MD11 Overrun JFK 30/5/03

[Shore Guy]

Plane Overruns Runway During Arrival At JFK

NEW YORK -- A cargo plane overran a runway while arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport early Friday, authorities said.

There were three crew members aboard the plane, and none of them were injured, according to Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

DiFulco said there may be some damage to the plane, a MD-11 operated by Gemini Air Cargo.


The plane stopped in an area at the end of the runway called an arrestor bed at about 4:30 a.m., DiFulco said.

The arrestor bed, designed to stop planes safely when they continue past the end of the runway, appeared to have worked properly, DiFulco said.

The airport did not close, though traffic stopped briefly, he said.

Thomas A. Corcoran, the chief executive of Gemini Air Cargo, said by telephone from the company's Dulles, Va., headquarters that "on approach and landing everything was normal.

He said the company was working with the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to determine what happened.

The arrestor bed technology also safely stopped an American Eagle commuter plane that overran a runway at the airport in May 1999.

Link to story and video:

http://www.wnbc.com/traffic/2237582/detail.html

[brabazon]

Are arrestor beds very common? I hadn't come across them before this, but it seemed to do the trick.

[Shore Guy]

Soft Ground Arrestor Systems

Aircraft can and do overrun the ends of runways, sometimes with disastrous consequences. In order to minimize the hazards of overruns the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires a safety area 1000 feet in length beyond the end of the runway. Although this safety area is now an FAA standard, many runways were constructed prior to its adoption. For those locations that do not have the space for full safety area, soft ground arrestors provide an engineered solution to restore a margin of safety. "Soft ground," means any material that will deform readily and reliably under the weight of an aircraft tire. As the tires crush the material, the drag forces decelerate the aircraft. The FAA research program began with the development of a mathematical model of the wheel/ground interface. This model accurately predicts aircraft gear loads, deceleration, and stopping distance within the arrestor bed. A series of field tests in 1991 validated the model. In 1993, a full-scale arrestor bed (680’ long by 48’ wide by 18" deep), constructed with phenolic foam, safely stopped a Boeing 727 aircraft, traveling at 50 knots, 420 feet into the bed. The aircraft was extracted, the bed repaired, and a second demonstration was conducted. The Boeing 727 traveling at 60 knots was safely stopped 540 feet into the bed. Aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles and personnel maneuvered on the bed without difficulty.

In September 1994, the FAA and Engineered Systems Co. (ESCO) entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) to test new materials and methods related to the practical aspects of soft ground arrestors. By November 1994, an arrestor bed of cast-in-place cellular concrete was constructed and tested at the FAA Technical Center. An instrumented Boeing 727 aircraft (permanently grounded) entered the bed at 35 knots and exited the bed at 15 knots. The energy absorbing quality of the material was excellent but uniformity of strength was unacceptable.

ESCO established a laboratory to produce a cellular concrete material with uniform strength. Lab tests indicated that uniform compressive strengths (± 5 PSI) could be achieved. On June 26, 1995, a second test bed comprised of pre-cast cellular concrete was tested at the FAA Technical Center. The nose gear of the instrumented Boeing 727 taxied through the test bed at 35 knots. Nose gear rut depth and drag shear loads indicated a product with very uniform strength.

A larger test bed of cellular cement (40 feet-wide by 325 feet-long and tapered to a depth of 24") was constructed and tested in May 1996 at the Technical Center. The instrumented B-727 entered the bed at 55 knots weighing 132,000 pounds. The aircraft decelerated evenly and came to a stop in 278 feet. Math modeling predicted a stop at 260 feet into the bed. Approximately 100 feet into the cellular cement bed the nose wheel separated from the aircraft. The drag and vertical loads on the gear did not appear high enough to cause this action. Post-test investigation of the cause for this separation revealed evidence of fatigue and corrosion on the nose gear support members.

Under a separate partnership the FAA and the Port Authority of NY&NJ, initiated a design for the prototype arrestor bed for runway 4R at JFK International Airport. The 400 feet-long by 150 feet-wide arrestor bed was completed in November 1996. Arrestor beds for runways 13 and 22 at New York’s LaGuardia are scheduled for completion in 1999/00.

The Office of Airport Safety and Standards (AAS-1) issued Advisory Circular 150/5220-22
Engineered Materials Arresting Systems (EMAS) for Aircraft Overruns on 8/21/98.

Link for Advisory Circular (pdf.)

http://www2.faa.gov/arp/pdf/5220-22.pdf

[Jumbo Liar]

quote: < There were three crew members aboard the plane, and none of them were injured >

sorry if it seems pedantic, but should that not read

"none of them WAS injured " ?

[newarksmells]

Saw this at 5:30am this morning on Fox5 News out here... The plane came within about 50 yards of the water around JFK. Front tires were buried about a feet deep in the arrestor system.

Was initally reported as a "small airliner" followed by a discussion of whether a 747 would have stopped in time immediately followed by the fact the plane was taking off at the time of the mishap.

And now and again Fox gives some reasonably accurate weather reports such as "could be cloudy or could be sunny"

Ummmm.

