A DEVICE DESIGNED to stop runway overruns is to be installed at New York's JFK International Airport following successful testing by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
During the tests, which also involved the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the agency's Atlantic City technical centre, a cellular-cement soft-ground arrester bed stopped the FAA's Boeing 727-100 from 55kt (100km/h) within 91m (300ft). The bed deforms under an aircraft's weight. "Soft ground arresters provide an additional margin of safety at airports with limited overrun areas," says FAA research and acquisitions chief, George Donohue.
The safety device will cost $2.6 million to install at JFK International's runway 4R, and up to five more are planned. In 1984, a Scandinavian Airlines System McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 overran runway 4R after a take-off abort. Although there were no serious injuries, the accident caused $30 million damage.
The US National Transportation Safety Board had recommended that the FAA considers developing an arrester system, and says that it will use the results from the research and development to prepare standards for airports across the USA.
Source: Flight International
