Mark D,
I agree that any overrun is unacceptable, but they can and do still happen. Would Mr Clarkson be arguing that aircraft passengers shouldn't wear seatbelts either? And how often do those lifejackets we get briefed on ever get put to use (recent Bari incident possibly being a rare exception)?
Perhaps if airlines really wanted to do a "public safety" briefing, they should have an END of flight announcement saying:
1) Familiarise yourself with that hire car and local driving conditions, before taking it out onto the open road.
2) Don't forget your sunblock (or in the case of Ryanair, can we sell you some sunblock for £10 per tube + £2 supplement per factor increment).
3) If you are going to play away from home, make sure you use a condom.
There is talk of travel agents becoming sued for not providing this advice, and with the rise of direct booking, could airlines be expected to have the same responsibility?
The Odd One, has any aircraft ever overshot the runway at the railway end (sorry I don't have the heading numbers to hand) of LGW?
CVT is "short" in comparison to most other UK airports operating 737s, but this does not make it "not long enough" - one the nimbys did actually try to quote PPRUNE in his presentation, together with Boeing data for a 737-500s runway requirements (when fully laden and flying at maximum range, rather than just hopping down to Malaga).
So we don't live in a risk free or accident free world, and as runway over-runs will happen, if there is technology which will help reduce the damage such incidents cause, at a cost which is in proportion to the benefits, should we be seeing more of it?
Last edited by jabird; 8th Aug 2005 at 23:35.