A recent report<\/a> identified that runway excursions<\/strong> are still one the leading causes of business aviation accidents in the US \u2013 which has put this valuable technology back on our radar.<\/p>\n It\u2019s pleasing to see that the adoption of these life-saving blocks of crushable energy absorption has steadily continued to increase across the world including recent news that it is coming to Australasia for the first time.<\/p>\n The FAA now reports<\/a> that EMAS is installed at 121 runway ends at seventy-one US airports and growing.<\/p>\n To date it has safely stopped twenty-two overrunning aircraft carrying 432 pax and crew \u2013 the latest<\/a>, a Hawker 900XP at KTEX\/Telluride<\/strong> back in July.<\/p>\n Outside of the US, a number of aviation authorities have introduced or are planning to install EMAS beds to current US FAA standards<\/strong> at airports in countries including the UK, Canada, France, Spain, China and Taiwan.<\/p>\n The adoption of EMAS at airports around the world is beginning to grow.<\/p><\/div>\n Two promising pieces of news recently emerged from down under in recent months.<\/p>\n New Zealand is installing EMAS at two of its most challenging airports characterized by windshear, short runways and RESAs geographically constrained to the minimum 90 meters (295\u2019). Both receive high volumes of jet traffic.<\/p>\n NZQN\/Queenstown<\/strong> is currently in the process<\/a> of installing EMAS at both runway ends. Work is happening at night and is expected to be completed soon.<\/p>\n Just last week, NZWN\/Wellington<\/strong> announced<\/a> it would follow suit, with major runway safety upgrades. It hopes to have EMAS in action by the end of March.<\/p>\n Wellington – one of two airports in airport soon to receive a EMAS arrestor beds.<\/p><\/div>\n If there is any doubt as to the effectiveness of EMAS, consider this. A typical EMAS installation in a 90m (295\u2019) RESA effectively increases its stopping power to the equivalent of 240m (787\u2019) \u2013 that\u2019s nearly three-fold.<\/strong><\/p>\n And yet pilot awareness remains limited. There are no ICAO SARPs for EMAS. And the FAA\u2019s guidance is limited \u2013 the only advice for an imminent EMAS encounter is to maintain the extended runway centreline. And once stopped, don\u2019t try and taxi the aircraft.<\/p>\n The reality is that 90m from 70kts looks darn short \u2013 and vacant space on either side of the runway makes for an attractive option in the heat of the moment.<\/p>\n Pilots may simply not know it\u2019s there (how often do we brief EMAS?) or act out of instinct. Which means incidents are still occurring where we\u2019re swerving to avoid it.<\/strong><\/p>\n More on that in our original article below.<\/p>\n Across the US alone, over one hundred runways at 71 airports<\/a> have a safety critical system fitted to help prevent a major cause of aviation accidents \u2013 runway overruns.<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s called EMAS<\/strong>, or \u2018Engineered Materials Arresting System\u2019, which is a technical of way of using drag to safely stop an airplane when all else fails. And better yet, it has your back in all runway conditions<\/strong> \u2013 water, snow, ice, you name it. It\u2019s a proven life saver.<\/p>\n But the problem is there are still accidents happening where pilots have actively avoided it<\/strong>, instead choosing to veer off the runway.<\/p>\n IFALPA recently put out a new position paper<\/a> which may provide some solid clues. And along with work that others have done, the reasons seem to fit into one of two camps:<\/p>\n For such an effective safety system that protects crew, passengers and even those on the ground, is it possible that we\u2019re just not giving it the attention it deserves?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s tackle both camps.<\/p>\n Dip into the regs and you\u2019ll see that the US FAA requires all airports to have runway safety areas. They are typically 500 feet wide and extend 1000\u2019 past the runway end, and are clear of obstacles in case an aircraft either overruns, or undershoots. Sounds safe, right?<\/p>\n But what if there isn\u2019t enough space?<\/strong> Take KMDV\/Chicago Midway for example. It\u2019s not always practical. That\u2019s where EMAS comes into it. It achieves a similar level of safety, only using a lot less room.<\/p>\n In a squeeze – Chicago Midway where EMAS is installed. Courtesy: Chris Bungo<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n It is essentially a concrete bed (or ‘arrestor pad’) of increasing depth which contains thousands of blocks of crushable material that are designed to quickly slow down an aircraft with little or no damage – likely your nose wheel, and that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n And it works really well too. In fact, it\u2019s so effective it can stop an aircraft travelling as fast as 70kts – which is a good thing as 90% of all overruns happen below this speed.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not even a big deal to replace it \u2013 it\u2019s modular. <\/em>Only the blocks that have been damaged need to be changed out.<\/p>\n EMAS Arrestor Pad in action. Courtesy: Runway Safe<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Some EMAS pads are only 150\u2019 long. When faced with obstacles like trees, buildings, and roads it\u2019s no wonder that the instinct is to avoid ploughing straight ahead.<\/strong><\/p>\n Instead, the grass and dirt off the side of the runway begins to look like a very appealing option to slow an airplane down. And as the FAA itself once phrased it, \u2018there\u2019s a myth that if you take the dirt, you won\u2019t be on the news…\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n But the reality is that EMAS will do a far<\/strong> better job<\/strong> and with a safer outcome and less damage.<\/p>\n Lights on an EMAS arrestor pad are designed to break away and do very little damage to your ride.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is where IFALPA get really stuck in. Some crew actively steered away from EMAS<\/strong> simply because they didn\u2019t know, or forgot, that it was there.<\/p>\n Knowledge is one thing, but you can\u2019t brief what you can\u2019t see.<\/em><\/p>\n Yellow<\/strong> chevrons<\/strong> indicate an EMAS arrestor pad, but there is no standardised signage<\/em> in place for it. Take a look a look again at the list of US airports<\/a> with it installed \u2013 if you operate in and out of any of them, how often are you thinking about EMAS?<\/p>\n If you hadn’t briefed it, would you know it was there?<\/p><\/div>\n And the story doesn\u2019t end with signage either. What about approach and airport charts? Leading chart manufacturers indicate where EMAS is present on ground charts only. But not on approach charts – the argument is that it won’t fit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/emas-1024x768.webp\")
A first for Australasia<\/h4>\n
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A familiar problem remains<\/h4>\n
Original Article:<\/h5>\n
Why?<\/h4>\n
\n
EMAS 101<\/h4>\n
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Grass and dirt<\/h4>\n
What about approach lights?<\/h4>\n
You may not know it\u2019s even there<\/h4>\n
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