Newark

[AfricanSkies]

"Front tires were buried about a feet deep in the arrestor system."


erm, shouldn't that be "about a FOOT deep"??
:}

[Anti-ice]

Jeez , is this an english lesson - or - a forum designed for pilots to discuss worldwide aviation topics /events ? ? ? ? ? ?

[taildrag]

Shore Guy,

As you probably know, the arrestor systems, beds of special, soft concrete-type material, were installed some years back at the departure end of JFK 04R and La Guardia 22. The La Guardia installation was recently removed, because aircraft taking off on O4 were seriously eroding the material with their jet blast.

A complicating factor for airplanes overrunning 04R at JFK has been Thurston Basin, a steep-banked creek draining the swamp just north of the airport,paralleling the airport's northern perimeter. I used to live nearby, and remember years ago a Pan Am airplane breaking into three pieces, one in the middle of the creek, the front piece on the northern bank and the rear piece on the southern bank when it overran and hit the ditch.

Also many years ago, an Aeronaves de Mexico DC-8 with an Eastern training pilot aboard took off in a snowstorm, overran the runway while rotating, broke up and crossed the road into the marsh, which is the same marsh where Eastern 66 crashed after encountering a downburst in an oft-studied accident while landing to the south.

[Anti-ice]

EXACTLY.
I haven't even seen a pilot at our 3 last SEP CRM days -
Maybe they can't bear to mix with the UNprofessionals :rolleyes:
Or as they say- it's just not worth going:uhoh:

[Shore Guy]

Taildrag, thanks for the info. Looks like this “Soft Ground Arrestor System” saved the day for the aircraft/crew. Have to wait and see what kind of speeds were involved as they entered the area of non-destructive deceleration. These should be standard and/or retrofitted to all runways IMHO. They could be as simple as gravel/sand/marsh if need be.

It always has been interesting/astounding to me how incredibly strong aircraft are “in their element” but how fragile they are out of it. The 747 that shut down and slid off the taxiway in ANC comes to mind. An impact speed of a couple of knots almost destroyed that aircraft.

Anyone who routinely operates into JFK is aware that they will hang onto runway configuration until it approaches FAR limits or someone says “I’m not going to do that” (we could spend a lot of threads/posts discussing this phenomenon).

The Canarsie approach (VOR 13L/R) into JFK is the best example. Reason being, if JFK re-aligns, it forces KLGA (LaGuardia) and KEWR (Newark) to re-align. Airspace is really tight in this area.

Not trying to judge – don’t have all the facts –there for the grace of God, etc…... Heavy airplane (freighter), short (8500’) runway, and a tailwind (see below)…..well, everything has to work out just right (Landed 4R).

KJFK 301051Z 23006KT 4SM BR BKN100 BKN250 16/14 A2957 RMK AO2
SLP014 T01560144=
KJFK 300951Z 21005KT 5SM BR BKN120 BKN250 14/14 A2956 RMK AO2
SLP011 T01440139=
KJFK 300851Z 23004KT 7SM BKN120 14/14 A2956 RMK AO2 SLP008
T01390139 55005=

Some pics at:

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-nycplane0530,0,30278.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-trans

[taildrag]

Shore Guy,

The Newsday picture showed the arrestor area working as advertised. Don't know how fast they were going off the end, but the photo doesn't look like the aircraft went very far into the arrestor.

For those interested, you can look on MapQuest, punch in New York City, NY. JFK airport is visible as a lavender area in the lower right hand corner of the map. Center the map on that. Click on the map, and on top of the resulting screen is a button for "aerial photo." Click on that, and play with the map until you can center it on 04R, the easternmost runway. If you zoom in close, you can very clearly see the stark white patch at the north end of the runway, which is the arrestor area, and Thurston Basin, the steep-banked creek mentioned in an earlier reply.

Amazing, these computers!

Better the arrestor than the wetter!

[mutt]

Was this an RTO or Landing incident?

Mutt.

[Shore Guy]

Landing....according to reports coming in from Brussels

[Stratocaster]

I also heard it was coming from Brussels,

I saw some close-up pictures, looks like the aircraft ran into 50 cm of tiramisu (you know, the Italian dessert). No apparent damage on the airframe (as far as I can see, but I'm not an expert).

[Shore Guy]

oops........last post was not worded very well. This was a landing incident. Aircraft was arriving JFK from Brussels.

[newarksmells]

Just wondered what this outfit does? What it a normally scheduled Cargo Flight or a one -off type deal. I know EWR deals with Fedex extensively, and these planes come-in and leave everyday like a regularly scheduled ariline.

And by the way AfricanSkies, after measuring the tyre, it was 1 foot and 2 inches into the arrestor system...Does that make it 1 feet or 2 foot?

Newark

[non sched]

Newarksmells

They're an all cargo outfit with DC-10's and MD-11's. They've been around 6 or 7 years, not sure. They're owned by the Carlisle group in the US and based in IAD

[newarksmells]

Thanks;

Never heard of them before the incident. Appreciate the info.

Newark