EMAS Save at ORD
 

1 injured as plane skids off O'Hare runway

July 19, 2008

One person was injured after a plane ran off the end of the runway at O'Hare International Airport on Friday evening, said officials with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Mexicana Airlines flight 802 was arriving from Mexico City just after 7 p.m. when the plane left the landing area, said Tony Molinaro, an FAA spokesman. One flight attendant was injured, he said.

Officials said the plane was stopped by a bed of lightweight, crushable concrete at the end of the runway. The runway was closed and 142 were taken off the plane, a spokeswoman said.

1 injured as plane skids off O'Hare runway -- chicagotribune.com

That's gotta hurt.....

Not as much as hitting the ILS and approach lighting. :ok:

Fact Sheet - Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS)

It was allegedly landing on 04R (8075ft) - be interesting to understand how the overrun occurred given that the aircraft routinely lands on much shorter runways around the world.

Looks like it was an Airbus A320, although the article doesn't come across as very accurate.

From the Chicago Sun-Times

4R at ORD is one of those runways where you need to pretty much roll to the far end to clear.

anyone got the TAFs METARs---RWY report ?---interesting though-- I have to admit that I am overwhelmed by all the technical details provided by the US media:}---

The Aviation Herald has posted some of the information you are seeking. Can not post it here due to their copywrite restrictions but the goto for the information is: Accident: Mexicana A320 at Chicago on Jul 18th 2008, stopped by arrestor bed after overrun on landing

Thank you LongTimer:)

Lured in perhaps by the proverbial calm before the storm:confused:---those things pick up fast I wonder what the 'big picture' was for the day--- just an isolated METAR is really not enough for me to say much comment but landing near potential TS's:=
KORD 190051Z VRB03KT 10SM SCT033CB BKN100 OVC200 27/21 A2996 RMK AO2 RAE03 SLP139 CB NW-NE MOV E VCSH NW-NE P0000 T02670206


PA

...it's only 8,075ft if you start at the beginning.

True - but even on Med Autobrake the aircraft can be brought to a halt in 3000ft so you have got a hell of a margin before meeting Uncle EMAS!

Not if the wind suddenly died/or became horrible and gusty---I wonder what were those High clouds alluded to in the METAR?

Arrived a few hours ago as SLF, broke the cloud base very low, standing water on all surfaces... damp, dark, wet miserable day here.

Landed on RWY 10 (not sure which), we were clear of the built up areas (see google below) when we broke cloud, C. 1K to 500m to threshold:

ord - Google Maps

iX

Good job it wasn't LAHSO ...

Always find ORD ATC a bit too inclined to try to make you land with a ridiculous tailwind after keeping you too high & fast anyway :\

maybe the pilots just screwed up...we don't say that very often do we?

maybe they tried for a grease job and shouldn't have.

maybe they landed long because they were sloppy and the brakes were not up to the task.

of course, there might have been a mechanical problem.

Overrun in ORD
 

We landed about 40 minutes after the Mexicana event.

We were told to expect a 20-30 minute hold. We got into the area and landed with minimal vectoring on 9R. The radar showed rainshowers in the area and the ramp and runway was wet upon arrival.

I consider the ATC crew at ORD to be some of the best with whom I have ever worked. Once I learned the system to taxiing around ORD from an American Eagle Captain friend, I found ORD much easier to understand.

Rule #1 - The Inner Taxiway (now Taxiway A) goes clockwise.

Rule #2 - The Outer Taxiway (now Taxiway B) goes counter-clockwise or anti-clockwise to the blokes!

Rule #3 - Never stop moving. You'll screw things up worse if you stop the airplane, better to keep moving around the airport.

And the most important rule of all:

Rule #4 - NEVER follow Mexicana anywhere.

He shared these rules with me about 15 years ago and I have found them to useful on many occasions.

That also reminds me of a TWA 747 my Dad (a former Air Wisconsin pilot) saw landing on 9R many years ago. The 747 was halfway down and was still 20 feet above the runway. The ORD controller asked,"Are you going to make it TWA??". The pilot's strained response was,"We're tryin'!!".

The 747 touched down soon after that and they made the left turn at the end, speed permitting.

Dave

Slightly off-thread. What happens after EMAS is used? Is the recently grooved area just smoothed over or does the affected area have to be cut out and new porous concrete laid in its place? If new stuff has to be laid, how quick is the process (presumably closing that runway) and who pays for it, offending airline's or airport's insurance?

Has EMAS ever been known to rip off gear?

I suppose an airplane would belly glide on EMAS if it were not for the gear?

I said the aircraft could be brought to a halt in 3000ft (i.e. ground run distance) so float and height at threshold do not come into it.

Assuming a correct landing point the total landing distance would be around 4000ft or 50% of what is available hence my comment about a good margin.