Anchor Lead: Airports around the U-S are currently in the process of making more space at the end of their runways. This is to prevent accidents like one that happened at the Chicago Midway International airport last December. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 slid off a runway and crashed into a busy intersection… killing a 6-year-old boy in a passing car. Next Generation Radio’s Sean Maroney reports how officials at one of North Carolina’s airports are addressing the need for space.
Nat pop – take off
Welcome to Greensboro, North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International airport. It boasts two runways, a main one about 10,000 feet long and a 6,000 foot runway that crosses it on the west side. The current facility has been there since the late-70s, and now nearly 400 flights pass through Greensboro each day.
Nat pop – cars
The airport sits alongside West Market Street, one of Greensboro’s busiest roads. It’s rush hour right now, and cars whiz by… less than 600 feet from the runway’s edge.
Nat pop – cars, take off
In the mid-80s, the Federal Aviation Administration decided airports need a bigger buffer zone. It now requires 1000 feet of empty flat space from a runway’s edge. F-A-A Director of Safety and Standards David Bennett says the demands on runways now are different.
Bennett – “They were very short originally, and I think just experience with the occasional overrun and also with the changes in aircraft over time, getting larger and faster and heavier, made it clear that it would be a safety benefit to have more land off the end of the runway.”
Nat pop – plane
The Runway Safety Area acts as a precaution in case a plane overruns a landing or aborts a take off. It prevents it from colliding with a building or busy street. Although Bennett says overruns aren’t common, he acknowledges they do happen and can be extremely dangerous. Delta pilot Kyle Kupers has flown throughout the United States, including through Greensboro. He says airports surrounded by city streets and buildings… don’t make his job any easier.
Kupers – “The fact that you have buildings and obstacles closer to the runway environment than you usually do can sometimes just add that little bit of extra stress.”
The airport’s Director of Development Mickie Elmore is working to relieve some of that stress… but space is limited.
Elmore – “This area is like most other areas, the airport was built out in the countryside when it was originally built. And the city has grown pretty much around the airport.”
Nearly 450 other U-S commercial airports have this problem of space.
Nat pop – construction
Construction and planning is now underway on several projects at the airport. Crews are building a third runway to accommodate more flights. They’re also planning to slide the main runway away from West Market Street. They’ll shorten the end closest to the road and lengthen the other by about 1500 feet.
Elmore – “We have to do the environmental study. That will take about a year before that’s approved. In the meantime, we will probably start plans for that expansion. Once we get approval, we will then have to bid the project and build it… It could be about two and a half years before it’s complete.”
There’s another option that’s F-A-A approved, quicker, and a lot less expensive. Fourteen other U-S airports have an Engineered Material Arresting System or E-Moss at the end of their runways. This soft concrete bed extends no more than 600 feet and acts like a sand trap does for runway trucks on mountain roads. This will stop aircrafts quickly and safely. New York’s John-F-Kennedy airport built the first E-Moss unit 10 years ago. To date, it’s stopped 3 overruns with minimum damage to the airplanes and no injuries. Four other airports plan to build E-Moss units within the next year. Elmore says Greensboro officials considered all the options.
Elmore – “We looked at the EMAS system but… we have to look at what’s best for the entire airport.”
Nat pop – construction beeps
Elmore says by sliding to the east, the existing runways will no longer cross each other. This means a more efficient airport as planes could land simultaneously on the runways. The construction will also provide a 2000 foot buffer zone to West Market Street. But with the extra time and effort needed to move the runway, does the F-A-A think drivers should worry in the meantime?
Bennett – “There shouldn’t be any reason for them to be concerned. I mean, there’s lots of places in the country where there’s less room than that, and… the runway itself is adequate for operations so anything off the end of the runway is an additional safety enhancement.”
And with statistics showing that flying is safer than driving, drivers on West Market Street might want to worry more about each other than nearby planes.
Nat pop – cars
For Next Generation Radio, I’m Sean Maroney.