An engineered materials arrestor system or engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) is a bed of engineered materials built at the end of a runway. Engineered materials are defined in FAA Advisory Circular No 150/5220-22A as "high energy absorbing materials of selected strength, which will reliably and predictably crush under the weight of an aircraft". While the current technology involves lightweight, crushable concrete blocks, there is no regulatory requirement that this material be used for EMAS. The purpose of an EMAS is to stop an aircraft overrun with no human injury and minimal aircraft damage (usually none). The aircraft is slowed by the loss of energy required to crush the EMAS material, currently concrete blocks. An EMAS is similar in concept to the runaway truck ramp made of gravel or sand. It is intended to stop aircraft that have overshot a runway when there is an insufficient free space for a standard runway safety area (RSA). Multiple patents have been issued on the construction and design on the materials and process. To date, EMAS has a 100% success rate. Every passenger on an aircraft that has entered an EMAS has walked away, and every aircraft has flown away.
As of October 8, 2010[update] the EMAS installed at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1999 has successfully stopped three aircraft, including a Boeing 747. [1]
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Currently the only FAA approved producer of EMAS is Engineered Arresting Systems Corporation, a division of Zodiac Aerospace(ESCO-ZA). ESCO-ZA designs the EMAS beds and manufactures the concrete blocks at a facility in Logan Township, New Jersey. The concrete blocks cost US$1,000 each.[2]
On October 1, 2010, a private Gulfstream IV jet overshot the runway at Teterboro Airport and was safely stopped by the EMAS installation. No injuries were reported.[3]
On October 13, 2006, New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez's private jet was brought to a halt safely by the EMAS installation at Burbank Airport. The system was installed after the 2000 Southwest Airlines Flight 1455 runway overshoot that injured 43 passengers and the captain.[2]
After the December 8, 2005 overshoot of Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 at Chicago Midway International Airport, which is located in a heavily congested area, an EMAS was installed on Rwy 13C/31C.[4]
On January 19, 2010, PSA Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 N246PS performing flight JIA-2495/US-2495 from Charleston, WV (CRW) to Charlotte, North Carolina (CLT) on behalf of US Airways with 30 passengers and 3 crew, overran the runway following a rejected take-off at 16:13 local time (21:13 UTC). The aircraft was stopped by the EMAS at the end of the runway, sustaining minor damage to its landing gear doors. The aircraft was prevented from plunging down the mountainside at the end of the runway, surely saving the lives of all on board.