brake to stop the left drift. The DC-9 departed the left side of the paved runway approximately 5,500 feet down the 8,998-foot runway, facing 80 degrees left of the runway heading.
Flight Manual Review
A review of the manual revealed that the operator's flight manual contained no guidance or limitations for pilots regarding the use of full auto land and roll-out on contaminated runways.