EMAS Makes Another Save

By Pete Castellano

On October 13, a Gulfstream G-II, carrying seven passengers, including Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, overran the runway at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, and came to a safe halt by a specially engineered cellular concrete runway arresting system. None of the passenger or crew suffered injuries, and the plane had only minor damage. This was the fifth aircraft stopped by an Engineered Materials Arresting System, or EMAS, since the FAA approved installation at U.S. airports.

Earlier this year, on July 17, an EMAS stopped a business jet whose brakes failed during landing at the Greenville Downtown Airport in South Carolina. The Dassault Falcon 900 came to a controlled stop within 100 feet of the threshold when the plane rolled into an EMAS at the end of the runway. The five people aboard were not hurt, and the jet suffered no damage.

Working with personnel at the Technical Center, the Port Authority of NY and NJ and the University of Dayton, a company called Engineered Arresting Systems Corporation (ESCO) developed EMAS to safely decelerate aircraft coming off runways at high speeds. The EMAS program has been a tremendous accomplishment for the FAA in advancing the safety of the flying public.