In the aftermath of the Air France accident, the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA) has criticised runway overrun areas in general and the overrun at Toronto Pearson airport’s runway 24L in particular.
“Recognising the limitations of topography at a number of airports IFALPA has recommended that where a 300m (980ft) safety area cannot be established an arrester bed should be installed,” it says. “Arrester beds have demonstrated in a number of incidents that they provide an effective means of bringing an overrunning aircraft to a halt with minimal or no damage. Clearly this would significantly improve passenger and crew safety.”
Referring specifically to last week’s overrun in Toronto, IFALPA has stated its “continued concern” about what it describes as “the lack of a runway-end safety area at the end of the accident runway, and other runways at Toronto Pearson airport”. The association states that the airport is not in compliance with current International Civil Aviation Organisation recommendations, which “has been a point of contention between the airport and IFALPA for more than 25 years”. IFALPA says the runway 24L overrun is only 60m.
Source: Flight International
