Stop That Jet

Teterboro Airport announced plans last week to install systems designed to keep aircraft from overshooting the runway. The arrestor bed systems could be installed in as soon as two years.

"We feel we have a responsibility to this community," said Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Teterboro Airport. "This is not a cure-all. It's not going to stop everything from happening."

The arrestor bed system uses lightweight concrete blocks at the end of the runway that crush under the weight of a heavy aircraft and drag it to a stop. The Port Authority has used the systems for several years at La Guardia and Kennedy International airports.

The February 2nd crash of a Challenger jet that failed to take off injured two motorists as it smashed through an airport fence, crossed six lanes of traffic and crashed into a building. Since the crash, the Port Authority has been pressured by elected officials and a lawsuit by one of the injured motorists to install the systems. Officials say they had been looking into putting the systems in place even before the accident. (file photo of test below)

The project will include relocation of about half a mile of Redneck avenue in it's $20 million cost. The roadway will be shifted about 1,000 feet east.

The Port Authority is also ordering new fire trucks for the airport, including a "Snozzle" that can pierce a fuselage skin and fill the aircraft cabin with fire suppression foam. One was borrowed from Newark Liberty International Airport to extinguish the cabin of the crashed Challenger.

But could this type of system have stopped the Challenger? Only 300 feet are available between the end of the accident runway and the road it crossed. Kent Thompson of the Engineered Arresting Systems Corp. told The Record of Bergen County that a system could probably be designed to stop aircraft traveling between 70 to 75 miles per hour.

FMI: www.teb.com