Since July 2006, business jets have been involved in six of the last nine incidents in the U.S. where engineered materials arresting systems (EMAS) have safely stopped aircraft overrunning the end of the runway, according to data released this week by the FAA. Overall, there have been 12 incidents of EMAS collisions over 18 years by business jets and airliners.
A Dassault Falcon 900 was the first business jet to use an EMAS, at Greenville Downtown Airport, South Carolina, in July 2006. This incident was followed by a Gulfstream GIV, Teterboro, New Jersey, October 2010; Cessna Citation II, Key West, Florida, November 2011; Citation 680, West Palm Beach, Florida, October 2013; Dassault Falcon 20, Chicago Executive Airport, January 2016; and Citation 500, Burbank, California, April 2017.
The EMAS technology uses crushable material placed at the end of a runway to stop an aircraft. The aircraft’s tires sink into the lightweight material and the aircraft decelerates as it rolls through the substance. A standard EMAS installation can stop an aircraft traveling at speeds up to 70 knots.
Currently, EMAS is installed at 106 runway ends at 67 U.S. airports. The FAA plans to install a total of seven more this year at DeKalb/Peachtree, Georgia; Boca Raton, Florida; Providence, Rhode Island; Cuyahoga, Ohio and Lafayette, Louisiana, as well as two more at Burbank.